#radu and cyprian

[sailorbina]

just finished reading “bright we burn” I wish radu and cyprian had more cute scenes i really wanted to read their spiritual marriage at the epilogue or something like that 🥺🫶

[fantasiavii]

NEVERMIND ARTHUR IS WORTH SAVING AND GUINEVERE HAS TWO HANDS FOR ARTHUR AND LANCELOT

I think the events of the last two books have proven that I never know where the Camelot Rising trilogy is going BUT if this time it really is where I think it might be going…is Arthur not worth saving?

Or, I can’t believe we’re going with Guinevere x Mordred when Guinevere has two hands (for Lancelot and Arthur). I can’t help but feel cheated of my fake married to lovers arc

This is still the only Arthurian story which has a Lancelot I like

It is also the strangest Arthurian story I’ve ever read. But have I ever really enjoyed an Arthurian story/retelling and thought it was the best version of the story that could be told? Not really. (Except Merlin lol.) Idk if anyone had ever really gotten it “right.” I don’t think it’s in the nature of the story

Though if this book surprises me with a Hadestown-like trapped-in-a-storycycle ending I would definitely be a lot happier with it

[alvie-pines]

Radu: God, I wish I could be loved, respected, and forgiven for everything that my circumstances required me to become, by a handsome man with no ulterior motives

Cyprian: hi

Radu, emotionally unstable: shit, I wasn’t ready yet-

[cizmelimikedi]

continuing with radu, who is also predictably my favorite one (alongside with lada, of course)

i really enjoyed drawing him, but i can’t say the same for cyprian djsndknf he’s the one at the bottom. y’know, the abomination i hesitate to call a man, let alone cyprian, my precious.

(ft. bonus nazira! u go u funky lil lesbian!)

[fankinks]

The Conqueror’s Saga characters in Hogwarts Houses

Hufflepuff

Bogdan

Cyprian

Fatima

Kumal

Nicolae

Oana

Slytherin

Huma

Lada

Mehmed

Ravenclaw

Amal

Daciana

Ilyas

Kiril

Mara Brankovic

Nazira

Radu

Stefan

Urbana

Gryffindor

Hunyadi

Lazar

Petru

[wlwvoltron]

unpopular opinion lmfao but voltron fandom drama is so fun

[arms-for-children]

Sometimes a family is an ottoman bey, his legal wife an absolute angel, her spiritual wife a kind maid, her legal husband a runaway from constantinople, his spiritual husband the ottoman bey, his niece from his sister the lady impaler and their childhood friend the sultan, who is being raised as his and his wife and their whole squad's own.

[fyeah-the-conquerors-saga]

@gaydiesaster  ^^^^^ YES.

[thereadingchallengechallenge]

I’m about 100 pages from the end of Bright We Burn and I wanna write down my predictions to see how wrong I was later. spoilers for And I Darken and Now I Rise ahead...

Radu is gonna die coz Lada is gonna fulfill her promise to be the one who kills him

(I will cry 5eva when this happens)

BUT Mehmed is gonna kill Lada over it because of course he is. losing Radu is the only way he’ll ever realise what their relationship truly was and there’s no way Lada gets out of this alive

Cyprian definitely has some sort of major role to play but idk what it’ll be specifically

Daciana’s son is totally gonna turn out to be royalty that Stefan rescued when Lada sent him to kill all the Danesti heirs

I reckon Stefan still has a pretty big part to play as well but again idk what it is

ultimately, men will ruin everything and my fave lesbians Nazira and Fatima will inherit the earth *finger guns*

[kaysutcliff-michaelis]

Bright We Burn ending rant (SPOILERS)

Under the cut you will find my opinion with lots of spoilers, capitals and cursing about Bright We Burn (and the Conqueror’s saga in general) written by Kiersten White.

Quoting from https://booksandreaderssite.wordpress.com/2018/10/13/bright-we-burn/ “This book was ruined by the author falling in love with her own character: Perfect Beloved Radu“ 

I finished reading the book like an hour ago and I’ve been complaining, crying, and looking for reviews since then. I hate it, hate it so much, as much as I loved the first two books and the beginning of this one.

The impression I get from the ending is not one I expected to get from a book that had a strong female protagonist as its main selling point. Mainly because said protagonist gets the worst possible ending. I didn’t expect a happy go lucky ending, I didn’t even expect her not to die or the author to stray too far from historical facts. Just because of the title I expected her to be like a shooting star, briefly burning bright. But she didn’t burn bright, she just burn. What I didn’t expect was the ending feeling completely alien to the rest of the saga.

Lada is ruthless, strong, smart, a great tactician and has her sights focused on her goal, being the prince of Wallachia. And fuck Mehmed, Radu, her father, and whoever tries to prevent her from ruling her country. She gets the respect of her men and the people of her country, she’s a good and fair ruler even if she got there with rather bloody methods. But haven’t they all? The Ottoman Empire Mehmed and Radu are so fond of is built on the blood of the janissaries they have taken from vassal states and the blood of the Christians from Constantinople. Yet the moment Lada kills the boyars (who have been leeching off Wallachia for decades) and Mehmed’s envoys (who burnt a village first), she must be stopped. How dare a woman make life easier for the people of the country?

And for some reason, the author allows two men to ruin what Lada has built with blood, sweat and tears. And to add insult to injury, the men who should have helped her (Mehmed even claims “he gave her the throne” as the selfish and self-centered asshole he is).

And she loses everything and everyone who is important to her. Petru, Nicolae, Oana, Stefan, Daciana, and Bogdan. Oh, Bogdan. How I wished Radu lost an eye to compensate for his murder.

And in case that was not enough, the dragon that was so strong and fierce suddenly turns into a girl that is lonely and hurt and needs her brother to survive and give her back her country. The country that never recognised Radu as prince. The country that loved Lada.

HE FUCKING HAD TO GIVE HER WHAT WAS ALREADY HERS. A MAN. AGAIN. HE FUCKING TOOK THE THRONE FROM HER AND FUCKING GAVE IT BACK AS IF HE WAS A DAMN SAINT. ALL SHE DID AND IN THE END SHE WAS PRINCE BECAUSE A FUCKING MAN ALLOWED IT. HOW IS THAT FEMINIST???????????  WHAT IS THE USE IN HAVING SUCH A POWERFUL FEMALE CHARACTER IF THE FULFILLMENT OF HER DREAM DEPENDS ON THE WHIM OF A MALE EVEN AT THE VERY END?

AND HE EVEN GETS AN “I TOLD YOU” MOMENT!!! THE AUDACITY!!!

And her death... such a warrior, killed by a nameless assassin with a knife to the back. A nameless grave. So disrespectful to what Lada was. I don’t care if all the things I didn’t like were for historical accuracy’s sake. Lada was her character and deserved way better than that.

Moving on to the treacherous rat that Radu has become, I liked him so much and in this book I could only pray for someone to smack him as hard as possible. He goes from the poor and traumatised soul that is being manipulated by Mehmed and has lost his best friend and potential partner to enabling Mehmed’s actions while being fully conscious of how he’s being used, instantly healing himself from a trauma that is not relevant ever again, not giving a damn about killing people, sending Kumal to his death without sparing it too many thoughts, and having a cute little happy family while wanting to imprison his sister for the rest of her life and thinking he’s doing her a favor. He actually thought it was good and fair to plan a happy life for himself while destroying everything his sister had fought for. The sister he never ever chose.

Am I the only one who loved that the Danesti brothers started being problematic as soon as Radu gave them the throne?? Boyars will be boyars, and I don’t understand how he thought those two would be better rulers than Lada, they wouldn’t enter the castle and still wanted the money, the lands and the fancy stuff.

I honestly cannot believe how much this character has changed (for the worse), and how he acts like he’s so good and only looking for the best for those he loves when he’s a traitor, a liar, a killer and the reason why Constantinople fell. He cannot forgive Lada for protecting Wallachia, but apparently everyone and their mother have forgiven and forgotten all the blood staining his hands. Also I find it unbelievable how he sells the way the Ottoman Empire is run to Cyprian but then when Lada tried to use some of the things she had learnt there to run Wallachia it was suddenly the worse thing ever. Radu is definitely not the good Dracul sibling, he’s the toxic one.

Speaking about Cyprian, I honestly couldn’t feel happy for them. When he came back to Radu I was already too angry and wanting to send him packing back to Edirne. Amazing how Cyprian can give counsel about how to deal with Lada when all he knows about her is second-hand but he can forgive Radu for lying to him, making the siege worse for everyone, being the reason why his uncle is dead and his city was lost (and even if he doesn’t know about it, the reason why Giustiniani may have died).

And Fatima?? How she “took care” of Lada at the end? I can’t tell if she’s too broken or what, but it was creepy how she could take care of Lada when Nazira wouldn’t even stand being in the same room. Even if she was going to give them her baby, it makes me wonder how messed up she can be to be able to behave that way with the person who killed her brother-in-law and they were so adamant to condemn.

I won’t even talk about the baby thing because that was just so unnecessary for the plot and for Lada herself as a character.

Going back to Radu and before talking about Mehmed, I hate how he is 100% sure that Mehmed knows about his feelings and is using him and said feelings and he??? just??? allows??? it???? Still does whatever he wants, still appears at his doorstep no matter his trauma with Constantinople, still makes Nazira and Fatima leave their house though they had just been reunited and Mehmed didn’t care that much about finding Nazira and STILL at the end, 20 years later is in good terms with him. He didn’t confront Mehmed about using him, never called him out. Radu is the friend who will listen to you when you’re explaining how a common friend has abused you and then will keep being friends with the other person and abandoning you :D

I am not Mehmed’s biggest fan, but it’s like he isn’t even a character anymore in this book. Even if we never have his pov it always felt like this story was a triangle, but at the end it was like he wasn’t there anymore, he isn’t even the source of conflict because Radu isn’t in love with him anymore. Even for all their alleged worries about Theodora being Mehmed’s biological daughter, that issue was glossed over in a matter of three lines. I do wish he had stayed more relevant (and that he had never left Constantinople).

Surely I’m forgetting something but I think my point is clear XD Radu is a hypocrite who didn’t deserve his happy ending, Mehmed became so irrelevant that the plot was missing something, and Lada, our dragon, deserved way better. Oh, and don’t write a “feminist” YA book if the female character is the one who’s going to have the worst ending. It just feels like you’re telling women they will end up alone and dead if they are as strong and determined as Lada, and to suck it up because men will always be forgiven for the crimes.

[kristyjay]

Ok.. if anyone is reading or has read The Conqueror's Saga, please feel free to message me so we can cry together 🙃

[fantasiavii]

This is nsfwish but underappreciated moments in fiction: when an (usually) engaged couple (in a conservative historical setting or for religious reasons) is like “SHIT we need to get married right now immediately” bc they really want to have sex. It’s just!!! Hilarious and adorable!!!!

[alvie-pines]

hhhhhh ATTENTION FANS OF AND I DARKEN/THE CONQUEROR SAGA

I am dying for content so pleaaaaaase come be friends with me!!

We can talk about everything.... pls.....

[vladdocs]

ENG: Letter from the governor Vlad The Monk granting the monastery of Snagov, including a tithe, and levies on you in the court of Braila, dated July 31, 1487 (6995), Bucharest. Text written in black ink on parchment (25x31.5), no seal. "† By the grace of God, IO Vlad Voievode and ruler of all the land of Ungrovlachia, son of the great Vlad Voievode. I give this commandment of my reign to the holy shrine and abbey of the Most Holy Virgin of our Most Holy Mistress, the Birth of God and the Most Pure Virgin Mary, to the holy monastery of Snagov and to the most holy teacher of the teaching flock of Christ, to the abbot of the hermit Cyprian Domentian and to all the brothers in Christ, that the wine in Podgorica, which is the royal tithe of wine in the village of Chernivtsi, or as much as the border of Chernivtsi, may be taken by the monks. And in the county of Braila, let them have the buckets of wheat and the royal tithe and the tithe that is royal from the beehives and the perperies, with everything, in the whole county of Braila. And to give two servants from the court, to write the buckets and with the man of the monastery and gathering them, to take to the holy monastery all the buckets. So, afterwards, those two bucketsmen to take 4 buckets each, that they both may have 8 buckets. And let not the dijmari and the vamei put themselves, but let them write their dijma and their beehives to the holy monastery, all that shall be. And I have also given my lordship and the horses of the lords of that county of Braila, who fall to be of the lords who died, to take them to the holy monastery, to be of service to the holy place. All these I have added to the holy monastery for the soul of my father and of the brothers of my lordship (by brothers he means Vlad the impaler, Radu the Handsome and Mircea II) and for the beloved son of my lordship, Io Vlad voievode and for ours. Therefore, may the holy monastery be of ocine and of ohaba and the holy monks of food and of eternal remembrance and of no one untouched. And its witnesses are: jupan Dragomir Udriște and jupan Neagoe of Borcea, jupan Vintilă Florescul, jupan Draghici Vintilescul, jupan Barbul Craiovescul, jupan Cârstian, jupan Pârvul mare vornic, jupan Staico logofăt, jupan Badea, Danciul stolnic, Colțea paharnic, Staico vistier, Alb comistier, Rodea and Neag postelnici. It was written in the fortress of Bucharest, July 31, in the year 6995 (1487). † Io Vlad voievod, by the mercy of God, lord." ______ RU: Письмо воеводы Влада Монаха о даровании монастырю Снагова , в том числе десятину, и сборы с вам в судце Брэила, от 31 июля, 1487 (6995), Бухарест. Текст написан черными чернилами на пергаменте (25x31,5), печати не сохранилось. „† Милостїѡм Божїѡм, Їѡ Влад воєвода и господинь въсєи зємли Уггровлахїискои, сынь Влада вєликаго воєводє. Дават господство ми сїє повєлѣнїє господства ми свѣтому храму и обитѣли прѣсвѣтааго въвєдєнїа прѣчьстїѫ владичицѫ Богородици и приснодѣвы Марѭ, монастїру свѣтому Снѣгову и наставнику и учитєлю словєснаго стада Христова, єгумєну ієромонаху кур Домєнтїану и въсєи єжє ѡ христѣ братїи, яако да им єст винарич у Подгорїю щто єст десетъкь господски ѡт вино у село Чрънътещи, варє колико єст хотар Чрънътещѡм, да си узнамают калугери. И да им ест у сѫдство Браилову кѫблови ѡт жито ѡхабин господскїи и дижма господска и вамшїиство, десетък щто ест господскїи ѡт пчелах и съ перпери съ свем по въсему сѫдству Браиловскем. И да се давают из двора две слуге господске да преписуют кѫблове и съ чловѣкѡм монастирскем и събравши их, да их доносет у свѣтїи монастир кѫблове въси. Тако по том таи два кѫблара да си възимают по ҃д кѫблове, да им се хватают ѡбема ҃и кѫбловь. А дижмари и вамшїи да се не ставает, ну да си преписуют и дижму и пчели калугери, али да им се ѡдвозит и дижма и пчели у свѣти монастир све щто будет. И еще приложих господство ми и кони ѡт кнез ѡд тои сѫдство Браиловско щто се падают да сут господскїи ѡт кнезов кои умирают, да се доносет у свѣтїи монастир, да су въ службу свѣтому мѣсту. Тїа въсѣ дадох господство ми и приложих свѣтому монастиру за

душу родїтел господства ми и братїах господства ми и прѣвъзлюбленному сыну господства ми, Їѡ Влад воеводе и за нашу. Сего радї да су свѣтому монастиру въ ѡчину и къ ѡхабу и божественїим иноком въ пищу и въ вѣчное въспоминаїе и ни ѡт когоже непотъкновенно. И сему сѫт свѣдетелїе: жупан Драгомир Удрище и жупан Нѣгое Борчев, жупан Винитилъ Флорескул, жупан Драгичи Винтилескул, жупан Барбул Краиѡвескул, жупан Кръстїан, жупан Първул велики дворник, жупан Станко логоѳет, жупан Бадѣ, Данчул столник, Колцѣ пехарник, Станко вистїар, Албь комис, Родѣ и Нѣг постелници. Писа се въ град Букурещти, їюлїа ҃ла дьнь, въ лѣт ҂ЅЦЧЕ. : † Їѡ Влад воевода, милостїѧ Божїѧ господинь.“ ____ RO: „† Din mila lui Dumnezeu, Io Vlad voievod şi domn a toată ţara Ungrovlahiei, fiul marelui Vlad voievod. Dă domnia mea această poruncă a domniei mele sfântului hram şi lăcaş al preasfintei văvidenii a preacinstitei stăpânei noastre, născătoare de Dumnezeu şi pururea fecioară Maria, sfintei mănăstiri Snagov şi nastavnicului învăţătorului turmei cuvântătoare a lui Hristos, egumenului ieromonah chir Domentian şi tuturor fraţilor în Hristos, ca să le fie vinăriciul în Podgorie, ce este zeciuiala domnească din vin în satul Cernăuteşti, ori cât este hotarul Cernăteştilor, să-şi ia călugării. Şi să le fie în judeţul Brăilei găleţile de grâu domneşti ohabnice şi dijma domnească şi vămeşitul, zeciuiala care este domnească de la stupi şi cu perperii, cu tot, în întreg judeţul Brăilei. Şi să se dea de la curte două slugi domneşti, să scrie găleţile şi cu omul mănăstirii şi adunându-le, să ducă la sfânta mănăstire toate găleţile. Astfel, după aceea, acei doi găletari să-şi ia câte 4 găleţi, să le ajungă la amândoi 8 găleţi. Iar dijmari şi vameşi să nu se pună, ci să-şi scrie şi dijma şi stupii la sfânta mănăstire, tot ce va fi. Şi încă am daruit domnia mea şi caii de la cneazii din acel judeţ al Brăilei, care se cad să fie domneşti, de la cnezii care mor, să-i ducă la sfânta mănăstire, ca să fie de slujbă sfântului loc. Acestea toate le-am adăogat sfintei mănăstiri pentru sufletul printelui domniei mele şi al fraţilor domniei mele şi pentru al preaiubitului fiu al domniei mele, Io Vlad voievod şi pentru al nostru. De aceea, să fie sfintei mănăstiri de ocină şi de ohabă şi dumnezeieştilor călugări de hrană şi de veşnică pomenire şi de nimeni neatins. Şi martorii acesteia sunt: jupan Dragomir Udrişte şi jupan Neagoe al lui Borcea, jupan Vintilă Florescul, jupan Draghici Vintilescul, jupan Barbul Craiovescul, jupan Cârstian, jupan Pârvul mare vornic, jupan Staico logofăt, jupan Badea, Danciul stolnic, Colţea paharnic, Staico vistier, Alb comis, Rodea şi Neag postelnici. S-a scris în cetatea Bucureşti, iulie 31 zile, în anul 6995 (1487). † Io Vlad voievod, din mila lui Dumnezeu, domn.“

[theballadoffinchesandsaints]

Suprisingly healthy ships in fiction because they need more appreciation (sorted by author last name):

Disclaimer: it has been a while since I’ve read some of these books, and I may have forgotten some problematic element of their relationships

Warning: this post contains spoilers for the ending of Allegiant

—Simon and Bram (Simon vs. the Homo Sapien’s Agenda aka Love, Simon by Becky Albertalli)

—Sam and Lucas (Darkest Minds novellas by Alexandra Bracken)

—Zu and Roman (The Darkest Legacy by Alexandra Bracken)

—Mazer and Kim (Ender’s Game prequels by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston)

—Victor and Imala (Ender’s Game prequels by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston)

—Katniss and Peeta (The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins)

—Finnick and Annie (The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins)

—Jessup and Lysistrata (The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes) *I know this was never totally canon but it’s hinted at, so I’m counting it

—Thomas and Brenda (The Maze Runner trilogy by James Dashner)

—Mark and Trina (The Kill Order by James Dashner)

—Kacper and Serefin (Something Dark and Holy trilogy/Wicked Saints series by Emily A. Duncan)

—Colin and Lindsey (An Abundance of Katherines by John Green)

—Augustus and Hazel (The Fault in Our Stars by John Green)

—Will and Jane (Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan)

—The Duke and Tobin (John Green’s portion of Let it Snow)

—Daisy and Miles (Royals/Prince Charming by Rachel Hawkins)

—Millie and Flora (Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins)

—Vi and Janelle (Truly Devious trilogy by Maureen Johnson)

—Hunter and Germaine (Truly Devious trilogy by Maureen Johnson)

—Peter and Neil (Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan)

—Avery and Ryan (Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan)

—Tiffy and Leon (The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary)

—Katrina and Roran (Inheritance Cycle/Eragon series by Christopher Paolini)

—Benny and Darren (Project Nemesis trilogy by Brendan Reichs)

—Richie and Jamie (Project Nemesis trilogy by Brendan Reichs)

—Will and Christina (Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth)

—Christina and Tobias (Divergent epilogue/We Can be Mended by Veronica Roth)

—Morgan and Eric (Birthday by Meredith Russo)

—Radu and Cyprian (And I Darken trilogy by Kiersten White)

—Nazira and Fatima (And I Darken trilogy by Kiersten White)

[wlwvoltron]

now i rise by kiersten white was SO GOOD what the fuck!!