#miscarriage tw

[mysharona1987]

[blimbo-buddy]

So if kittens in warrior cats never age in Starclan when they die young, does that also like, apply the same to kits who died via miscarriage. Is this scene plausible

[queen-esther]

Pro-lifers really need more discernment about “the abortion pill.” Misoprostol is largely used to help women with missed miscarriages pass their pregnancies. I myself had to take it when I had my miscarriage, because my body was still progressing the pregnancy as if the baby was still alive and would not clock that my pregnancy should end. (When the baby was finally released, she was like a tiny gummy bear floating in a giant bubble. The sac was clearly still developing past her death.)

So when I see pro-lifers fearmongering about pharmacies offering “the abortion pill,” I just have to scratch my head. The issue isn’t that this medication is available to women who need it; the issue is that it’s also used to murder healthy babies. Tackle the wrong reasons misoprostol is prescribed, not the fact that it can be accessed at all. If you don’t make this distinction, then you’re only feeding into the pro-choice argument that women need abortion rights to treat miscarriages.

[one-time-i-dreamt]

Pokemon Sleep would tell you if you had a miscarriage during the night. This was done by just popping up text that said "miscarriage" next to the other sleep tracking stats with no tact or emotional weight whatsoever.

[quitealotofsodapop]

okay so, I was curious for something that’s been on my mind for a while….so, in slow boiled au, Wukong kills Mac because he was protecting his egg…my question is, What would have happened if Macaque did kill the egg?

I feel really bad for asking but it has been in my head for months.

Odds are; a version of the Century Egg Au (perhaps even happening within it).

Wukong exits the mountain with an Egg. An Egg that has a pretty high chance to kill him no matter the immortalities he's accumulated over the centuries. He's excited but terrified all at once.

Then the infamous fight between him and Macaque occurs, but unlike the other Egg aus... Macaque's strike at Wukong's stomach was true, or the stress of losing his mate was just too much for Wukong's body to handle. Because Wukong can handle a hit a or too - he's damn near indestructible and the Egg has magic of it's own, but what the Egg cannot handle is the mental and emotional anguish of it's parent. Stone Monkeys who are successfully revived from their stasis *do* often lose their Eggs as a means of ensuring the parent's continued survival - even if it means losing the last trace of their lost spouse.

Now suddenly there's no more Egg.

Wukong's body reabsorbs all the Dao the egg stored over the course of those years. He even experiences symptoms similar to what happened to Zhu Bajie and Tripitaka when they took the Spring Water in the Kingdom of Women.

He now knows that both the Egg and his Mate are Gone.

Wukong falls into a depression that takes decades for him to recover from. His Pilgrim brothers having no easy way to comfort him. Guanyin weeps for her adoptive son/brother as he sobs into their arms. Even the Ten Kings feel the Monkey King's sorrow from a Realm away - out of pity, Ksitigarbha ensures that the Egg's soul is kept safe for a time until when they may rejoin their parent.

DBK and PIF are informed of what happened, the two overwhelmingly sympathetic from their own losses. The birth of Red Son was the first light in Wukong's life for a long time after his tragedy. But he still fantasies of what sort of person his cub may have turned out to be if they had made it.

Then around 500 years before the present day, Wukong finally decides once and for all to take the initiative and bring his child back into the world - even if it means his own passing.

DBK's reaction to learning of his younger brother's intentions is... volcanic to say the least.

Wukong, already despairing the loss of his first child, his mate, and his Pilgrim brothers, now becomes responsible for the imprisonment of his older brother and the separation of his family. The very same people who got him through the toughest point of his life!

Informing Nezha that he intends on a "extended meditation" on his island, Wukong makes the preparations.

He wraps himself in Macaque's scarf before he buries himself into the dirt of Water Curtain Cave, only Nezha, PIF, and his dear Stalwarts privy to his location.

And he sleeps.

Until the reincarnated form of his dearest brothers find him.

[alilyamongroses]

YOU TURN ME INTO NOTHING, WOE UPON YOU

The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel / Ana Torrent in The Other Boleyn Girl / Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel / memorial for Catherine of Aragon’s children at Hampton Court / Henry VIII, William Shakespeare / Love Slowly Kills, borda / Catherine of Aragon: Infanta of Spain, Queen of England, Theresa Earenfight / Houses of Power, Simon Thursley / Portraith with a serpent, X-Ray , unknown painter / Henry VIlI and Anne Boleyn's initials, King's College Chapel, Cambridge / Catherine of Aragon: Infanta of Spain, Queen of England, Theresa Earenfight / 29 January 1536 – Anne Boleyn “Miscarried of her Saviour”, Claire Ridgeway / Natalie Dormer in The Tudors / The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel / Postcard, Amazon Quarterly / Roman Marble Relief of the Three Graces, circa 2nd Century A.D. / Catherine of Aragon: Infanta of Spain, Queen of England, Theresa Earenfight / Poster for Mother!, James Jean / The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel / Unfinished portrait of Jane Seymour, after Hans Holbein the younger / This Is Not The Portrait Of Jane Seymour, Edoardo de Falchi / The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel / Emma D’Arcy, House of the Dragon / The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel / Henry VIII’s vault, A.Y. Nutt / The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel / Saiorse Ronan in Mary, Queen of Scots / 1782 depiction of Katherine Parr’s lead coffin, unknown / The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel / a piece of hair cut from the head of Katherine Parr, collection of Sudeley Castle / a piece of Katherine Parr’s burial gown, collection of Sudeley Castle / The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel

[multifandomgirl08]

A Flower Bud In Concrete - MV

Max Verstappen x Pregnant!Reader

Summary: You were lucky that you didn't lose Max as well that day.

Warning(s): Miscarriage (stress induced), mention of head injury, discussion of miscarriage, putting blame on someone (Lando) who isn’t entirely at fault

A/N: Title from More by Halsey. This was Anonymously sent in. I started getting ideas for it right before I was going to post, saying that I wasn't going to write it. Odd how things work out. This was fun to work on even if it was very sad to write. Please don't take anything to heart about what it written about Lando at the end. I like him, I just need Max to put blame on someone even if it is completely misplaced.

Words: 1.3k

Formula 1 Masterlist

You had been in Imola during the race when the crash happened.

You watched on from the garage with the engineers holding onto the little growing bump on your abdomen when you had seen Max's car flip over a couple times before going into the barrier after colliding with Lando's car on one of the sharper turns.

There was silence before there was commotion from everyone in the garage.

You kept your eyes on the screen hoping to see Max moving. But as you saw the marshals make their way to the car you could see that there were flames coming from the back of the car.

"Y/N." You had heard from one of the female engineers who was in the garage with you.

You could feel the tears falling down your face watching, waiting for Max to get out of the car but nothing. You could start to see one of the marshals putting out the flames.

"Come on, Y/N." You could feel your arm being pulled, trying to take you away from watching what was unfolding on the track.

You knew that you should have gone with her, you knew that you shouldn't have stressed yourself out given that you were pregnant. You had stayed there waiting to hear something when you felt the tight pain in your abdomen, like the worst type of period cramp that you could have. You clutched at your abdomen, slightly hunching over at the pain.

Your eyes dropped to the floor, the headphones that you were wearing were placed on a table and you rushed out of there, someone following behind you.

You found the closest bathroom before you saw the blood, dark and thick. That was when you knew...

You had lost the baby.

"Y/N!" You heard from behind the door. The tears that had started to fall out from your eyes wouldn't stop now. You couldn't do anything but sit on the floor. You wanted to yell, tare your clothes from your body, but you just stayed there and cried.

It wasn't much long after that Hannah had found you in the bathroom, she stood there before you with open arms and you cried into her shoulder.

"Max is okay. Small head injury, but nothing more." She said. You pulled away from her, seeing that she knew something was wrong, that you weren't crying because of Max.

Hearing her say that Max was okay made it better but also worse in some way. You had lost the child that both you and Max had been so excited to welcome into the world. You didn't even know if you could tell him.

"Can you take me..." You trailed off.

She just nodded.

"Do you want me to get you anything?" She asked. "Something to change into?"

You closed your eyes, you were probably covered in blood. You nodded not saying anything.

The team had become your family once you had started dating Max, and although you weren't particularly close with anyone, everyone treated you well.

You had followed Hannah where she had given you a spare pair of pants and underwear, leaving you to clean up before going to see Max.

You didn't want him to know yet.

As you changed and cleaned up, you couldn't help but be grateful that Max was the only other person who knew that you had been pregnant. It was still too soon in your first trimester to tell anyone, and now there was nothing to tell.

You had followed Hannah to where Max was sitting getting checked over by one of the medical staff. Max took his eyes off the doctor to look you over and could see the concern flood his face.

"Schat?" He questioned.

You just shook your head. You couldn't even get the words out.

You looked and saw the expression from his face fall, his hand reached for your abdomen and you tried your hardest not to force his hand away from you.

"I'm sorry." You sobbed while pressing your forehead into his shoulder.

Max dropped his hand before placing them both on your back.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for. This is on me," You could feel Max's hands go stiff against your back, his thumbs still slowly painting circles on the fabric of your shirt.

It would be too easy to agree with Max and let him take the blame. He was the one behind the wheel driving, he should have paid attention to what was going on on the track. You could have blamed anyone that was involved in the crash... Your body couldn't handle the stress this early on in the pregnancy.

"Will you let them check you over?" Max asked.

You nodded. You probably should have gone to a hospital and had an OB check you over, but the medical team here should be okay for now. They would make sure that you weren't still bleeding at least.

You had gotten checked over, and they had just confirmed what you already knew. Max held your hand as one of the female doctors looked you over, and you saw the pity on her face.

You wanted to hide from them all, and just buried your face in Max's shoulder in the end, as he held you while you cried and mourned what could have been.

"This is your fault!" Max yelled at Lando.

"My fault? You crashed into the barrier!" Lando pointed his finger at Max.

"You caused this, I lost... because of you I'm..." Max didn't finish his sentence aware of the people and the cameras. He knew if he said anything it would reveal too much. It would cause speculation about things you didn’t want people to know.

"You crashed into me, and now... You're dead to me."

You had heard Max's words and you wanted to tell him to take them back, to tell Lando that Max was only angry about the race and what had happened to you, but you didn't have the strength to go and do it.

Lando looked at you as if you had an answer to Max reacting like this. It was as if everyone was looking at you to go and say or do something. To pull Max back in and tell him that he was overreacting.

It was only when you met Lando's eyes that you couldn't help the tears from falling again. From there Max made his way over to you and pulled you away from the scene.

"I'm sorry Schat, I'm so sorry." He kept saying into your ear as he held you.

The rational side of your mind knew that Max was blaming Lando because it was the easy thing to do. It wasn't really his fault.

"It's not his fault..." You whispered.

Max pulled away a little.

"Yes, it is, he crashed into me." Max was quick to fire back. "He put you under stress."

"But I didn't leave when the engineers tried to pull me away from the garage, I stayed waiting to see if you were okay."

Max's eyes were still hard, not giving you any room to fight him on this. He was going to blame Lando since he caused the crash. In Max's mind, it was his fault.

"Hey, Max." You heard from behind you. You turned in Max's arms to see Lewis standing there, out of his Mercedes gear.

"What was that out there?" he asked.

You didn't want to answer Lewis' question. Luckily you didn't have to.

Max's hand went to your middle, lightly brushing over your shirt. You wanted to flinch.

"You're pregnant?" He asked.

"Was." Max clarified. "She was, before the crash."

You could tell that everything Lewis wanted to say had left his mind. He knew that Max hadn't said what he did because of the race but because of something else. Something had been taken away and there was no getting it back.

"I'm sorry. For both of you." Lewis said sincerely. "I promise not to tell anyone."

The three of you had never talked about it again. And Max's friendship with Lando had never recovered from that day.

[bitchliteraria1906]

Asgard royal family headcanons! (Specifically about Loki and how he relates to each family member).

• I really like the headcanon that Frigga was pregnant before Odin took Loki, and she lost the baby. Mostly because it makes sense logically (that would make Loki easy to explain! He's not some random baby that spawned out of nowhere, they can just say he's the child she was pregnant with!). But also, it adds another layer to their relationship: he's an adopted rainbow baby.

• Because of this, she remembers baby Loki very fondly, romanticizing the memories a bit. I'd even dare to say she remembers Loki as an easier baby than Thor, even though, objectively speaking, that's not true at all. Loki cried more, screamed more, needed special care. Which was to be expected: he was way too young to be separeted from his mom, and the bright lights and warmer weather of Asgard (in comparisson to Jotunheim, that is) were bad for him. Odin even feared that it would be too much to Frigga, that she would beg him to take Loki back or something, but his fragile state just made Frigga want to take care of him more, and she rarely, if ever, complained.

• Odin's feelings were very different, of course. He remembers Thor as the easy baby, because Thor was predictable. Familiar. He didn’t need special lights for sensitive eyes or cold cloths pressed into his forehead to be able to sleep in hot nights. He did all the things, both cute and annoying, that an Asgardian baby is supposed to do, expected to do. Nothing more and nothing less. And of course, he wasn't a secret and a stolen child.

• The golden child vs black sheep dynamic was set from the start, is what I'm saying.

• Odin's treatment of Loki has so much layers that it probably deserves it's own post, so I won’t talk much about it here.

•Constanly comparing him to Thor. Sometimes it was subtle, but sometimes it was literally just saying "Why can't you be more like your brother?"

• I'm not sure what Asgard's stance on physical punishment would be. Like, I can definitely see some people thinking it makes kids stronger or whatever, but Idk.

• Regardless of what the common Asgardian stance on hitting your kids is, I don’t think is something Odin and Frigga would automatically jump to with young Thor and Loki. Frigga doesn't want to hurt them, and Odin prefers other forms of discipline.

• He's definitely not above hitting, though. It may not be his go-to method to actually teach them things, but a smack for talking back from time to time? It has happened, especially with Loki.

• Every punishment happened more with Loki, actually. Odin knew he specifically hated time out, because of how it forced him to think about what he did wrong while completely alone in his room. Sometimes he'd come out ashamed of himself, sometimes he'd just be angry. Either way, he wouldn't willingly talk to Odin for the rest of the day, either completely isolating himself or clinging more to Frigga. Most of the time, Odin wouldn't even notice, and for Loki, that was the most painful part.

•Frigga genuinely loved Loki, but she also had a hand in perpetuating the racism against frost giants (either by action or by compliance) and let a lot of Odin's treatment of him slide. She also had a "defending the person who isn't in the room" approach to conflict, so in the rare occasions that Loki vented to her about Odin, though she was a good listener, she didn't really validate his feelings that much? It was always "I know your father can be difficult, but he just wants what's best for you!" or "I guess he could've been nicer about it, but is he wrong, honey? You already know he doesn't like it when you do that."

•When it came to defending Loki (or speaking up about how Odin was raising both him and Thor in general), she mostly worked in the shadows. She’d argue with Odin about it when they were alone, but never in front of others, and Loki took her silence as agreement, basically thinking "Well, if Mother doesn't speak up when Father is so harsh to me, maybe it's because she agrees. And if she, who is the kindest person I know, agrees, maybe I actually do deserve it."

•Despite all these issues, she was still the person Loki felt the safest around, and a very self indulgent hc I have for them is that they had a special place they would go to when Loki was exceptionally upset. Maybe it was a special room in the palace, or a library, or a garden, or even a little house in some woods nearby. Regardless, they'd stay there for some hours until Loki was feeling better and ready to face the world again.

•At some point Loki decided he was too old to keep needing her this way and that he needed to change that if he wanted to be taken seriously, so he stopped going to said comfort place with her and overall leaning on her too much. She was pretty heartbroken, not only because of that "Damn it, my kid is growing up and changing" feeling that leaves a lot of parents distraught, but also because, knowing Loki too well, she knew that this sudden change came from a place of insecurity and wanting to be taken more seriously by Odin, Thor and his friends, mentors, and pretty much everyone.

•Thor and Loki's relationship as kids was innocent and simple and pretty much what you'd expect from 2 kids who are royals and raised in a culture that values warriors and strenght: lots of competion and sibling rivarly, play fighting, but also a lot of teamwork.

•Thor took his big brother title very seriously as a kid. Yes, he teased Loki a lot, but he was also protective and sweet. Whenever they went on little adventures together, like exploring some place they weren't supposed to go, he'd put Loki's safety before his own.

•This might have been half fueled by Frigga saying "Take care of your brother" whenever they went out to play, or by Odin constanly saying that Thor was the strongest one between him and Loki (see 6th headcanon). Probably both.

•The real problems started in their teenage years, when the golden child vs black sheep dynamic became more obvious. Thor was the perfect stereotype of an Asgardian warrior and king, and was surrounded by friends (and potential romantic partners) who also reached some amazing standards. Meanwhile, Loki was a quieter, more fragile looking and weirder person, with an interest in magic, a different way of fighting, an aversion to most social gatherings and no friends. Most of Thor's friends just tolerated him. Some took interest in him the same way someone would take interest in an exotic animal: they'd listen to him for a while, just enough to see if he really was as weird as he looked, and then leave as soon as they got their answers and their fun.

•This, along with Odin's favoritism becoming even more obvious, really soured Thor and Loki's relationship, leading to some arguments in which pretty cruel words were said by both of them (I might write this).

I could go on but I'm tired lmao. Maybe another day.

Some inspiration was taken from @taw-k and @unityrain24 btw!

[tea-and-secrets]

My partner had a miscarriage very early into pregnancy and it's just now hitting me that I lost my fucking child. I'll never know their favorite color or movies.

I'll never be able to teach them to play platformers, or watch Bluey with them, or take them to school. We're trying again but it just isn't the same.

I wish I could have met them, I wish I could watch them grow, I wish I could dance with them.

We're both hurting so much.

<33

[mysharona1987]

[g0lightly]

Visenya and Rhaenys; Rhaena and Alysanne; Sansa and Arya: An analysis of older and younger sisters' relationships to love and duty in Westeros

While Arya may be the more obvious Visenya comparison at first glance due to her inclination toward warfare, bear in mind that both Rhaenys and Visenya were warriors; arguably, Visenya's impact on Westeros is more defined by her diplomacy (an art Sansa has been learning her entire arc, specifically in the Vale and the Crownlands, the places Visenya conquered) while Rhaenys' impact is one of a warrior (specifically in the place that Arya's direwolf's namesake once ruled). I think that Sansa will ultimately be the Stark sister to fall into the Visenya archetype while Arya is more of the Rhaenys.

To be clear, this analysis is more about the Fire and Blood characters' roles in the story than their actual personalities since the text inherently leaves F&B characters' personalities way more open for interpretation than any POV character. With that in mind, I will be commenting on choices made by F&B characters that demonstrate character traits that the Stark girls also demonstrate and situations/events that mirror their stories. I also do not think that any character in ASOIAF is ever anything even close to a perfect 1:1 of any other character and do not intend to imply that this is the case.

Here's a previous reblog with my commentary on this subject, some of which I will repeat here. To summarize that commentary, I believe that Visenya and Rhaena (who directly compared herself to Visenya while comparing Alysanne to Rhaenys) establish a pattern of eldest sisters who were sought-after wives due to their place in the line of succession but ultimately choose to buck the rules when they realize their sense of duty to the system they live under will never truly help them. I strongly believe that Sansa is on her way to a similar arc and that this is (at least partially) what Lady's death means for her story.

Though one may be quick to think of Rhaenys as a more dutiful wife than Visenya since she is framed as the more traditional of the two women, I would like to remind my fellow readers that Visenya married Aegon for duty while Rhaenys married him for love. Visenya also established the first Kingsguard along with its vows because she believed that Aegon's guards were not attentive enough -- not unlike Sansa establishing the Brotherhood of the Winged Knight in the Vale to protect the young Lord Robert Arryn. While Sansa does not wish to be a warrior herself, she loves everything to do with knights, tourneys, and heraldry -- that is more of the way I see her emulating Visenya.

Regarding Visenya's diplomacy in the Vale specifically, I think it is notable that the Vale during the conquest was ruled by a regent on behalf of a boy king, not unlike Sweetrobin and Littlefinger. Though one might expect Visenya and Vhagar to burn the Eyrie to a crisp, as they had previously done to ships in Gullstown, she instead invited the young King Ronnel onto Vhagar to amuse the boy. The dragon's presence was also an inherent threat to Queen Regent Sharra Arryn, don't get me wrong. Without dragons in Westeros, the Eyrie was impenetrable. With dragons in Westeros, it was not -- and Visenya chose a very diplomatic way to remind Sharra Arryn of that fact. This is the kind of approach I expect Sansa to come away with from the Vale: Tactful and courteous but no less effective. She just needs to wield the power to back it up.

If Rhaenys had been more duty-minded, perhaps she would have married into a great house to give the Targaryens more allies in their conquest of Westeros. Instead she followed her heart and I believe Arya would do the same -- especially if she had a goddamn dragon. Additionally, because Alysanne and Jaehaerys are remembered in the histories as this perfect couple, it is easy to forget that they defied Alyssa when they married. Because of the reaction to Rhaena's marriage to Aegon, Alyssa reasonably worried that Jaehaerys and Alysanne's marriage would be unpopular. Nevertheless, Jaehaerys and Alysanne overcame this and went on to be remembered as the most beloved rulers in Westerosi history.

Sansa, on the other hand, pursues a man she actively dislikes (Harry Hardyng) because she believes she must marry him to retake Winterfell. This same pattern can be seen with Rhaena as well -- despite Rhaena clearly being a lesbian, she marries her own Aegon and has his children. Not unlike Sansa, Rhaena's place in her family's line of succession leads her to become one of Maegor's Black Brides. Though Sansa did not marry Joffrey, like Rhaena she experienced physical and sexual abuse from a cruel king at the Red Keep. Both Sansa and Rhaena had to mourn their fathers and brothers -- their most trusted male protector figures -- during their time in the Red Keep and were forced to marry into the political faction responsible for their deaths.

After Maegor's death, Rhaena shocked her family when she married the simple second son of the modest Fair Isle rather than making a match that would benefit House Targaryen. Of course, it was Elissa Farman that Rhaena loved rather than Androw Farman. As the closest thing to a canonically lesbian character in the ASOIAF-verse, Rhaena's place in the Targaryen line of succession meant that love and duty would always be at odds for her. When Rhaena fulfilled her duty by marrying Aegon, she was rewarded with the loss of her lover (Melony Piper), the loss of two of her brothers (one of whom happened to be the father of her children), being separated from her daughters, and her marriage to Maegor the Cruel. I can't blame her if that experience made her decide that a woman's "duty" in Westeros is a trap, because it absolutely is. After all of the losses she has endured, I would not be surprised if Sansa goes on to feel the same.

Since Rhaena is one of the more fleshed out characters from Fire and Blood, we also know a bit about how she dealt with her emotions. Like Sansa at the Tourney of the Hand when a young knight from the Vale was killed, Rhaena is noted to have had stony reactions to the many tragedies in her life (I believe this is because she was a dragon dreamer; that's for another meta but I mention this because Sansa was also emotionless for a reason that may have been related to her magic bond with her magic pet). This creates a little triad with Sansa and Alyssa Arryn, for whom Alyssa's Tears was named. Rhaena also had a favourite from the Vale named Alayne Royce, I'm just saying.

Just as I believe Sansa will have to kill the idea of being a lady to become the leader she needs to be, I think that Arya had to break away from civilization as her direwolf did to grow into someone who can lead her own pack just as Nymeria does. Like Alysanne, I think Arya will use her power to help the most powerless people in Westeros. Like Rhaenys, I think her impact on Westeros will be one of a warrior. However, I think Arya's unique experiences and personality will ultimately make her more effective than either Rhaenys or Alysanne were in both warfare and welfare. I especially think this will be true if she is able to work closely with Sansa and Bran -- they're the real trio that mirror the conquerors of the Starklings IMO, sorry Jon. With Arya the warrior, Sansa the diplomat, and Bran the greenseer king, they would be unstoppable in ruling Westeros.

A pair of sisters from Fire and Blood that make for a more obvious comparison to Sansa and Arya would be Rhaena and Baela. Unlike the other examples, however, their place in the line of succession does not shape their lives in the way it does for Visenya, Rhaena, and Sansa. When the matter of their place in succession does come up in choosing an heir for the young Aegon III, however, his regents argued that Rhaena would be the more suitable choice despite being the younger twin. When they suggest that the "willful" Baela make a proper match as a possible future queen consort, she defies them by sailing off to Driftmark where she marries Alyn Velaryon. Rhaena, however, agreed to marry Lord Corbray per the regents' wishes.

Sadly, Rhaena suffered miscarriages in her effort to fulfill her duty to the realm as heir. Some time after Baela bore a daughter, the two sisters united to present Daenaera as Aegon III's queen consort. Alyn also brought back to court an heir with a better claim -- Viserys II -- taking the pressure off of Rhaena to endure more miscarriages to provide heirs. I believe that for Baela, presenting Daenaera and Viserys to court was in part an act of love for her sister, to free her from the demands of being heir. I believe this most likely also took the pressure off of Baela because her own daughter would be Aegon's heir if anything happened to Rhaena and I don't think she wanted that for Laena.

Baela and Rhaena were not the first twin girls whose place in the line of succession was determined by their own choices rather than their birth order, however. Assuming you believe that Rhaella and Aerea (which sounds a bit like Arya) really did switch places at their mother's wedding to Maegor, these two little girls determined their own places in the line of succession by seizing one of the only scraps of agency they would realistically ever get in their lives. Both Sansa and Arya repeatedly demonstrate this same willingness to seize whatever agency they have in the books, though the form that agency takes looks as different for them as it did for Aerea and Septa Rhaella. The twin switch means that the twin who wanted to live with the Faith got to do so and the twin who wanted to explore could do so as well. For Septa Rhaella, I believe there was a certain freedom in giving up her claim to live a quiet life.

I firmly believe that both Sansa and Arya will be significant leaders of some kind by the end of the series. Assuming Bran is king at the end, I think they will have a lot more agency in shaping their own titles/roles as leaders than they might in other circumstances. Or at least that's my hope. Even though I am first and foremost a Sansa fan, I don't think her story needs for her to be Queen in the North. I love the idea of her becoming a leader outside of the traditional power structure she initially wanted to be a part of. As for Arya, I love the idea of her bringing what she learned in her life outside of that power structure to be an effective leader within it.

I think Ned put it best:

"Sansa is your sister. You may be as different as the sun and the moon, but the same blood flows through both your hearts. You need her, as she needs you … and I need both of you, gods help me." - A Game of Thrones, Arya II

Shoutout to this ask on @atopvisenyashill for kicking me back into hyperfocus about Visenya's commonalities with Sansa so I remembered that I was ever even working on this... this meta sat unfinished in my drafts since the summer! Many such cases in my drafts, I'm afraid.

[scrunchie-face]

In your kindness please remember a friend of mine from church. She had a late miscarriage (17 weeks) and is being induced to deliver her little one this afternoon.

[cheerfullycatholic]

Today’s guest author is Mrs. Meggy. How dare you? Rape is violence. Abortion is more violence. Killing the babies who result from rape is not healing. Survivors need to heal from violence, and when it comes to the few of us who end up pregnant, we need help, not even more trauma. Yes, carrying a baby conceived in rape is very hard. For the time I did, my emotions swung wild in terms of how I felt about it. But the solution to difficult emotions isn’t killing an innocent! I got pregnant by rape, got the hard pitch to abort from a rape counselor, lost the baby, and had an ER doc assume miscarriage spared me the trouble. Quit assuming abortion is the healing solution for pregnant rape victims. It’s condescending. And abortion creates another victim.

[kathrynhoward]

THE WHITE QUEEN (2013)

[quitealotofsodapop]

Macaque, out of the blue one day: *bolting up from sleep* Wait... Wukogn lsot his memory! He doesn't know about a Stone Monkey can become eggbound!!

What Macaque had not known and later learned when he explained to a very red in the face Peaches and MK was that Wukong had, on fact, been egg bound once before. He just lost the baby before he ever had a chance to learn about it during the Samhadi Fire ritual. This is a major reason why the Demon Bull Clan had not freaked vengeance upon Wukong and instead allowed him to go back into isolation after he sealed DBK.

Ooof yeah XD

Macaque bolts awake realising that Peaches & MK are one wrong mud bath away from mitosis.

We have discussed in DM's the possibility of Wukong becoming Stone Egg'ed because ofthe Mountain... but losing the Egg during the Samadhi Fire Ritual.

DBK and PIF only realised afterwards what had happened and are mortified to this day. Sun Wukong was willing to gamble and lost his own child, in order to save Red Son. It's a major reason why PIF never tried seeking venegance in the years after DBK's imprisonment. She just couldn't bare to hurt someone who had sacrificed so much for her baby.

Wukong became a shut-in after the Ritual; believing he had harmed not only his brothers (Ao Lie), his mate (Macaque), but even his unborn child.

Then he found "The Fragment" where his own Egg once stood. And he just knew what it was instantly.

(Heck maybe MK's Fragment is the "lost" Stone Egg, having survived the fire but gone dormant for the longest time)

Then the Mayor got involved with his vial of Meng Po's Soup...

Pigsy and Tang hadn't forced the issue when the doctors found signs of a past pregnancy on "Peaches" body. It was probably why he had baby Xiaotian. They didn't want to think of any other possibility.

Macaque I feel would have died/been dragged into the Underworld realising that Wukong was carrying. And when he returns and sees MK; his brain did a small misfire thinking this was the Egg all grown up.

Until the Winds (and PIF) tell him the sad truth...

I think he'd only tell Peaches of his lost Egg if the ginger monkey pressed the issue. Or if he had explained the basics of Solo-Stone Egg reproduction, and Pigsy and Tang jumped up with a million horrified questions/revelations about Peaches' medical record.

Macaque would be more determined to keep the Samadhi Fire out of Wukong/Peaches' hands, knowing that IT was what took their the Egg.

And Peaches... might not care to warn the others of this fact. He needs to save the world and destroy LBD. If he has sacrificed so much before, why not try again and take the burden of the Fire?

When the reforging turns put to be a crapshoot; Peaches gets screamed at by not only his family, former mate/current crush, his school friend aka Nezha, Mei, but also the entire Demon Bull Family - who charged over to join the gang at the Ritual site to prevent Wukong from killing part of himself once more.

This family is united by Peaches/Wukong's senselessly self-sacrifical nature + them trying to stop him from doing it.

[wrixie]

Sometimes the world is just too cruel