#the Prisioner's Throne

[tomeofmonie]

The Hideus Dame Sans Merci ❤️❄️

Oak and Suren from the Stolen Heir book series

Based on this artwork by Frank Dicksee ✨️

[thehyperfixationspeedrunner]

This is me trying

On ao3 too

Summary: It's been a month since what Cardan has been calling the "reptile accident" when he decides to get up before Jude, not knowing the consequences.

OR these two are traumatised and they may not acknowledge it, but I will.

Trigger warnings (already put in the tags but I'm not sure if I did it right so better safe than sorry): panic attack, cussing

It's weird how easily you fall into routine. It's barely been a month since what Cardan has started calling the "reptile accident" or the one he likes best "revealing his true form" (although that one isn't used in front of Jude, she's not sure why but she prefers it that way). Anyway, it's been a month since Cardan has been transformed into a snake, since Cardan and Jude has started to live together as the King and Queen of Elfhame but they have already established a routine, even if neither of them has noticed it until today.

Jude is always the first to wake up - Jude was raised by a general and Cardan by a prince, so that part is obvious. She dresses first, giving Mr. Lazy time to sleep, and then she wakes up sleeping beauty even though he always complains that while there aren't people busting into the room saying he's late, she's waking him up early. He never says he hates it. Jude suspects is because he can't lie. From then, Jude orders breakfast while Cardan dresses up, and they eat together before having to deal with their royal obligations.

Today, however, was different. Shockingly, Jude was able to have some good 6 hours of sleep and woke up a bit disoriented. See, this is the bad part about sleeping a lot. When you wake up, your senses take a while to turn on. That's definitely the reason why Jude barely sleeps, at least that's what she tells everyone when they ask her. Because of that, she took a bit to notice that she was alone in bed, which triggered something in her brain. She instantly gets out of bed and starts to look in every corner of their room repeating to herself that everything is fine, Cardan just woke up earlier and is dressing up or putting the hundred of layers that he puts every morning because "I know I look impressive naturally but I am the High King, Jude, I have to look perfect". Except he is nowhere to be found.

See, a small but important part of this quickly created routine was when Jude woke up and she would always look to the side and see Cardan relaxed and asleep, would look at his chest rise and fall and make sure that, yes, he's alive and, no, this last month was not a fever dream, he really is here. Without that confirmation, Jude is starting to spiral, and the fact that Cardan is not in the room doesn't help.

She tries to take a deep breath. She's the High Queen goddammit, she can't panic every time a minor routine change happens. But the truth is that she cannot take the deep breath. She cannot even take a small breath. She's pretty sure she's not breathing at all. But she has to because Cardan needs her. Jude goes through her options: one, he did wake up earlier, got knocked off in the room but somewhere hidden where she didn't check; two, he got knocked off somewhere in the castle and his unconscious body is lying there; three, he got abducted while he slept; four... Maybe last month was a fever dream. No, she is not going to think about option four.

While she does a more precise search through their room, she also tries to think of who would do this. He's the King of Elfhame, so it's obvious that he has a lot of enemies, but she is not remembering anyone who's this mad at him right now. However, her hands are trembling and there's still not enough air reaching her lungs, so maybe her memory is not the best at the moment. You were almost deadly stabbed before the incident.

Ok, he is not in the room, so option number two. This one is not the most likely. If someone knocked him off, they wouldn't just leave him in the middle of the corridor, and Faes don't just slip, so he couldn't have knocked himself out. Besides the palace is huge, it would take too long to search. Maybe you were less healed than you thought. Option number three it is. There are three windows in the room. The climb is hard but not impossible, she has done it herself while having a major injury. A major injury that could have been infected. Jude shakes her head and checks the three windows. None of them is broken and they are all locked from the inside, like they were when they went to sleep, which she knows because she always checks that before going to bed. Unless the person was a master spy (which is an option), she doesn't know how someone pulled that of. The other way into the room is through the door, so she quickly opens it, revealing two knights part of her security.

"Was there any disturbance last day?" She would be surprised that her voice somehow didn't fail if she was at all worried with that right now.

"We heard or seen nothing different than usual, your majesty."

"Have you fallen asleep or abandoned your post anytime during your shift?" The knights were visibly offended by that, but she had to clear all her options.

"No, your majesty. Is everyth-" Having her answers, Jude closes the door, leaving the knights to their jobs. If she was in her right mind she would have noticed that she was still in her bed clothes, her hair was mess, the room was worse and her hands still trembled and her breath was still labored. But she was not her in her right mind. Cardan is missing- He was not here at all. Her husband is missing and she is going to find him. Maybe he was taken outside their bedroom and there is going to be some kind of clue outside of it.

She is about to open the door again when a thought crosses her mind. The lover's bedroom. There is a pathway between that room and the High King and Queen's room. That is how whoever took Cardan got in. No one got in. Hallucinations caused by infections are common, at least for mortals. She slides through the pathway towards the other bedroom but is met with a similar scenario. No window was broken and all of them are closed from the inside, same with the door, no signs of breaking. Stop looking for what you won't find. You know you can barely remember anything after cutting Cardan's head off. It was the serpents head. You know that's the same thing. There was a battlefield where you broke down. You could have easily been stabbed. I would remember it. Would you? Sometimes, our mind purposely forgets traumatic memories. You could have passed out. No. You could have dreamt. Stop. Cardan is dead and you have been feeding yourself this fantasy because you can't deal with the guilt. STOP. You killed him and now you're living in a world without him and you'll keep living in it because that's the reality. I SAID STOP.

Jude. The sound of something breaking. She can't do it. She can't go back to those three days. She can't live without Cardan's mockery. She can't live without his laugh. She can't.

JUDE. She's shaking now, or someone is shaking her, she's not lucid enough to understand. God, he's her anchor. She doesn't know what to do without him. She wants to go back to sleep. She wants to go back to their routine. She wants to hear him complain about waking up early again. She wants to feel his fingers playing with her hair again. She wants-

JUDE! Cardan. She opens her eyes (since when were they closed?) and faces the love of her life's face. He looks adorably worried, full make up and hair nicely treated. She can't help but smile. "Cardan" she whispers, trying not to force her voice tired from screaming and crying (curious, she doesn't remember that). She puts her head in the space between his neck and shoulder and he starts rubbing circles on her back. "Stay" she pleads. Because that's what she's doing, pleading to the universe to let her stay in this fever dream, to have more time with Cardan, even if it isn't real, even if he's dead, even if that's her fault and there's just her to blame.

"Always" and that pisses her off. Because that's what Cardan would say, that's how Cardan looks, that's how Cardan acts and this mind prison has no right to be this close to reality.

"Liar" she spits. He looks mostly confused and a bit hurt but she doesn't care, this isn't real so nothing fucking matters.

"Jude, I would never abandon you-"

"But you did!" she's close to screaming now, but she doesn't care, her voice was cracking, but it doesn't matter. She has to get this out. "You abandoned me for three days because of that prophechy bullshit. You left me to rule Elfhame while simultaneously dealing with the schemings that my father and the frozen royalty was fucking doing and the fact that the love of my life was a goddam snake and then I, and I-" she can't get it out, she still can't believe it.

"You saved me."

"I killed you." she is fully sobbing now, but she can't stop. She gets up (she was sitting down?) and keeps going "You're dead and this is just a manifestation from my brain, because somewhere else I'm also dying and I hope I do because I can't live in a world where you're not. I physically will not be able to continue without you!" She sinks into the floor using the bed as support and Cardan sits in front of her. He has a puzzled expression in his face. They stay some time in silence, Jude catching her breath and Cardan trying to put pieces together.

"Why do you think I'm not real?" he finally asks, his voice tiny as if he's afraid of the answer.

"You weren't there." Jude matches his tone. "When I woke up. I always check to make sure you're there because if you are, then that means you're real and I'm not dreaming. At first, I thought you were kidnapped. That's why I'm here, I thought this was how whoever took you got in."

"My wife, scheming even when she's panicking." he's looking at her with that adoration in his eyes that never fails to take her breath away. "Let's keep scheming, shall we?" He looks at her, waiting for an answer so she nods. "You say that you are dreaming, you're in this coma and you can't wake up. Well, let's test this theory. Did you know that you can't read in dreams?" Another nod. Cardan gets up, picks a book from the bedside table and hands it to her. "Well, can you read?" The answer is yes. The book was a mortal romance that she was sure she had seen in Cardan's hands. That meant that this was real, Cardan was here and she hadn't killed him. Immediate relief washed over and with that came more tears that she hadn't noticed when they stopped. God, she was a mess. This is ridiculous, she is being ridiculous. Trying to look less like she just had a mental breakdown over nothing Jude attempts to clean the tears that don't stop. Of course this is reality, of course Cardan just woke up earlier and went to do god knows what. She's the fucking High Queen and she can't stand when her husband is out earlier, can't keep a cool head, can't-

"Stop." Cardan gently takes the hands that are trying to hide the tears that keep coming, why don't they stop? "Don't do that." His tone is gentle but secure and so goddamn grounding, how does he do it?

"Do what?"

"Close yourself. I could see the moment you realised that this was the reality because that was the moment the mask came back on. You're probably thinking that you don't have the right to feel this way because you can't show weaknesses or whatever bullshit your mind thinks of." Sometimes it's scary how well he knows her. "Don't close yourself from me." He is rubbing circles with his thumb on the back of her hand and it feels so right, everything about him feels so right.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not." His tone is becoming more frustrated. "This is obviously bothering you, but I had no idea and because of my ignorance you just had a fucking panic attack." Her eyebrows went up. "I may have been reading about mortal psychology, but that's not important, what's important is," he moves his hands to cup her face and cleans the tears - that have finally stopped - with his thumb. "You don't have to pretend with me."

"You're one to talk." She retaliates but doesn't push him away. "You haven't said another word about those three days since I asked what it was like being a snake on the same day you stopped being one." Cardan laughs because he's Cardan and he laughs when he's nervous and he is not the only one who knows the other too well, she can see in his eyes that the thought of having to speak of those three days of hell terrifies him as much as her.

He moves to her side and sighs. "We really are made for each other, aren't we?" He seems to consider something before saying. "Let's make a pact. Whenever we want the other to open up, we say a code word and they have to do it after we reveal something that has been bothering us. No lies, no tricks, just the plain truth. Deal?" He gives her his right hand. It is always dangerous to make a deal with a fae, but this is Cardan, they have passed the backstabbing phase when she came back from exile. She takes his hand and shakes it.

"Deal. But we have to choose the word, something that we won't say normally."

"California." The place they went on their honeymoon instead of being on the two weeks celebrations of the Mortal Queen's victory over the serpent. The place where they were just two teenagers in love and not The Queen and King of Elhame, not the warrior and the prince, not the people with traumatic childhood, not the two broken pieces of what should be two whole people.

"Sounds great."

"I said it, so I start." He takes a deep breath and speaks. "I woke up earlier today because I had a nightmare. I wasn't someone trapped inside the snake like people like to believe, I was the snake. When the snake died, I died, even if for a few seconds." Jude takes a sharp breath, she always took comfort in the fact that she hadn't cut his head, but what was trapping him, that he hadn't felt anything. Cardan notices and takes both her hands and looks at her straight in the eyes. "I don't blame you, nor will I ever. If I say something assumimg the opposite, you have the premission to cut my head because that is not me. But as I was saying, when I saw you taking out the sword, I couldn't help but feel relief, but when you dealt the blow I, I-" another deep breath "I couldn't feel anything. I don't remember anything. I died. And that terrifies me. I was. I wasn't there. I replay that in my mind countless days, but today was so vivid, I couldn't fall back asleep, so I got out. I needed fresh air. I needed to be alone with my thoughts. I should've come back when it was time to wake up, I should've woken you, I didn't know that you needed that, but if I did, I would have done it."

They stay a few moments in silence, taking deep breaths and deep in thoughts.

"Your turn."

She wants to sugar-coat it. She wants to say that it wasn't that bad, she doesn't want to see guilt in his face even if it isn't his fault. But Cardan didn't sugar-coated when he revealed that what she did hurt him even if he knew it was going to hurt her. So instead, she says:

"Those were the worst three days of my life. I honestly thought it was going to be ok when we were negotiating with Madoc. That we won, they were going to surrender and we would be fine. Then I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe when Grimsen said that only death would save you. I went to Baphen, I went to the Old King, but all of them had the same answer. Somehow I had to rule the fucking kingdom while grieving a death that I didn't believe in. On top of all of that the court of teeths was on my throat, making plans to try to turn you and me into their puppets like their daughter. The relief that I had when I saw you alive was bigger than anything I thought I could feel, but the time between that and when I cutted the sna- your head it was my lowest. It was a hole and I was at the deep end with no way out. I cannot live without you." She stops to look at him. Look at his black hair and his eyes that look like black holes. His pale skin and his small mouth. No, she can't imagine a world without him. But that moment was close, so close. "I am so scared that I will go back to that void, I'm so scared that the universe wasn't as kind as I thought, I'm so scared to not wake up next to you."

He puts his arm around her shoulder and she puts her head on his. Jude looks up and sees tears running down Cardan's face, so she hugs him, feeling his other arm surround her. They stay silent for some time while Carden cries in Jude's shoulder and Jude just holds him close, all her tears wasted a few minutes ago.

"I'm sorry." Cardan was the one to break the silence.

"Not your fault."

"Liar."

"I wouldn't lie to you." It's the truth.

"May I remind you that you said you were fine while bawling your eyes out a few minutes ago?" OK, half true.

"When you have a nightmare, find me. I don't care if I just went to sleep, I don't care if I hadn't slept in days, I don't care if I'm not even asleep and you have to drag me out of my work, find me."

"When you feel like this is not real, find me. I don't care if you have to send someone to do it, I don't care if you run around the palace screaming my name, I don't care if I'm in the most important reunion, find me."

They break the hug to look at each other and say at the same time, "Deal".

"Sooo, do you want to have breakfast in bed and completely run away from our responsibilities?"

"We're the King and Queen of Elfhame."

"Exactly, there is no one above to stop us."

"We have an entire kingdom depending on us."

"Well, as the High King, I order you to stay in bed with me."

"As the High Queen, I'm going to refuse that order."

"Come on, you're mortal, you can say that we are sick or something." Jude's going to retaliate, but honestly? She's exhausted and spending the night in bed with her husband doesn't seem the worst idea.

"You are a horrible influence, do you know that?"

"Does that mean I win?"

She sighs. "Yes, you win."

"Yay" He says, getting up and doing a little spin like a child who was able to negotiate bedtime with their parents. She can't help but smile at his shenanigans.

Next, he does an extremely exaggerated bow and continues. "After you, my queen."

At that, she fully laughs, takes his hand and goes down the pathway with him. She hates being vulnerable, but with him, it isn't that bad. How do we take the armour off? A piece at a time. She feels like they just took another one.

-‐----------------‐-----------------‐----------------‐----------------

So, I had this idea since I finished Queen of Nothing and since I didn't see any fic like this I decided to make it myself. The characters may be a bit OOC, I'm not tha familiar with them. I am not a writer and my first language is not English, so apologies for any mistake. 🫶

Btw this was way bigger than I thought, no idea how many words, but damn, I'm having a brain riot.

[seungrishair]

I’ve seen some people complaining about how The Prisioner’s Throne doesn’t read like The Stolen Heir or The Folk of The Air counterparts but listen, it can’t and it’s not supposed to.

The Prisioner’s Throne is from Oak’s perspective and as we’ve found out, Oak isn’t a nice guy. He’s not the sweet adorable kid he was. Oak is manipulative, he can’t outright lie but with everything he does he might as well be. He is cold and calculating. If a Skittle is a soft candy with a hard shell, Oak is the opposite, only his demeanor and fake personality are soft. Inside he’s a hard person that is driven only by the thought that he has a debt to pay to his entire family.

People complain that even the sentence structure of the book is different, and yes it is as it should be. Oak doesn’t speak like the fae, doesn’t think like them. He was brought up between two worlds and his language and thoughts reflect it. His language is more coloquial, his sentences shorter and more direct.

Where as Wren’s book is all feeling, all emotions, Oak’s book is exactly the opposite because Wren is all instinct while Oak is all scheming. While Wren is the sweetest girl there is despite the torture she has endured, everyone sees her as a monster. Oak is the opposite, he is seen as sweet and aloof and it seems few can see the monster he really is.

With these things in mind of course the book is going to read different, of course the pacing is going to be different. It just seems to me like people came into this book expecting Oak’s mind to be all sentimental, perhaps Cardan 2.0 and didn’t like to be hit with the difference in persona.

[alwaysthcarcrash]

[olympiansowl]

My thoughts on the Numenor arc and on Elendil x Miriel! A thread that no one asked for, but my head is about to explode! English is not my first language, so I apologize for the mistakes I will probably make.

1 - I love them, your honor! Since season one, I was praying for them to get together and I think it will happen, but there’s a big issue and if you didn’t read the books or if you do t like possible spoilers, I will advise to not read the rest of this thread.

2 - One of the “big issues” for me it’s her death. In the books, she dies during the wave thing. But she tries to save herself. We don’t know if she knew in the books about her death and of the destruction of Numenor, but she does know about it in the series. Will she try to save herself even though she will probably stay behind in Numenor? And probably willingly?

4 - The time line is a bit confusing for me. I’ve read the books some time ago, but there’s a part that says that she was never regent to her father, only to her husband, Pharazon. Pharazon usurped her and forced her to marry him, but they never had children. In the series, he has Kemen. Does he have a wife? Will he force her to marry him and change her name? Afraid of losing the throne, would he risk leaving her as regent? Will Kemen be “prince regent”?

5 - And on the topic of time line and regents, there’s another thing in the books and the series that is driving me nuts: the Sauron thing. He was in Numenor as Halbrand and was kinda like a prisioner. He was the reason why Pharazon became more mad and more idiot. The thing is that in the books, Pharazon and Sauron had a “battle” and Sauron gave himself up as a prisioner. And then he “poisons” Pharazon and they go or try to go to Valinor together. In the series, I am a bit lost because there are things that should have happened before, but are happening now and there are things that seem to have happened, but should happen later.

6 - Now, let’s go back to the lovers! There’s a scene that will happen, and it’s Elendil and Miriel talking after he has been captured (probably after being sneaky and/or after beating Kemen)…I’m dying to see what is it all about, if they’re going to kiss, to say the words, or if she’s saying he will be exiled or maybe that Pharazon is forcing her to marry?

7 - I am hoping and praying for her to survive. Truly. Like, imagine that Elendil finally found love again and she’s going to be taken from him just like the first one was? Also, it’s kinda interesting to hear Elendil say “the sea is always right” and we see three people that he loves being killed by the sea or in the water.

[silviakundera]

re The Princess Royal ep 16, i know no adaption is perfect and they have limited time, but I'M IN AGONY that they touched on the big Life 1 moment of her bro being deposed and her being imprisoned .... and we didn't get any flashback! 😭😭😭😭

I really was hoping we'd get a little montage. Just a minute! We just know so little about those events, just stray references in the novel, but that IT EMOTIONALLY SCARRED THEM like so bad that they have hives at the idea of the crown prince being deposed in their 2nd chance life and a lot the running around they're doing is to a) stop that from happening again, b) make the country a place that the crown prince will be less of a tyrant about. since a) is NOT an option

All we know is LR and her bro were imprisioned by the emperor, so he could replace them with the concubine kids that aren't from the noble clan he hates, and it looked real bad. and PWX visits her in prision and she tells him in all seriousness that he can have her executed to save himself. And instead he helps raise armies and they take the throne.

You know... just estranged & separated married couple things. 🤷

[fantasyinvader]

I was thinking about how the situation with Caspapa in House really undermines Edelgard's narrative. In White Clouds, he and Edelgard have a secret meeting despite Caspar saying that they don't get along. When Edelgard is crowned emperor and declares war, he supports her and brings the army with him. And then when you play Flower and defeat Claude, it's revealed that she promised him control of the Alliance territories in exchange for his support. It mirrors the transactional nature of Edelgard's relationship with her supporters; with the Agarthans it's to take out Rhea, with the nobility it's that they can keep their titles in exchange for support while commoners have the promise of upward mobility. But this is also countered by Edelgard's ulterior motives, she's going to wipe out the Agarthans, strip the nobility of their power and all while removing safety nets as she oppresses the commoners. Leopold joining her in exchange for the Alliance is ultimately short-sighted on his part.

The Bergliez family don't really have the best showing others. We have Leopold above fighting a war for his own profit not to mention neglecting Caspar in Houses in proper in order to focus on his heir, and it can be noted that while he would sacrifice himself for his men the Imperial army takes no prisioners, there's Randolf who also fights for his own advancement, Caspar's brother does nothing because he feels he's secure in his own position, Fleche seeks revenge, Grandpa wanted to pass over Leopold to favor his son with the wife he liked, and then you have Caspar leading the Imperial army in conquering territories after the war while they're out of control according to the Japanese script.

But then I was thinking about how Caspar is, alongside Ferdinand, one of the hardest units in the game to recruit due to their B supports being locked behind the timeskip. They can't be recruited in Hopes to AG or GW either, and lose their paralogues in Flower. And Hopes revealed that their families both have the same Crest, Seteth's. And if you think about it, Ferdinand joins Edelgard in hopes of restoring his House after she strips them of power, meanwhile Caspar just sides with his family and is depicted as giving into bloodlust rather than thinking. The Aegir family is also the earliest example we know of of the Imperial nobility's decline, with him challenging the Emperor to a duel with the throne as a prize.

But then I think about their supports and how they play into it. Ferdinand's sees him realize that it's not just about glory to his family name, but doing something not based on putting his name in the history books. However that's in conflict with him joining Edelgard in order to restore his family, a selfish motive (also like that if he's fighting her, he says he rejected being her puppet). But in Caspar's, it's about how during White Clouds and how he went after a shady group of criminals and got some knights killed in the process. Byleth says at the time he shouldn't have done that, but Caspar says that children were in danger so he acted. He ultimately comes to not regret this, as his actions were motived by the safety of those kids and he would have regretted it if they had gotten hurt.

Now think about White Clouds, where the Agarthans are going around doing all their evil deeds and Caspar wants to take them out. Caspar's support would align more with him deciding to fight Edelgard and the Agarthans over what they did there, holding them accountable for their actions at the time and stopping them. His paralogue is about how he can't just let the Death Knight go and escape justice for his actions, while at the same time serves as a test of his strength. If Caspar fights Edelgard, he then goes off on his own, doesn't take over his family titles and jumps in whenever he sees people in trouble. The translation paints that ending in a more negative light than the Japanese, labelling the others involved as his victims, while at the same time making him out to be a more able commander in his Flower endings where he begins invading other countries for Edelgard.

Meanwhile, Ferdinand's paralogue reveals how his father was a scapegoat for Arundel's actions and pushing how extreme Edelgard's rule is. People are starving and being conscripted against their will. People who resist are executed, whereas Flower talks about the unrest in the Empire. We also know that there are some resistance groups fighting Edelgard's rule, Caspar joining one of them. He also exemplifies what people are supposed to do when faced hadou, overthrow the leader which is seen as justice, though this was altered in the translation to make him seem like he's not thinking and just following orders.

These two characters are connected, both linked to Seteth blessing their family. Seteth's crest is tied to the Justice arcana, so if you think about it like that both of them are linked to the concept of justice as well. With Caspar,it's about punishing evil, not trying to justify it. That when you see someone doing something wrong, do something about it rather than some form of wait and see. You saw the Agarthans and Flame Emperor do wrong in White Clouds, you should act on that.

Ferdinand arc is about doing the right things for the sake of the people even if he won't be rewarded for it. And if you think about that theme, really, it's calling out the concept of meritocracy where people will work hard in order to be recognized. It makes the system one fuelled by selfish desires rather than actually helping out your fellow men, to put yourself above them just like how Ferdinand expresses in his support with Edelgard how the nobility are superior people because their upbringing pushed them to excel. Granted, we also see that Edelgard does not actually reward commoners for their contributions to the war, not even Byleth, showing how her reforms ultimately don't empower the people but simply empower her.

These two characters provide some of the deepest counters to Edelgard rhetoric and they're just so hard to unlock aside from playing the BE house. And the fact their paralogues aren't available to them in Flower should say something, just like Byleth's.

I also think there may be something between Bernie and Hanneman sharing Gamera's crest. Mainly how they both run away from the nobility in their own ways, finding their own means of retreat when the system is too much for them. Bernie ran to her room when the pressure of her father's wife training, Greg trying to sell her off for his own profit, was too much for her whereas Hanneman ran to his research following his sister's death after she was bred to death in order to try and produce Crested children. While both show the emphasis people put on Crests, they also show that having a Crest does not make you a leader on it's own. Hanneman left without issue, Bernie was never trained to be a leader just a submissive wife. And it reflects Indect leaving to chill in his lake.

[procrastinatingwriting]

Legacy of fire

Zuko breaks. Simple as that. After a few easily avoided assassination atempts and being left alone in the castle by his friends - the war won't stop itself - he just. Breaks. Starts banishing staff from the castle, or imprisoning them for the smallest things, claiming they were with Ozai and wanted to kill him. Mai gives up trying to reason with him, they break up. She writes for the gaang to tell hem what's happening, and sends a search for Iroh.

Azula is being treated in her room, and hears nothing of anyone for a long time. She is still shaky after the breakdown, but doing better. In one night, Zuko invades her room and looks in shock to see her calmly laying on her bed. He babbles about her having to stop going into his room to taunt him. She hadn't been doing that. Azula frowns, and deduces what's happening. She teases him saying if she wanted the throne back she would just challenge him again, but she didn't. Zuko calms down, but is still restless. They bond over being left behind with the crown by who they love.

Things start to get better in the palace, the staff being able to hold their jobs for longer than a week before being sent away for 'attempted treason'. Azula is seen outside often now, either training or spending time with the firelord (aka convincing him that no, those gardeners are not going to use the scissors to try and assassinate him). They feed the turtleducks and talk about mom and dad, and how it wasn't fair. Azula talks about how Iroh leaving Zuko must feel the same as father leaving her in the day of the black sun, and Zuko has a meltdown after finally breaking through denial. Azula admits she accepted that Ozai never loved her after that day, and had the same reaction. They joke that at least he wouldn't be challenged to an agni kai in his own meltdown, and he apologizes.

Azula never allows Mai to tag allong in their bonding moments, but sometimes allows Ty Lee. Mai is livid, but won't admit. Ty Lee is just glad to have her friend back.

It's in the middle of a meeting when Zuko truly breaks down. He panics and attacks his advisors, screaming, breathing and kicking fire. Azula takes him down and when Ty Lee chi blocks him, Zuko goes limp. Azula is crowned as temporary fire lord and follows through with the plan to end the war since she doesn't really minds it anyways. She isn't following orders anymore. She does keeps some of their colonies though, and there comes the issue.

Aang couldn't stop what he was doing to go back at the fire nation because, quote, 'Zuko wasn't feeling well' as per Mai's words, but when the colony issue arrived, he changed his schedule and went to grab his friends to solve the problem. What a surprise when they see it's Azula giving orders, not Zuko. Ty Lee explains the situation and is supported by the Kyoshi warriors, but Aang demands to see Zuko. Katara is tense. Azula too. She denies them claiming her brother being too tired to be visited. Aang finds it fishy and keeps guard at night to try and contact Zuko by breaking in through his window (maybe Azula is holding him prisioner right?). Zuko is not only crazy and terrified, but also hallucinating apparently, and fights Aang until his eventual collapse, and Azula comes out of nowhere to help.

Azula: Can't get him to eat anything. Three of the last 6 attempts involved food, he hasn't had much since.

Aang:

Aang: pardon?

Azula: My brother is weak, avatar, would you leave us alone so he can keep at least a piece of his dignity?

Aang becomes number one member of the "let's give azula a chance" club. They all realize that it was deffinetly NOT a good choice to leave Zuko alone in the palace, and that Azula shouldn't be burdened with it either (and maybe, just MAYBE, they were a little too rough in the judgement of her). He calls Bumi and Azula agrees to let him help keep things in order until they decide what to do, but declines to have her position revoked.

I remember I had a vision with this but it was too long ago and I am currently working on another AU. I might come back for this one latter, though.

[marvelita85]

IM GOING TO RATE IT PG13 FOR NOW

some language, bad words insults

Aemond x Velaryon reader

Im trying to prevent the dance... bare with me

English is not my first language so have patiance

-Sourves... go... fly!!! - you shout to your dragon once you landed in the outscares of King Landing you wanted to kill Aemond but but you wanted to see was your brother safe, once you saw Vaghar landed you didnt care to go closer to the dragon Luke was with Aemond - give him to me...

- y/n I didnt intended to be this way

- shut up!!!... - you grab your unconcious brother into your arms you saw gold capes guards and the damn hand with them

- escolt the Princess and Prince Lucerys to their chambers...

- dont you dare touch her...

- Aemond they are not allow to go back... Rhaenyra will have to bend the knee now... - you looked up feeling uneasy when 2 goldcapes took your brother from your eyes when you were free you step into Otto space and Aemond saw your move grabbing you from your waist and hold your wrist where you were holding your daga

- before my time is done... I will look up your corspe and smile... - Otto was taken aback from your words, he knew you were much like Daemon, there were wispers you were his in reality as you hold the looks of your mother, the guards this time came for you and you strugle to get away from Aemond... whatever you felt for him was lost when he attacked your brother

- y/n... - Aemond tried to speak but he didnt have words he almost killed Luke and he knew what that means for the both of you

Daemon had informants from Kinglanding the conmotion that happened with Rhaenyra's children was something that didnt pass throught from the eyes of the small folk and guards that were loyal to the rogue prince

- they have them... y/n and Luke...we have to take Kingslanding now...- Daemon said as the cousil looked at Rhaenyra who for one second thought her heir and her son were dead

- you are willing to burn it to the grown

- your children are there... they took your right what more do you need

- I need them to still be alive when we get the city

You were in your room your brother was not there, Alicent came inside and you were still in your riding clothes...

- you should change and have a bath

- where is my brother?

- he is safe...

- i didnt ask how he is I asked where?...

- princess I know you are upset but you must understand this is a necesary sacrifice

- necesary?! You commited treason to your king and husband...

- his last wish was for Aegon to be king...

- you have no idea... your delutional mind think your drunken cunt of a son is even posible suited to be in that throne... I dont even think he was talking about my brother... he was a dreamer do you have any idea what my mother will do to you for helding me and my brother prisioners

- you are guests...

- that cant leave ...- Alicent remain silence - I want to be with my brother or you will start sending all your guards because I'm going to start killing everyone that cross that door

- you are not allow to have weapons close princess -

- Alicent I thought you be more inteligent... I was train by Daemon...you must know I dont need weapons to do so - Alicent looked at you for one more second leaving you alone... you grab an artifact from the nearest table and throwed it to the door now closed

There were a few servants entering your room leaving food and water for you to freshen up... a dress was brought to you and the servants said it was to meet the king, you chuckled and you grab it in your hand - she really live in a different universe if she thinks I'm going to wear her f*cking colors

- princess we were ordered for you to wear this to meet the king...

- dead....

- I beg your pardon...

- I said dead... you will make me wear that... dead...- you stand your grown when the guards came to escort you to the great hall... the dress in your hand riped by your hands

You entered and you saw Aegon in the throne with the conqueror's crown in his head... Otto anouced you and you chuckled a laugh you werent afraid if you were going to die lets get that war lose once and for all... at least your brother was going to live and return to your mother when she'd take the keep again, you didnt bow... you didnt do anything and Aegon felt rage... you were defiant all your life and he knew you werent easy to break

- you always have to put a fight to everything dont you? - Otto aproached to you and you smirk throwing the dress in your hand all in shreads in front of Aegon...

- you dare to look up to me... I am your king

- you are no king... you cant be king of anything Aegon... and definetly not mine

- you little...- he rise from the throne and walked to you... you didnt back up as he hold the daga in his hand, Aemond step in between us, the brothers had a conversation with their eyes, Aegon feared Aemond and that still happened now that Aegon hold power

- I could have your tongue for everything you say to me now...

- do it... but do it yourself... you have no balls to rule... nor to take anything from me... - you wanted to grab that daga and buried it into both of them in that moment, your wispered those words so the brothers only heard it

- what do you want?...

- where is my brother?

- why do you think I'm going to let you be with him...bow to me...

- there is no power in this earth that can make me bow to you Aegon...

- I will find a way to break you dear niece no one is invinsible...

- let her be with her brother...- Aegon look back to his brother - is a sign of good will brother... if you want her to our side...

- if we want her on our side shouldnt she be married to our family ... you especifically

- my king I should remind you Prince Aemond is already betrothed to one of Lord Borros daughters

- who my niece is so much better alliance... that way Rhaenyra wont have another choice than to bend the knee and we wont need more quarells....besides my father sujested their betrothal once... I will honored my father's wishes

You felt discusted marring Aemond wasnt something you expected from all that reunion, you expected death... not an alliance throught marriage

- you traitors, will all died screaming...- your curse sound into the hall and many of the people present got scare by your voice and the way you said it

- take her away from here...- Aegon said and Aemond grab you from your arm you tried to strugled but he push you out to the corridors

- let go of me....

- stop your struggling...

- what is this place...

- your brother is in there - you looked up to Aemond and you opened the door finding Luke in a bed being fed by a servant girl

- Luke

- sister...- you ran to his bed and hug him - he killed Arrax...

- I know Im so sorry ... I'm sorry but you are alive... - Luke looked at the door where Aemond was still there you turn and your eyes looked at him too... as you turn you wispered something for Luke only to hear...- everyone will pay for what they've done to us...- you were happy your brother was alive but you were in need of vengance your mind was trying to make a plan but the only thing you could think of was your brother in your arms

- is time to go back...

- no...- you look back at him and you realised you were in the verge of tears - please Aemond just let me be here with him... is all I want, I know you hate us you want to see us dead but please let us be...- Aemond didnt know what to say and he waited outside until got out cleaning your tears - thank you... for brining me here

He walked in silence with you up until you arrived to your chambers

-I dont hate you, I dont even think I hated Luke... I grabed him and I realised he was going to die if I didnt... I'm sorry for what happend to Arrax... it was no my intention

- I wonder what was your intention all this time Aemond... you realised the hard way the notion of us controling the dragons is an ilusion... my mother will take the throne back you wont be able to hold it... and I just hope I can save your life the way you did with my brother...- his stare was unreadable like always but you saw a glimspe of hope in what he felt was not completly lost

There will be a 2nd part

[raiynesummers]

my local bookstore still doesn't have a copy of the prisioner's throne, i have to be patient, i have to be patient

[abeitriz]

Not me thinking on writing an entire fic about an ex prisioner/slave bakugou being rescued by an Goddess reader that turns him into a dragon king after defeating a certain somebody for getting the throne 🤔🤔🤔

Should i write It? It would be my First longfic and probably Full of mistakes,

[corporalicent]

a glass of wine, a drop of disappointment

aegon targareyn x fem!original character

sinopsis: the dance of the dragons has began, and there is a little of tension between the new king and his wife.

a/n: i hope y’all like it, it’s my first fic in english and i’m a little afraid lol. i got the inspiration from a scene of magnificent century between Prince Selim and Nurbanu Sultan. also, i am not a fan of aegon but selim and aegon have alot of similarities.

ao3 link

It has been two years since Lady Joanne Lannister, youngest daughter of Tyland Lannister, married Prince Aegon Targaryen to strengthen the union of the houses. This marriage was about anything but love, well, at least at the beginning.

Those years of marriage helped to build an unexpected bound and relationship between the lady and the prince. They worked as a team, almost as if it was them against the entire realm.

A week has past since the beginning of the war for the throne, but time was playing a game with everyone and it was making it seems that a month has past.

Aegon was in front of the fireplace of his bedroom with a glass of wine in one hand and a paper in the other. He was so immersed in his thoughts that he almost didn’t hear the knock on the door.

“Come in” commaned while he threw the letter into the fire. Joanne walks throught the door accompanied by a royal guard, “Your Highness, Princess Joanne”.

He dismisses the guard and gave his full atention to his wife, without realizing the glass of wine was still in his hand.

“Why are you drinking again?” Her voice had a drop of disappointment in it. “How can you be so careless? I thought we talked about this. What would have happened if it was your mother who was entering your chambers and not me?” Now that drop became a river. 

“Nothing bad it’s gonna happen to me, if you are always by my side” His word were kind but his tone was mocking her for how worried she was in that moment. "I didn't know it bothered you that much” She was ready to leave his room.

“Joanne, my love” he said, leaving his cup in a table near him and getting closer to her. “Everyone thinks my weakness is wine, that i have become its prisioner” His right hand grabs delicately her right cheek. “But thanks the gods they don’t know what my real weakness is, how helpless i am against you and how weak i can become without your presence”.

Her hands surrounded his waist while her eyes never stopped looking at his eyes. “If they ever know this, this war would end tomorrow”.

Before she could say how much love she feels for him, his lips have met hers. A moment their younger selves would have never thought it would happen.

[seungrishair]

Just thinking about how in The Prisioner’s Throne, Oriana tells young Oak that a consort is someone the King wants to take to bed for delight.

Then at the end of the book, Oak tells Wren that he would make an excellent consort.

Bish, he’s bragging about how good he’s in bed.

I mean, she knows since she got a taste in the garden. But the audacity. And it’s not like he can lie.

[alwaysthcarcrash]

[illusivesoul]

Thank you for the tag! My brain was so excited to think of rarepairs that I almost went completely crazy on this one and throw all the weird stuff I ever thought about at you. But I try to stay civil:

Anora x Morrigan Loghain x Wynne (sorry)

And something I've been thinking about recently: Petrovsky x Alenko

(okay sorry that wasn't so civil after all lol)

Please feel free to throw all the weird things at me 😂 Rarepairs are my jam!

Anora and Morri would be so good for each other. I love the thought of Morri staying in Ferelden as magical advisor to Anora instead of going to Orlais, and the two of them raising Kieran together (and Kieran eventually being named Anora's succesor to the throne 👀)

Loghain and Wynne. I think they have potential for some hate sex, but I find it hard to see much between them that doesnt lead to them fighting to the death 😆

Petrovsky x Alenko is one that I've never thought about before, but sounds intriguing! Maybe Kaidan is put in charge of handling Petrovsky once hes a prisioner of the Alliance, and things develop from there 👀 I'd love to see a conversation between those 2

[sheisbeautyweareworldass]

Re: hotd

Hard same, I'm tired.

And we'll, nothing really happened in it? I saw a lot of people call it a filler ep..

Also, Al*cent goes willingly to Rhaenyra and stays as a ~political prisioner~ in Dragonstone....

Yuck. Ten bucks the writers make them kiss at some point.

“nothing really happened in it” it’s a nice way to describe the entire season 💀

the truth is that hotd will never be a good show 🤷🏽‍♀️ they had the chance to fix the mistakes from s1 with the new one but the writing got even more inconsistent and their inability to write 90% of the characters was there for everyone to see… and if we’re being honest, i doubt writers/hbo worry about the show being good or not, simply because it doesn’t need to. house of the dragon has and will keep on having a very solid audience derived from game of thrones - those people aren’t going anywhere. got’s spin-offs don’t need to be good because no matter what, the universe alone is enough to draw big audiences and got’s cultural impact is able to carry the other shows and their mistakes on its back with no problem. if i have to guess, dunk&egg and the conquest will follow the same pattern as hotd 🤷🏽‍♀️

the initial seasons of game of thrones were good enough that the audience is willing to accept mediocrity in name of nostalgia for as long as it lasts