#the burning emperor

[jaggybot3000]

yeah fuck you *melts your ice emperor*

[puffywiz]

"Anuhe."

Some divine highness au... for a treat.

[captainkirkk]

I'm normally a very slow reader of published novels, but I devoured The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard and now I can NOT stop thinking about it.

Everyone who has read my Fire Lord Zuko content knows how much I love 1) people of power working tirelessly to make the world a better place for all; and b) kings, slowly being crushed under the weight of their crown and duty, finding love and care in their loyal servants and staff

Except this story is more. The Emperor is worshiped and treated as a god, bound by extreme taboos and protocols that he can't break. It's about his staff (his found family) looking BEYOND the exterior of godhood and finding the human being underneath - who is dying under the weight of being the Emperor - and deciding to reach out, even if by acknowledging his humanity they are technically breaking many laws.

God this book is about so many things, including:

Found family can be the Last Emperor and his senior members of staff

The Emperor learning how to be human again with the help of his friends

There's no romance in this book. The deep friendships are the beating heart of this story, and they very much Love each other.

Breaking down a previously corrupt imperial empire through hard work and radial reforms, leading to sweeping changes including UNIVERSAL INCOME

Embracing cultural heritage, even in the heart of the imperial palace. Our main character is both one of the highest ranking members of government and from an islander culture, and he dedicates himself to both

The struggle for your family (who have a case of tall poppy syndrome, and live far far away from the capital and palace) to see you as a respected adult and understand all of your (many, MANY) achievements, even when you're very literally brought the Emperor home with you.

This book has some BEAUTIFUL confrontations, take-downs, and revelations based on the past two points (and more). If you underestimate or insult our main character, You Will Regret It. Watching him lose his temper is a glorious thing to behold.

Anyway I'm pretty sure this just became my all-time favourite book, because it's beautifully written and touches on all of my favourite tropes.

[owlyhouse]

philip babygirl i love youuuuuu (<- running out of titles to name these dump posts sfhjksfdf)

[chaos-of-the-abyss]

i go absolutely completely totally just a little bit insane when i think about tearza and the red emperor. him building a statue in her honor despite it all. his disbelief and devastation and rage and grief when he realizes what she did to herself, just like nezha's disbelief and devastation and rage and grief when he realizes what rin did to herself. history moves in vicious circles

[incorrect-primarchs-quotes]

Ps. I'll never read another book about the Sisters after I finish this one.

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Fantasy Books Bracket: Round 2

Book summaries below:

The Burning Kingdoms series (The Jasmine Throne, The Oleander Sword, The Lotus Empire) by Tasha Suri

Author of Empire of Sand and Realm of Ash Tasha Suri's The Jasmine Throne, beginning a new trilogy set in a world inspired by the history and epics of India, in which a captive princess and a maidservant in possession of forbidden magic become unlikely allies on a dark journey to save their empire from the princess's traitor brother. Imprisoned by her dictator brother, Malini spends her days in isolation in the Hirana: an ancient temple that was once the source of the powerful, magical deathless waters — but is now little more than a decaying ruin. Priya is a maidservant, one among several who make the treacherous journey to the top of the Hirana every night to clean Malini’s chambers. She is happy to be an anonymous drudge, so long as it keeps anyone from guessing the dangerous secret she hides. But when Malini accidentally bears witness to Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a vengeful princess seeking to depose her brother from his throne. The other is a priestess seeking to find her family. Together, they will change the fate of an empire. Fantasy, epic fantasy, politics, romance, adult, secondary world, series

The Hands of the Emperor (The Hands of the Emperor, At the Feet of the Sun, and other stories) by Victoria Goddard

An impulsive word can start a war. A timely word can stop one. A simple act of friendship can change the course of history. Cliopher Mdang is the personal secretary of the Last Emperor of Astandalas, the Lord of Rising Stars, the Lord Magus of Zunidh, the Sun-on-Earth, the god. He has spent more time with the Emperor of Astandalas than any other person. He has never once touched his lord. He has never called him by name. He has never initiated a conversation. One day Cliopher invites the Sun-on-Earth home to the proverbially remote Vangavaye-ve for a holiday. The mere invitation could have seen Cliopher executed for blasphemy. The acceptance upends the world. Fantasy, secondary world, politics, romance, adult, secondary world, series

[al-luviec]

These are going to be very inconsistent ...

[calebsrottingcorpse]

Gonna tell my kids that this was Kid Belos

[enigmajaython]

(this isn't a spoiler but I wish it was)

Companion piece to Luz beating the shit out of Belos: Hunter learning glyphs from Luz and using them for violence ❤️

[meangreennunseen]

When you make fun of little weird child who was forwarded as only competition to your Psyker talents and that child over few years grows up into a titan of the man and surpasses you on any level possible.

Also he's kinda cute in the weird way...

[getaandlucius]

A brief taste of honey (emperor Geta story)

Geta is being held captive by Lucius and becomes sad and depressed after his brother Caracalla gets killed. Someone unexpected (Lucius/Paul Mescal) takes care of him. Fluffy/smutty. Please leave a comment if you want another part 💕

Themes: gay love, male intimacy in the ancient times

Warnings: nudity, a little smutty, fluff and mentioning of depression

On his way back from the training grounds to his private quarters, Lucius encountered Marcella, one of the servants assigned to Geta in his new imprisonment: a spacious room in the south wing.

“Lucius, you can’t be serious,” she protested, ignoring any regard for rank or propriety and grabbed him by his arms. “You’re putting me in a room with him? You might as well throw me into a cage with a wild animal!”

“There are two guards posted outside and two inside,” Lucius replied calmly. “If he lays a finger on you, they will intervene.”

“Why me?” she demanded.

“Because he needs a woman’s touch. No—your touch. You’re a healer, intelligent and empathetic. As vile a person as he may be, and as poor a ruler as he was, he needs that now. I need him to survive and regain his health.” He kept to himself that she was also very beautiful, and knowing Geta appreciated the finer things in life, he hoped he would listen to Marcella's soft words and advice.

“Fine. But if anything happens to me, it’s your conscience.”

“I’m aware,” Lucius replied sincerely.

A week later, Lucius returned from a diplomatic trip to Ostia. His first stop was the south wing to check on Geta’s condition.

To his surprise he found Marcella and Athena sitting outside the room with the guards, working on some needlework.

“What are you doing out here?” he asked, knitting his brows together.

“Oh. He begged us to leave the room,” Marcella replied, straightening her shoulders. “We didn’t protest, to be fair." she added. "We couldn’t bear the crying anymore—well, wailing, really.”

“He’s also refusing to eat—or bathe,” Athena added, wrinkling her nose. “He’s getting rather… pungent.”

Lucius groaned softly. “Has he eaten anything at all?”

“Some fruit, I think. But he complained about the variety offered.”

Lucius nodded grimly and ordered the guards to open the door.

Inside, Geta was perched on the windowsill, his head drooping. When Lucius entered, Geta lifted his face, revealing red, tear-swollen eyes and damp cheeks.

Lucius walked over to the window and stood before him. “What is it that you want, Geta?”

“To die,” Geta replied in a voice still thick with tears.

“No. Anything but that.”

He met Lucius’ gaze. “That’s all I want.”

“Starving yourself won’t bring your brother back,” Lucius said, keeping a safe distance to avoid an outburst.

“No,” Geta murmured, his voice breaking. “But it might bring me to him.”

“Don’t speak like that.”

“Just… leave me alone. I want to be alone,” he replied, voice heavy with exhaustion.

“What you need is a bath.”

“No.”

“You smell.”

“I couldn’t care less.”

Lucius sighed, lifting his hands in the air. “Fine. I’ll leave then." He bent a little forward. "After you drink some water, at least.”

Geta didn’t respond so Lucius fetched a cup, holding it out until Geta finally took it, sipping slowly. Lucius found himself staring at his face, the stark contrast of his eyes against the fairness of his skin and hair. He was such a strange creature to look at.

When the cup was empty, Lucius took it from him. “I’ll return in a few days.”

----

Three days later, Lucius found the room quiet. Marcella and Athene were in the sunroom, reading.

“He’s still asleep,” Marcella warned as Lucius passed by.

It was late in the afternoon. This was a bad sign.

Lucius stepped into the sleeping quarters, his eyes adjusting slowly to the dim light. The air felt heavy with the stillness of sleep. Geta’s right arm hung limply over the edge of the bed, the other tucked beneath his cheek. He was still lost to the world, his features slack and unguarded. The skin of his bare back gleamed pale as marble against the deep blue of the linens, a thin sheet draped over his lower half.

Lucius hesitated, then knelt next to the bed. He reached out to shake Geta’s shoulder gently. His skin was warm under his fingers. When Geta didn’t stir, Lucius shook harder.

“No,” Geta croaked, voice thick with sleep, turning his face away. “Leave.”

“It’s nearly evening,” Lucius said. “You’re going to bathe and then join me for supper.”

“I said no.” He moved to the other side of the bed.

Lucius groaned in frustration. Without warning, he bent over the bed, grasped Geta’s arm, and hauled him toward the edge. Wrapping the sheet more securely around him, he slung Geta over his shoulder.

Geta shrieked and kicked, his protests ringing loudly through the halls, but Lucius held firm. Ignoring the wide-eyed stares of Marcella and Athena, he marched toward the bathing house, taking a shortcut to avoid prying eyes. He had no interest in feeding the gossip that already thrived in Rome.

At the bathhouse, Lucius considered tossing Geta into the water, sheet and all, but thought better of it. He suspected Geta knew not how to swim and didn’t want the hassle of fishing him out. Instead, he set him down firmly on his feet.

Geta clutched the sheet tightly, his eyes darting toward a group of men passing nearby. Lucius followed his gaze and decided to drag him to a smaller, unheated bath at the back, one rarely used by anyone.

“We forgot the cleaning supplies.” Lucius remembered then. “ ’ll fetch some from the servants.” Geta gave a brief nod, and Lucius left.

When he returned with honey, oil, and a soda mixture for his hair, he found Geta had not moved an inch.

"Go on, then," Lucius ordered.

Geta hesitated, clutching the sheet. It made Lucius uncomfortably aware of the situation. Nudity was commonplace in their world, but something about this moment felt strange and a little wrong. Lucius turned his gaze to the wall as Geta let the sheet fall to the ground. After a moment, Geta's hand drifted into view, reaching out for the flask of oil. Lucius handed it over and looked away again as Geta began rubbing it into his skin, wondering to himself why he was still standing there like a statue instead of just leaving him to it.

After a while, Geta placed the flask back into Lucius' hand, but instead of reaching for the strigil, he came closer and stood before him, his back facing him and his head bent forward slightly. Lucius frowned in confusion, then realized that Geta was wordlessly asking for help.

Lucius inhaled sharply and tensed, dropping some oil into his palm. He was well aware that this was not his responsibility. There were male and female servants available who could perform this task. Yet, he found himself dutifully starting to apply the oil to Geta’s skin—beginning at his neck and then moving down between his shoulder blades. He kept his touches clinical, distant, not letting his eyes wander. He was simply helping him, he reminded himself.

As he was working with his hands, he was taken aback by the smoothness of Geta’s skin. It was so unlike his own, softer than most women’s he had touched. It felt like the skin of a peach—easily bruised, and delicate like silk. He applied some pressure, and heard Geta’s breath hitch slightly, as though he feared being hurt. Lucius wanted to tell him it was okay, that he could relax and trust him, but he kept his mouth shut. He let his hand drift lower, reaching Geta's lower spine, where he lingered for a moment -almost shy, not daring to move any further.

When Geta’s back was covered, Lucius took a jar of raw honey and began rubbing it into his skin, mixing it with the oil to moisturize and smoothen it. He then took the bronze strigil and began softly scraping the mixture off.

Lucius swallowed when he reached Geta’s buttocks, awkwardly gliding the copper over his skin, briefly dipping into the crease. He even knelt down to reach Geta’s calves.

No words were exchanged—Geta simply allowed him to do it. When Lucius finished with the back, he handed the strigil and honey to Geta.

“You can reach the rest,” he murmured in a low voice.

Geta met his gaze, and said, "Thank you." There was a strange pride in his air, in the way he held his chin. A new-found confidence, while Lucius' had weakened.

Lucius gave a nod in acknowledgment. "Meet me in the dining hall after you've washed off." He replied and left, cheeks flushed with the intimacy of the moment.

Thank you for reading! If you’d like to read more: there are two previous parts on my page. If you’d like more parts, please leave a comment 💗

[cultofthewyrm]

Imperial Fists vs Khorne Daemons by Igor Sid

[utilitycaster]

Do you think that Laura and Marisha are deliberately making their relationship somewhat toxic and unsustainable or do you think they see the relationship as healthy? It is just so different from all of the other relationships they have been a part of and not really in a good way. Would love to get your perspective on it if you have one

I am honestly unsure. I would like to say it's deliberate. Prior to it becoming canon, in fact, I, and a lot of other people who were less than enthused by Imogen and Laudna's romance and weren't entirely sold from the start, made the case that we expected they would be talking to each other and would put together a compelling story, not the dull fluff so common in fanon. While whether it's compelling is a subjective judgment, we know for a fact they didn't talk to each other. We know for a fact Marisha was surprised by the question of "Can I kiss you," and Laura was surprised by the answer. We know from a 4SD not long after (4SD #16, Kiss and Tell) that several episodes later they still hadn't talked. We know that Marisha perceives Laudna as holding Imogen back (and that Laudna perceives herself as doing so) from the Rose City Q&A. We know that from 4SD #20 (Episode Twenty) that Laura doesn't like conflict in narrative and Marisha does, and that Laura was thrown by Laudna's regression following Ashton's attempt to absorb the shard (4SD #19, Shard Candy).

I don't know if it's deliberate or not; I don't have any extra insight that isn't public knowledge any fan can easily access. But man, it doesn't feel like these are two actors on the same page about what's going on.

I've touched on this before but mostly in tags or whisper posts but I've always felt ill at ease with a number of for lack of a better term "fandom-approved opinions" and one of the ones that has baffled me the most is this idea that Marisha and Laura have exceptional chemistry. I watched Campaign 1 knowing the endgame ships but deliberately avoiding the fandom, and Vex and Keyleth did not even once occur to me as a thing. I watched the first year of Campaign 2 without a ton of fandom interaction because I was avoiding additional C1 spoilers and it seemed crystal clear that the obvious ship was Beau and Yasha; it felt like Beau and Jester only even had enough potential for me to multiship it as my general "whomever Jester picks" for like, 30 episodes. And yet people - people who didn't even ship either of the above ships and in some cases disliked them- would just say "oh man I can't wait until we get to a campaign where we can finally explore Marisha and Laura's incredible chemistry!" and it's like. I feel like I'm the kid in the Emperor's New Clothes on this! I understand that chemistry is to an extent a matter of taste and subjectivity, but it just increasingly feels like people looked at two campaigns of tables where Ashley was frequently absent and said "well, if I want an F/F ship that's between two of the women in the cast, I guess this is what I have to work with" and repeated to themselves that a flat pamplemousse La Croix was a Piña Colada until they started to believe it. I mean if someone wants to explain it to me in good faith I suppose be my guest and I will try to take it in, but it feels like people just treat this as incontrovertible fact and if you doubt it they're like "don't you have eyes" and it's like, well, pretend I don't. Explain like I'm eyeless and five because I have never understood this. They both have more chemistry with every single other cast member; it's not all romantic but man, I didn't even buy Laudna and Imogen as platonic best friends of two years. I have never had this problem with any other pre-existing character relationships Marisha and Laura have played, platonic or otherwise. It's literally just them. I just never feel like they're quite on the same page.

Back to the relationship between Imogen and Laudna onscreen, this was easily the best conversation since the start of the gnarlrock fight, and it is my hope it doesn't fizzle out the way that did. You can't keep kissing Laudna whenever she fears she's lost forever to Delilah, Imogen. Or you can, but that won't fix the problem. Again: are you disgusted? Do you feel betrayed? If you're not, why did you say that? If you are, how will you move past it? Do you want to be with someone who never feels like they're good enough for you? Laudna, do you want to be with someone who, no matter what they say, you feel you're holding back?

Early in the campaign, my feeling was that of our current situation, switched - Imogen felt her powers were a burden and a curse and Laudna kept referring to them and to her glowingly. It's just...ships passing in the night, no pun intended here. I hope it's on purpose and whatever comes from it is a good story - and either a tragedy or a happy story could be a good one. But I have a nagging sensation that Laudna wants out but is afraid to say no, and Imogen is afraid to let go, and I honestly don't know if the actors have realized this impasse and how the characters might resolve it, one way or another, besides the insufficient bandaid of a kiss whenever the conversation gets too uncomfortable.

[ifyourereadingthisblinktwice]

just finished the poppy war trilogy what the FUCK WAS THATTTT

[ask-asl]

Who can pull off a dress the best?

S: He looks great :D