#lord john and the brotherhood of the blade

[starmaniswaiting]

Lord John Grey

'He paused by the window, looking up into a lavender sky, fingers pressed against the icy glass. No stars tonight; the snowflakes came down out of the dark, rushing towards him, endless, uncountable. Silent, too, but not like the stars. Falling snow whispered secrets to itself.'

— Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

[cookie-de-baunilha]

I love how John firmly and wholeheartedly believes that Jamie is the only person that knows about his relationship with Percy, when in reality there’s about 1% chance of that being the case.

There were a lot of people who probably suspected/knew about them. Maybe not before Percy’s exposure, but after that situation? Oh boy. They would look at their close friendship in hindsight + John being miserable after everything that happened and just put 2 and 2 together.

Especially the ones closer to John, but other people in his social circle too. People talk. The gossip would be wild. Before going on campaign those two were going out and about in London together, having dinners, attending plays, going to gaming clubs etc. At the time, no one would pay much attention to it. But that would drastically change after the incident with Percy.

Let’s not forget about the “near scandal” John was involved in with George Everett that had him exiled to Ardsmuir.

So… everyone kinda knew about them?? Ok not everyone, but a bunch of people. And it’s funny how John is delulu about it. Let’s see:

Hal

First of all, Hal knows John is gay. They just don’t talk about it openly.

Hal would notice John’s behavior after Percy was caught. He knew John would be a witness in Percy’s trial and was afraid of what could happen in that case. He knew John felt betrayed and tried to manipulate John’s anger towards Percy to get Percy killed. John couldn’t do it — if Hal still had any doubts, they ceased to exist the moment John came back from his conversation with Percy with that gun.

Not to mention the fact that Hal read the letter that Percy sent to John. The very first paragraph of that letter is basically Percy using pretty words to say that he would die for John. And at some point in the letter Percy writes that John told him about his father’s murder. Like??? It took 17 years for John and Hal to talk about it, and suddenly John would be openly discussing his family’s secrets with his new stepbrother? And you expect me to believe that somehow Hal thought that it was a normal friendship?? Nope.

Also, Hal’s advice to John in MOBY:

Hal merely snorted. "Men like that never die so conveniently. Why the bloody hell is he telling you this, do you think?"

Grey suppressed the vivid memory of bergamot, red wine, and petitgrain.

"I don't know. But I do know he's deeply involved with French interests, and-"

"Wainwright's never been involved with any interests other than his own," Hal interrupted brusquely. He gave John a sharp look. "You'd do well to remember that."

"I doubt I shall ever see the fellow again," John replied, overlooking the implication that his brother considered him gullible — or worse.

It’s impossible that he doesn’t know.

Benedicta

Mothers just know ok?

But seriously, Benedicta is really smart and she definitely knows that John is gay. In fact, if anyone suspected anything before the incident, I would bet on her.

Minnie

She knows.

Olivia?

I’m not sure about her, tbh. Maybe she was clueless. But then we have this conversation between her and John and it’s kinda sus (mind you, John is depressed af at this point):

Lucinda Joffrey and her husband

Firstly, both John and Percy running away from Lucinda’s arranged marriage plans like the plague might have made her a little suspicious. She might have suspected about John way before Percy came into the picture, in fact.

And she notices how bad John is after everything. She gets really concerned with him:

She goes as far as tricking John to see a doctor for his mental health, with the help of Horace Walpole:

Ally queen!!

Her husband not so much though, side eyeing John like Whitney Chewston, the homophobic dog:

Sir Richard be like 🤨🏳️‍🌈?

Horace Walpole

This is the funniest one to me, but also the sweetest.

First of all, Horace sees how shitty John is and works in cahoots with Lucinda Joffrey to trick John into going to the 18th century version of a therapist.

And then:

What I love about this interaction is the way that John knows that Horace is queer, but refuses to admit that Horace would know about him too.

The way Horace hesitates because HE DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO REFER TO PERCY. He wants to say lover (or ex-lover) but he knows that he isn’t that close to John and that it would be weird to be so open about it — and he also doesn’t know how John would react. Even if he is 100% sure that John is gay, he can’t be sure that John wouldn’t feel offended or react in a violent way.

But he also doesn’t want to say “friend” or “stepbrother” because he KNOWS THEY WERE SO MUCH MORE TO EACH OTHER. He knows those are not the right words to use. So he hesitates until John makes it simple.

HOWEVER. He knows that Percy being caught with another man must mean that John was betrayed. He knows John is hurting, not just because of the betrayal, but because of the brutality of it all — after all, betrayal notwithstanding, Percy got arrested and could get executed for being gay; for being just like them. That’s something that affects all of them as queer people.

So even though he can’t be open about it, you can feel that he wants to bring that comfort to John, because he knows how bad the whole thing is and how lonely John must be feeling. He wants John to know that he will do whatever he can to save Percy’s life. He wants John to have hope.

It’s sad, but also so sweet?? That silent solidarity.

AND JOHN “DOUBTS” WALPOLE KNOWS!!! MY DUDE!!! YOU. ARE. NOT. THAT. DISCREET.

A bunch of people in Hal’s regiment would be suspicious of John just because of their family connection — due to, you know, homophobia (and John being unmarried, unlike Hal)

TL;DR: John and Percy weren’t that much of a secret tbh, everyone close to them (or not that close) kinda knew. Everyone except General Stanley. That dude was clueless.

[gotham-ruaidh]

Hi @gotham-ruaidh I've been thinking lately about the bizzaro triangle that is Jamie, Claire, and John, and I always feel bad that John gets the visceral responses that he doesn't know where they come from... Obviously, there are things Jamie will NEVER tell him about but do you think he'll ever explain the bit of the past that I don't see how he could avoid associating between LJG and BJR

Ah, but John *does* know a bit about what happened with Jamie.

There’s a passage in the novella Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (set during the years while Claire was gone) where Jamie and John have the following heated exchange - and Lord John makes a heartbreaking realization:

[John speaking to Jamie] “I tell you, sir—were I to take you to my bed—I could make you scream. And by God, I would do it.” Later, he [John] would try to recall what had happened then. Had he moved, reflex and training cutting through the fog of rage that blinded him? Or had Fraser moved, some shred of reason altering his aim in the same split second in which he swung his fist? Hard as he tried, no answer came. He remembered nothing but the shock of impact as Fraser’s fist struck the boards an inch from his head, and the sob of breath, hot on his face… His vision cleared, eyes watering—but he saw neither the paddock, the wagon whose wheel he grasped, nor the house and lawns beyond. What he saw was Fraser’s face. When he had said that—what demon had given him that thought, those words? I could make you scream. Oh, Christ, oh, Christ. Someone had.

[britishguyslover]

“Do you still wish to marry me, George?”

“Benedicta, I would take you bankrupt, in your shift,” he said, smiling. His mother smiled back, and Grey cleared his throat.

“Shall I consider myself flattered,” Grey inquired, “that you consent to be seen in public with me, then?”

Percy glanced at him and uttered a short laugh.

“Oh, you would be a catch, my dear, were you bankrupt and common as dirt—or as I am.”

Oh, Percy 💔 my beloved

[littlecrabbs]

One thing I love about Outlander is the unique character dynamics, and I wondered what were other ppls favorites. You can also rank these if you’d like, cuz all of them are great in their own way.

[brotherhoodoftheblade]

It's hilarious to me that the first and last fortune John got in BotB was "The greatest danger could be your own stupidity" and "And the one you love could be closer than you think". I'm finding it pretty hard not to agree on both scores. xd

I also have to appreciate the way DG still had all her ducks in a row on the John/Percy front back then (at least until she lost her mind during the writing of Bees -_-).

*sigh*

[masterjedilenawrites]

List of books below, taken from the Star Wars wiki. Only included: Original Novels, Novel Adaptations, Script Books, and Young Adult Novels. Please no comments about books that are missing from the list... it is what it is.

The High Republic: Convergence - Zoraida Cordova

The High Republic: Path of Deceit - Tessa Gratton, Justina Ireland

The High Republic: The Battle of Jedha - George Mann

The High Republic: Path of Vengeance - Cavan Scott

The High Republic: Cataclysm - Lydia Kang

The High Republic: Into the Dark - Claudia Gray

The High Republic: Light of the Jedi - Charles Soule

The High Republic: The Rising Storm - Cavan Scott

The High Republic: Out of the Shadows - Justina Ireland

The High Republic: Tempest Runner - Cavan Scott

The High Republic: Midnight Horizon - Daniel Jose Older

The High Republic: The Fallen Star - Claudia Gray

The High Republic: The Eye of Darkness - George Mann

The High Republic: Defy the Storm - Tessa Gratton, Justina Ireland

The Vow of Silver Dawn - His Majesty the King

Dooku: Jedi Lost - Cavan Scott

Padawan - Kiersten White

Master & Apprentice - Claudia Gray

The Living Force - John Jackson Miller

Queen's Peril - E.K. Johnston

Queen's Shadow - E.K. Johnston

Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade - Delilah S. Dawson

Queen's Hope - E.K. Johnston

Brotherhood - Mike Chen

Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel - James Luceno

Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising - Timothy Zahn

Dark Disciple - Christie Golden

Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good - Timothy Zahn

Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil - Timothy Zahn

Ahsoka - E.K. Johnston

Thrawn - Timothy Zahn

Lords of the Sith - Paul S. Kemp

Tarkin - James Luceno

Most Wanted - Rae Carson

Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition - Mur Lafferty

Rebel Rising - Beth Revis

Crimson Climb - E.K. Johnston

A New Dawn - John Jackson Miller

Jedi: Battle Scars - Sam Maggs

Lost Stars - Claudia Gray

Leia, Princess of Alderaan - Claudia Gray

Thrawn: Alliances - Timothy Zahn

Thrawn: Treason - Timothy Zahn

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - Alexander Freed

Battlefront II: Inferno Squad - Christie Golden

Heir to the Jedi - Kevin Hearne

Doctor Aphra - Sarah Kuhn

Battlefront: Twilight Company - Alexander Freed

The Princess and the Scoundrel - Beth Revis

Alphabet Squadron - Alexander Freed

Aftermath - Chuck Wendig

Shadow Fall - Alexander Freed

Aftermath: Life Debt - Chuck Wendig

Victory's Price - Alexander Freed

Aftermath: Empire's End - Chuck Wendig

Last Shot - Daniel Jose Older

Poe Dameron: Free Fall - Alex Segura

Shadow of the Sith - Adam Christopher

Bloodline - Claudia Gray

Force Collector - Kevin Scinick

Phasma - Delilah S. Dawson

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Alan Dean Foster

Galaxy's Edge: Black Spire - Delilah S. Dawson

Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Expanded Edition - Jason Fry

Resistance Reborn - Rebecca Roanhorse

A Crash of Fate - Zoraida Cordova

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: Expanded Edition - Rae Carson

[ravravix]

first soft nsfw art 🤏🏻👀 Michael Bates from Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade ✨👌🏻

[sixela0221]

Lord John and Percy are kind of in the getting to know you phase. Sword fighting and stuff.

It's cute but Jamie is just this looming presence in the back of Lord John's mind. Thinking that he's cheating.

Babe, go get your man. Don't think about Jamie.

[andrasta14]

I was just thinking about the fandom-created ring that John gives Percy (which has popped up in a few John/Percy fics lately), which as those of us who've carefully read Brotherhood of the Blade know all too well – despite the tenderness of the gesture – he doesn't give him in the book. In fact, John never physically gives Percy ANY token of his affection at all on-the-page.

The closest thing to a physical token was the boiled sweets that John had in his pocket at the wedding to give to Percy, that he ends up throwing away at guests trying to get help for Olivia, and then we never see John give Percy any newly acquired sweets afterwards or hear it mentioned again. And the only "token" of actual affection he gives Percy was the heart on the drawn on the window, which obviously disappeared soon enough. John never gave Percy anything.

Percy, in fact, had to make his own token of sorts for himself: the sketch he drew of John because he wanted something of John to keep “just in case”...which is both touching and bloody sad at the same time. Much like Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade itself.

And did Percy even get to keep the sketch of John? We have no idea. Did he even bring it with him on campaign? Or, concerned about it being lost or damaged – or worse yet discovered by someone if he was killed in battle – might Percy have decided to leave behind in England for safe keeping? And if he brought it with him to Germany, would they even have let him have his belongings in gaol? Or when he was later transferred to England? (And 18th century English prisons were horrific if you didn’t have a lot of money to pay for decent accommodations – you had to pay just to keep your own clothes when you got there or they’d strip you naked, it was terrible, people!)

Who knows? It’s entirely possible that Percy may have escaped to Rome with just the clothes on his back, wholly bereft of everything he’d ever known. T_T

[cookie-de-baunilha]

Diana forgetting what she wrote in BOTB is not even a joke actually, it’s a fact:

A YEAR OR TWO LATER?? Is she talking about the Lavender House meeting? Because they talked for like 2 seconds in that scene, it makes 0 sense to consider that as the starting point of their relationship.

But pushing that aside, DECLARED HIS LOVE??? Excuse me, ma’am, I think I’ve read a completely different book.

It wasn’t until after the Doorknob Incident™ that John realized he was in love with Percy, tf is she talking about? And Percy never knew John was in love with him because John never told him, so wdym DECLARED his love?? That thought never left his head.

Let’s take a look at the definition of the verb “declare”, shall we?

Some interesting words: solemn, emphatic, firmly, clearly, publicly, officially… literally the polar opposite of what John did ijbol

Not to mention “someone who turns out to be unworthy of their love”, well I guess they could call it even then bc how the f*ck is Mr. I-will-tell-you-I-can’t-love-you-because-I’m-already-in-love-with-someone-else-but-I’ll-conveniently-2nd-place-you-and-take-your-love-and-all-the-benefits-that-come-with-it-so-that-I-can-enjoy-your-body-and-your-company-whilst-refusing-to-acknowledge-my-own-feelings anywhere near “worthy”.

This is so ridiculous 🙄

[gotham-ruaidh]

To the anon who asked me about Lord John’s awareness of Jamie’s rape -

No, Jamie doesn’t tell him directly. But John is smart enough to read between the lines, based on Jamie’s reaction to something rash that John says in the novella Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade - when they had the following exchange, and Lord John had a heartbreaking realization:

“I tell you, sir—were I to take you to my bed—I could make you scream. And by God, I would do it.”

Later, he would try to recall what had happened then. Had he moved, reflex and training cutting through the fog of rage that blinded him? Or had Fraser moved, some shred of reason altering his aim in the same split second in which he swung his fist?

Hard as he tried, no answer came. He remembered nothing but the shock of impact as Fraser’s fist struck the boards an inch from his head, and the sob of breath, hot on his face… 

His vision cleared, eyes watering—but he saw neither the paddock, the wagon whose wheel he grasped, nor the house and lawns beyond. What he saw was Fraser’s face. When he had said that—what demon had given him that thought, those words? I could make you scream.

Oh, Christ, oh, Christ. Someone had.

[britishguyslover]

John losing his father and John losing Percy.

[brotherhoodoftheblade]

The Brotherhood of the Blade being my favourite LJG book is like "wow I sure do love this beautifully tragic story, maybe if I read it enough times it'll stop being so damn tragic". ^.^;

[autumnalinspiratio]

Lord John and the Acquaintances: 

Captain Stephan von Namtzen, Landgrave von Erdberg

‘Have you quite lost your mind, Stephan?’ he inquired politely. 

 Von Namtzen appeared to consider the question, inhaling the aroma of his brandy. 

 ‘No,’ he said mildly, exhaling. ‘Why do you ask?’

[myhikari21things]

November, 2019 read of Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade