#i was reading a book about his death and there were rumours he was courting some lady but its never been comfirmed

[apostate-in-an-alcove]

"Tom wasn't interested in marriage" Tom Thomson, aromantic icon, confirmed.

[litchifaerie]

Guilty as Sin [Aemond Targaryen]

pairing: aemond targaryen x niece!reader (unspecified dad)

warnings: fluff, very little angst, not Daemon's daughter but she has silver hair, ooc!aemond (?), "i burn for you" typa confession. niece!reader strikes again.

word count: 3.3k

After the incident of Driftmark, it was a known fact that the family of the dragon has now broken into two factions, namely: The Hightower Greens and The Targaryen Blacks. Young Prince Lucerys had somehow managed to blind his uncle, Prince Aemond, in an act of what rumours say to be “self defence”. The family damaged beyond repair went on to live separately, no longer finding joy in maintaining the facade of a “happy joint family” to appease their king. Now years later, the question of inheritance of Driftmark is raised. Lord Corlys Velaryon is feared to be nearing his death and thus Vaemond Velaryon has raised a petition for himself to be declared the heir instead of its true heir, Lucerys Velaryon.

When the Blacks made their home in Dragonstone it took them quite a while to settle in with its rough seas and jagged cliffs. In a few months everyone seemed to settle in well. Everyone except for Rhaenyra’s eldest child, her only daughter, you. Back at King’s Landing you loved the court. You loved meeting the ambassadors of kingdoms you had read about in books with Aemond. You loved sneaking around the castle at midnight with Aemond. Your bare feet hurriedly rushing over the cold of the stone floors in search of some leftover lemon cakes in the kitchens. You loved sewing with Helaena and learning the names of her friendly little creatures. You and Aemond were perhaps the only companions she had growing up.

Yes, yes, you missed Aemond even more so. And now six years later, here you are, sitting in the carriage with your mother and step-father awaiting to reach the Red Keep soon. You’re busy gazing out the windows, looking at how much King’s Landing has changed. I wonder if that jeweller still has a shop in the city market. Lost in your thoughts you jump a little when you hear your mother speak. “Do keep an eye on your brothers there. Daemon and I have some matters to attend with the King the moment we reach. I do not want those two to pick a fight with your uncles.” Rhaenyra speaks calmly.

You nod with a polite “Of course mother”. And with a moment of hesitation, you ask “Is it alright if I invite Helaena for an afternoon tea, perhaps even a play date for her twins and little Viserys and Aegon? Please allow it mother! It has been ages since I last saw her! I wish to see my baby cousins and catch up with my dear aunt…” Rhaenyra can never say no to your pleading eyes. She only chuckles “yes my dear you may”.

It wasn’t a long while before the carriage came to a stop. A knight comes to open the door for you. “No one to greet us hmm” murmurs Daemon. His ability to remain stoic sometimes makes him seem invisible even in close proximity. He steps out first, helping you and your mother down next. Jace and Luce come rushing begging to go to the training grounds. “Boys”, you call out, “Mother and Father have some matter to attend to. Now if we may, lets see how the knights here train at King’s Landing.” With that you just turn around and they follow you like ducklings, ever the obedient little brothers.

You make your way to the training yard, looking around and seeing specks of your past. It all seemed like a far away dream now. How happily the boys played fight together, with you dabbling in some swordplay at times. Distant shouts of cheers catch your attention and you look their way. “Seems like there’s a fight going on” Jace remarks. And Luce replies energetically “Lets go see how the knights fare then” and drags you both towards the crowd.

A clash of swords and flurry of movements of men later you are able to catch a glimpse of long silver hair. A Targaryen. Long hair and a fine swordsman? Can’t be Aegon. That leaves the 2 others. And as you get closer you recognise his silhouette. It took you a little time but you can spot him anywhere still. It’s not your eyes that tell you of his identity but your heart. Its him. Yes, it is. Its Aemond.

“Well done my prince. In no time will you be participating in Tourneys.” Says the knight, who if your memory serves right must be Ser Criston Cole. “I don’t give a shit about tourneys” Aemond replies trying to gather himself after that tiring display of amazing swordsmanship. And then he spots you. At first Aemond believed it to be untrue. His mind had played many such games with him through the period of your absence. The Gods were cruel to not only rob him of his eye but also his dearest friend the same night. Maybe he stared at you a moment too long because that was enough for Jace to step in front of you and shield you from his uncle's view. At that Aemond seems to snap back to reality. “Nephews, come to train? Shall we see who has turned into a better swordsman these past 6 years.” He clearly is still looking to pick fights. You put your hand on Jace’s shoulder “Do not engage he just wants to rile you up”.

The crowd whispers amongst itself. Do you see that? The sons of the Queen and Princess do not get along. Are the whispers true then- You think you need to squash these whisperings now by a show of goodwill. You walk towards Aemond in the “dainty” manner a proper Lady should approach a Lord. “Uncle” you come to a halt just a bit away from Aemond, a few inches closer than it is deemed appropriate. “How have you been? I see the years have been kind to you. The tales of your growing talent of sparring has reached Dragonstone. And I am happy to say those words do no justice to your skill. You’re much better than what they lead us to believe.” Flattery. Heaps of it. So what if it’s a little backhanded. I need to patch things up even if it’s a little. “Dear niece” Aemond raises your hand to place a kiss on your knuckles “Ever the beauty. That must mean the tales of Lords and Knights fighting over a chance to court you must be true then?” and all you can do is chuckle. Oh so he will play this game then. “You flatter me too much my prince. I was wondering if you and Princess Helaena would have your afternoon tea with me. I’ve missed you incredibly. And I just can’t wait to meet little Jaehaera and Jaehaerys”

Ser Cole places his hand on the prince’s arm, “Perhaps some other day Princess. Prince Aemond has some mat-”. “Yes I will” Aemond butts in before Cole can finish. “Very well then” you fold your hands together. “I shall take my leave now. The journey here was rather long and tiring”. You look behind you to see the astonished faces of your brothers. You know what thy must be thinking. What the fuck is going on in her head? “Come Jace. Come Luce. Let us go freshen up. Mother is waiting for us” You wait for your brothers to take one of your arms each. And you leave just like that. Maintaining eye contact with Aemond for as long as it was societally acceptable of you to look his way without it spurring rumours.

Are her hips swaying? Is what Aemond notices as he watches you leave. With a smirk on his face his last thought is: You’re home now zaldrītsos.

You walk with your brothers to your room, both of them still silent, a little surprised at your actions that’s all. You’re at your door when you turn around “Brothers if you may. Please go to your respective rooms and tell your servants how you’ll like your rooms arranged. The long jouney has taken a toll on me and I wish to be alone.” They know that tone. They know what you say is less of a suggestion and is most definitely a command. And they know better than to cross you when you’re tired. Being short tempered is something you have learned from Daemon while growing up. He truly was your father in every way imaginable except biologically.

Once in the comforts of your room you let a deep beath out. And there it is on your bed. You hoped it would be. The letter with the blue wax seal on it. A sapphire blue.

“Welcome back dear niece.

 The crown jewel has finally returned to the court.

 See you in the evening.”

                              ~ A. T.

It’s evening now and in another part of the Keep, Aemond seems to overhear a very important conversation on his way to his sister. One about the matter of your betrothal. “Those Hightower cunts” Daemon seethes openly. Mother? Aemond hides behind a pillar in the seemingly deserted corridor while he heard his uncle openly badmouth his “kin” without any care of who might hear. The doors to the chamber were left ajar. “When you suggested y/n be betrothed to Aegon and Jace to Helaena. She refused the very moment it was suggested. Appalled that such a proposal can even be made. And now when we are here to have the king’s blessing to betroth Jace to y/n, the so called Hand has already made a suggestion for a match between that one eyed boy knight and our daughter!” Rhaenyra is just silent. Daemon seethes in his anger. But all Aemond focuses on is that he could have your hand if his mother finds a way. And also, a little angry that Jacaerys Velaryon, rather Strong, might covet what’s his.

Fuelled by what he refuses to call jealousy, the prince makes his way through the Keep. With only one destination in mind, he storms through the corridors paying no mind to the strange looks he receives. And its as if he is 10 again, knocking at the doors of his beloved friend. But now he is a man of 19, and she is more than his friend. She is his destiny and he will have her.

You’re busy taking your heavy necklace off, opting to wear long delicate crystal earring instead which matches the long flowy gown you changed into for the tea when you notice the knocks. Thinking its your ladies-in-waiting you yell out a “Come in.” Setting the necklace on top of the dresser, you’re surprised to find Aemond’s reflection staring at you through the mirror. “My prince” you turn to face him, still sitting at your vanity, “Aren’t you here a little early for the tea?”

“Hmm…” Aemond just hums in reply and sits on the settee nearby, “I’ve come to know of an interesting proposition regarding you my niece”. That was enough to have your attention, “And what that might be Aemond?” you cock an eyebrow at him. “You’re going to be betrothed by the time your stay here ends”. You’re a little stunned but you expected this coming. Your mother has given you the liberty to choose who you might marry but you won’t do so at the expense of her political foothold. Marriage cannot always be for love and you will follow your duty like the honorable Princess of the realm you are if that is what’s required of you. “Yes, I’m aware” you tell him plainly. “I think they have Jacaerys in mind.”

“And you have no issue regarding it” Aemond asks, finding himself to be a little unnerved at your calm demeanour. “No issue whatsoever?” And you can’t help but sigh “It is what is expected of me uncle. Targaryens are known to marry their siblings. Look at yours. I always knew that there might be a possibility of me marrying Jacaerys. I am my mother’s firstborn. Her heir. But I am not a son. She only seeks to squash any problem that might raise for when I ascend the throne by marrying me to her firstborn son.”

“He’s not worthy of you. None of those plain-featured boys. You’re more valyrian than they are with your silver hair.” Aemond speaks out. “If I were you, I would watch my tongue Aemond. Don’t want you to lose your other eye due to your idiocy.” You say casually while combing through your hair.

Aemond was a little sick of your nonchalant attitude. How can you agree to this match? Why do you seem so fine? Why are you willing to go through with this? All he can do is sit in silence, his eye refusing to watch your figure, his ego stopping him from expressing what he wants. But you know what he wants, and you want him to say it out loud.

You get up from the vanity, your silver hair in loose waves, the setting sun casting an ethereal glow around you. You look like the very picture of an angel to Aemond with a halo behind you. And suddenly all he can see is you, all he can breathe is you. You’re close, too close to him, his knees are touching your leg as you stand in front of him. The door to your room is only closed shut and not locked. One can just simply walk in and catch you.

Your fingers ghost over his cheek, trailing up to his eyepatch. “Does it hurt now?” he hears you say. There is no pity on your face, just curiosity. And your touch is so delicate, so soothing. “Not as much. Sometimes when I have worked myself too hard a sharp sensation shoots up but then subsides in a while”. And now its your turn to hum. Bringing your other hand to his other cheek you gently cup his face. And Aemond’s lone eye meets yours.

His eye seems so vacant. But if I look hard enough, I can catch a glimpse of the young boy who chased me through the gardens. “Can I see it. Your eye?” you rub your thumb against his cheek. Affection. Aemond bring his hand up to reach for yours, the one on the side of the maimed eye. “It is ugly. It might frighten a lady.” He hesitates. She will take one look at me in my hideous glory and never look my way again.

“Not to me. Especially when its you.” That sentence holds a lot more meaning and truth than what one might think and you only hope Aemond understands. And Aemond does what you ask of him. He gently removes his eyepatch waiting for you to let out a gasp. He wants to close his eyes for your inevitable disgusted expression but he cannot look away from you. He looks at every muscle you move on your face but he doesn’t see a grimace, instead could it be, is it awe?

A soft smile graces your face, wildly different from what he anticipated it to be. “The sapphire compliments your features nicely. I hope the gem isn’t uncomfortable?” He is dumbstruck for a minute. “No, it doesn’t, I always wanted to thank you in person for this gift.” When his eye healed, Aemond was surprised to find the city’s most famous jeweller with a chest full of his best gems waiting for him in his mother’s parlour. A reparation I suppose, the queen had said, the Velaryon girl wrote this letter saying how “sorry" she was for her brother’s action and expresses her regret for not being able to defend you against her brother. He wanted you to be there with him when he woke the next day, he remembered your crying face when the master said Aemond’s maimed eye can’t be repaired. It’s worth it y/n. I lost an eye but gained the biggest dragon that there is.

You resume rubbing your thumb gently over his scar and that’s what brings him back. “No man, no matter how noble he is, deserves you”. “Then who does my prince? Pray tell”, you say. You know his answer. Just say it Aemond. I beg you. “I have a duty to the crown Aemond”, dropping your hands from his face, you walk away from him. “And I will do it, even if I don’t wish to.”

Aemond was furious “How can you be so blind? Do you not see my pain?”. Your back was turned to him and you closed your eyes in frustration. You turn to look at him, with angry tears in your eyes, “I am tired of waiting for you!” you yell, “These past years have been agonising. It hurt not to be around you. But those letters kept me going. Our secret exchanges were what I kept looking forward to every week.” Aemond’s chest is just heaving. “And just when I thought that there’s a sliver of chance you feel the same-”

“I do.” Aemond interrupts you. He reaches forward to hold you but you back away. “Then why Aemond” there’s a slight tremble in your voice. “Thousands of lords and knights came to have my hand. And I rejected every single of them, hoping that you will present yourself in front of my parents and ask for me. You claim to have affection for me but I don’t see it.” You cut him off before he has a chance to explain.

“I’ll show my love for you” is all the silver haired prince says before tugging you to him harshly and planting his lips on yours. Its wild, full of passion and fury. The kiss seems to ignite something in you. Both your inner dragons coming to life and breathing out fire. He’s burning you with the force of the emotions the kiss conveys.

Although you feel breathless you still craved more of him. Your hand went at the base of his neck, tangling at his roots. You drag him even close if that’s possible. Aemond’s one hand is around your throat, controlling your movement, dominating you completely. His other strongly grips your waist keeping you in place. Your lips move together in perfect synchronisation although there seems to be a bite here and there.

The Targaryens are only gods because of their dragons. Right now, right here, were two young lord and lady lost in each other and were in dire need of air yet unwilling to be apart, fearing what comes next. You’re the first to break the kiss. The evidence of your passion is seen on Aemond’s swollen red wet lips and messy hair and you can only imagine yours to look the same.

Aemond leans his head against yours, your foreheads touching. His eyes are closed in pleasure and a rare smile graces his leeps but all you can do is admire him through your eyelashes. “Make me your wife” you call out softly. “Ask my mother for my hand. I do not wish to marry Jacaerys…he is too much of a brother. It is you I want. I’ll fight for you if needed be” Aemond opens his eyes at that. “Silly girl”, he says, “The Queen has asked the King for our match to be made.” Your brows furrow in confusion, “My mother agrees?” Aemond brings a hand to caress your face, “I think she does. Daemon on the other…” Even you become anxious at that statement. “My uncle is a challenge I welcome” he continues, “Nothing can keep me away from you. I’ve waited years for this, I can’t let go of you now.”

You can’t help but smile. You loved Aemond but marrying him meant going against what your mother had taught you. Knowing the distaste Daemon held for the members of green party, and thinking of your brothers’ action against Aemond made you feel immensely guilty. But you waited all these years, you were the exceptional daughter all this while, ever obedient, ever graceful. Never a hair out of place. Always the perfect princess. And if Aemond is the treason you commit against your family, then you will happily be guilty as sin.

[blueberrypancakesworld]

Between the books is love

Prince/Archmaster Vaegon Targaryen x fem!reader

warning : mentioned children death, alcohol (drinking wine), fluff, comfort, holding hands, no use of Y/n

Summary : Jahaerys and Alysanne had many children princes and princesses but the seventh would go down as Archmaster Vaegon and early prince. A young man who favours books over others, but is that true? Is it true that he cannot love or is the young prince hiding something like everyone else at court?

Info : I wanted to write for Vaemond for a long time and I thought he needs some fluffy in his life have fun reading ;)

cover by me (again I really like it)

masterlist

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King Jahaerys the first of his name, the old king, the wise a man, a king and a father of thirteen children princes and princesses born to his beloved sister queen Alysanne Targaryen.

A royal couple who were probably among the most loved in history, rightly and wrongly, as duty, marriage and honour were something that would haunt the royal family, causing the deaths of many princes and princesses and rumoured to be a companion to the Dance of the Dragons.

But above all, the family was meant for the many different personalities of the children from the sweet little princesses who loved to have dolls and cats, the older sister who was a better fighter than some knights, the kind and respectful princes who could make it to king and the little runaways who caused trouble to the gentle simple ones.

Or the seventh son Vaegon Targaryen the only one of his family and one of the few with the blood of the dragon who neither had one nor was and would become king or prince for life.

The middle-born prince who never seemed to smile, who spent his silver-gold head behind books day in and day out seemed inquisitive, polite when it mattered and yet never did his duty again.

You never saw him fighting with his brothers, playing the harp or even in the dragon pit he was almost an oddity as if he was a shadow of his parents whose grief and emotions had turned away from him due to the many losses of his siblings. ,,An eccentric through and through who can't even fight properly...pathetic for a prince," she heard Alyssa say, sitting with her ladies in waiting in the garden under the white boy with the blood-like red leaves.

The princess and her high-born friends were surrounded by sweet food and bitter wine on a sunny day that had not started well. Taking a sip of the wine to stifle her words, she looked around.

She loved days like this when the sun was warm and she could just sit here with her friends and the princess, but thinking about tomorrow made her sad.

A kind of royal breakfast had been arranged in the great hall and the court had been invited to celebrate the alliance with a house, but there was an argument between Vaemond and her friend Alyssa.

The two-eyed woman had still not forgiven her younger brother for insulting his former fiancée and sister Daella as stupid. He shouldn't have said something like that back then, it was rude…but Alyssa is so mean, she thought, not realising how one of her friends was now trying to speak to her for the third time.

,,By the fire breath of Meyleys, where are your thoughts?" she finally heard the question and winced as the wine in her silver cup almost dripped onto the book on her lap and she quickly put the cup down.

,,Nowhere-nowhere, I'm just enjoying the day," she assured, but saw that her friends had seen through her and smiled. They all knew who each other fancied, some fancied a knight, others a lord, a merchant's son or Alyssa her brother, but they also knew that one of them fancied someone in particular.

,,Just enjoying the day? Or the thought of Vaegon giving you a look at breakfast today?" Lady Velaryon asked, her seahorse necklace moving slightly as she came closer, her eyes twinkling to depict the scene. While Alyssa put on an offended expression and mumbled about buffalo while making a grumpy expression.

Shaking her head slightly but not finding it funny, she rolled her eyes, ,,He doesn't like to smile and he's not always nice when he needs to be but he's a prince with a sense of duty and…well, pretty eyes," she defended herself and moments later was enveloped in a group hug by Alyssa and the others who all laughed together.

She appreciated her friends for that, they all supported each other and had even managed to have several meetings in the gardens and the courtyard, it was only a matter of time before they would all find a husband, the laughing flowers as they are sometimes called because of their different colour dresses and their hearty laughter.

The meeting that took place in the garden slowly came to an end in the afternoon as the princess had to go to Valyrian lessons and the others went about their own business. She, on the other hand, almost ran into the library where she had volunteered to dust books and refill candles.

A task she was quickly assigned by the servants who were happy not to do this as it was considered boring but not for her she liked reading love stories and dragons in addition to the ancient knowledge of the Archmasters. It was simply soothing and, above all, she could always see Vaegon sitting at a table with a pile of books next to him.

Opening the wooden door and going inside, it didn't take her long to grab the bucket of new white kezrne and a feather duster next to it and start crawling up the stairs into the upper, narrower and not insignificantly high compartment.

,,You always look like a spider," Alyssa had once said, removing spider threads from her hair as they only cleaned softly up there, but she didn't mind. It was a place where she could see everything and enjoyed reading alone or watching the prince in an almost forbidden way.

Time passed as she removed some of the cobwebs that almost enveloped the books, dusted them off and left them in there for a while before sorting them and replacing the candles in the shelves.

Some time passed and she heard the door open again, but a glance told her that it was neither one of the servants nor the castle's own master, it was her favourite Vaegon.

Just as she thought, he went to the shelves to get his books but she felt nervous when she saw him suddenly take the stairs up here.

looking down and smiling at him, ,,Good day my Prince Vaegon a pleasure to see you" she greeted him and felt the warmth on her cheeks as she looked into the violet eyes. Saw that he looked a little surprised when he saw her and looked at the books as he seemed to have found one. ,,My lady, could you give me the book on the ancient ores of Valyria, second shelf, third row?" he asked, pointing to the row in question.

Nodding hastily, she turned round and looked for it, feeling her heart beat faster as he called her My Lady and heard his quieter, ,,Thank you for making the effort" as he slowly descended the stairs again and waited for her.

She took the book he had meant to find and decided to fetch the ores and the dust mop later. Descending the stairs with the book in her hand, she had her eyes on Vaegon rather than her feet, which caused her to let out a startled cry as she stepped next to a ladder rung and lost her footing.

She clutched the book as if it would give her support, closing her eyes in fear of the pain as if that would make it any better. But instead of hitting the ground with a thud, she felt someone pulling her close.

Someone was holding her just too tightly, their fingers closed around her body and a smell of leather, wax and wine was coming towards her. ,,Are you all right?" was the first thing she heard as she looked into the completely worried face of Vaegon, who had slowly sat down on the floor while her body lay in his arms. His violet eyes showed life, emotion and concern for someone who was not himself for the first time.

He could feel some care that came from something deeper, otherwise she was sure he would have just let everyone else go down. His fingers holding her arms still didn't let her go and she just nodded slowly, ,,Yes-yes I'm fine thank you Vaegon" she replied, almost whispering, the shock and fear making her slightly fuzzy, her hands still closed tightly around the book and she held it out to him appathetically as if it was her life's work.

But then she heard something she had never heard before his laughter he laughed and laughed he thought it was hilarious that she was holding the book out to him and hugged her even closer. ,,Oh my lady you're ready for anything sweet and amusing" he said and she saw the surprised sparkle in his violet eyes as he slowly rose and pulled her to her feet.

His hand still gripped hers as he gave her another thank you and led her to his table, ,,Please take care lady and join me," he said, pointing to the chair next to him where he helped her up and slid one of his books over to her which contained Royal Houses of the First Men.

,,Light reading to ease your mind and distract you I wouldn't want anything to happen to you" he said and squeezed her hand lightly before opening his book and staying with her talking to her about books, wine and the citadel, his house, her house but above all he didn't let go of her hand and kept stroking and squeezing it to signal to her that he was there.

A prince would protect her whether with a smile or without one Vaegon was there for her he could very well feel something and it was a love hidden between two bookworms who saw each other more than once in the library and not just to read.

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[merrivia]

I feel like one of the things I enjoy most about the Captive Prince trilogy is where you really glimpse the hidden complexity of the books, those flashes of the engineering under the bonnet which Pacat only allows us glimpses of, here and there. There’s so many moments like that, but I feel like the idea of Auguste as a protector and Laurent’s hero-worship of his brother, has particularly stuck with me and made me want to delve into it more today.

We know Auguste is quite a bit older than Laurent; Laurent was 13, and Auguste 25, when he died at Marlas (Pacat loves her doubling and mirroring; it’s no coincidence to Laurent’s developing feelings for him, that Damen is a mirror image of Auguste in many ways, and symbolically 25 at the start of Captive Prince, like a dark resurrection, living the life Auguste should have had in Laurent’s eyes). We know that Auguste is a doting older brother; allowing Laurent to win against him when they horse raced, that they had brotherly discussions over sexuality and relationships, August giving Laurent advice (sweetly, we can assume Auguste also gave him The Talk, and that Laurent no doubt explained primly that thank you but he had already read all about That). We know that Laurent idolised Auguste, and that it was common knowledge that the two were “devoted” to each other. Even in the mind of the reader, Auguste seems special and golden; we know so little about him, and yet we love him too, especially for how much he loved Laurent. We know that tragically, Damen’s killing of Auguste, metaphorically killed Laurent also- his heart broken by the loss of Auguste compounded with the killing off of his childhood, all of his innocence, and the locking away of all the softer sides of himself, as he is abused and manipulated by his uncle.

I think a particularly heartbreaking part of it all is the rumour of Laurent having unnatural feelings for his brother.

Obviously, the source of this was the Regent, and it goes without saying that the Regent’s corruption is so malignant, that he invented this rumour to take the cleanest, purest love in Laurent’s life and turn it into something disgusting, to undermine Laurent psychologically, to disrupt his grieving process and to manipulate the political landscape. As soon as that rumour was floated, whenever it was, to grieve too much too openly, to try to honour his brother’s memory in any public way, would feed into the rumours of incest (and I am sure the Regent liked the neatly villainous irony of the fact that it is he who had the incestuous desires, and he gets to displace that onto the innocent Laurent). That’s perhaps one of the reasons why Laurent’s grief turns into such rage; firstly, there is the loss, secondly, his grief is manipulated into sexual abuse but thirdly, he was never allowed to openly grieve as he would have liked. Like a wound that festers, Laurent cannot heal as a consequence.

The really tragic thing here is that the Regent got to have Auguste; he took him so completely away from Laurent, that even in death, Laurent was denied his brotherly relationship to him, to completely and utterly emotionally isolate him. The Regent in doing so, got complete control- he could subtly destabilise any hold the memory of Auguste had over the Council and court which would transfer to Laurent, and instead cleave himself to the image of Auguste. He became the only one who gets to mention the perfect golden prince, weaponising him against Laurent, using him to highlight Laurent’s shortcomings, and his own strengths. 

And poor, poor Laurent is just not completely isolated in general, which is bad enough- he also has no-one to even talk to about his brother, it seems (especially someone who he can confide in, who might be the same or similar rank as him, which is what he needs). Even before the incest rumours, that would be a fine piece of manipulation against Laurent- boys are weak and grieve and need to talk about how they feel, where men are strong and keep hold of their emotions. And so any sign of his grieving too much, would weaken Laurent further politically. The only thing that he has then, is revenge. Revenge is his grief. I think in a way, one of the reasons why Laurent could never quite beat his uncle at his own game, was not just because he always underestimated how evil he was, but also how he was always split in two- to revenge himself on Damianos is his only way of holding onto the memory of Auguste, and yet he also needs to beat his uncle, which divided his goals. Yet I also think his rage sustained him, gave him a goal to keep living, to keep training his body hard, when he must have felt so worn out and afraid and helpless against the power of The Regent. In a way, Damen has always kept Laurent alive, whether as a shadowy figure of hate that motivated him, or as a warrior guardian, powerful enough to throw a two handed sword and impale a fellow Akielon to save him or, finally, as the man who loves him and will kill to protect him.

So Laurent’s mother died, and his father paid no real attention to him, and it is clear in the novels, that Auguste’s presence was the one barrier that stood between him and the Regent. Who guarded Laurent’s bedroom door? The Prince’s Guard under Auguste? At first I wondered whether Laurent noticed his uncle’s attentions previous to Marlas; whether in subtle ways, he went to his brother for protection. But that doesn’t fit with the phrasing Laurent uses about himself as a young teenager (”think of the greenest innocent you have ever tumbled”). Incidentally, it is heartbreaking that he cannot see the idea of a youthful boy and/or himself at that age unless it’s on sexual terms; it is a reminder of how to be young for Laurent means to be sexually exploited and how the abuse traumatised him, took away his childhood, and shaped him into this razor-sharp blade of a man in the form of a beautiful prince (it also shows how insidious it is that the Regent keeps calling him a boy, to try and reduce him over and over to the abused child he controlled). So I don’t think Laurent did see it; was too young to see it. In fact, I don’t think Laurent saw what was going to happen, until the first time he was forced onto his knees by the Regent. But I wonder whether Auguste did.

Laurent does mention that Auguste is like Damen-  as Laurent says ”“He had no instinct for deception; it meant he couldn’t recognise it in other people.”. But as I have discussed before, being an honourable warrior doesn’t mean you’re stupid, and the sexual proclivities of the Veretians doesn’t quite fall into the same category as political machinations to me. Even Laurent can recognise that yes, his uncle is a paedophile, a predator, but he can’t seem to believe that the Regent would kill his own brother or kill him till there is stark evidence to prove it. It stands to reason then that Auguste may have never thought the Regent would do as he did, but that he could see the signs of his prurient interest in Laurent. 

This also might tie into Laurent being so beautiful, and how Veretian beauty standards glorify young males (from pre-pubescent onwards). He tells Damen that he has been the recipient of offers for “as long as he could remember”- a highly disturbing statement, which suggests as a minor, Laurent was sexually propositioned over and over. Auguste must have stood in the way of that, silenced the mouths of any man who dared speak about his brother like that. Perhaps just knowing that Auguste would cut the hand off of the man who touched his brother was enough to keep Laurent safe. Did Auguste actually explicitly stop the Regent abusing him, though?

If the Regent’s victims start as young as 11, then that was a few years of sexual interest he may have had in Laurent, which Auguste may have thwarted. And just like Damen wouldn’t hear of a word against Kastor, I wonder whether Auguste knew his father wouldn’t hear a word against the Regent- after all, Aleron trusted his brother’s word so much, he marched his army on to the field at Marlas instead of keeping to the security of his fortress, a tactic that made no sense and led to his assassination. We only see the court of Vere as the Regent’s court too- was he ever so open about his child pets before the death of Aleron? We know he had them, as Paschal was the Regent’s physician and tended to them (and the medical attention they might need to their too-young bodies is another layer of quiet horror), so perhaps we can assume that it was something that everyone knew about, but simply turned a blind eye to. 

My feelings are it could be either way- Auguste may have seen the Regent’s paedophilia and kept him away from Laurent instinctively, or he may have seen him openly display sexual interest and thwarted him deliberately, or he may have simply stood in the way of anyone who tried to get to Laurent and the Regent steered clear as a consequence. We will obviously never get a clear answer on this, so I think what’s more important is simply that Auguste was a barrier and how that feeds into Laurent’s beliefs. The reader can imagine that Auguste would perhaps never have said anything too openly to him about such things (beyond advice...I can picture him sternly telling Laurent to never go anywhere alone with an older man at court or to tell him if anyone said anything inappropriate him or tried to touch him), but Laurent can see that no-one dared harass him before Auguste’s death and then after...well. Abuse at night, we assume, and at Chastillon, and any number of attempts at ‘seductions’ in the day. All Laurent knows is that the abuse wouldn’t have happened had Damen not killed his brother, so in his mind, Auguste as the shining golden protector-hero is so sacrosanct that he cannot, even after all this time, truly believe or accept that Damen beat him. It’s why, when they fight in King’s Rising, Laurent says the “ludicrous” words that Auguste would have “stopped” Damen, when we all know he didn’t (yes there is the argument that 19 year old Damen had not been fighting for hours, was fresh from the sidelines, and that played into his victory, but the point is moot...). Laurent knows what he’s saying is absurd, but Auguste is perhaps semi-mythical to him at this point, this lodestar of an ideal to live up to, the ultimate white knight, brightly alive still in his mind, who would/could/should have saved him.

The Regent’s plan to kill his brother, King Aleron, must have included a secondary plan to kill Auguste, as an obstacle to the throne, even though we don’t know what that was. Damen coming along to kill him, neatly did this for him. I wonder if it added another layer to the victory over his brother and nephew killed, to finally have access to Laurent at, horrifyingly, just the right time, less than a year before true puberty would hit and the Regent’s sexual desire in him would fade. Very little of the inner life of The Regent is revealed to us, everything being layer upon layer of machinations, facade after facade, to hide his utter cruelty, but you do wonder whether this abuse of Laurent made him feel particularly gleeful. Or whether it was simply to kill two birds with one stone- to get a man (boy) underneath you is the ultimate power play, and thus the Regents gets to both enjoy Laurent’s beauty sexually, and set up a dynamic which will ruin Laurent in the present and future and allow the Regent to have a power over him that fits in very nicely to him getting the throne. It is breathtakingly cruel I think, that the ruination of Laurent on a personal level was probably secondary, a mere byproduct of a wider plan.

One of the beautiful things about Damen and Laurent’s relationship is he can talk about Auguste again, even with the memory of his death at Damen’s hands casting a long shadow between them. Laurent does this naturally, almost unthinkingly, before he even admits to himself that they’re in love. I think the reason why is Damen’s sense of morality, his pure, uprightness. As he awkwardly says in response to Laurent trying to make clear that what Govart said was a lie, he never believed that to be true. This is a man to whom incest is unfathomable, where there is no suspicion, no cynicism, no reading into Laurent’s words to try and find the incest that isn’t there because there is no smoke without fire. Laurent finally can talk about how much he loved his brother, without being dragged in the mud for it, restoring it back, openly, in words spoken out loud, to the purity it had.

[dingusfreakhxrrington]

Taming The Dragon Pt. 2

pairing: aemond targaryen x fem!reader

summary: as the wedding draws near you start to wonder if aemond will ever truly open up to you

warnings: canon-typical violence, angst, fluff if you squint, troubled aemond, mentions of trauma, mentions of death, mentions of murder, mentions of war, arranged marriage, cold and distant aemond, aemond is secretly soft for reader, canon divergent, mentions of alcohol, mentions of sexual activity

word count: 4.5k

part 1 | part 3 (coming soon)

read on ao3

a/n: i was expecting to finish this fic after two parts but it got a little longer than intended so there will be a third and final part, hopefully coming soon 🤍

extra note: not proof-read so please lmk if you spot any mistakes or anything that doesn't make sense 🤍

friendly reminder that comments and reblogs are just as (if not more than) important as likes!

Once again a few days passed before you next saw him. He was busy apparently, although you had heard whispers among the servants that he had gone missing one night only to come back reeking of cheap ale. There were even rumours of him visiting a whore house in the deepest depths of depravity, not that you paid them much mind.

There was little the rumours could do to offend you, you did not know him very well after all. As his future wife your blood should have boiled at the mention of his late-night endeavours but in truth, you felt as though it was no business of yours who the prince chose to spend his nights with.

Despite the sayings around the palace that the young prince may have begun to lose his way, he still fulfilled his duties in courting you. Although you were almost certain he wouldn’t have so much as glanced your way had his mother not pushed him to do so. Still, you were grateful for his time.

Whether he wanted to be there or not he showed no sign of displeasure, nor disinterest despite his often wandering mind. When he did speak, his words were few and far between but he always made sure to pay attention to whatever you had to say.

You had done much talking about simple things such as the weather or the shape of the clouds in the sky. He, however, mostly sat in silence listening to you. Not that you minded. It was easier this way.

The rumours about him continued as the days passed but their focus had changed. It seemed he still left the keep most nights but no longer came back quite so drenched in ale. Rather, he seemed to have found solace in his outings, wherever it was they took him.

Before long you found that his visits to you were growing ever so slightly more frequent. It was a peculiar thing particularly because you mostly sat in silence together after a quiet greeting. Although it had started to feel less forced and more so as if he had chosen to be there rather than being pressed by his mother to accompany you.

Maybe he was just trying to get himself used to you. He was to spend the rest of his life with you, after all. He had started to learn your favourite places within the keep without even asking you. In the mornings he had found you liked to go for a walk in the gardens. Most afternoons he spotted you mindlessly wandering your new home before you would return to your room. He even knew that he could often find you in the library during the evening, usually with your head stuck in one of the many books there.

In truth, he had found himself at peace when he was with you. Unlike almost everyone else around him, you were the only one he did not feel judged by. They all whispered. They always had. Whether about the eye he lost as a boy or the child he had slain in cold blood, all anyone could do was whisper. Not you, though. You just smiled at him and allowed him to sit quietly by your side as you went about whatever you were doing.

“What are you reading?” he asked.

He had been standing there for a while, shoulder leant up against the old wall next to the fireplace. Not once had he said a word as he watched you read, not wishing to disturb you.

You glanced up, noticing the sharp details of his face as the light from the fire flickered against him. He looked handsome under its glow yet there was still an aura of mystery surrounding him. “Nothing that would draw your interest, I am sure.”

Lowly, he chuckled and pushed himself up away from the wall so he was once again standing straight. He walked closer and held out his hand expectantly as he waited for you to hand it over.

With a sigh, you passed it over to him and watched as he turned it over to examine the cover all the while holding it open on the page you had been reading so you would not lose your place.

You watched anxiously as a smirk pulled at the corner of his lips and his eye flickered up from the page back to you.

“Ah, the art of war. What makes a lady like yourself want to read such a thing?”

It was the first time you had heard a tone of amusement in his voice.

“A war is coming, is it not? I wish to be prepared for what is to come so that I may properly support you and our family, to stand by your side through the thick of the storm. It will be my duty as your wife to do so, after all.”

He chuckled again, so warmly in fact that for a moment you were unsure if the warmth of the fire had finally thawed the icy cage around his heart.

“You are full of surprises, lady stark.”

You gladly took the book back when he held it out for you, thankful that his thumb was still placed firmly between the pages you were reading, and pressed your finger to the beginning of the next paragraph before looking up at him again.

“As are you, my prince.”

His smirk faltered at that, falling into something softer as he retook his place against the mantel watching once more as you continued to read.

He lingered longer that evening, standing in silence as he always did before later taking his leave. When he was gone you couldn’t help but feel that a newfound emptiness had settled into the room in his absence.

Time seemed to move differently after that. When he was by your side everything seemed to slow down and it was as if the two of you were in your own separate bubble, free from the outside world.

He came and went much as he had done so before and although you had little meaningful conversation, you found him speaking more often than he once had. Not only had he begun to engage more in conversation but you had noticed his expression changed toward you.

His sharp, cold features seemed almost gentle as he looked at you, his one good eye fixated on the way the sun reflected off the apples of your cheeks when you smiled. He was captivated. Completely and utterly enthralled. Most of all, however, he found himself lost in you, his one last tether to sanity.

There was a great disturbance within him, one he tried his best to hide around you. No matter how much he wished he could have concealed it there was no hiding the truth from you. Not to mention, you were not deaf to the rumours that he had been different since that night on Storm’s End.

You, however, were new in his life. There were no prior expectations. He had a clean slate with you and you were yet to be tainted by his darkness. Still, he was worried you would eventually see him for the monster he truly was.

“What is it?” you asked, finally working up the courage to give him an opportunity to open up to you.

He hummed in question as he allowed the gentle sound of your voice to guide him back to the present.

“Something is on your mind. Something is always on your mind. What is it?”

For a moment you were worried you had overstepped as he stood quietly, quieter than before, and leaned closer to the flickering flames. His brows had drawn tensely together, his fingers curling almost into a fist as he leaned against the mantle as he always did.

Just as you were about to speak — to tell him not to answer — his voice met your ears, “What do you think of me, Lady Stark? What do you see when you look at me? A prince? A dragon, perhaps? Do you see the monster that hides inside? By now you have heard what I have done have you not? You know I murdered my nephew in cold blood.”

His voice was thick and heavy, full of nothing but an endless void. Not once had his eye moved from its place on the fire, nor had his fingers uncurled. He stood still, almost scarily so as he waited for your reply.

You placed the book you had been reading down on the table beside you and stood, though you did not dare take a step closer.

“Pardon me if I speak too plainly, but I do not think you a bad man, even if you yourself do not believe it.”

Still, he did not move but you did not miss the way he tensed the muscles in his hand at your words.

With a deep breath, you continued. “You put up a cold front. Acting as though you do not care that you lit the blaze of war by getting revenge on the boy who wronged you but in truth, I think it haunts you. You wanted the boy to pay for what he had taken from you but you did not wish death upon him. I think you are plagued with guilt over what transpired that night. Most of all, however, I think you are afraid you will lose control of your dragon again.”

By the time you had finished, you stood only a few paces from him and, when he abruptly moved closer to you, you braced yourself for the strike that never came.

He stood before you with his hand still raised as if he were frozen in time. Only when you opened your eyes did he move again, placing a gentle hand on your cheek in stark contrast to the stinging pain you had initially expected.

Aemond too seemed surprised by himself. Only seconds ago he had intended to strike you for what you had said but the moment he saw you with your eyes squeezed shut and face already turned in preparation for what was to come, he realised you were right. He had never told anyone other than his mother that he lost control of Vhagar and yet somehow you knew.

You knew it had not been his intention to kill Lucerys and you knew by intuition alone. You truly believed he was not the evil he thought himself to be.

His lips were warm and soft when they came to yours as if pulled by a secret magnetic force. They were not quite how you had imagined them to be. He seemed hesitant for a moment but when you felt him move to pull away you found yourself unconsciously chasing after him, pulling him back to you as you cupped either side of his face.

His thumb ran soothingly across your skin as he carded his fingers through your hair, allowing your arms to slither up around his neck as he kissed you again.

“How did you know?” he asked when you parted for air, “that I lost control of Vhagar?”

You smiled and reached up, brushing a strand of long silver hair from his face. “Because you’re not a murderer.”

His eye strayed from yours then as his face turned ever so slightly away. “Part of me wanted to kill him. Part of me wanted him dead.”

Your fingers gently touched his skin, turning him back to look at you as you smoothed your hand against his cheek. “And yet, what happened that night plagues your every waking moment.”

His one good eye bore into your own, pupil widening as he allowed your words to sink in. For the first time in weeks, he came to realise that he wasn’t quite the monster he believed himself to be.

“With conflict comes death, it is simply the way of the world. You cannot change what happened that night, Aemond. You must move on.”

From that moment on, he was with you every second he could spare. He initiated conversation with you more and spoke more freely of himself and his past, allowing himself to slowly open up to you as each day passed by.

He liked to read too, you were surprised to find out. Although he still preferred to spend his time chasing more practical pursuits like ensuing his form was always in top shape when he duelled or trying his best to help with the current situation as a newly appointed member of the great council.

You watched him train sometimes, surprised to find he was actually quite the elegant swordsman, even if he wasn’t afraid to play dirty sometimes. It was during one of his training sessions that you met his sister, Helaena. She was a lot more likeable than you were expecting from the sister-wife of the king, although she was a little odd. Still, that only added to her unique charm and made her all the more interesting to talk to.

It was also the first time you had seen Aegon, whom Helaena came to watch despite not seeming all that interested in their sparring. He seemed younger than you had pictured, shorter too. Not to mention he had an air of arrogance around him that seemed more befitting a young child than the king of the Seven Kingdoms.

As they trained, you couldn’t help but notice the stark difference between the brothers and were suddenly all the more grateful that you were marrying the prince rather than the king.

When it came time for them to spar against one another, you saw the sparkle in Aemond’s eye. He liked fighting his brother then, you supposed. Although he was up against the king, he did not hold back and blocked every onslaught as though it were nothing. This, of course, upset Aegon quite a lot as he clearly felt that he, as the eldest son and king of the realm, should have easily been able to defeat his younger brother.

Aemond, although more composed than his brother, taunted the king who had been showing off prior to his duel with his brother, and even glanced up at you with a smirk before he bought the duel to a swift end.

Of course, Aegon stormed off and called another of his usual sparring partners out to fight him, taking his anger out on the poor soldier.

It wasn’t that Aegon was a poor swordsman, in fact, he was actually rather good, but Aemond was better and less prone to letting his emotions dictate his movements.

“He was unkind to you when you were growing up, wasn’t he?” when Aemond only raised an eyebrow at your sudden question, you clarified, “Your brother. The way you fought him… The two of you do not get along.”

With a dry scoff, he nodded and confirmed your assumptions.

“No, we do not. Aegon is,” he paused and took a breath, “Exhausting.”

Now it was you who was raising a brow as you sat beside him, thankful for the warmth of the nearby fire.

“He does not deserve to be king,” he explained, “He’s never wanted it, not once. Do you know how many times he has run away? Gone missing for days on end? Do you know how many bastards he’s-“ He glanced at you, aware now that he was stepping just a little too far.

You were not his wife, not yet, so it was improper of him to burden you with such talk.

He massaged the tensed muscles in his brow with a lengthy exhale. “The throne was handed to him on a great, golden platter. He has not worked for it, not once. My brother is not fit to rule but, as much as I may despise him, he is my brother and my king. As long as he seats the Iron Throne he will have my support. Not for his sake, but for my mother’s.”

You smiled understandingly and lifted your book, flicking it open to the page you were on. Aemond visibly relaxed at the action, enjoying the peace he found in sitting with you while you read and too picked up a novel you had recently recommended to him.

With war fast approaching and the Blacks finally beginning to make their moves, the queen mother made your wedding to Aemond a top priority in order to secure the support of the North.

Guests had been arriving for a number of days now, although you were yet to find your brother among them. There had been word that Jacaerys Velaryon himself had travelled to Winterfell on dragonback to earn the support of Cregan, who had already made his allegiances to the crown. However, those allegiances were void until your marriage to Aemond.

You could only pray Cregan would arrive lest he make an enemy of the very family you were marrying into. It was he who pushed you into this, after all. For the pride in a Stark owning their own dragon. The deal was as good as done, all that was left were the vows you had already prepared.

“Relax, she will not harm you.”

The day before your wedding, Aemond decided it was high time for you to meet Vhagar in person and, of course, you were a little more than nervous.

“I am not afraid,” you reminded almost sternly, although you could not hide the slight tremor in your voice. “I just- I haven’t seen a dragon so close before.”

He smirked and reached out for your hand, fingers gently tugging against your own as he led you deeper into the Dragonpit.

If it were not for the subtle glow of candlelight, it would have been pitch black down there you were sure. The pit was closed tight, every door shutting behind you as you traversed further inside. Although, you had a feeling this was not to keep the dragons safe inside. Only those trustworthy were allowed inside other than the riders themselves.

Other than the occasional dragonkeeper, you passed almost no one as Aemond led you through the darkness.

You could hear them as you quietly walked along. Dragons. You could hear them moving, sounding as though they were almost docile by nature although you knew this not to be true.

As your heart drummed against your chest, you wished you could have had Frost by your side but the snow-white dire wolf had been left behind with your servants for a nice warm bath. He had started to warm up to the now familiar servants who came to care for him from time to time, especially Reila who had taken a quick liking to the obedient creature.

Dire wolves were kinder than dragons, you supposed. Easier to tame.

One last corner and the two of you came to a stop. Aemond still stood in front of you, as if protecting you from the shadows inside. You peered past him as he pulled on your hand slightly, moving you so that you were standing with your face to his back.

It was a low grumble of sorts, the sound that ricocheted off the walls of the dark cave. A sound akin to death itself. Then, came the slight rumble of movement in the inky blackness before you and a large, scaly face emerged, lit dimly under the candlelight.

Instinctively, Aemond outstretched an arm and placed his hand gently against the humongous creature’s maw. His voice was calm as he took one step closer to the creature, letting go of your hand.

“I have someone for you to meet.”

As if in response, the dragon huffed and pushed slightly against his hand before turning its head towards you.

Your breath caught in your throat when you realised just how large she was — the largest dragon in all of Westeros — and you found your eyes almost immediately flickering over to Aemond in hopes he would tell you what to do.

Rather than speak, he simply jutted his chin forward, encouraging you to move closer to the great beast.

She will not harm you. His previous words rang out in your head and, choosing to trust the man you were to wed in less than a full day, you cautiously took a step closer to the dragon.

When she did not move and simply looked down at you curiously, you took another step and, like Aemond, reached out an arm to pet her. You did not close your eyes for you felt the dragon deserved to be greeted with respect rather than fear. She, however, did close hers while she huffed once again as though out of approval when your hand pressed softly against her.

It was only then that a true smile graced your lips and, rather than turn back to Aemond, you moved closer to the large dragon still, no longer wanting her at arm's length.

You felt her thick, scaly skin under your fingers as you moved your hand up and down, the gesture seemingly pleasing the creature.

“I knew she’d like you.” Aemond smiled fondly as he moved back to your side, reaching out to place his hand on top of yours, stilling your movements against the dragon.

Vhagar nudged forwards against the two of you one last time as he pulled you away, hand still over your own as your back hit his chest.

As the dragon retreated back into the shadows, returning to her slumber, he rested his chin on your shoulder and took in a deep, soothing breath. He had liked things the way they were and, although he was more than looking forward to your marriage, a part of him was worried things would not change for the better.

“Are you sure this is what you want?”

With a questioning hum, he moved away from you again and you turned to him.

“Are you sure you want to marry me?” he asked, eye fixed on yours. You frowned and opened your mouth to speak but before you could he continued, “As my wife, you will only be put in danger. War is coming and I… I will not always be able to protect you.”

“I do not need you to protect me and it does not matter who I marry. Either way, I will be pulled into the fight. I would much rather be on the side of those I love.”

His eye widened at that. It was a word he had not heard often, other than from his mother, and a feeling he was not sure he could truly feel. Not until he met you.

He did not move even an inch when you advanced and kissed him under the shadowed light of the Dragonpit. Vhagar did not stir, leaving the two of you to your moment in her home as he cupped either side of your face, smiling against you.

You spent a little longer in the Dragonpit, enjoying the feeling that you were alone in the world, until it came time for dinner.

The queen mother, or Alicent as you had come to know her by in your time together, was insistent that you eat with her on your last night as Lady Stark. Aemond, however, would be joining his brother for an outing you could only imagine would include a lot of drinking and girls. Not that you minded so much as you knew his heart was already yours.

It was a slightly jarring thought that you were going to be a member of the great house of Targaryen come the morrow, not to mention soon to be gifted your own dragon. Although you were unsure what unclaimed dragon you would have the chance of taming.

You had read up on them, eager to know the ins and outs of every single unclaimed dragon to ensure you would be prepared come the time to claim one. Alicent had said you would have your pick of them, after all, so you wanted to get to know them some before the time came to make your choice.

There was Vermithor, an old dragon who had been riderless since the death of King Jaehaerys I. He would have made for a bold choice, perhaps one too ambitious for even you. Not that it mattered much though as you later read that the dragon resided in his lair on Dragonstone which was, of course, home to the opposing side.

Then there was Cannibal, a dragon known for eating its own kind and never once taking a rider, and Sheepstealer, both of whom you ruled out pretty quickly as they also resided on Dragonstone and were therefore, as good as impossible to obtain.

One dragon which had caught your eye was Grey Ghost, who was named as such because he was evasive by nature and rarely seen. A swift flyer who could get you out of many a sticky situation if needed. The only issue would have been finding him; until you found that he too resided on Dragonstone.

You had sighed then, finding that other than those were Silverwing and Seasmoke, both also residing out of your reach on Dragonstone and Driftmark.

Still, some part of you half-believed that the promise of a dragon had always been a lie. Although Alicent seemed a woman of her word, with all the unclaimed dragons on enemy territory and the fact that you yourself had no Targaryen blood, it seemed unlikely they had ever truly intended to grant you your own fire-breathing beast.

Still, it was not like they would tell you that before the wedding unless they wanted you to tell your brother only for him to call it off and take you back to Winterfell. It was he who cared so much about dragons, after all. You, in all honesty, did not care so much for them. Well, they were beautiful creatures and you admired them a great deal, especially after your meeting with Vhagar, but you would not have minded so much if you were not to have one of your own.

You had frost, after all, and Aemond. The political engagement had become something you were now looking forward to after having found something unexpected in King’s Landing — love.

“Still no news of your brother?”

With a sign, you returned your attention to the woman who was soon to become your mother through marriage. “No, but I am sure he will be here.”

Alicent hummed in thought and rested her head atop her delicate hands. “We must hope so. You and Aemond will be married tomorrow, whether he is in attendance or not.”

You smiled, glad to hear she would not call it off over the absence of your brother, and tried to ignore the possibility that she was only going forward with it to use you as leverage against Cregan should he have changed his mind and returned to the oath your father had made.

Jacaerys Velaryon would have reminded Cregan of this oath upon his visit to Winterfell, you were certain, and it was concerning that you had not heard from him since.

Your meal with the queen mother was as pleasant as any other, particularly as you were still full of that pre-wedding daze. Even as you walked back to your room, your heart continued to pound as if it had been longing for this moment for an eternity...

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[kingedwardvi]

Curiously enough, I’ve only recently watched “Becoming Elizabeth” as I’ve concomitantly read Edward VI’s biography.

It is hardly a surprise to observe there were great differences between the show and the book, specially concerning Katheryn Parr and Thomas Seymour’s own relationship.

Admittedly, though I know little of this matter myself, came across the excerpt below which gave me a lot to think about. For those who are little familiar with the first Dowager Queen of England in an almost a century (the last being Queen Elizabeth Wideville), the following content might actually come a surprise—or not.

What matters here is to promote not only a healthy discussion about their union, but showing that whereas Katheryn did love the man, she was not his first option to marry and she was not a “fool” completely blinded by her affection for him: she hesitated at first, unwilling to remarry in at least two years before becoming Lady Seymour out of respect for the king of England. However, Lord Thomas was a persuasive man, writing as far as a poem to claim the dowager queen’s heart—and he eventually succeeded it, as we are seeing next.

“Katherine moved into her dower house at Chelsea - away from the eyes at court, it was the ideal setting for Seymour to pay secret visits by night. Letters were sent and received, their contents, upon Katherine's urging, were quickly burnt: 'Your letter being finished ... I remembered your commandment to me’, Seymour wrote, ‘wherewith I threw it into the fire, be minding to keep your requests and desires’, yet the survival of both their letters suggest that neither was quite so willing to part with these tokens of love and affection.

Katherine confided her feelings to her friend Lady Paget, who urged marriage. But Katherine was hesitant. She wished 'it had been her fate to have him for a husband' but she was mindful of her position as queen. She had even kept the affair secret from her sister Anne who, when Katherine finally revealed the news, 'did not a little rejoice'.

As a growing number of friends discovered the secret of the affair, it became increasingly difficult to keep it hidden and rumours soon abounded. Meeting Seymour in St James's Park, Princess Elizabeth's servant Katherine Ashley challenged him over his marriage plans. Seymour boasted 'he would prove to have the queen', to which Ashley retorted that she thought this 'was past proof as I had heard he was already married to her'.

Ashley was right, for sometime between mid May and the beginning of June the couple had wed in secret, with one commentator believing the marriage had taken place as early as thirty-four days after Henry's death.

If this was true, then Katherine was playing a dangerous game - if she had become pregnant, there would have been no certainty that the child was Seymour's or Henry's. Katherine remained unwilling to commit herself, having doubts to the last.

She claimed she was his 'loving wife in her heart' but was determined 'never to marry, and break it when I have done, if I live two years'. Nevertheless, Seymour got his way. News of their marriage could not stay secret for long.

'I wish the world was as well pleased with our meaning as lam well assured [of ] the goodness of God's’, Katherine had lamented, 'but the world is so wicked that it cannot be contented with good things’. Instead she suggested that they find support for their union amongst the most powerful members of the council and court.

Seymour tested Princess Mary's reaction. It was not good. Mary considered it 'strange news', writing that if Katherine was keen, there was little she could do. In any case, 'being a maid' she was 'nothing cunning' about 'wooing matters'.

Instead, Mary appealed to her dead father's memory: if Katherine was not willing, certainly she would not 'persuade her to forget the loss of him, who is as yet very ripe in mine own remembrance’. Privately Mary was horrified at the prospect, and blamed Katherine for the affair. She possibly even appealed to Elizabeth to discourage the queen, but her half-sister, not wishing to stir up trouble, told her that they lacked any influence at court and should suffer with patience what was impossible to prevent.

Seymour would have to look elsewhere for support and he knew precisely whom to turn to. His confidence rested in the fact that he had managed to remain in regular contact with Edward through John Fowler, a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber, whom Seymour gave a bribe of £10 (£3,000) shortly after the coronation and before long was in his regular pay. Despite being almost continually in the presence of other gentlemen of the chamber, Fowler was soon able to converse with Edward and soon struck up a close friendship with the king, speaking to him alone.

It was not long before Seymour was calling in the favours. At the end of February he had met with Fowler over a drink and asked whether Edward had mentioned him - and in particular whether the king had ever wondered why he had remained unmarried. Would Edward be happy for him to marry? And who should he take as his bride?

Without asking too many questions, Fowler approached Edward a few days later, somewhat unsubtly repeating Seymour's queries. Edward's first reply was to suggest Anne of Cleves, but then, giving the matter more serious attention, answered that he thought Mary to be the best choice, if only 'to change her opinions'.

When Seymour heard, he laughed. 'I pray you, Mr Fowler, if you may soon, ask his Grace if he could be contented I should marry the Queen.’ He also wanted to know if Edward would write a letter on his behalf in support of the marriage.

It was at this time that Seymour, without Fowler's knowledge, began to visit Edward in private. It was not long before he had persuaded him to write a letter to Katherine, dated 25 June. Despite Edward writing to Katherine at the end of May urging her to 'continue to love my father', now the king seemingly endorsed her relationship with Seymour, since the letter ingeniously made their marriage appear as Edward's personal request to Katherine.

Moreover, it gave specific assurance that Edward would safeguard Katherine against any reaction from Somerset, who the couple knew would be furious at their secret union: 'Wherefore ye shall not need to fear any grief to come, or to suspect lack of aid in need; seeing that he, being mine uncle, is so good in nature that he will not be troublesome ... if any grief shall befall, I shall be a sufficient succour.'

The entire letter was no doubt composed by Seymour, who probably dictated it to the king.(…) When news of his brother's marriage leaked out, Somerset was furious. Edward's blessing made Somerset all the more enraged, and the king was not immune from the brunt of his anger, noting in his journal that 'the Lord Protector was much offended’.

But it was his wife Anne, the Duchess of Somerset, who took the greatest offence to the union. Described as 'a woman for many imperfections intolerable, and for pride monstrous, subtle and violent' who held Somerset under her sway 'by persuasions cunningly intermixed with tears', she detested Katherine.”

SKIDMORE, C. “Edward VI: The Lost King of England”.

[sweetestpopcorn]

You know, I don't believe that Tristan Truefyre was Viserys i's bastard but I think there's a possibility that Gaemon Palehair was in fact Aegon ii's bastard????? Given Aegon’s promiscuous nature it would not surprise me. There's also the thing about Gaemon's name. It is a targaryen name (compare that to Tristan, a common name), which makes me think he was deliberately given this name of all names. One can say that since his mother was a prostitute, she might not know it's a targaryen name and maybe randomly named him but I seriously don't think it's a coincidence. People don't just randomly give targaryen names to their children and the fact that she named her son Gaemon proves she did know some targaryen names maybe and also if the boy was really the son of some random lysene dude, I don't think even the lysene would use such names. She can still give her son a targaryen name despite her son not being half-targaryen but I just don't think so?? It might not be a coincidence that a silver haired boy with a targaryen name just claimed to be Aegon’s son during the dance. So what do think about it? I really like your answers, so I just wanted to know your opinion on it.

Hi there Anon 🤗

You know who this is a job for?

Kidding. Or am I? 😏

Two things, one, as I said some time ago and I will admit this is an Aquiles's heel of mine when reading a series like ASOIAF. I am not a fan of conspiracy theories nor do I like to lose a lot of time making theories about things. I am very much a person who likes their facts, which honestly makes me very good at my every day job, not the best at providing people with theories of what I think happened if I don’t have a lot of facts to base the theory on. I was taught not to speculate unless I have things to back it up on. Again something which is a golden rule in my job.

So, do I think it’s possible that Gaemon could have been Aegon II’s father? Given Aegon II’s track record it would be yes, as he is shown to be quite promiscuous and I am not even sure he knew all the places he had “been in”. We also know he fathered a boy on a young prostitute and a girl on one of his mother’s maids (#class) on his first year of marriage to his sister. However, do I think he was Gaemon’s father? Absolutely not.

I feel that if he was a lot more evidence would have been given to us readers. Comparing Gaemon to the "Velaryon" princes for instance, the latter are clearly shown to be the children of Harwin Strong. 

Not only is this hinted on multiple times and by multiple different sources (sorry y’all but the books is not “rumours” and it’s very clear what’s a rumour and what’s a fact), but we are also shown how close Rhaenyra and Harwin were with each other even before she married Laenor -> Harwin had been courting her. Furthermore we have this gem right here when Joffrey dies and I quote:

“Thus perished Joffrey Velaryon, Prince of Dragonstone and heir to the Iron Throne, the last of Queen Rhaenyra’s sons by Laenor Velaryon… or the last of her bastards by Harwin Strong, depending on which truth one chooses to believe.” (Fire and Blood, pg. 518).

Comparing it now to what we are told at the moment of Gaemon’s death:

“Born a bastard in a brothel, “King Cunny” had reigned briefly over his kingdom on a hill during the Moon of Madness, seen his mother put to death, and served Aegon III as a cupbearer, whipping boy, and friend. He was thought to be but nine years old upon his death.” (Fire and Blood, pg 679). 

We have a mention of all the things Gaemon was, and there’s a long list, but being a “rumoured” bastard son of Aegon II was not even amongst them. He is only mentioned in relation to Aegon III. If the evidence that he was Aegon II’s son was significant I would argue that a mention would be made here. Maybe even as a reflection over the fact that the son of the woman Aegon II put to death in such a despicable and cruel way found a friend in his bastard and forgotten son that he never cared about. Perhaps also some mention that the son he denied and ignored outlived all of the others or something, and that Alicent did not even recognised or cared about the only grandson she had left. 

The writers of Fire and Blood loved these kind of ironies. They make a reflection over the fact that Daenaera was granddaughter to Vaemond, so they would likely make one similar for Gaemon. They also don’t shy away in the slightest from speaking about the bad either about the Blacks or about the Greens. They make no mention though, which only adds to my belief that Gaemon was indeed not Aegon II’s son. 

Of course one could argue that the fact that Gaemon’s mom denied he was Aegon II’s son under torture could say something. But again her and Sylvenna do struck me as shrewd women who knew what they were doing and just took advantage of the chaos. 

In all honestly I just don’t see it personally. 

By the way a HUGE HUGE apology for how long it took me to answer you Anon!!!!! I believe you sent this a year ago 😭 SORRY! I SUCK! But I eventually answered :D I will show myself out.

All the love to you and sorry again! 

[kaitlin-writing]

Chapter One

A Court of Broken Dreams

     " My Lady!"

     Kalilah turned around to see her maid and friend, Mirana. She abandoned her letter, rising from her chair. Something was wrong.

    " He's back," Mirana tells her.

     " Finally! It's been three months since Amarantha's death, and the only place he bothered to be in is Velaris. He bearly visited the Court of Nightmares, and yet he expects Keir's loyalty."

     Kalilah always spoke freely. She cared little for being heard by the spy or anyone else. What more could Rhysand do to her? She was already living a nightmare.

     Leaving her chamber, Kalilah stops suddenly when she hears Rhysand and his cousin laughing. Unsurprisingly, Morrigan was there. Were the two bastards also there?

     " What are you laughing so much about?" Kalilah asks, her voice cold as always.

     They both turned towards her, and, as always, she could read Rhysand's face like an open book. He was surprised to see her there. Had he hoped she died? Perhaps.

     " None of your concern," Rhysand says coldly.

     " I think it is my concern if whatever situation you're laughing about now is what prevented you from coming these three months. Have you hit your head so hard that you forgot you have a son and a daughter?"

     The twins were almost grown-up by fae standards, and Kalilah dreaded the day Rhysand returned. Would he sell his daughter as Kalilah's father sold her? She would not allow it.

     " I was busy," Rhysand simply replies as if that's an excuse.

     " Who did you bring earlier?" Kalilah asks, feeling the scent of an unknown female.

     " That also is of no concern to you."

     " I am the Lady of this Court. Who you bring here is my concern."

     Was the female a mistress? Kalilah wouldn't bother if her husband had a mistress as long as he kept that female far away from her and her children. She didn't love Rhysand, but she did care about her reputation. What would people say if he parades his mistress in front of his wife?

     " It's a bargain I made," Rhysand simply says.

     It's enough for Kalilah to understand. She heard the rumours.

     " You did not. Tell me you did not kidnap Tamlin's wife!"

     Was he a fool? Did he really enjoy so much the thought of war that he risked Tamlin and his army to come to take back his wife. If Tamlin went to war, Winter, Summer, and Autumn were likely to join him. Kalilah doesn't know Tarquin, but Kallias had the right to make Rhysand pay for the children he killed, and Beron... Well, Beron was Beron.

     " I didn't kidnap her. It was a bargain. Besides..." He stops suddenly, and Kalilah can tell he almost said something he didn't want to.

     " Besides what?"

     " She's my mate."

    Rhysand and Morrigan take the opportunity to leave, while Kalilah wonders if the world turned against her. How could this be? Mates were rare, but Rhysand used to say he would only marry his mate, whoever that would be. In the end, he had no choice but to marry Kalilah. What will happen now? What will Rhysand do now that he has a mate?

     She has to write to her brother. She must make sure she and the twins can run if Rhysand decides to marry that female.

     He could challenge Tamlin, and Kalilah fears the truth would weaken the High Lord of Spring. But Rhysand won't be able to marry his mate if Kalilah still lives. And most likely, he would want any children he has with her to inherit his Court. What will happen to Kalilah? To her children?

     Rhysand must know that if he kills her, Kalilah's brother will start a war. Her people would ask for blood. She came from an ancient fae land, and her brother was King. She was his only sister, and the people liked her. No one was happy when the former King decided to marry his only daughter to Rhysand. Her father had no choice, but Kalilah couldn't stop herself from feeling as if she had been sold. 

     She misses her home more than anything. Rhysand forbid her from returning there, fearing she would tell the secrets of his Court. Would she even be able to write to her brother? Kalilah had no doubt that her correspondence was always read before it was sent. She could write in her own language, but Rhysand might be even more convinced not to send it.

    She has always been alone in the Night Court. Rhysand's inner circle hated her, and the only thing Keir cared about was himself. She simply had no allies there. She tried to do what she was good at and tried to win people over. They cared more about Rhysand than they would ever care about her. She healed them, and they thanked Rhysand. Everything she did to help them was seen as something Rhysand did.

     He has a mate, Kalilah thinks. He will kill me.

     It was the only thing that made sense. Kalilah knows Rhysand doesn't like her. He never did. They were not friends, not even allies. It was nothing more than a political marriage. But she never expected him to want to kill her.

     Is this what she should have prepared Zemira for? A husband who would try to kill her? Would Rhysand try to kill Zemira and Kael? They were his children, but he might not want any competition for any child he has with that mate of his.

     Zemira shouldn't be a danger, he could simply marry her to someone loyal, but Kael? He would kill him. And if he does, who would he marry Zemira to? Cassian? Azriel? Both weren't males she would want anywhere near her daughter.

     " What's wrong?"

     She turns to see Kael, her son. He had his father's violet eyes and black hair, his skin brown. Still, he looked more like Kalilah.

     " Your father's back," She says.

     " With who?"

     " Tamlin's wife."

     She doesn't tell her son that the female is Rhysand's mate. She isn't going to do anything that might make him want to get rid of her faster. A part of Kalilah wants Tamlin to go to war with Rhysand to remind her husband of the powerful alliance she brings to his Court.

     " He says he made a bargain with her. Tamlin can't be happy about this."

     " Will they go to war?"

     " Maybe," Kalilah says.

     " If the Seasonal Courts join Tamlin, Rhysand will need my brother's army."

     And her brother won't help him if anything happens to Kalilah.

     " What are you planning, mother?" Kael asks her. " Don't give me that look, you're always planning something."

     " Let's not speak of such matters right now," Kalilah simply answers. Kael stares at his mother, knowing very well that she used to tell her mind no matter the consequences. It was something no one could stop Kalilah from doing. But now, she fears Rhysand might decide to believe she is turning their children against him. She isn't.

     " What troubles you, mother? I can tell that something worries you."

     Kael has always been good at reading people. It shouldn't surprise Kalilah that he felt something was wrong. He was so different from his father. During her life, Kalilah saw a lot of lords and leaders, and she tried to teach her son all she knew about ruling, hoping that one day he would be a better ruler than his father.

     " It isn't important," Kalilah hates laying to her son, but, for one of the few times in her life, she cannot gather the courage to say what she truly wants. Rhysand's mate changes everything. Kalilah never truly believed that he would wish her dead, but how could he marry his mate if his wife still lived? Fae rarely got divorced, and only on very good reasons. In the Night Court, Kalilah never heard of a divorce. Back in Averia, her homeland, nobles could only get divorced if the marriage had not been consummated. As she had two children with Rhysand, there was no doubt that their marriage had been consummated.

     Kalilah needs an ally, someone she knows would help her. And she has someone in mind, but could she ask that of him? Could she still ask it?

     If you shall ever need my help, Kali, please send word. No matter what you decide tomorrow. 

     Maybe he would answer her call, but he shouldn't. Kalilah knows she made a mistake the day after he made his promise. He should hate her. But, even if he did, Arik was a man of his word. She will have to believe he still meant his words. She had no other choice.

[the-doctor-3000]

Dandelions. . . .

Warning: maybe a few threats and insults towards the reader, implied death, a bit ooc, long, some time skips

Fandom: ACOTAR

A/n: Hello beautiful folks! I just want you guys to know that in the past five days I started reading ACOTAR and I am absolutely in love! Anyway, please do forgive me for some errors I might make due to the fact I haven't finished the 1st book yet. I am well aware, though, that the majority of the books' readers have a dislike toward Tamlin. I believe that I'll discover the reason soon.... (Welp, good thing I didn't end up having a crush on him.😁😂)

2nd A/n: I've been working on this for almost a week and I'll probably do a part 2 of this.

Ship: Lucien x F!Reader, Tamlin x F!Reader (one sided; Tamlin's)

Inspired by: Dandelions by Gabbie Hanna

Type: A slight Castlevania AU!A Court of Thorns and Roses, Enemies to Friends to Lovers

Summary: When you, a human, travel all around the mortal realm, you finally decide to visit Prythian in order to seek knowledge to become a tutor.

°•°•°•°•°•°

She had been travelling from her early teens, seeking knowledge and adventure. Her family wasn't around anymore, so you didn't have to worry about them missing her.

At first, it was hard - living on her own but soon you grew used to her new life and she kinda preferred it and enjoyed the freedom it provided her. In her journeys, she heard people speaking ill about the fae.

It wasn't a big surprise for her - the people from your old home would also speak badly about them. Though she always found them fascinating. Her parents did too.

This was also one of the reasons she begun travelling. The people didn't like the fact that she and her family had this perspective about the fae. So, she ran but her family stayed behind. Denying to leave because of the people's foolishness and close mindedness. Of course, continuing to stay there without changing their opinions on the fae led them to death.

°•°•°•°•°•°

The nineteen year old made her way through the woods - or commonly known as the Wall - which was separating the two realms from one another. She knew the dangers she'd face, so she had a weapon with her. She used it against the creatures who wished her harm there.

It wasn't easy but she weren't going to give up so soon. The first court she reached was the Spring Court. She made your way to a beautiful huge manor. She looked up through the window and saw no sign of life.

But she had heard rumours that amongst the fae, the High Lord of the Court of Spring was the most merciful. And she most certainly didn't want to die the moment she set foot on the land. Then, without any hesitation, you know on the door with her knife's hilt.

The doors opened by themselves and you walked in, looking around in fascination and alarm.

"My name is y/n," she begun to say "I am from a village of the Mortal Realm and I want to become a tutor."

There was a long silence but you could feel that someone was lurking in the shadows. Watching your every movement.

"You bang on my door because you want to learn? From a fae?" the voice was the one of a male, he was taunting her "What will your people think?"

"Don't mistake me for one of these so called 'Children of the Blessed'." she replied boldly as she looked around to find the source of the voice "Everybody out there already does that. I do not worship you or your kind but I do hold respect for you. I believe in knowledge, but... I need to know more. I've exhausted my other options, and all the stories say the High Lord who lives here has a library with all the knowledge."

"I'm one of the High Fae, and I do not get many visitors." he said, his breath was hitting her neck - he was right behind her. "What have you to trade for you to taka look in my study, y/n from the Mortal Realm?"

Her eyes were now gleaming in fear but she took a deep breath, stepped away from him calmly and turned to face him. He was in the form of a beast. He was a horse-sized creature with a bear-like body that moved with a feline fluidity, a distinctively lupine head, and massive elk-like antlers. The most distinctive of his features though were his jade eyes.

She dared to look into his emerald eyes as she spoke bravely, "Perhaps I could help you relearn some manners. I've crossed the threshold of your home, and you haven't offered me a drink or serve me something to eat or even to take my coat."

"What if I took a feast on you?" he said "Or have you loaded yourself with ash wood or iron?"

She took out a necklace with a lapis in the middle, the rest was made out of iron, "It belonged to my mother. I'm sorry, I didn't realise that it was rude of me to bring it along. I-it was all I had left from my parents." he hummed and walked a bit away from her "I'm really not interested in superstition, or being some woman who tricks others. I want to help people. I want to learn. Will you help me?"

He stopped and looked down at her, "You are definitely different to most humans I have met in recent times."

"Maybe I can teach you to like them, or at least tolerate them."

"I... I don't have a problem with humans."

She nodded sarcastically, "I noticed."

"How far is your realm from the Spring Court?"

"Only a 'wall' separates them." she cocked her head to the side like an animal "You don't travel much outside Prythian, do you?"

"I can travel."

"But... you don't, do you? Maybe you should. The world is changing. Travel, like people do. You might like it."

"I've known you for two minutes, and you offer for me to walk your realm like a ignorant human while I give you the knowledge of immortals."

"They won't be ignorant anymore if you teach them. They won't live such scared lives if they have solutions to their problems or know the truth."

"Why should I do that?"

"To make the world better. Start with me, and I'll start with you."

He chuckled and as he made his way to her once again, his appearance changed. In the place where a beast stood was now a strikingly handsome young man, his skin was tanned and a warrior’s build. He was also wearing an exquisite golden mask embedded with emeralds shaped like whorls of leaves that covered his nose, cheeks, and brows. He had long golden blond hair and deep green eyes flecked with gold. 

"I think I might like you." he told her with a small bow, she smiled kindly as he begun giving her a tour around the manor

°•°•°•°•°•°

The next day, y/n was on her way to find the library when she heard voices coming from a room.

Despite herself, she stopped to listen when an unknown voice of a male spoke the word 'human'. Curious of what they might be saying about her, she put her ear against the door.

"Tam, you can't be serious. You let a human girl live here? And, on top of that, you let her roam into your study?"

"She's alright, Lucien. I know she is."

"Please don't tell me that you like her already?"

"Lucien—"

"What if she tries to murder you in your sleep? She did have iron with her, didn't she?"

"Yes, but she admitted it. She gave it to me despite that it was her mother's."

He sighed in exasperation, "What if she is lying? She could have ash wood with her but hid it."

Feeling rather offended by this accusation, y/n gathered up the courage and entered, "You know, if you have a problem with me then it'd be best to say it right into my face instead of saying it behind my back. It's not very nice."

The man who spoke of her in such way was tall with red hair and golden-brown skin, but still light enough. His face was brutally scarred from his brow to his jaw. His right eye was whole and russet-colored; but his left eye was ripped out by someone and had been replaced with an artificial mechanical eye made of gold that allowed him to see all the same.

He too had a mask, but in contrast to Tamlin's, this one was different. . .

He turned to her with a scowl, "You're the one to talk." he smirked then in a taunting way "Didn't you know that eavesdropping is also rude?"

"I never said that, at first I was passing by until I heard you mentioning me. It wasn't hard not to listen to your. . . conversation, neither of you seemed to try to lower your voices and I'm not sure if that was a good thing or not."

He looked at her for a moment, "What's your name, human?"

"I'm y/n Nightingale." she crossed her arms over her chest "And you are?"

A smirk appeared on his lips, "Lucien Vanserra." he did a mock bow - which was right as day that he was mocking it - causing y/n to scoff and Tamlin to sigh in defeat "Pleasure to meet you, y/n the human."

The way he spat the word with such spite only angered her more. She clutched her hands into fists but calmed down as she took a deep breath.

She turned to Tamlin, "I believe I was wrong. In contrast to your friend here, you are the most well mannered person I've ever met." she then glared at Lucien "You are the one who needs to relearn some manners."

°•°•°•°•°•°

A week passed by, and Lucien and y/n would always argue whenever they crossed paths. Tamlin, on the other hand, found himself fascinated by the young human. He'd always give her flowers or any kind of gifts.

He couldn't bare, though, hearing the two bickering like cats and dogs every time they walked in the same place. So, he came up with the idea of Lucien inviting her to dinner. . .

"Absolutely not!" Lucien said

"Lucien," Tamlin said rather firmly "That can't go on forever."

"Yes because she will die from old age. Just like all other humans."

His heart sunk at his friend's words.

"Please, at least try. This isn't like you - being rude."

He scoffed, "Alright."

When they went to the study room, they spotted her with her nose stuck on a book. Next to her was a parchment and it seemed like she was keeping notes. Lucien cleared his throat. Y/n stopped what she was doing and once she saw that it was him - her face dropped.

"Oh. . . It's you. . ."

He tried to feign a smile, "Yes, me. I came here to ask you to join us to dinner."

She smirked, "Only if you ask politely."

His eye twitched a little as he tried his best to keep the smile, "Will you *please* join us for dinner?"

She smiled, "Well, since you said 'please'. . . Of course!"

°•°•°•°•°•°

A month passed, currently y/n was taking a break from her study and was sitting on the grass of the magnificent garden. A particular plant that captured her attention was. . .

"Dandelions?" a familiar voice questioned, she looked over her shoulder and saw Lucien. "Why dandelions? They have nothing special."

She chuckled genuinely, "I beg to differ. The leaves and roots of the plant can be medicinally used as a tonic for removing toxins from bloodstream, as they serve as a mild diuretic to improve the digestive system functioning."

He slowly sat beside her, "That's why you like this. . . plant so much? Are you a healer?"

"It's not my speciality, I'm still learning, but the reason for loving this kind of plant is the fact that when you blow it, its petals leave and it looks like they're floating away." she chuckled "When I was a little kid, I thought they were little fairies in ballerina costumes. Ever since then, I always wanted a house surrounded by dandelions. . . So I could see them ever morning I wake up."

"I was right." she looked at him with confused and innocent eyes "You are the weirdest woman I have ever met." she scoffed and stood up to leave but Lucien grabbed her wrist - stopping her "Weirdest and most. . . fascinating." her face flashed red and sat back down "Could you tell me more about dandelions and other plants?"

He looked truly intrigued. Y/n smiled and nodded her head.

°•°•°•°•°•°

Two years later, Lucien and y/n had grown very close. Much to Tamlin's unhappiness. He knew that as much as he - Lucien also bore feelings for the human girl.

Though he could see that she returned Lucien's feelings. He did not speak of how he felt to neither her or Lucien.

One day, the red headed fae came to him and told he would like to surprise her with a house in the woods which will be surrounded by dandelions. Tamlin's breath hitched but did as his friend requested.

When it was ready, Lucien took her there. The house was close away to the mansion in case something happened but not way too close. Inside the place everything was prepared, there was even a huge bookcase with lines of books.

And outside in the garden, the house was surrounded by a sea of dandelions. Both white and yellow. Seeing the grin on her face, Lucien finally found the opportunity to confess.

He expected her to scream, to kick him out and refuse the house but instead - he felt a pair of soft s/c lips touching his. Y/n felt butterflies in her stomach as her face heated up. For a second, she was worried that she crossed a line until he kissed her back and deepened the kiss.

°•°•°•°•°•°

Ten years passed by, Tamlin was still silently in love with her but wouldn't utter a word especially now that Lucien and y/n were married

Y/n tucked in the bed her three year old daughter and five year old son. Her daughter had her eyes but Lucien hair and personality. Her son had her hair and personality but Lucien's eyes.

On her finger was a golden ring with letters engraved on it. She extinguished the candles of the bedroom and went to the living room. There, she began reading a book as she waited for her husband's arrival.

A hour later, she heard a heavy knock on the door. She placed the book on the table and answered it.

It wasn't her husband's face that she encountered. It wasn't a fae but a group of human men - a mob. They all had pitchforks and torches.

"Are you y/n Vanserra?" a man with an intimidating look on his face questioned

"I am. What of it?"

He turned to the others, "Arrest this Fae Whore."

"I don't understand, what's wrong—?"

"Silence!" d/n and s/n heard the noise and peeked out from their window. The men grasped her tightly so she couldn't escape. "For sleeping with a fae and befriending one too, you shall be punished."

"They are not like the legends!" she said, sounding almost like she was pleading "Both of them are kind and sweet! My husband and my friend wouldn't do something to hurt you but if you kill me they'll be worse than your legends!"

"Your threats are fruitless, whore." he turned to the men who were holding her "Take her."

They all began leaving the forest to return to the Mortal Realm - dragging y/n with them.

"Please don't! You're making a terrible mistake! You have to listen!"

But her warnings only fell on deaf ears for they didn't even spare a look at her.

[mommyofkittens]

Hello! It is the very first time when i am uploading something on this account. The story is set in ACoTaR universe. I don't know if you like the idea, but I wanted to make a story about Azriel and my own original female character. I will update on Archive of our own, the title is " A Court of Fallen Heroes ", so here is the summary and a little sneak peak.

P.S.: English is not my first language, so I am very sorry for any type of mistakes. Fell free to tell me if something is wrong. Thank you!

Summary

It was a well known fact: the veil between the worlds grew thinner and thinner, so the possibility of a crashing was already a certainty. The rumours started a long time ago, but no one did anything to stop it. Luckily, time has passed, we went through wars and race eradications, but Faerie Realms and Mortal Lands stayed almost the same, some richer and some poorer.

Nobody was talking about the fallen, untill now, when the fates started working their old, wicked magic and gave us an early Summer Soltice gift: an unprepared girl who was sent tumbling from the sky.

Tumultuous and dangerous,

Bitter and heartbreaking.

This is the story of the Evening star.

About the young woman who holds the Sun as her weapon,

And the Moon as an ornament.

About the Cursed Crown, who chooses its own master

And about the man in the shadows, irreversibly bound to her, by the tongue of death.

And, after all, about us, the nothingness who catches a goal.

I am the Bloody Blade, former leader of the first legion, last of my kind, banished and tormented by dark memories and here is the beginning of our story.

Prologue

        I know it’s hard to believe, if I had heard the same story from someone else, I would have thrown him a few silver coins and asked him to stop telling me stupid lies: parallel universes, worlds that intertwine towards the edges, the feelings of deja-vu and the absurd sense that you are being watched when you stand with your back to the door.

          Nothing new, right? Your neck is probably tingling right now and you need to look back. Did you notice anything out of the corner of your eye? There's nothing there, stay calm. Well, even if they were, they wouldn't be able to touch you through this thin veil that covers your world. Oddly enough, just like this dusty pellicle protects your soul from being stolen by… oops, I'm not allowed to say his name. He might come back for me, and I've already made a living here.

          So I'll just say this: watch out for witching hour, when the energy layers crack. Be careful not to read, not to think deeply and not to get lost in the subconscious, otherwise you will end up like me: lost in this world that I barely knew.

          What did I do wrong? I was awake, a little drunk, too thoughtful and willing to do anything to get rid of stress. Anything. Including an absurd bargain that appeared to me in a nightmare. Who started the bargain? I'll tell you, it sounds silly, but his name is Samael, a kind of obscure deity, a double-edged sword, demon or angel. He only asked me what I wanted, and I replied on impulse that I wanted something new, an adventure.

          And I received it, a double-edged sword, a world I barely knew from books, but about which I had forgotten much, a world that was about to change with my coming.

My name is Vesper, the titles that come after my name don't matter anymore, but once upon a time, I was called different, I used to be someone else.

[richmond-rex]

I’m currently listening to Anne Boleyn: 500 Years of Lies by Hayley Nolan on Audible, and I’m trying hard to like it because it has really good information discrediting some of the beliefs surrounding Anne; but I have to admit that it’s grating me to hear the author stating that the Tudors were “usurpers” and that they were preventing a “more rightful heir” from gaining the throne. I almost screamed in frustration when she blamed H8’s sociopathy on Margaret Beaufort and especially Henry VII, using that one source claiming that H7 once tried to kill H8 in a fit of rage as firm evidence of a miserable childhood (ignoring all evidence stating otherwise); because of course having an overprotective parent (which is all H7 was) is going to cause you to grow up with no conscience. Also is it true that H8 was given absolutely no training in monarchy and came to the throne completely uneducated in that regard, I find that incredibly hard to believe regarding H7.

Hello! First of all, there's so much to unpack here. I think we have to go step by step. A big disclaimer is that I have not read Nolan’s book, so I’m only considering what you told me here. Secondly, I will not be addressing any claims against Margaret Beaufort because, frankly, what did that woman ever do be accused of that — the same Margaret Beaufort who 'of marvayllous gentyleness she was unto all folks' , and who 'unkind she would be unto no creature'? Are we talking about the same Margaret? We know one of her old servants, Henry Parker, was talking about his 'godly mistress the Lady Margaret’ to her great-granddaughter Mary well into the mid-1500s, and we know the time Margaret reprimanded a dean in Christ's College for beating one of his pupils (crying ‘gently, gently!’). I don’t see how she could be considered the origin of anyone’s sociopathy, but I also dislike the term — antisocial personality disorder is a medical condition and I doubt we could ever diagnose Henry VIII with that or anyone else who died five hundred years ago for that matter. The rest of my answer is under the cut! 

Well, now for the rest: I wouldn't say all of the Tudors were usurpers. Henry VII very much was one, as he did unseat England's king at the time of his invasion though that hardly makes him worse than other 15th-century English kings (as I've talked here, Henry IV was a usurper, Edward IV was a usurper, Richard III was a usurper — hell, William the Conqueror had been a usurper four centuries earlier). None of Henry VII's successors would have been usurpers, though (unless we should say every English king after William the Conqueror was a usurper, I guess?). Especially if you consider that they were also the natural successors of the Yorkist line via their descent from Edward IV's eldest daughter and heir, Elizabeth of York. I have no idea who Nolan could be referring to as the 'more rightful heir': the de la Poles, the descendants of Edward IV's sister? The Poles, the descendants of Edward IV's brother? Even if you go by Yorkist descent alone (which not everyone in England regarded as the most legitimate), who would have had a better claim in England than Henry VIII, the son of Edward IV's surviving heir and the son of England's most recent conqueror, Henry VII?

As for Henry VIII's miserable childhood, I don’t think there is evidence of that. We know Henry was well-educated; his father made sure to appoint tutors who taught him in the arts, classics, music, dancing, discourse, courtiership and theological disputation. We also know that Henry VII was personally involved with his sons' education, whilst his wife Elizabeth was involved with their daughters'. It is true that Henry VIII was not initially prepared for kingship but once his brother Arthur had died his father began preparing him for his future office. In July 1504 Prince Henry officially moved into his father's household where it seems Henry VII tutored him personally in some subjects. In August of that same year, the Duke of Estrada, a Spanish ambassador, wrote that 'Formerly the King did not like to take the Prince of Wales with him, in order not to interrupt his studies [...] But it is not only from love that the King takes the Prince with him; he wishes to improve him. Certainly there could be no better school in the world than the society of such a father as Henry VII. He is so wise and so attentive to everything; nothing escapes his attention'. So you can see that Henry VIII was assisted and had at least five years to prepare for the office of kingship, which is more than Henry VII himself ever had.

Lastly, it's clear that Henry VII loved his son. The same ambassador, Duke Estrada, also said in his dispatch: 'It is quite wonderful how much the King likes the Prince of Wales'. There are several entries in Henry VII's privy purse accounts describing items and stuff he bought to his younger son, always referring to him as 'My Lord Harry'. For all we know, Henry VII saw much more of his second son than he ever saw of Prince Arthur who lived in Ludlow, away from court. There is that anecdote about the time Henry VII knighted Prince Henry when he was only three years old: during the ceremony the king picked up his young son and placed him on a table for all to see — a gesture possibly made out of love, fondness, and/or delight in his youngest, though we can only speculate. Henry VII seems to have been determined not to expose his remaining son to danger in the same way that Arthur had been, and some of his more overprotective measures (like the setting of the Prince's apartments, accessible only by way of his own) can be understood as born out of paternal concern, all things considered. The rumours that the Calais garrison was not willing to crown Prince Henry in the event of his death were certainly of great concern to Henry VII.

To sum up, there is evidence that Henry VII did love and care for his son Henry. No doubt their relationship may have been strained at times thanks to Henry VII’s overprotective measures, but it’s also true the king let his son shine on many occasions in his place, denoting both affection and trust. Henry Pole's claim, made in 1538, that the king ‘had no affection nor fancy unto’ his heir should be seen in its proper context: one in which his brother, Reginal Pole, was involved in an ideological campaign against Henry VIII — the message was that not even Henry VIII's own father had loved him. I cannot say if Henry Pole actually said those words (anyone with more expertise please feel free to correct me) or if those were brought up as charges against him, but they do belong in the realm of (real or invented) seditious language. I tried to find the claim that Henry VII once tried to kill his son over a fit of rage in the dispatches sent by Fuensalida (allegedly the one who made that claim according to Hutchinson’s Young Henry), but the only thing I could find was something akin to court gossip, saying Henry VII treated everyone badly for a time (including his son) and spent three hours every night with his eyes closed but not sleeping...... which is?? 

(Here I should comment that Fuensalida not only disliked Henry VII but he was also several times denied access to the king and the Prince of Wales on account of what the English most likely considered to be his rude behaviour. He is also the one who said the Prince was kept closeted away like a girl, not realising that he was specifically denied access to the Prince — perhaps not without reason, seeing how Ferdinand had instructed him in winning the Prince over to their cause. Fuensalida was, of course, only serving the interests of his king, but his skills in diplomacy are somewhat unusual. Even Catherine of Aragon would later complain about Fuensalida’s behaviour). 

In any case, I cannot speak about Nolan’s book as I have not read it but I wouldn’t be surprised if the author makes some unsubstantiated claims, considering the book was not peer-reviewed. That’s exactly how many pop history books work and why it’s hard to hold them to high standards. I hope this answer is not a big rambling mess, but really there were so many things to address, I didn’t even know where to begin. Thanks for the ask, anon! 🌹x

[gins-potter]

Casting Thoughts

Yes, I did a long post when the rumours first dropped but hey now it’s confirmed plus we have characters descriptions, and I’m bored so let’s do this all over again people.  Under the cut because it got long

Sisi Stringer as Rose Hathaway

I said this in my other post but I’m pretty happy with Sisi as Rose.

Visually I think she’s a great fit, I love that they casted a WoC in the main role, and I think if she can bring Rose’s humour and sarcasm to the role, she’s going to do great.

The character description mentions Rose being “fiery and outspoken”, happy to jump into the action, and the strongest fighter in her class but struggling to toe the line, which is all very Rose-esque, especially in the first book.  It sounds to me like they have a good grasp on her character.

I’m a little disappointed we didn’t hear more about Rose as a character since she is the lead - it felt like the descriptions for Lissa and Dimitri both gave us a little more to go on - but it is only a very preliminary description so I’m happy to wait for more.

Daniela Nieves as Lissa Dragomir

Daniele is another one who I was happy with straight away.

She’s probably not what I imagined for Lissa visually but that’s not a bad thing either; I will be interested to see if they dye her hair a lighter colour (like a caramel-blonde) but personally that’s not something I need to see for her to be a great fit for Lissa.

I think she has a very sweet face which works well for a character like Lissa but I think she’s also going to be able to stand up in Lissa’s more fiercer moments which is nice to see as well.

The character descriptions mentions her as being “carefree and kind-hearted” who “coasts” through life until a death in the family thrusts her into a new role.  That sounds a lot like pre-series Lissa so I wonder if we’re going to see a bit of that in the show before Andre (and her parents??) die and see that change.  

It’s curious though that she’s described as the younger sister of the heir apparent - which would be Andre - so it sounds like they’ve changed it so Andre was supposed to be King.  Obviously a deviation from the books but I don’t hate it?  I don’t think it would change Lissa’s arc all that much because obviously she was always going to grow up to be an influential royal figure, this just slightly changes the dynamics of it.

The description also specifically mentions that she’s uninterested in “political machinations” and the “hypocrisy of the moroi royal society” which sounds very accurate to book!lissa as well.

All in all I’m very happy with what they’re doing with Lissa.

Keiron Moore as Dimitri Belikov

This is one who’s really grown on me since the rumoured cast list started circulating.  At first I was kind of eh about him but I can really see him as Dimitri now.

I will be curious to see if he grows out his hair or not though.

As far as I know Keiron is not Russian, there’s not a lot about him online, but there’s some instagram activity on his account linking him to UK based companies so that would be my guess as to where he’s from.  They’ve kept Dimitri’s incredibly Russian name so I guess we’re to assume Keiron might be doing an accent and they’re keeping Dimitri’s backstory relatively the same?  I’m not gonna be super mad if they change it just because I think it’s doable for him not to be Russian (I know, I know a whole book is set in Russia but lbr here they could make him from anywhere and just send Rose there in that book).

The biggest thing for me will be his chemistry with Sisi, Danila and Zoey had great chemistry (imo anyway) which saved the move a little for me, so it’ll be important that Sisi and Keiron do as well.  They’ve interacted a few times online which is cute so I’m hoping they were able to do some chemistry reads and that will translate on screen.

The character description mentions Dimitri as being “lethal, disciplined, discreet, and totally committed” as well as living by “a deep moral code” but with more going on “beneath his stoic, watchful surface” which sounds exactly like book!Dimitri to me.

They don’t really specify what his role at St Vlad’s is going to be but they do mention that he is a guardian so I’m assuming they’re keeping some sort of age gap between him and Rose.  They also don’t mention anything about their relationship in the description, be it student/teacher, platonic, romantic, whatever, but they do say he has “an expansive spirit that could threaten to expose the underlying tension between his sense of what’s right and his formal duty to the Moroi.” which seems like a nod to their relationship.

Andre Dae-Kim as Christian Ozera

This was one of my favourite casting choices from the original rumoured cast list and I still love it.

The idea of a non-white Christian makes a lot of sense to me and I think Andre could do a great job of Christian’s aloofness (in the first book) as well as his sarcasm and growing confidence across the other books.

His character description confuses me a bit though: “Intelligent and thoughtful, Christian is the pariah of the school and royal court, due to his parents’ unforgivable societal sins.” sounds accurate enough to the book (although idk if thoughtful is quite the word I’d use for Christian - maybe they mean it in the sense that he’s quiet and keeps to himself?).

Even “Well-read and hungry for knowledge” doesn’t sound that far off, idk if he was *that* particularly studious in the books, but it doesn’t necessarily not make sense either you know?

But “he searches for faith-based answers and discovers a kindred spirit who is also looking for the truth” ??? My cynical, irreverent asshole Christian is now a man of faith? I’m assuming Lissa is the “kindred spirit” (again weird word choice but maybe they mean she’s feeling lost because of the death of her family?) but I just cannot see Christian as being particularly religious.

I’m trying to keep an open mind about these changes because you never know they might play out totally different on screen, but I really hope they didn’t make these changes, particularly that Christian is studious and religious, just because they cast an Asian actor as him (because they feel a little like Asian stereotypes).

J August Richards as Victor Dashkov

This is one that didn’t appear on the original rumoured cast list (as far as I saw) and it’s so different to his description in the books that I kind of don’t have an opinion about it as a casting choice.

I’ve never seen him in anything before so purely on a visual level I think he could be a great fit for Victor, I just think it’ll really come down to how he plays it.

As for this character description: “Victor is a Moroi noble vampire with a heart of gold who’s highly regarded for his role as advisor and political strategist to Moroi dignitaries.” as well as mentioning that he has intelligence and influence, sounds pretty accurate to the book.  Obviously if Andre was the heir to the throne, Victor had to be shifted out of that role, but I think his book 1 arc could still work if they wanted it to.

The “heart of gold” bit obviously made me chuckle and I really hope they threw it in there as a kind of decoy to throw non-book-readers off the fact that he’s actually the villain in book 1/s1.

As for giving him a husband and two daughters, my thoughts are: why the fuck not? He didn’t have a love interest in the original books and I’m always down for more lgbtq+ rep.  My only concern is it maybe playing into the trope of evil/villain characters being queer-coded.  And as for having two daughters, well as long as one of them is Natalie I don’t mind.

Anita-Joy Uwajeh as Tatiana Vogel

Okay this is the most bizarre one imo, not because of the casting, but just the character description.

I mean “Tatiana is a Moroi vampire and political underdog who slowly takes the royal court by storm. Motivated by love and a sense of justice, Tatiana has a unique skill of making herself seem of no consequence until we realize much too late that she was always the one to watch.” sounds extremely Tasha Ozera to me, so like why not just make this character Tasha?  Nothing about this sounds like Tatiana, and Tatiana wasn’t even a Vogel anyway (well Vogel wasn’t even one of the 12 royal families), she was an Ivashkov.

In terms of Anita-Joy herself, well I mean we don’t really have a character to compare her to, is she supposed to be more like Tasha or Tatiana?  She looks fairly young, so my guess is actually on Tasha, but we’ll have to wait to see I guess.

Mia McKenna-Bruce as Mia Karp

This is another one that I was instantly a fan of.

I was so not a fan of Mia’s casting in the movie (I can’t even remember who played her tbh but I really didn’t like it) so this Mia is a lot closer to how I imagine her.

I think she’ll be able to carry Mia’s transformation from bratty social-climber to badass fighter really well.

The character description is interesting though.  “Witty, cutting, and just the right kind of ruthless when necessary, non-Royal Mia has a long-term plan to social climb her way into the ranks of royalty, with all the privilege and freedom that entails.” sound pretty bang on to Mia in the first book.

“A plan complicated by her instant chemistry with Meredith, a Guardian-in-training, as Mia struggles to reconcile her attraction to Meredith with her lowly status.” is an obvious deviation though, and one I kind of love???  Give me all the queer rep, and if we get to see Mia confront the issue of comp-het I’m so here for it.  

It’s kind of funny though because I’ve seen theories that Meredith is a replacement for Eddie and Mia/Eddie has always been my sort of rarepair ship.

The last name Karp is weird af though.  Is she supposed to be Sonya’s daughter?  And if that’s the case I wonder if we’re going to actually see Sonya turn Strigoi in the show’s first season or something and that triggers the change in Mia?  Interesting concept but I’m not sure how the timeline will work.

Rhian Blundell as Meredith

So this is another new one, and tbh I hadn’t given Meredith *that* much though in the past but she’s probably close to how I would have pictured her which is cool.

The elephant in the room with this casting is that Meredith’s role in the books was relatively minor - she was just kind of that character that got brought up whenever R.M needed a dhampir who wasn’t Rose/Dimitri/Mason/Eddie.  So clearly she’s going to have a bigger role in the tv show which I don’t mind but I do wonder if we’re going to lose a character - probably Eddie lbr - in order to have her.  They haven’t casted an Eddie yet as far as we know, but I have seen it pointed out that Eddie’s role in book 1 was pretty small so maybe they just aren’t announcing it.  But there’s also the possibility that maybe Meredith will sort of replace Eddie and be the third part of Rose and Mason’s friendship.

I’m very interested by this part of her character description though, “She has little patience for Rose’s volatility or Mia’s elitism, and regularly calls both of them out.”

Jonetta Kaiser as Sonya Karp

I don’t necessarily dislike Jonetta as Sonya but I am confused by this choice.  She looks fairly young, which tbf Sonya was young-ish I guess, but if Mia is supposed to be her daughter she doesn’t look old enough to have a teenaged daughter.  So maybe Sonya and Mia are sisters? Cousins? Just have each other’s last names for no reason? I really don’t know.  They also look nothing alike.

Other than that, I don’t really have an opinion about Jonetta as Sonya.  Obviously looks nothing like how Sonya was described but that’s not new nor a massive concern for me.  

I can’t really tell just from looking at her, and I haven’t seen her in anything, if she would play a good Sonya.  I think with a lot of the characters it’s going to come down to the personality they bring to the part and the writing.

I looooooove her character description though:  “Quiet, careful and decidedly odd, Sonya is not of royal bloodline and sits out on the fringe of Moroi society, preferring to spend her time in the library or her gardens. Not a person who likes a scene, nonetheless she has a quiet but profound power of her own. She is taken by surprise when a Dhampir Guardian named Mikhail shows interest in her, a relationship that will expose both the brightest and darkest parts of her heart.”  It’s everything I would probably want from a description of Sonya and I’m more and more convinced that we’re going to see Sonya’s descent into madness and transformation into a Strigoi play out in maybe the first season which I am so curious how they’re going to work into the timeline.

Andrew Liner as Mason Ashford

Our last one and another one who doesn’t look remotely like his description but again? Not a surprise and not a problem for me.  He looks like he could play Mason’s goofiness really well as well as be a solid contender for a love interest for Rose.

“Charming, loyal and popular, Mason is Rose’s main competition in the quest to become the No. 1 Guardian-in-training. Though their relationship is casual on her side, he is hopeful she will finally look at him and see him as something more.” His character description makes a lot of sense, maybe him being Rose’s main competition is a bit of a deviation? But I think that’s more an indication that he’s supposed to be a strong fighter which isn’t inaccurate to the books.  The rest sounds great.

Other Thoughts

Descriptions of the show specifically mention friendship and classism as major themes which I am very happy to hear about because those are the two parts of VA that I love the most.

Am a little more worried about it being described as “sexy” though, if they shove a whole bunch of meaningless sex scenes in it just because it’s a YA show I’m not gonna be happy.

Seen the show compared to “Game of Thrones” and “Bridgerton” which at first had me like oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck not good not good not good.  But thinking about it more and trying to understand where Plec’s coming from with that description I wonder if means similar to GoT as in the cut-throat nature of the Moroi/Dhampir society cause I can kind of see that.  And as for Bridgerton I wonder if she’s referring to the kind of social-climbing aspects of it, because again that makes sense and it seems like a theme she really wants to concentrate on.  I hope that’s what she means by those comparisons, or that she just wants to compare it to popular shows to get people to watch it.  The worst would be if she tries to throw in a lot of unnecessary sex scenes to make it like those shows, because I hate when they do that, especially when the characters are teenagers.

Interesting to hear that Plec has known about the series since before Twilight or TVD - not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

Seems like it’s actually mostly (or all??) written by Marguerite MacIntyre which is interesting because I know people were worried about Julie Plec - I’ve never watched anything by either of them so I’m neutral at this point.

[eveningstar1516]

Rise Of The Demon King ~ Chapter 1

Rise of the Demon King

Fic: Multi Chapter Paring: MC x Everyone (Mostly Lucifer) Type: Angst with a Happy Ending Total Word Count: 26,758 TW: Major Character Death, Reader gets stabbed with a sword through their chest so..., Abusive Parents, Past Child Abuse, Demon Hunters, Loss of Control Summary: You’ve done it. You’ve finally done it. You’ve managed to anger the demon king. Now you hold your head high as he hands down your sentence. AO3 Portal: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27065362

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So I've been meaning to post this on here and I finally am. I'll be posting a chapter a day but the completed version is up on my Ao3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CHAPTER 1 - Awakening Day (1,526 words)

It’s been a few years since the exchange program ended. It was such a great success that Lord Diavolo had passed a law allowing inter-realm travel between the Devildom and the Human realm so long as you are approved with the proper paperwork of course. You were one of the few with a special pass to come and go as you pleased while skipping all the procedures. The day you visited was a special day. It had been the day the Demon King “Abandon” would awake from his slumber and return to the throne until he deemed Diavolo fit to rule as a permanent king instead of an heir. After much debate, you convinced your 7 demons to allow you to attend the ceremony. As they were high ranking Lords, they had to be present by Diavolo’s side while you stayed within the crowd with Solomon.

Awakening Day

“So what’s the Demon king like?” you asked the group on your way to the palace.

“Well, we’ve never actually met him. We came to the Devildom while he was still asleep” Satan answered.

“I heard that his aura is so powerful that even if you didn’t know him, which is impossible, that you would both fear and respect him on instinct. It’s rumoured that he is the only being in existence that could possibly challenge the Celestial realm and stand a better chance than we did!” Beel inquired.

“Well if Diavolo got any of his looks from him then he might be one of the most handsome beings in the three realms, after me of course!” Asmo added.

“Remember all of you, King Abandon is not like Lord Diavolo. Lord Diavolo might take enjoyment from your little escapades and shenanigans but His Highness will not tolerate any of that. You are all high ranking Lords, the “Rulers of Hell” I expect you all to behave yourselves and at least try to act the part. That means no inappropriate jokes, going off to steal something, sleeping at inopportune times, constantly snacking, or having your nose buried in a book or console. Our behaviour will reflect on Lord Diavolo and I will not have any of you tarnish it.”

“Oi! We can behave if we want to! Besides this is the King! We’d have to be absolute morons to try and do anything to him!”

“Well Mammon, we’ll just have to keep an eye on you, our moron of a brother,” Asmo said while ruffling Mammon's hair.

“HEY QUIT IT!”

“All of you enough! We will be arriving soon. Remember best behaviour-”

“Alright, Lucifer, you can relax. We’re not crazy enough to invoke the King’s wrath.” Satan said in an attempt to soothe over the eldest concerns.

“Y/N, are you absolutely sure you will be alright with Solomon?”

“Yes, Lucifer I’m sure. I’ll stay right next to him the entire time. I promise.”

With that, we arrived to see Solomon and a few other high-ranking Demons waiting outside the palace courtyard to be allowed in. Upon seeing us, Solomon walked over, extending greetings to each of the brothers before turning to me. Before he could do anything I gave him a big hug.

“How’s my favourite wizard?”

“Hehehe, nice to see you too Y/N. Are you ready to see the King?”

“Yes! I’m so excited. Reading about him just isn’t enough. Have you ever met him?”

“No of course not! I’m not that old!” Solomon replied between laughing breaths.

“We will be heading inside to meet with Lord Diavolo before the ceremony. I trust that you will keep Y/N safe right, Solomon?”

“Of course Lucifer. I love them as much as you guys do. Besides if I don’t you’d all just kill me and I for one enjoy my life.”

With that, the brothers bid me goodbye turning to head into the palace leaving me and Solomon waiting with the other demons for the ceremony to take place.

A little while later, the courtyard is packed with demons and sorcerers of all ranks, waiting to welcome their king back.

“Nervous?”

“A little but who wouldn’t be? I just hope that things won’t change so drastically now that the king is ruling instead of Diavolo.”

“I won’t be so sure, from what I’ve heard, he rules with an iron fist and is much harsher than Diavolo when it comes to his court. As Diavolo’s right hand, Lucifer will be very busy in the upcoming days. I imagine he will be even more stressed making sure his brothers stay in line.”

“Wow, you didn’t need to dump everything on me all at once…”

“It’ll be alright, you’ve handled worse, this’ll be easy in comparison. As long as you don’t anger him or anything like that.”

“Trust me, I don’t plan on doing any of that. Although things never go as planned for me huh?”

“No, they usually don’t do they?” he answered with a chuckle.

Before I could answer, we heard what sounded like fanfare and the crowd quickly quieted down. At the front of the courtyard stood Lord Diavolo in his demonic form with Lucifer at his right and Barbatos at his left also in demon form. The rest of the brothers and a few other high ranking elders and demons stood behind in their demonic glory in accordance with their rank. Diavolo then addressed the crowd.

“Denizens of Devildom! Thank you for coming out today to welcome my father His Highness King Abandon back to the Devildom. I will not keep you here so without further wait, HIS HIGHNESS KING ABANDON OF THE DEVILDOM!” As soon as Diavolo introduced his father, a tall dark man resembling Diavolo stepped up from the shadows in his full demonic glory. His demon form surprisingly simple and modest but still elegant enough to be fit for royalty. His horns unlike Diavolo’s curve upwards from the side of his head and onto the top forming a crown-like shape with gold swirling around it and admonishing the tip. His eyes like golden lava glowing in the lighting and you were convinced that he could set anyone ablaze with just his eyes and little thought. His upper body much like Diavolo’s is full of tattoos symbolizing his royal status. He brandished 4 large black leather wings with golden tips and blood-red accents. While he didn’t have a multitude of accessories like his son, the few he wore complimented his attire greatly making him look even bigger and more regal. He presented an aura that screamed for you to have the utmost respect when in his presence. As if on instinct, everyone present immediately bowed down taking a knee with their hands on their hearts along with those on stage. The kings’ eyes swept over the crowd taking in the different ranks all present for today when you felt a gaze settle on you, the only non magical born human here. I didn’t dare to raise my gaze or move, keeping my head down and as still as possible until I felt his gaze avert from my figure. Sensing my tension, Solomon risked a glance towards me without moving his head and I returned it with a slight smile to try and reassure him that I'm alright.

“RISE!”

At once, all that were present stood at once. Those on stage adopting a soldier-like pose with their hands behind their back, expressions betraying nothing. If this were any other situation, I would've sent them a smile and thumbs up. I wasn't used to seeing them like this and was impressed by their behaviour; though now was not the time for that.

The king then started addressing the crowd. Taking the opportunity, I studied him a little closer; never meeting his eyes and keeping my gaze as respectful as possible. During his speech, he raked his eyes across the crowd and would rest his gaze on mine more than once. Each time he did, I suppressed a shudder as his gaze looked like he was picking me apart and looking right through me. Solomon sensed my discomfort and squeezed my hand to assure me that he’s got my back should something happen. After he finished, everyone bowed their heads with their hands over their hearts as he left the stage along with everyone on it by ranking order. Soon after he left, everyone buzzed back to life talking among themselves about their king and leaving to get ready for the ball happening that night in honour of the king. As Solomon and I were leaving, Barbatos appeared by our side.

“Hello Y/N, Solomon”

“Hello Barb, is everything alright?”

“Yes, all is well. The king requests your presence is all. I’ve been sent to get you.”

“Oh,” I felt a pit form in my stomach. I’ve never interacted with royalty other than Diavolo and I didn’t know how to act when it came to the king.

“Alright. Sorry, Solomon, I’ll see you tonight right?”

“Of course. See you tonight.”

With that, he said his goodbyes to both Barbatos and I, then left. I took a deep breath and followed Barb into the palace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[randomingoftherandomness]

What I am hoping for from Winner is King ( 烽火流金)

Okay, so at this point, let’s just be reals here, Word of Honor has kinda set the bar for me in terms of standards to expect from the slew of danmei adaptations this year. Granted, I know that there are some who think the way it was adapted was not up to their standards and that it could have been done better, please don’t bring it on this post because this is not the post for it.

In this post, I’m going to talk about  Winner is King (*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑

Now, Sha Po Lang, the original novel, is for me one of the best things that I have read in a very long while. As such, I can be rather precious about what I am hoping to see come alive on the show and what I am hoping will be present in the portrayals I see. I know there are some concerns regarding the script and behind the scenes stuff - and they are very valid concerns that I feel too! - and with the recent announcement that instead of 45 episodes, we are only getting 40, I can foresee that there could be some rushed handlings of the very plotty nature of the source material and perhaps a sense that style can trump substance.

But as the actual show isn’t beaming right into our eyeballs just yet, here are some things I am looking forward to seeing in Winner is King and some things that I am crossing my fingers will make the final cut! 

Warning for some novel spoilers ahead. I’ll keep it under the read more.

Tagging @zhongwans because I said I would haha...

Things I am looking forward to:

The Changgu dynamic. I think it goes without saying that if the chemistry between your leads is a dud, the show doesn’t need to even pass Go, it can just shuffle itself off the board because it will be dead in the water. The Changgu dynamic has to be nailed; I need to see that self-doubt, that caring for the other but coming at it from the wrong way, that awkwardness that comes with trying to hold back the burden of your love and care because you don’t want to overwhelm the other... 

I need Gu Yun to be shamelessly sweet with his words and his coaxing of his Yan Wang from a sulk. I need Changgu saying “I hate you to death, Gu Yun” (pining)

Hu Ge Er. Let me just be clear here, I will cheer when she dies, but I hope that how they handle her characterisation will do her justice. There is no excusing the level of horrible that she is, but I hope that she isn’t written as a single dimension abusive piece of shit. Nuance, is what I am looking for. I need her to be the villain and the reason for Chang Geng.

I. NEED. THE. WOLF. ATTACK. SCENE. OUTSIDE. OF. YANHUI. TOWN. aka The First Time They Meet

There is legit no excuse for them to fuck this up, but the Steampunk elements. I would not know what else to say if they fuck this one thing up that is so integral and basic to the love of this IP. They cannot fuck this up. I am very sure I will join people in rioting if they do.

I need to see my Red Kites, my Heavy and Light Armours, my Dragons... I need to see the steam powered lamps, the iron puppets... I need them to get the Wind Slashers right. I need them to get this world-building right ok? I need to be dropped into this show and just swoon over just how accurate to imagination everything looks. Tencent does have the blessed ability to make very good looking productions, so on this note, I am assured. 

I need them to get the human element right; I need to understand why Gu Yun is the way he is, I need to know why the members of the Lin Yuan Pavillion will back Chang Geng and why they won’t. I need to know why Liao Chi would betray the Emperor. I need them to make me feel; I want them to make my heart hurt when Chang Geng’s heart is hurting, I want them to make me cry when Gu Yun is at his lowest and feels like he can’t go on. I want them to make me laugh, I want to feel for Shen Yi and Miss Chen’s awkward courting. 

On that note, I hope they get the Shen Yi and Gu Yun dynamic right too! These two are bros ok? Life and death, ride or die, best bros forever and I need, need them to nail just how integral these are to each other and how much they chose each other as family. I need the bickering, I need the protectiveness, I need the banter. 

I also need Chang Geng conspiring to marry Shen Yi off quickly so that he can have Gu Yun all to himself lol but lbr here if we can get an ending for this show from Tencent that even breathes the same atmosphere of air as satisfactory I will praise the heavens

The Bone of Impurity. I don’t know to what extent they will cover this or if they would do it the way the book does it, but this being an element that is integral to Chang Geng, I would be surprised if they dropped it entirely. So yeah, I am looking forward to seeing Chang Geng fretting and worrying and getting Bone of Impurity attacks.

Just the way that Gu Yun allows himself to be cared for my Chang Geng and how Chang Geng lets Gu Yun care for him

I want one acupuncture hedgehog scene please and thank you

I do want to see how they handle Chang Geng and his elder half-brother; how that dynamic unfolds will be something to pay some attention to, I think

Oh! That moment when Chang Geng kneels down in front of his brother and tells him to please bury any talk of his marriage and revealing to his brother the scars that he carries from his time living under Hu Ge Er’s roof (this is one brand of Whump that I promise you will hurt you very badly and it will be very good)

The argument at Jiangnan is something I really think will also make the final cut. It wouldn’t make sense to drop it seeing as this is a pivotal shift in their relationship where Chang Geng is finally holding his ground and not bending over backwards and believing everything his Yi Fu says. And this was the catalyst for their four year separation so yeah. I hope they do this justice.

I am not a betting person, but I high key bet that the scene between Gu Yun and the previous Emperor where he tells the man, “If you go, then I won’t have anyone left” and this being the moment that softens the dying fucker’s heart enough to give him a bracelet of beads that will be a major plot point towards the end

THE. BATTLE. SCENES.

Things I am hoping will happen:

At this point, speculation is that the point that tripped Winner Is King up for a recheck was the politics. This year is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party in China and rumour has it that shit be sieving thick and so a lot of shows are erring on the side of caution. 

Politics is the highest likelihood of a recheck but I am hoping that it won’t be dumbed down or watered down too much because the politics and the way things played out in the book was absolutely divine and I really want to see that court intrigue and scheming and interplay unfold.

I’ve mentioned in my most recent podcast episode that I am banking on this show to scratch my itch for a Nirvana in Fire level of plottiness and infinite craftiness of the characters and I am crossing all fingers and toes for that to happen because All! The! Characters! Hold! Their! Own! And I need to see that play out please I am not asking for much...

The final sea battle with the Pope. I wouldn’t even know where they would even begin to shoot that scene but this is something I would love to see happen.

The Bone of Impurity attack after Gu Yun sneakily left the capital. That was the scene that caught me and hooked, lined and sinkered me for Chang Geng as a character. Listening to this scene be brought to life in the audio drama has really hammered it home that if they make this bit into the show, I will watch and weep if it is done right. 

Cao Niangzi being Cao Niangzi. I am thinking it might not happen the way I want, but I just need them to get them right.

Ge Chen peeing on the enemy’s face. Please. I laughed so hard. I need this. It will be a balm to my soul.

Please, I need Gu Yun’s soul crushing flute playing like I need Gong Jun to always be absolutely horrible at singing because baby this is your niche and this is your charm own it work it

I also need Gu Yun stealing a bamboo flute from a 10 year old because he got jealous please and thank you

Any flashback of Chang Geng and Hu Ge Er before Yanhui Town

I want to see that moment that Gu Yun hears first hand from someone who had knowledge of what Hu Ge Er would do to a baby Chang Geng and the horrible abuse she inflicted on him, because up to that point, he only knew that something went on, but never to the extent that revelation wrought unto him

Any of the Bone of Impurity moments; any mention of it, any visual representation of it... Gosh, just the idea of having the Bone of Impurity made visual is just... Ugh. Yes. Please. The suffering.

[bonus] Things I wish will happen but will probably not:

The hot spring scene or a version of it

An implication that baby cannibalism was involved in the making of a Bone of Impurity

The scene where they get to the goddess doll (the description of it in the book was so bone chilling and if they do this I will have nightmares, I’m just warning you)

I really, really want a scene where, after being crowned Emperor, Chang Geng goes to the frontlines to reclaim the South and upon hearing that he was there, Gu Yun immediately panicked like he was about to be caught with his pants down doing something illegal when all he did was ordered his subordinates to keep news of his injuries from being reported back to the capital

Any flashback of Chang Geng and Hu Ge Er before Yanhui Town; especially when they were with the Barbarians

I want to see some version of Hu Ge Er realising what she has done to her own child and to Chang Geng

Okay this got super long but what are you guys looking forward to seeing when Winner is King hits our screens? I’m looking forward to creating content for this fandom when it hits ೕ(˃̵ᴗ˂̵ ๑) In the meantime, sound off on what you’re expecting and what you’re maybe wary about!

[hypo-critic-al]

Korean Frankenstein musical is quite good!

(MY SUBJECTIVE REVIEW)

After two musical adaptations, which are Frankenstein: a new musical and Frankenstein metal opera, I have discovered, not a secret of life as Victor did, but another very nice adaptation of Frankenstein! It’s name is "프랑켄슈타인 뮤지컬" or simply "Frankenstein musical".

I was watching Frankenstein a new musical stuff on YouTube when I stumbled across a Korean Frankenstein video with English subtitles. Maybe I can give it a watch, I thought...

And oh dear, I wanted more!

I don’t understand a single word of Korean but thanks to a few subtitled songs and Google Translate on my side I got to understand some parts of a plot.

Before I explain the plot I have to say that this is a very interesting and fresh take on the book. If you want to know my thoughts on it and what it is about, then you can read further.

(SPOILERS)

(warning! This story talks about murder, abuse of all kind, suicide intention, incest marriage, and other topics that may be triggering and unpleasant for you. You are free to scroll past this post if you want to avoid reading about these. Thank you.)

(The photos used in this post are from various sources, productions, actors etc. They are used to illustrate and show how the musical looks like. I don’t profit from using them.)

THE SCRIPT: Overture plays and we see a man in a lab leaning over a body on a table. Voice of a man and woman try to stop the said man from doing anything further but then a lightning struck outside of a lab and a body on a table sits up.

The whole story begins here:

It’s 1815, Napoleonic Wars are coming to their end, we meet one Henry Dupré: soldier surgeon and body grafter. He values the life of the others, it’s so precious to him that he doesn’t heal only soldiers from his side, but also his enemies. For this, a crime of espionage, he is to be executed and shot.

However, at the last minute, a soldier from higher ranks stops this. It is no one else than Victor Frankenstein. Victor takes Henry to his lab where he presents him his research and a reason he saved Henry: to create a strong, perfect, possibly immortal human soldiers from dead bodies.

Henry is sceptical at first, he doesn’t want to play God, but later agrees and joins this experiment.

The war has ended, the lab is closed before they could finish their project, so both of them are coming to Victor’s hometown: Geneva. People are celebrating the end of the war at the castle of their Mayor Stephen, Victor’s uncle. People are dancing and chatting and soon they start to spread rumours about Victor. Victor’s older sister Ellen and her cousin who also is Victor’s fiancee Julia are trying to prove rumours wrong but it’s too late. Victor leaves the event and goes to Frankenstein’s mansion.

Meanwhile, Julia is sad at the fact that Victor is cold and ignores her, but she still has hope that he will love her like he did before the war.

Henry and Victor continue their experiment in the old Frankenstein’s mansion, but Henry sees that people of Geneva don’t like Victor and hate the name of Frankenstein, so he asks Victor’s sister Ellen about it.

She then tells him a story of their family:

When they were children there was an epidemic. Their mother got ill and their father, a doctor, was unable to cure this sickness. He was so desperate that he started to believe in alchemy and the medical practise of the Middle Ages. Their mother died and young Victor, full of grief and denial, dug up his mother’s body and secretly tried to bring her back to life. Superstitious people, seeing that Frankenstein’s father used strange medieval remedies and seeing the grave of his wife empty, start to think that Frankensteins are witches. They burned down their castle and while escaping, Victor’s father sacrifices his life to save Victor.

Ellen and Victor go to live with their uncle Stephen and their cousin Julia and since then Victor is obsessed with life-creating. Once, he tried his theories and reanimated dead Julia’s dog, who became savage and feral afterwards.

Uncle Stephen doesn’t like Victor and decides to send him to study abroad. He then became a soldier and we know the rest of the story.

Victor is unable to reanimate a body, it seems that the brain cannot withstand the electric current and he needs to find a fresh brain. While drinking at a bar with Henry, Victor’s butler Runge, who was helping them with their experiment, tells them, that he has promised money to a mortician if he provides them recently dead body. However, it seems that a money-blinded mortician killed a young boy whom Victor knew and now wants more money in exchange for the boy’s brain. Victor lost his temper, killed the man and escaped. Henry takes the blame and is soon to be executed.

Runge, Julia and Ellen know the truth about his experiment and Victor’s crime but they doesn’t want to lose him. He tries to tell the court that he is a killer, but Stephen denies it, saying Victor is insane and ill after the war, so the court dismisses his testimony and Henry is sentenced to die under a guillotine.

Victor asks Henry in jail why he sacrificed himself and Henry says that Victor must live to fulfil his dream and that he must finish his experiment in a memory of him.

After his death, Victor takes Henry’s head and uses it as a last part of the Creature whom he brings to life. Runge and Ellen are amazed to see the reanimated Creature but Victor is crazy, he believes that he resurrected Henry.

However, they see the Creature move around weirdly, trying to come closer to his creator. This freaks Runge out and he attacks him, thinking the Creature wants to strangle Victor. Monster tried to defend himself, bit the butler’s neck and Runge died.

Frustrated Victor, seeing that this isn’t his Henry but feral Creature, wants to shot him but the Creature escapes the lab.

Three years later, Victor and Julia are celebrating their wedding. He is still anxious and thinks about Creature. Mayor’s servants then rush to him, announce him that his uncle, Mayor Stephen, has disappeared.

Victor distances himself from guests and that’s when the Creature appears before him.

Monster, who read Victor’s diary, which was in coat which Creature have grabbed before his escape, blames Victor for Henry’s death, he argues that he didn’t want to be created, left alone and later almost killed. Then he tells his story to scared Victor:

The Creature was running from Victor and after some time he found a village. He couldn’t overcome his hunger and decided to eat a dog. Turns out that the dog was of Eva, the wealthy owner of a fighting field and she sends her arena warriors to capture the Creature.

(This is where Google Translator began to fail, so I had to deduce things. When there is something I couldn’t understand, I put a question mark after it.)

The Creature sees Catherine, a servant in said fighting field, being attacked by a bear(?). He kills it and Eva, seeing Creature’s amazing strength, doesn’t punish him, instead she enlists him to her fighting arena as one of the gladiators.

Creature’s whole purpose is to fight with other fighters. Eva and Jacques, Eva’s husband, are constantly punishing and verbally abusing him.

The only person that shows sympathy for Creature is Catherine, who is also abused by her masters, fighters and other people from the arena, to which she was sold at a young age. She cleanses his wounds and she dreams of escaping away, to the North Pole, where there are no people to abuse her. Creature is fascinated by her story and wants to run away, too.

One day Fernando, creditor of the arena, promises that he will free them out of debt if the Creature wins against his fighter. He then approaches Catherine, promising her freedom if she adds strange medicine to Creature’s water. She is blinded by a promised freedom and does so.

The Creature is defeated in a fight, but Fernando’s plan is revealed and Jacques announces that the next day Catherine will die in the arena.

Monster is left alone, miserable, angry, longing for love and thirsty for vengeance and revenge upon his creator, he sets the arena on fire and finds Victor in Geneva.

Creature here ends his story and announces that this is the beginning of his revenge and escapes. Victor learns soon after that his uncle was killed and the court blamed his sister Ellen for murder. He arrives too late, Ellen is already hanged.

He then takes her body with intention of reanimating it, his lab is however destroyed by a Creature. Victor pleads Creature to kill him, but the Creature laughs, telling him that revenge is not over yet.

Day, when Victor feels the Creature would come he gathers people with guns in front of his house to kill Monster as soon as he appears. Suddenly, they hear Julia’s scream inside the house. Victor knows who to blame, and cries, asking why the Creature killed her and not him. Creature, who is standing near Victor tells that if he wants to avenge his dearest ones, he can find him in the North Pole.

While running there, Creature is regretthing his sins and while looking back at his life he finds a young boy lost in the woods. He calms the crying boy by telling him a story of a man who fought against God by creating life. The boy is curious and says that the Monster in the story is the Creature telling him this tale. The creature is annoyed by further questions, pushes the child into the water and continues his path to the Arctic.

Victor, from the last strength, reaches the Creature and fights with him. Creature stabs Victor’s leg with a knife and Victor shoots the Creature. Creature then says that because of a leg injury Victor won’t leave the Arctic and by following him to the Arctic he basically just punished himself.

The Creature dies, saying that justice was done and calls his creator "my friend". Victor sees that he is the one responsible for his tragedy, he was successful in revenge but at the expense of losing everything, and calls his creation, the last thing that somehow cared for Victor Frankenstein, his friend. He then slowly dies with his Creature in his arms.

—————————

Whew! This took me longer than I wanted to. First my draft got deleted, then again...

This musical wasn‘t directly sticking to the source material, but it is referencing it pretty often. For example, character of Henry Dupré was inspired by Henry Clerval, Julia=Elizabeth, Ellen is falsely acussed of murder as Justine was, instead of burning down a cottage of DeLacys, Creature burns down a fighting field etc. And is Runge a parallel for an Igor? I think he is.

Victor and Creature stay pretty similar to the book. Victor’s actions are affected by his pride, he doesn’t care about morality, God, etc. His actions may come from love of those he lost (his mother, Henry...) but he is careless and revenge blinds him that he slowly destroys himself. He may fight against God, but he faills to take responsibility.

Also, how could he think he would revive Henry by stitching his head to a creature’s neck? That’s dumb! Victor, I know you want your boyfriend back, but that is awful.

The Creature wants to be loved but instead he is hated everywhere he goes. He reads Victor’s diary and is mad at him, he doesn’t see that although Victor tries to make strong corpse soldier but he doesn’t know the thought process behind it and a fact that Victor tried to revive Henry by making the Creature.

So the Creature shows him a simple revenge plan: Runge attempted to kill me – I killed him. You are resposible for Henry’s death – I kill your uncle. You are responsible for my creation – Ellen dies. You tried to kill me and abadoned me – I kill Julia. Now if you wanna take this further and destroy yourself even more, come to Arctic.

And Victor does. And monster uses the same logic later, too. They both thought of stopping this chase to Arctic stuff but they were blindly following their rage for one another which resulted in their death.

I can’t judge things further because I didn’t watched full show.

But the music is pretty much fantastic! Just epic. I don’t care very much for flaws If a musical has great music.

Also if you look at actors, singing, dancing, costumes... I feel like a lot of money went into this musical. And a lot of money have returned from tickets. I think I read somewhere that this is considered the best original Korean musical in Korea. Because other musicals that are this popular are Broadway musical productions.

This may be a clichè for someone but I truly enjoy smart double acting roles. Not the ones like: okay, we don’t have enough actors, let’s make this one play another role. No, not like that. I like those meaningful ones. Kinda what Hamilton did. Here it is too. You see, it is obvious that the actor playing Henry plays later the Creature. A person whom once Victor adored is now a person whom he hated the most. And actor of Victor plays role of Jacques in second act. Isn‘t this cool? A person who rejected him is now a person abusing him. Every named character plays another role similar to the one in first act. I think Eva is played by actress of Ellen, Ellen stands by Victor’s side and agrees with everything he says. That’s also Eve’s relationship with her husband Jacques, played by actor of Victor. Soft, loving Julia is Catherine here. Actor of Runge plays the role of Jacques’ servant. Etc., etc.

One thing I didn’t like much was a difficult story. I know that Korean audience may have different taste, but to me, a Western listener, it was a bit confusing plot. They added unnecessary stuff to it, changed some things and sometimes it’s really confusing. (Hey! That’s what Jekyll & Hyde did! They left only key things from the book and changed everything. And this musical is comparable to J&H then. It’s not Frankenstein: a new musical that is similar to J&H, it’s this! This is a Frankenstein adaptation that follows the story path of J&H. That’s interesting.)

And I didn‘t mind this, but couldn’t they left the names unchanged? Why couldn’t Victor’s fianceé have a name Elizabeth? And why you have Jacques and Eva? You could have one character, only Eva for example. Jacques is just here, slapping the Creature (the only reason for having them both is their double acting roles, which I understand). And there is Ernest erasure as always. And no Robert Walton, too! They cut this character. The more I look into it, the more I feel that this musical was made by someone who liked Jekyll & Hyde.

(END OF SPOILERS)

To sum up, this musical appears to me as a nice, original take on the original book. It has interesting parallels to the book, references it throughout this show, and takes inspiration from Frankenstein movies. It feels like a blow of fresh air.

The music is very likeable. If you like Wildhorn-ish kind of stuff like I do, then this is, I don’t know, it feels more complex and confident than what I am used to. Maybe you won’t like it, maybe it becomes your favourite musical, this is just my opinion.

And don’t get me started on singing, acting, costume design, sets, choreography... it’s beyond perfect and I think that the West musicals should take notes.

I have talked about some stuff a bit more in a spoiler section but I have to say it here too, this musical has a very interesting take on Victor/Henry relationship that later affects Victor’s actions and his relationship with the Creature. It’s very heartwarming and creepy at the same time.

I think my sole obsession for countless days (I haven’t listened to anything else than these since last March) that are Frankenstein: a new musical, and Jekyll & Hyde musical have a new opponent. New March, new me (It’s still just Frankenstein tho).

So, pros and cons:

PROS:

-good music

-good acting

-good singing

-referencing the source material

-nice take on Victor/Henry relationship

-I like reasonable double acting roles

-simply it’s good

CONS:

-name change of main characters

-no Robert and Ernest (I know, but not even Walton is here!)

-tiring and long story

-unnecessary/bland female characters

-foreign language

I rate this musical 8,25/10. I still haven‘t seen it whole, so I can’t really judge it objectively.

I assume there is no full recording and I can’t find a script either. If anyone has an English or Korean script/bootleg, please, let me know : )

Here is a recording of a few songs performed at a musical press conference, you can set an English subtitles if you want to know the words:

Here is a link to the full Korean album, not all songs were recorded on the album:

And here is an animatic that makes me cry ;-;:

I apologise for bad grammar, stupid reasoning and other things.

I hope you didn’t mind me sharing this musical with you, I like this show and I haven’t seen any people talk about it in Frankenstein (book/musical/etc.) fandom, so I made this post to share it with you.

Have a nice day : D

[graphicabyss]

XVII-XVIII Century Royal Queer History

Unexpectedly to myself, I got really engaged in history of Europe of XVI-XVII centuries. I never really had much interest in kings and queens and didn't know much about them but once I began to read and learn about their personal lives, I got kinda hooked. Also, I was struck by how many of them were queer and I began to write down my findings, which inevitably turned into a freaking study. I thought I might as well post it.

I'm gonna start with King James I of England who ruled in XVII century. Now there are several tumblr posts about this queer legend. Some historians think he was weak and unremarkable but he survived several assassination attempts, kept his power over 3 countries and lived to old age, which is pretty remarkable on its own. He also kept all the religious leaders at bay and commissioned the world's most famous Bible, which is still owned by most Christians 400 years later. He was also the one who created the modern wedding ritual. You know, church, vows, rings, that stuff. He avoided wars and was a patron of the arts, even wrote some books, including one about demons, werewolves and vampires. What a nerd. He was very different from Elizabeth who preceded him, so one contemporary epigram stated "Elizabeth was King, now James is Queen". Oh, also he was very gay. Or, at least, as gay as a king can get. His relationships with his male courtiers were notorious. He had several favourites who had way too much influence over him and his court really hated it.

He needs to have a movie made about him, seriously. I found only one semi-documentary film and it was The King James Bible: The Book That Changed The World (2011). While I liked the film and King James was hot, sassy and very cool, it was disappointing he was shown as perfectly straight. They could just avoid his personal life altogether, but instead they chose to show him being a perfect husband. While it is true that he was nice to his bride, by the time he met her he had a 10-year old relationship with a man 24 years his senior (since he was 14). I'm just gonna use this screenshot from the movie instead of a painting because it's too good.

Perhaps the most notorious of his alleged lovers was George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham. Starting out as a son of a minor gentleman, the 21-year old lad caught the eye of King James I and quickly became his favourite teasing him by dancing in intricate performances called masques. He made a brilliant career becoming a knight, an earl, a Marquess, and finally a duke - a title normally being reserved for members of the royal family - within just 9 years. Can you blame him though? I mean, look at that stud.

Btw, James’ pet name for Buckingham was ‘Steenie’, derived from St. Stephen who reportedly had the face of an angel.

The name Buckingham seemed oddly familiar to me but it took some time before I realized he was one of the characters in Dumas's "The Three Musketeers". Now I am someone who grew up on old pure Three Musketeers movies so when I started learning about the real historical figures involved in it it gave me a slight shock as the truth is way more weird and sinister that fiction.

The storyline I remember the most was the one where Anne of Austria, the queen of France, got in trouble with her husband Louis XIII because of her affair with Duke of Buckingham. Of course, Duke of Buckingham was never the Queen's lover, he was the King's. What's more, some historians assume Louis XIII was also queer. There is no evidence that Louis kept mistresses, but he had very intimate relationships with his favourites. He has even been described as “repelled by female contact”. There's also the issue of him struggling to have an heir. His wife had 4 pregnancies that were unsuccessful but that seemed like too few for a king who needed to secure his dynasty. After 23 years of trying, the king and queen were finally able to produce a son and another soon followed, the older son to become Louis XIV, and the younger, Philippe, to be known as Duke of Orleans.

Anne was quite the character for a dramatic story too. After Louis's death she became the Regent and made sure to clear the way for her son Louis. To ensure that Louis's younger brother will not try to usurp the power from him as it was with Louis XIII 's brother, Anne of Austria conducted an early and very wicked gender development experiment. She and her adviser, Cardinal Mazarin, set up a plan to raise the two boys very differently. Queen Anne called Philippe by such nicknames as "my little girl" and encouraged him to dress in feminine clothing, which he sometimes did even as an adult.

I'm just gonna use this quote because this shit is real: The queen and Mazarin discouraged the duc d'Anjou [Philippe] from traditional manly pursuits such as arms and politics, and encouraged him to wear dresses, makeup, and to enjoy feminine behaviour. His inclination toward homosexuality was not discouraged, with the hope of reducing any threat he may have posed to his older brother. Reportedly, Cardinal Mazarin even commanded his nephew, Philippe, to de-flower the king's younger brother.

Well, fuck. The joke's on them though, as Philippe grew up to be a fashion icon AND a fierce warrior. He participated in many battles and was immensely praised for his bravery and valour. In 1677, he led the French forces at the Battle of Cassel against William III of Orange of the Netherlands. Yes, that guy who later gently invaded England and took the throne. By the way, there are some allegations that he was also gay. Anyway, Philippe was so badass in battle that people glorified him as a hero and it made his stallion of a brother so jealous he sent him back and never allowed him on the battlefield again. Louis XIV continued his mother's effort in encouraging his brother's effeminate behaviour and putting up with his homosexual relationships, all the while waging a war of homosexuality in France. I mean, gotta preserve the traditional values, such as fucking 12 mistresses who were often married. There were even rumours Louis fucked Philippe's wife. I guess he was trying to make up for his father, brother, son, and uncle, César de Vendôme. Meanwhile, Philippe gave no fucks. He had a number of favourites and didn't even try to hide his sexuality. In fact, it is said that every time Louis pissed him off, Philippe did something extra gay and in his face. Fierce.

One guy I have to mention is Armand, the Comte de Guiche, who was said to be handsome, vain, and manipulative. Armand was Philippe’s lover, but he is widely thought to have been his wife Henrietta’s lover as well. That apparently wasn’t enough for the guy, because in 1665 he also tried to romance Louise de La Valliere, who was Louis’ chief mistress at the time. Louis exiled him in 1662 for plotting with Henrietta to break up Louis and Louise. What a glorious fucker.

But the love of Philippe's life was Chevalier de Lorraine who was basically a prince of a realm outside France. He's usually called 'Chevallier' but his name was also Philippe. He also had an older brother named Louis. Seriously, couldn't they try a little harder with the names? Anyway, when they met Philippe was 18 and Chevalier 15 and sparks flew. He was described as being “as beautiful as an angel” and was more than ready to use what his mama gave him. He was smart and very manipulative and Philippe showered him with gifts all his life, much to the chagrin of his two wives whose money and estates he often gave away.

He moved to Palais-Royal, the same palace as Philippe and his wife Henriette. Very convenient. Philippe's marriage got kinda crowded. Chevalier got so arrogant, he actually told Philippe's wife she needs his permission to sleep with him and that he could get him to divorce her. She complained to the king and he got Chevalier imprisoned and exiled. However, not for long as Philippe pleaded the king to pardon him and eventually succeeded. Henriette did not get much relief apparently as she wrote: “I see from the ashes of Monsieur’s love for the Chevalier, as from the dragon’s teeth, a whole brood of fresh favourites are likely to spring up to vex me.” Of course, Chevalier also managed to enrich himself immensely by getting Philippe and the king to give him and his family tons of perks, such as make him the titular Abbot of four abbeys, which payed handsomely.

Henriette died very suddenly claiming she was poisoned. The doctors found no evidence of that, but there were still rumours that Chevalier was to blame. Philippe had to find another wife, even if he wasn't happy about it. Chevalier stuck around. He was exiled a second time after he apparently seduced the king's son (more on that later) but was able to return again. Their relationship lasted for 40 years, until Philippe's death.

There was a recent TV show called Versailles that depicts Louis XIV’s reign and it has a fairly accurate though romanticized portrayal of Philippe and Chevalier's relationship. Too bad the show is way too violent for me to watch. They look stunning in it~

Anyway, such relationships were far from rare. In fact, apparently there were the so-called confréries (“fraternities”), which were basically gay brotherhoods whose members hung out together and set up orgies. One elite brotherhood was founded between 1680 and 1682. Apart from Chevalier, it included the king Louis XIV's cousin Prince of Conti who was once proclaimed the King of Poland, and Louis's illegitimate son, the comte de Vermandois. The latter was 15 in 1682 when at the court of his uncle Philippe, he met the Chevalier de Lorraine and his sect and apparently got very personally acquainted with Chevalier's younger brother and nephew. When the king learned about it, the group was forcibly dissolved and Vermandois was beaten before the king, exiled from court, and forced into marriage. Another such group was within the highest ranks of nobility at the court of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, the son of Philippe and the regent at the time when Louis XV was young. They really didn't bother with names, huh? Anyway, they got involved in a number of scandals, in one of which that happened in 1722 a group of 17 noble men gathered in the palace gardens to fuck. The Regent didn't seem very bothered and even seemed to find it amusing.

The Regent, who did not stop smiling, was satisfied that it was necessary to give the nobles a harsh reprimand and tell them that they do not have the best taste [goût] in the world.

Dad would be proud.

There were also some (presumably) queer queens, like Queen Anne of England. Now you might have seen the movie The Favourite but it's heavily satirized and Anne wasn't really childlike and helpless. Actually, this image was created by Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, after she was expelled by Anne, and stuck. However, the rivalry between the old and new favourites was very real.

Anne met Sarah when she was just 8. Sarah was beautiful, charming and very persuasive. When Anne became the queen, she made Sarah Churchill her Mistress of the Robes (the highest office in the royal court that could be held by a woman) and gave her a bunch of other really cool titles. She also made her husband, John Churchill, a duke. Thus Sarah became the most powerful person in England after the queen and the queen always listened to her advice. However, as years went by, Sarah became increasingly pushy and insensitive, using the queen to get what she wanted.

Sarah looking fab~

Then comes Abigail Masham, Sarah's impoverished cousin. Abigail was soft, caring and considerate, exactly what the queen needed. Sarah tried to get rid of her but it only angered the queen further and she eventually dismissed Sarah and her husband and banished them with disgrace while Abigale took her place. Sarah then wrote scandalous memoirs, painting the queen as weak and instable, as well as implying that her relationship with Abigail was lesbian. In mid-1708, she helped to circulate a ballad with such lyrics as: “Her secretary she was not / Because she could not write / But had the conduct and the care / Of some dark deeds at night.”

While there is no direct evidence that she and Anne had sexual relationship, there are many letters between the women that are very romantic and intimate. Sarah even used them to blackmail the queen. And you can kinda see why. “Tis impossible for you ever to believe how much I love you except you saw my heart,” the princess wrote in one letter, as quoted in Anne Somerset’s biography of Anne. “If I writ whole volumes I could never express how well I love you,” read another.

Also, like, evidence was hardly even a thing with queer relationships, since the only solid evidence of regular affairs were illegitimate children.

Finally, I really want to talk about Frederick II, the king of Prussia. Buckle up because this is gonna be long.

Until the age of 7 Frederick was growing up with his lit mother and sister. Here they are, looking gorge. I think he's in blue but tbh I'm not 100% sure.

Anyway, as he got older he was taken to his father and that's when things got shitty. His father, Frederick William I, was the model image of toxic masculinity. He was all about power and military and expected his son to be the same. And since the boy was a lot more into music, poetry, and French stuff, his father often beat and humiliated him. He didn't allow him to learn French and Latin because, like, that's so gay. Now he was a real man. With a weird kink for tall guys. He is known for creating the Potsdam Giants, a regiment of very tall men that he didn't use for battle, just dressing them up and making them march. Ultimate straightness. It is probably redundant to say but his father also hated 'sodomy' and it was punishable by death, a law Frederick would repeal.

And the thing is, Frederick wasn't even supposed to become a king. He was the third son. It wasn't even disease. The first son died because a volley was fired close to his crib (because that’s the only way to wake up a real man - canon) and the second died at baptism because the royal crown crushed his skull. And you thought your parents were bad. Poor Frederick didn't even want to be a king, he just wanted to play the flute and do his thing. In a different age he'd be writing musicals on Broadway or something.

Anyway, there are few doubts among historians the man was gay. There's this BBC documentary that downplays it but it keeps saying he grew up in an environment where he was "leading a double life" and that he once wrote to a close friend that he felt he was a mirror that dared not be what nature made it, forced to oblige what was around it. Please.

Frederick's first presumed relationship was at 16, with Keith, the king's 17-year-old page. Unsurprisingly, Keith was soon sent to a far-off frontier. Right after that, however, Frederick got real close with an officer Hans Hermann von Katte. The dude was very woke and they both loved music and poetry but shit got very real very soon. In 1730, Katte and Frederick decided to flee to Britain to escape their despotic fathers. Sadly, they got caught and tried for treason. Although the prince was pardoned, Katte was sentenced to life imprisonment, which his sick dad changed to execution and then forced Frederick to watch it. At execution Katte and Fred shouted to each other endearments in French and before it happened, Frederick fainted. That shit really fucked him up and he got depressed but he toughened up and accepted his fate.

Aged about 20, Frederick was expected to marry. After a few failed attempts, an Austrian bride was selected, Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Bevern. Frederick was clearly unexcited and apparently even threatened suicide. As soon as he had secured throne, he sent her away and only met with her out of necessity. They had no children. And some historians are like, "well, they just didn't get along". Well, his folks hated each other but it didn't stop them from having 14 children.

Anyway, his father finally got off his back and as a crown prince, he mostly spent his time reading, composing, watching plays and writing woke political essays. Then his dad died so playtime was over.

Now that sounds like a story of a "weak" king. A man who loved to read books and play his flute. But it's not how it was. As Fred became king, he inherited a very militarized state with a huge-ass army and he worked with what he had. He started expanding Prussia, starting with Austria, which he had old beef with. He wasn't out for world conquest, he struck swiftly and strategically to consolidate and strengthen his state.

Frederick, widely known as Frederick the Great, waged war against much bigger armies with great success and doubled Prussia's size in his reign. Which is why Hitler was obsessed with the guy smh. Would make more sense if he was into the Frederick Senior, with his militarism and his little hobby of inbreeding giants and all. He must have missed the part where he was tolerant, modest and also gay.

Frederick also had a younger brother, Prince Henry, who was also gay. He was an important general in the king's army, though their relationship was quite complicated. Henry married but like his brother, bore no children, ignored his wife and spent time with fine lads.

Look at this unapologetic legend!

When Frederick wasn't battling, he was doing lit stuff. He built a gorgeous palace in French fashion, full of Grecian sculptures and homoerotic paintings. He attracted the best intellectual minds of his time. Voltaire lived there for 3 years btw and he did not hold back to make many "wink wink" references to the king and his Grecian taste.

Speaking of which... One of his closest friends was Michael Gabriel Fredersdorf, an army private and a son of a peasant. Frederick met him as a prince and kept him by his side for the rest of his life, quite literally as he had an adjoined bedroom in his palace. He also made him a chancellor and gave him an estate, which really pissed off the elites.

Frederick is a complex character. Sure, he waged war and very successfully asserted himself as one of the top military leaders in history. But at the time Prussia was a scattered landlocked state, it couldn't just opt out of war so it's not like he could just go "peace out, bitches". But he did so much more. The guy actually believed that the king's duty was to be just and improve the lives of his people. He did some major reforms, improved education, supported art, and practiced religious tolerance, which was pretty woke at the time. He abolished torture and corporal punishment. He made governing more democratic by hiring people based on ability, not just status. Sadly, his cool legacy was utterly destroyed because the Nazi decided to appropriate him as their idol but lately it’s being reassessed. It’s hard to judge him considering how much he went through. But despite it all he became one of the best military commanders in history, one of the most woke and talented monarchs, and of course a legendary queer! 

Disclaimer: I know all of these people did some terrible shit, at least by modern standards, but I'm here to have fun so I'm not going to go there now. Sources: medium.com/@LukeBoneham/the-politics-of-desire-... thehistoryofparliament.wordpress.com/2019/02/21... www.ranker.com/list/life-of-philippe-dorleans/m... cour-de-france.fr/vie-quotidienne/sociabilite-e... aelarsen.wordpress.com/2018/07/20/versailles-th... thedrummersrevenge.wordpress.com/2007/06/22/ref... dirtysexyhistory.com/2017/09/03/a-secret-gay-br... unspeakablevice.tumblr.com/post/82525976110/lou... journals.openedition.org/crcv/14427#ftn161 Marie Antoinette's World: Intrigue, Infidelity, and Adultery in Versailles The Real Versailles - BBC Two

BBC Four - Frederick the Great and the Enigma of Prussia https://medium.com/war-is-boring/historys-greatest-gay-general-fd7d1d311464 https://www.queerportraits.com/bio/frederick https://www.spectator.com.au/2015/10/frederick-the-great-king-of-prussia-is-a-great-read/ http://gayinfluence.blogspot.com/2011/10/frederick-great-1712-1786.html https://www.history.com/news/true-story-queen-anne-sarah-abigail-the-favourite-fact-check