#the dark kingdom heir theory

[darkfluffydragon]

CRK Character Analysis and Theory: Hollyberry Cookie

Hollyberry is so, painfully overlooked. And I think it's almost by design, really. She's a cheerful, strong-willed character who's never really seen to have been really upset, other than when the truth about White Lily was revealed. Sure, there were subtle signs of her struggle, but never anything that really stuck or was obvious enough that 'it seemed important'. This led to the fandom joking around about her traumas, dismissing what she experienced and acknowledging all the Ancient's hardships, except for hers. She became the joke of the group, the "Except Hollyberry" meme.

And yeah, it's funny when looked at in a quick, general view. It's also sort of...not fair on her. She suffered the same as the other ancients, just because she doesn't scream "I'M TRAUMITISED HELP ME", it doesn't mean that she doesn't have problems.

She may not be like Pure Vanilla, who lost his entire kingdom. She may not be like Golden Cheese, who returned to everyone she loved being dead. She may not be like Dark Cacao whose son tried to kill him, or like White Lily who has to experience the maddening guilt of the consequences of her own actions, but that doesn't mean that what she does experiences should just be dismissed because they're seen as "not as drastic as the others".

Hollyberry has always been shown to be a very family and relationship-orientated person. She cares for them a lot, and visibly cherishes her relationships with all her friends and family. It is her shame of being incapable of protecting them that made her flee, she deemed herself unworthy of being able to protect them. or calling herself not just her family's protector, but her kingdom's protector. This happened after she watched Pure Vanilla basically sacrifice himself to save them and the rest of Earthbread from Dark Enchantress, which she didn't. couldn't do anything to help. And she had been gone for so long, that the Hollyberry Kingdom had to start a contest to try and find a new heir. That entire time, did Hollyberry blame herself for "her failures? For the entirety of however long the period between the Dark Flour Wars was, to the present day?

Eventually, though, she does come back. She comes back and saves her kingdom from Pitaya again, so all is well. Right? Except not really? I've already mentioned that she's a family-oriented person. She defeated Pitaya with the help of Princess Cookie (and Knight Cookie), Princess Cookie who she basically missed her entire childhood of. She never got to see Princess Cookie grow up. The family lost Tiger Lily Cookie while she was gone, and she couldn't do anything. Because she wasn't there. Once again, she has failed them.

She's the Queen Mother again, she's come back and is the hero again with the shield and she defeated Pitaya Cookie once again. She got everything back, without getting any consequences from her disappearance. Pitaya returned because she had abandoned her kingdom. She's the 'hero again' and 'got her shield back again' because she threw them away in the first place. They lost Tiger Lily Cookie and they still haven't found her granddaughter, yet somehow the kingdom sees fit to call her the Queen Mother.

She may have all of this, but does Hollyberry actually think she deserves all of this? Is this not all stuff she would feel she should blame herself for? That she should feel guilt and shame for? Hollyberry has gotten her status back, but she hasn't gotten back the one thing that she cherishes the most. That is the close relationship she had with her family, because of just how long she's been gone. Like, during their reunion? Royalberry personally regarded Hollyberry only one time. The first time he'd seen his mother in who knows how long, and it was him questioning if it really was her or not. Almost like they're just...close strangers. To me, it didn't seem like a familial relationship or a reunion. Probably because that entire part was mostly focused on them talking to Princess, with Hollyberry in the background despite showing up finally for the first time in forever!

Despite the episode being about her, it felt like she didn't belong.

Moving on from the alienation within her own family, I think her drinking problem is really, really overlooked. Seriously, her fondness for drinking is one of her most notable character traits, often portrayed as a part of her hearty and celebratory nature. But there's a fine line between enjoying the drinks in moderation and using it as a coping mechanism. She drinks so much, that Wildberry Cookie is asked to watch over her and monitor her (presumably by Jungleberry as stated in the Legend of the Red Dragon storyline. Also, the fact that a third party has to be the one to ask, and be concerned about her drinking habits??? That it wasn't even her own son, that it was her son's wife. That Jungleberry decided to help, intervene not through confrontation, but indirectly through someone else.)

She drank so much, she literally had a goblet that would never run out of berry juice!

("Hollyberry Cookie's Never-drying Goblet: A goblet that is always filled with berry juice, full-bodied and fragrant. It gets refilled the very next instant one takes their sip, hence the "never-drying.")

Hollyberry drinks so much, in the past and now, that even her friends and the people who know her dismiss her actions and go as far as to even just assume that what she does in her free time, is drink berry juice.

Hollyberry's frequent indulgence could be seen as a means of numbing the emotional pain she feels, particularly in response to her failures and feelings of inadequacy. Her idealisation as a hero, protector, and "Queen Mother" might place immense pressure on her to appear unbreakable, pushing her to hide her vulnerabilities behind her jovial personality and a tankard of berry juice.

It's confirmed that when adventuring, she used to take on an alias name. Take on a different identity, hiding who she is as Hollyberry (the legendary hero, the ancient cookie, the queen of a kingdom), to simply be Sweet Pinkberry Cookie. This felt the need to use another name when travelling, Tarte Tartin Cookie knew her as Sweet Pinkberry Cookie, and the Dragon City knew her as Sweet Pinkberry Cookie, she specifically instructed Wildberry to keep her true name a secret and to call her by her alias while within the city. This could have been a method she used to have used to escape her duties and expectations as "Hollyberry Cookie", which had been tied to her name. Her responsibilities definitely weigh down on her, and it seems like her method of dealing with them is to run away. Whether it is through drinks, or through physically hiding who she is and leaving for an adventure. This is ironic, considering her CRK skill is quite literally her charging forward with her shield.

It is through obligation, and her will to protect those she cares about, like Princess and Knight during the Hollyberry Palace story, that she stands strong and firm as a shield. That's what she's passionate about.

Hollyberry’s coping mechanisms are more subtle but no less significant. Her drinking, cheerful facade, and detached family life all suggest an internal struggle that is often dismissed due to her strong appearance. Her trauma is less about obvious scars and more about the quieter toll of endless battles, unspoken regrets, and the pressure to remain a symbol of strength.

The way Hollyberry is perceived reflects a common issue in storytelling: characters who don’t display their trauma in overtly painful ways can be seen as having “less” to deal with. However, Hollyberry’s struggles with alienation and possibly self-medicating behaviour reveal a more subtle picture of a hero who, despite her laughter and strength, is quietly weighed down by the guilt she feels.

Now, into more...theorising territory. Specifically, how I think Eternal Sugar's story will go.

Hollyberry's drinking and avoidance are not just coping mechanisms; they also tie into the theme of sloth in a...nuanced way. Sloth is traditionally understood as laziness or a reluctance to act (WHICH CAN BE SEE IN THE HOLLYBERRY PALACE STORY), which can also manifest as emotional avoidance and a failure to confront difficult truths (GET OUT OF HER PURE VANILLA THIS AIN'T ABOUT YOU still love you though <3). For Hollyberry, her drinking and retreat from her responsibilities reflect a deeper avoidance of her guilt and emotional turmoils. Rather than addressing the pain of failing to protect her family and friends, she withdraws from it, numbing herself with berry juice and pretending that everything is alright.

She seeks solace in alcohol, allowing herself to temporarily escape the weight of her responsibilities. While drinking may seem harmless on the surface, it represents the passive avoidance of the emotional work needed to heal and make amends. This is where sloth comes into play. It is not the lack of physical activity or courage since Hollyberry is brave and strong, but rather a reluctance to face uncomfortable emotions.

Her drinking can also be seen as a way of slipping into complacency, allowing herself to remain stuck in a cycle of self-pity and guilt, rather than taking active steps to repair the damage done to her family relationships. The choice to rely on alcohol becomes an act of sloth, where it's easier to drown her sorrows and pretend they don't exist than confront them.

Each trial the Ancients had gone through so far had been related to the Beasts and their previous virtues. Pure Vanilla learnt Knowledge about the witches, about the beasts, about White Lily, and had to face a cruel mental quiz by Shadow Milk. Dark Cacao had a battle of will as he travelled up a seemingly endless journey, and had to keep his resolution as he watched all the people he cherishes fade into flour. While for Golden Cheese, it isn't clear yet what it is her trial will be, there has been quite a literal sense of destruction for her (cough cough 🍗 cough cough), and with her hiding the Soulcheese and all she cares about in a vault to avoid having them be destroyed in the following battle against Burning Spice Cookie). It would be safe to assume that the trial Hollyberry would have to go through would be emotional by nature as well, which conveniently fits the issues currently being discussed.

The theme of sloth in her character arc highlights how emotional avoidance can lead to great suffering, not just for herself but for those around her. By choosing not to face her pain, Hollyberry leaves her family to suffer the consequences of her absence, most notably the loss of Tiger Lily Cookie. Her Sloth is not just about failing to act physically, but about failing to engage with her emotional responsibilities. She allowed her guilt to paralyze her, keeping her from returning to her family and from offering the protection and love she knew they needed. Though this has been resolved, the emotional difficulties haven't, and rather, they've all been glossed over.

I believe that Eternal Sugar will use this against her, as her virtue is Happiness. In relation to sloth, happiness can sometimes be a way to avoid dealing with difficult emotions or responsibilities. Rather than actively pursuing genuine fulfilment, one might settle for a superficial, temporary happiness that prevents them from engaging with deeper, more challenging aspects of their life. This type of happiness can be slothful, as it involves choosing the path of least resistance, avoiding discomfort or personal growth. This fits in perfectly with Hollyberry's use of alcohol, avoidance, and happy attitude,

For Hollyberry, real happiness would come from reconnecting with her family, healing from her guilt, and accepting responsibility for her actions. By avoiding these challenges, she sacrifices the possibility of deeper happiness in favour of a shallow, slothful contentment. The cost of this avoidance is not only her own emotional well-being but also the relationships that matter most to her, as her absence leads to greater harm for her loved ones. In order to overcome Eternal Sugar, she'll need to learn to finally confront these problems. Finally learn to properly heal, and not rely on the berry juice to solve her problems.

[the-fiction-witch]

Princess Of Darkness

Chapter One Sit The Throne

The family had gathered, in the throne room. With Lords and Ladies to bear witness to the proceedings ahead. The tall hall echoed with shuffling feet and shifting silk, the muttering of theories and speculation. Rumour had also begun to shift among those whom knew its meaning, they said a spark of fire was seen across the night sky the evening prior whispers of Rhaperzys in the halls. But far more important matters took president today. 

The throne sat empty with the hand of the King, Otto Hightower standing beside it. 

On one side stood the Greens, Alicent at its head holding the hands of her children Aegon and Aemond, in a gown of deep regal green a star of the seven around her neck. Her children loomed around her Heleana the most distance from her mother. 

On the other far across the hall stood the blacks, Rhaenyra and her husband Daemon both dressed in black and red Targaryen colours with dragon embroidery and armoured scales, a valriyan steel necklace around the princess' neck. Their children were around them Lucerys clutching his mother's hand. 

In the centre stands Vaemond Velayron, Rhaenys and Baela in deep blues but still black within their clothes. 

Three rules of three lands, Of Kings Landing, Of Dragonstone, Of Driftmark. All here for a single purpose, to make it known before lords and all ears who can hear it. Who is heir to what titles and where. 

"Let us begin this, then," Otto demanded, 

Rhaenyra was first to step forward, leaving Lucerys hand to walk to the centre staring down at the throne she was promised so long ago, "Need I remind the court, that less than twenty years ago in this very-"

But before the meeting can even really begin the doors open wide and the sunken withered figure of the king is seen. 

"King Viserys of House Targaryen!" The king's guard announced, "The first of his name, king of the andals, and the roynar, and the first men. Lord of the seven kingdoms and protector of the realm." 

The clacking sound of viserys cane echos through the hall louder than any dragon cry, the sound seems to grow only louder as he walks and the room around him silences, like bells on a clocktower ringing out to all in attendance, ringing out the time that soon was looming. 

Colour drained from all those in attendance, expressions of shock, surprise and fear.

His mask hides his face but shimmers with his crown in the candlelight, his breaths heard even over his cane. 

When he walks he doesn't glance at his wife queen Alicent even if she looks at him with desperation, he does look at his daughter the princess Rhaenyra their eyes meeting for the first real time in what had felt like years, yet his brother Daemon couldn't bare to meet the eyes of his brother and his king. 

"I... I will sit the throne today." King Viserys decreed giving Otto the demand without a shred of doubt to his tone, 

"You're grace," Otto nodded taking his leave to stand with his daughter, 

King Viserys continues but the steps of the throne begin to weaken him, his king's guard attempts to assist but he forces the man away brushing him off with a simple "I'm fine." But only two more steps and his breath fails him, his body clutching to the cane in hand to keep him from falling,

The crown slips from his head, and the sound of the metal hitting stone echoes out silencing every breath in the room, the time between felt like hours to all in attendance. 

But, in a mercy for his brother Prince Daemon moves swiftly from his wife and children, and picks up the crown in hand,

"I said I'm fine," Viserys demands until his eyes meet his brother, 

A thousand words are shared between their eyes in the second that they meet, a lifetime of unspoken things pours out like a broken damn, but all that leaves the princes' lips is, "Come on." In a hushed whisper so low not even the king's guard would hear him.

Viserys agrees and slowly takes each step with Daemon's support, before finally he sits on the Iron throne. 

Daemon doesn't even hesitate to straighten the crown and place it upon his brother's frail head,

Only then does Viserys let out a clear breath, 

Daemon doesn't speak another word simply making his way back down the steps and beside his wife. 

"I... must admit... my confusion... I do not understand... why potions are to be heard... about a settled succession.." King Viserys asks in the best voice he can muster,

Alicent picks at her nails secretly, as she tries to bite back her words.

"The only one present, who might offer keener insight, into lord Corlys wishes is the Princess Rhaenys." 

"Indeed your grace," Rhaenys spoke briefly her eyes met Veamond before she walked forward with slow and tender steps,

Rhaenyra, grimaced trying to hide her concern for the words to come from Rhaenys, 

"it was ever my husband's will that Driftmark would pass through Ser Leanor, to his true born son Lucerys Velaryon. His mind never changed... nor did my support of him." she said, "As a matter of fact the princess Rhaenyra has just informed me of her desire to marry her sons Jace and Luke to Corlys granddaughters Beala and Rhaena. A proposal to which I heartily agree." 

"Well... the matter is settled again. I hereby reaffirm, My heir As Princess Rhaenyra of house Targaryen, her heir in turn Jacaerys Velayon. And Lucerys of house Velayon heir to Driftmark, the driftwood throne and the next lord of the tides." 

Rhaenyra takes the hand of her son Luke once more with a smile across her lips, 

Rhaenys returns to her place beside her granddaughter Beala, 

Alicent finds her words choked in her throat, begging for a moment to speak but the words never come. 

But this moment is broken. 

When the doors of the throne room are opened once more with a heavy thud, to reveal a figure long since forgotten. 

Mutterings and whispers begin among the lords and ladies, Jaws drop, and eyes widen by all in attendance. 

Disbelief washes over the faces of Otto, Alicent, Rhaenyra and Rhaenys. 

Confusuion over Jacacerys, Lucerys, Baela, Rhaena, Aegon, Helaena and Aemond. 

But she makes no time for gawking, 

She walks, her steps are purposeful and firm but without a single sound, so as she steps you barely see change in the fabric or her body as if she doesn't walk but hovers over the stone. 

Her gown is a long trumpet skirt of black silks and organza that trails a good few inches behind her, a boned bodice of deep purple almost black textured fabric, with a V neckline that reaches her stomach laced with black ribbon, black cold shoulder inner sleeves reach down to her hands gracefully pinned around her thumbs with sheer purple outer sleeves that drapes down to the floor, she wore a long silver necklace with a single start pendant, as well as a gauntlet on each wrist.

 On her back a sheathed greatsword with a silver star pommel, a purple grip with silver spiral beaded into the handle. 

Long elegant dark hair littered with silver star pins, with two streaks of Valyrian pale blonde that framed her face.

And the deepest purple eyes seen in ten generations. 

"Who is that?" Lucerys whispers to his mother, 

"...That..." Rhaenyra struggles to answer,

"That is Lady Astra of house Dayne," Daemon answers for her, 

"We need to leave." Rhaenyra forced out the words quietly, 

Astra walked eyes firmly on the throne, without giving a glance to all those who loomed before her. 

When she finally reached the steps of the Iron throne she curtsied slow and low almost to her knees, her eyes never once leaving the crown and throne. 

"Your Grace," She said, "Hello Uncle." 

Commissions here

[weatheredfailnot]

Please take these sections from EE3 on the Shadowkeeper (Cylva) because I love her so dearly

Transcript below:

A NAME SPOKEN IN WHISPERS

Around the time Ardbert and his comrades left Tomra, they stumbled upon evidence of the larger design. Threads linking together the disparate troubles of the realm. A name spoken only in whispers— the Shadowkeeper.

A singular force sowing chaos and discord throughout Norvrandt to an unknown end.

During Nyelbert's search for an energy source to replace the crystal he shattered, he began to suspect that the now-lost stone was not, in fact, a naturally occurring mineral, but rather had been deliberately placed under the mountain. Pursuing the truth of that theory led them to discover a connection to Lamunth, the gem counterfeiter whom Ardbert and Lamitt apprehended so long ago in Nabaath Areng. When they visited Lamunth's gaol cell to interrogate him, however, they found the man convulsing on the floor and frothing at the mouth. Ere the poison took his life, he managed to sputter the name of the Shadowkeeper. Further investigation revealed that this sinister figure had ordered Lamunth to secret the crystal in the mine shafts, and in return rewarded him with the illusory magicks he would employ in his forgeries.

They also came to learn that Tadric, the mastermind behind Voeburt's monstrous plague, had not worked alone. Research documents recovered from the court mage's laboratory mentioned the Shadowkeeper by name, the meticulous entries describing how the arcane lore shared by his co-conspirator had contributed to the completion of his transformation magicks.

The mining industry of Nabaath Areng threatened with demolition.

A scheme culminating in the death of Voeburt's royal heirs. The Shadowkeeper had plotted the downfall of two mighty nations, and Ardbert's band feared that Lakeland, the third of Norvrandt's major powers, would be next.

Lo and behold, a rebellion erupted in the home of the elves. The reigning king was deposed, and the Shadowkeeper, their heretofore faceless nemesis, took the throne.

The elven king, Lelfrey, was a passionate proponent of the arts- music and dance in particular- with his focus on such refined pursuits earning him equal praise and scorn. His was a peaceful rule, free of war and strife, but this passivity cost his kingdom dearly in matters of foreign diplomacy. A poor negotiator, he ceded border territories to Voeburt to avoid conflict, and signed an economic agreement with Nabaath Areng that put Lakeland at a clear disadvantage.

As these political blunders chipped away at the nation's authority, a sentiment of discontent among Lakeland's high-ranking nobility began to fester and grow. Traditionalists dreamed of a return to the golden age when all of Norvrandt lay under their control, and it was the Shadowkeeper who granted them the power to act. Rumors that this new player was the king's bastard child ran wild, and, true or not, served to unify the disgruntled nobles under a single banner. They indulged in treachery to undermine rival nations, while at home, their assassins targeted influential royalists. The scene was set for revolution.

The Shadowkeeper was attended by two dark-robed mages, by whose malevolent arts the traditionalists were empowered. One of their gifts was lupine transformation, a change which granted the recipient preternatural strength and agility. Thus bolstered by a company of these wolfman soldiers, the Shadowkeeper's faction stormed Laxan Loft and captured the royal seat for their leader. No sooner had the winning side declared a new age of glory for the elves than did they muster their forces and launch an invasion into Voeburtite lands.

Caption reads: The Shadowkeeper emerged amid blood and chaos, a formidable and enigmatic figure perpetually encased in stygian plate armor. Similarly clad in midnight raiment, the Shadowkeeper's forces inspired terror in all who witnessed their advance.

THE BATTLE OF LAXAN LOFT

The heroes were poised to continue their search for Nyelbert's replacement stone in Nabaath Areng when the silver-haired Cylva abruptly left the party. The swordswoman excused herself on the premise that she wished to reconnoiter the troubling situation in Lakeland, but in truth, she was hurrying back to don her black armor, unsheathe her blade, and lead the elven traditionalists in their rebellion. Cylva, the great deceiver, had been the Shadowkeeper all along.

She was, in truth, no bastard child of King Lelfrey-that was merely a fiction concocted by Mitron and Loghrif, her Ascian accomplices. Her true origin lay in the Thirteenth, where she had died young and powerless, an unrealized champion of the reflection-turned-void. The Ascians had found her in the moment of her demise, and it was they who brought her soul to the First to serve as a pawn in dark machinations.

Cylva was to insinuate herself into Ardbert's band, and guide them along the path to becoming Warriors of Light. That which they cast aside in their journey towards heroism, she would take into herself, growing ever stronger as a disciple of Darkness. And when all was in readiness, she would reveal herself as the villainous Shadowkeeper. By her hand would the Warriors of Light be slain, and despair sown in the hearts of the populace.

What the Ascians did not plan for was the Shadowkeeper's defeat at the hands of Ardbert's party. Cylva had steadily amassed her power, feeding on her erstwhile comrades' respective sacrifices of personal ambition, innocence, independence, and tradition. Yet despite her best efforts, Ardbert would not forsake what she sought to purloin- his caring heart.

Even in the midst of their deadly confrontation, he regarded her as a comrade in need of saving.

Thus denied her full ascension, the Shadowkeeper wavered and fell.

Swallowing their grief at the loss of a friend, the heroes turned their wrath towards the villains who had orchestrated this tragedy. The Warriors of Light now shone so brightly that even high-ranking Ascians could not stand against their incandescent fury. Even as Ardbert struck his final blow, fulgent power swelled in a cataclysmic wave, and the Flood of Light was unleashed upon the lands of the First.

Caption reads: In her bid to slay the Warriors of Light, Cylva turned her transformation magicks upon herself. Though Ardbert and his comrades did indeed struggle against this formidable lupine abomination, it was the necessity of striking down their former friend that presented the greatest challenge.

[bloodymarsupials1]

sooooo, i wanted to make this because i apparently cant reblog and i have no idea why. (i'm referencing the little...challenge? however you want to call it by @drinkyourvillainjuice.

anyway here it is, i also added a few fanfics just cause.

The Second Sight @spoiledblog (demo) You’re an urban legend in a county full of them. When you were thirteen, you were found passed out in the road by one of the local cops. No missing persons report. No fingerprints on file. No memories. Just a name.Oh, and some bizarre psychic powers.You're content with simplicity. You like your isolated cabin and helping Carter track down missing persons. You know that in theory there are more people like you out there, but you've never wanted to look behind the curtain to find out.However, with the disappearance of a local teen named Casey Powell and a recent attempt on your foster father's life, your serene, isolated life comes abruptly to its end and a new chapter begins.

After The End @albywritesfiction (demo)

Your former fiancé and heir apparent of the Aurelian Kingdom, Prince Ædan, has married the love of his life, the fair Saintess Helene. As the nation celebrates their union, you are left alone to pick up the pieces of your broken heart... until you receive two letters. One is an invitation to the office of Prince Ædric, the crown prince's younger brother and rival for the throne. The other is a letter filled with concern from your childhood friend and secretary-in-training, Cyfrin, who is currently assisting your father at your family’s ducal estate in the countryside. Each letter contains a proposition that will change the course of your fate forever.

Which one will you choose?

God-Cursed @wings-of-ink (Demo)

you were found as a newborn, clutched in the arms of your dead mother at the base of a tree. No family came to claim you, but the men who came to your rescue adopted you as their own and became the only parents you’ve ever known. Growing up in the village of Stonebrook, you never want for much, until the day you first fall ill. Life plagues you with a mysterious condition that no one can diagnose or cure. You never know when it will strike or if it will eventually kill you. Living between fear and hope as you age, you try to come into your own as an adult with the ever-looming threat above you. As years pass, your condition seems to improve, until a mysterious mark appears on your body and opens up new questions.

It appears that you’re marked for death with no answers as to why, and your only chance to survive is to go out and seek them.

Journey through the land of Iroda, a fantasy world where the gods have abandoned their people and magic no longer prevails as it once did. Something is brewing that may change this world forever, and you’re in the middle of it, though your role is a mystery you must solve. Wanted dead by some and alive for mysterious purposes by others, you just want to survive. With the help of a few friends, find the answers that you need, and make your choices.

Before We are Ghosts @anjiefiction (DEMO) When a powerful villain threatens the safety of Metamora, you and the city’s heroes go to great lengths to stop him, and ultimately you are forced to pay the biggest price of all.(Against all odds, the heroes win. The victory is hollow.)The doctors are professional, if not sympathetic. They tell you that your body is in the process of slowly shutting down. No, they aren’t sure why. No, there isn’t a cure. When you ask how much time you have left, the faces grow dark. Perhaps a year, they say. Two if you’re lucky.(You thought you could rest. You thought wrong again.)For as threats resurge and the past rears its ugly head, you can only wonder: Do you have the strength to see things through? Will there be enough time?And when the end comes, can you find the courage to say goodbye?

more than me @ryanstillwrites-if (Demo) On a Wednesday morning, you leave your doctor's office with the diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumour and the knowledge of an estimated four months left to live.Suddenly left without any direction in your life, you find yourself in a support group for the terminally ill. Where you expected to find sadness, melancholy and a looming sense of dread at thought of a fast approaching death - all the same feelings you harbour - you find smiles and laughter instead.You're drawn in by the people you meet there, curious and confused by their carefree attitudes. They're kind to you, they take you in, they turn your frown upside down - literally and figuratively. And just when you think you might be beginning to accept your fate; they decide to throw all caution to the wind and whisk you away on the adventure of a lifetime.You don't know what will come of the next four months but with your new friends at your side, you're excited to find out. After all, this is the only life you've been given, and though it may be ending soon; you might as well live it to the fullest.

Omen of Ice @omen-of-ice (no demo) The North has been all that you’ve known your whole life— residing within its icy landscape as part of House Eirlys; Wardens of the North. You’ve never thought you’d one day leave to head south to Vela’thian— the kingdom of the elvhen— much less that you’d head there due to your betrothal with the king himself.What will await you once you arrive? Is everything as it seems? Or is there something more brewing beneath the surface of the seemingly pristine nation?Will you find your way back home? Or will you find something, or someone, worth staying for?Let’s see how your story unfolds…

Mons Immortalium @mons-immortalium-if (DEMO) Mons Immortalium is a fantasy romance interactive story. Human MC falls into the magical land of the faeries, a mountain island that has been secluded from the rest of the world for over a millennium. Break curses, fall in love and beware of  wicked faeries. Whatever you do, never give them your true name!

In the Cards @inthecards (demo)

You've always had psychic powers. Reading auras, speaking with the dead, and channeling spiritual energy through runes - these number just a few of the things you're capable of. It's not an unusual gift in the kingdom of Khepris, though it's uncommon enough that you've only met a few other people with such abilities in your small hometown.

After a plague sweeps through the kingdom, unrest bubbles up in the realm known as the Beyond, home to fae and spirits alike. A group of fae who call themselves the Butterfly Court are testing the boundaries between your worlds, and they don't seem to care what harm they may be causing along the way.

With a deck of tarot cards imbued with mystical powers in your possession, you're pulled into the struggle against the Butterfly Court. You must join one of two organizations - the King's Guardians or the Hounds - in order to fight back against this mysterious court… or risk losing everything.

Parasitical @parasitical-if (DEMO)

His flesh, our sustenance. His blood, our drink. His bones, our foundation, His body, our haven.

Five hundred years ago, the Earth was dying. Water polluted, dirt infertile, forests and meadows crumbling to the wars of steel and fire. And so the Order called His Grace, the Lord of Communion, down from where he rested before and He allowed humanity to rest inside his body.

Or at least, that's the story the Order tells.

You grew up under the masked faces of their Exalted, under the stories of Earth past. Rusted metal and cracked plastic; His bone and His flesh. Conflicting worlds, conflicting times, and soon, it might all come to a head.

crown of ashes and flames @coeluvr (demo) The war had taken everything from you.King Luceris had taken everything from you.You were just nine years old when all of this happened. One moment you were in your room sleeping and the next you were walking through smoke and ash trying to find your parents.Love, he said, was the reason he started the war. Ironically, you lost everything you loved but you also lost yourself when he let you survive and dragged you away to his home.In a new Kingdom with no one on your side what choices will you make to survive? Who will you become?Inside of you, there’s something burning for revenge and there’s only one thing I want to tell you. Let it out.

Bleeding Heart @bleedingheart-if (Demo) Congratulations, you got engaged. Whether that is good or bad is ultimately up to you.Shortly after your engagement, your fiancé sets out on a journey to the distant lands of Transylvania, a real estate opportunity that proved too irresistible to decline.With your wedding temporarily on hold, you don't hesitate to respond when your childhood friend Lucy implores you to pay her a visit, seeking your company and counsel with an urgent matter concerning her very own future.The strangeness begins as you arrive in Whitby, a charming coastal town where the Westenra's estate resides.

checkmatein 3 moves @checkmatein3moves (DEMO) YOU are the heir; the child of one of the most powerful women on Oracle Island. When she’s accused of murdering her sister almost forty years prior after the revelation of a suspicious anonymous tip, her power falls to you — but so will her reputation.Many questions present themselves: is your mother a killer? Who wants to see her fall for it? Who will make the next move in the inevitable game? Can you play as well as the rest of them?The Elite Class are full of blood and schemes. Your generation carries the scars of those before them, and thus you all must join the game or face the consequences. But dark intentions are cloaked in silk and diamonds, and the heady taste of power corrupts like an infection.

The Abyssal Song @ri-writes-if (DEMO) In the underworld kingdom, where demons fight for survival against the abyssal monsters, you are just an Oracle. In the distant past the Oracles were at the top of the demonic hierarchy, but those golden days are long gone. You did what you were most afraid to do and now sit under arrest in the royal palace.When the Abyss sends you a vision of a terrible disaster that will happen in the future, you make an inevitable “deal” with the Sovereign to try to change the future and improve your abilities, not only to become stronger and learn more about the coming disaster, but also in an attempt to achieve mind stability.However, what has been happening to you since you received the vision makes you think that you are already slowly but surely losing your mind.Will you be able to maintain your sanity and help others protect the kingdom, or will you become just another name in the long list of Oracles gone mad?

the lonely shore @thelonelyshore-if (DEMO) Meet me at the cabin. Please.You weren’t sure what to make of it. A cryptic late night text sent from your younger sibling, begging you to meet up at your family’s old lake home. The plea for help was as concerning as it was confusing. As far as you knew, neither of you had set foot in the cabin in a decade. You had your hesitations, but Willow seemed desperate. You couldn’t help but oblige.Everything goes downhill fast when Willow's research into childhood ghost stories lands you in a town that doesn't exist. A town where people go missing at an alarming rate, where things that aren't quite human run businesses with hungry eyes, where time runs differently.A town you can't leave.Something about Easthaven is wrong. A supernatural fog permeates the town, so thick you could choke…but you’re one of the only people who seems to notice it. You’re quick to realize the fog keeps the residents ignorant, keeps them passive, keeps them trapped. When people who have long since gone missing start coming back home, you realize Easthaven’s mysteries go deeper than you could have ever imagined.

Kenneski @devilishmango (here)You were ripped away from your home, your life- all because you were accused of using magic. Sent away on carriages, bursting full of others like you, being brought to Kenneski Prison. It’s a prison made specifically to hold those that can wield magic, making it so you are powerless. It’s a death sentence for most that go there. But not for you.

stagnation @stagnation-if (DEMO) It's the year 2524, and you're a defeated God/Goddess/Deity in a place and time where your kind is rarely needed anymore. After being locked away and thought to be dead for nearly a millennia, you wake up.

The Fall of House Black @endemise (DEMO) The fall of House Black, your house, was an imminent thing. A name had never been so cursed that all it could do was bring about death.First, your younger sister in a swimming accident, then your older brother in a case of mistaken identity. As the rest of your family sought to grieve and bring justice to your brother, your older sister was killed in a hunting accident at the end of your father’s bow.The three of you, mother, father, and child, became inconsolable. Broken beyond repair. Your mother unable to bear the weight of life any longer took her own while your father disappeared, gone into the night. When you remain the sole survivor of House Black, you know you must leave, and on the night of your decision, your home goes up in flames with you inside.Then, you awake, dazed with no recollection of anything, and when you look down at your body, you scream. It is wrong. So wrong.

Drink Your Villain Juice @drinkyourvillainjuice (demo) Everyone knows that superpowers come about through three distinct methods.One can be born to their abilities, see them emerge in a moment of great strife, or acquire them through extensive cybernetic augmentation.Everyone is wrong.You’d know. If only that knowledge—and your snazzy slash horrible powers—didn’t come with a host of strings attached. Too bad that was an offer you couldn’t refuse.Did I mention one of the strings was supervillainy?Thrown headlong into a life of crime, balance conflicted loyalties, personal scars, and navigating a web of secrecy and deception, all while maintaining your cover.Above all, remember to drink your Juice. Your life depends on it.

The Gilded @the-gilded (Demo v1.2) Your younger brother, Leo, went missing three days ago. Your parents called the police, and they started investigating quickly. They were too late. Leo had already disappeared into the deepest part of the forest, where the mortals have vowed never to return. The police have offered to contact your family if Leo crosses the barrier back to the mortal side, but their investigation can’t go any further without inviting the wrath of the Fae.The winter solstice is approaching fast, which means that the High Fae are likely gathering mortal children for their great feast. The only way to get your brother back is to follow him into the forest and steal him back from the palace of the High Fae… If you can get there in one piece. The Fae forest is full of tricksters and killers, and you'll likely need some allies to help get you both back home.

VANGUARD @vanguard-if (PLAY) As a faering, you should want to keep to yourself. Your home is a safe haven where your dragon kin people reside; a place of true neutrality. There are no allies to the Midlands, nor are there enemies. Your people simply are, and this will not change.But you were never one much for rules, were you? With whispers of a certain prince in the Northlands allegedly receiving death threats from your docile leader, Cirrus, you could only slip away into the depths of the North to go see for yourself. It's so hilariously outrageous that your peace-loving ruler has such rumours teeming about them.You did not expect to find a bounty hunter bleeding out from her abdomen. And most of all, you did not expect her to know you by name, even through her raggedy breaths. And most of all, you did not expect her to have leads on the one you seek: the Northern Prince.

TWISTED GOLD @icaroif (DEMO) In the wake of an attack on your village that left your father dead and everybody you had ever known missing or the same, you are given one option; find your uncle in the Capital or else run for the hills and never look back. It was never really a choice anyway.

NINE BLOOD DANCES @nineblooddances-if [DEMO] You were a gift. Now to whom? No one knows.All that matters is that you are a gift and not like any of the others of your species. Uniqueness and importance oozes from every fiber of your being. You're important. Everyone says you're important. But why you're so important?Who knows?You must figure out what makes you so special and different. You must figure out what drives you through all circles. And you have to figure out why the nine commanders of Hell all have their eyes upon you and wish to have you by their side.All before the fall of the ninth moon.

Trouble Brewing @troublebrewing-if (Demo) it's all fun and games until someone loses a head!Quinn, your best friend, has brought you some awful news: your illustrious parents, having run out of potential mates for their brood, have set you up with the worst person you know -- Devon Bainbridge. Your intended is uncouth, self-indulgent, and ten years your senior.Of course, if no one can find you, the wedding's off, right?Make daring escape from your family's castle, get pressed into joining a rebellion, and find yourself fighting alongside a plucky bard, a brooding bandit, a naive idealist, and a fool-in-training. Escape marriage, join a rebellion, and find love… or sabotage it all.

ANECDOCHE @anecdoche-if (Demo) You wake up chained to a chair by one of the most notorious gangs in the country, only to be saved by one of the most famous hero organizations only a few moments later. Who wants you so badly that they would hire an entire gang to abduct you, and can you really trust the Supers that have been put in charge of your protection?

Blood of Morana @blood-of-morana (demo) You are one of the people, cursed with Morana’s magic, which gives you power over both winter and death. You can imagine that being one of the White Deaths hasn’t exactly made you the beacon of hope or the icon of popularity among your people. Worse yet, some of your magic has been sealed, making it impossible to witch away the inquisition.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - An affair of the heart @doriana-gray-games (demo)

Play as your version of Sherlock Holmes in this romance detective game!

Make an enemy of a friend and a lover out of an enemy. Solve the case of boredom. Have a pet bird—and best of all, play as a romantically and emotionally stunted genius detective!

nemisi @elegy-if (demo) The struggle between cosmic deities — now worshiped (or abhorred) as gods — tore its way into your planet not long before you were born. Unlucky for you, you were one of the first generations to be born exposed to Excinate, the name given to the radioactive-like sickness that comes from being exposed to magic not of your world. As you've built up a bit of an immunity to the more dire consequences, you were promptly ripped from your family after a doctor's visit when the Excinate got a bit too close to your childhood home. Since then, you’ve been shipped around and transported from facility to facility to be poked and prodded at.Until now. No, now you’re free.Aside from that lingering hunger for flesh you’ve had since becoming infected, of course. Just a little side effect from the radiation, along with a mouthful of jagged teeth and a jaw that can unhinge like a snake.

Burning Academia @burning-academia-if (Demo) You never thought you'd go to college, due to your circumstances. But you especially didn't dream you'd be forced to attend the prestigious Vales Grove University after being attacked by wraiths in their library. What started as a visit to a long time friend, ended with your hands burned, your innocence questioned, and the startling realization magic is real.To apologize for what's happened to you, or more accurately, to keep an eye on you, the Headmaster himself offers you enrollment with all fees waived. With no real choice in the matter, you become a student, and try to ignore the suspicion everyone throws your way. Besides, you have worse things to deal with.Like how you've started to attract ghosts and other dead things, or the fact that there is a very living thing inside your head, waiting for you to lower your guard and take control. And most pressing of all, managing your obligation to a family that hasn't been such a thing in years.Tread carefully, if the ghosts don't devour you, the university certainly might.

lightweaver: Chosen @lightweaver-chosen-if (DEMO) A world where elemental deities share a fraction of their powers to their chosen, bringing upon the age of weavers; humans with the ability to manipulate the elements of their patron.You have been chosen by a mysterious lightning deity—blessing you with the power to weave lightning. But with a troubled childhood haunting your every step, your new abilities present a double-edged sword.The choices you make, the support you receive, and the inner strength you harness define your journey—a journey fraught with anguish, but one that promises a life outside Mother’s grasp.Two divergent paths lay ahead.Will you let yourself heal and grow, or will you fall deeper into the void?

Talon's End @asheepinthenight (DEMO) You were never destined to marry for love.As the third child of the Earl of Eastthorn, your purpose is to marry to your family's advantage, but after one failed engagement already, your prospects are less than promising. So when the Crown calls upon you to infiltrate the lair of an Elven sorcerer in search of a powerful magical weapon, the offer is too good for your family to refuse.But leaving your respectable home to marry an immortal being of immense power quickly puts you in uncharted territory. Between your secretive, disagreeable spouse and their labyrinthine spire infested with strange creatures, your mission to uncover their secrets is risky from the start. But as you come to know both your partner and your new home at Talon's End, you discover terrors and wonders unlike anything you've known–and the true price of your mission.

Leas: City of the Sun @sailingshellsgames (demo) Enter the city of Leas, where humans dwell in safety behind city walls while strange and powerful Fey roam the wilds. Play as one of a rare few skilled enough to explore the outside world, an agent of Den Zarel.After making a dangerous discovery you are sent on a mission that unfolds into an adventure that will unearth more than expected, and more than you alone can handle.Fortunately, you’ll have help along the way: a lifelong friend hiding a dangerous secret, a mysterious and taciturn rogue, and an eccentric and charming mage unite under your banner to help save your city, and possibly, the world

[afurtivecake]

i feel like i'm wading deep into conspiracy theories now but, in dark heir, there are several references by several stewards to "call the king" as a thing they should do in their fight. and well. the question i have is obvious: what king? which king?

it's mentioned that there were 4 kings, 3 of which took the dark king's bargain and became shadow things, and one who fled and disappeared. are they talking about that king? i believe they mention the kingdoms: serpent, sun, flower, tower. so which king are the stewards referring to?

could it be that they are referring to the sun king in some form? in a flashback, sarcean says the sun king is dead, but if the sun king is dead, then the numbers don't add up. unless, the sun king is no more dead than sarcean or visander are. perhaps "fled" didn't mean literally running and hiding, but rather, awaiting return/rebirth when summoned by the stewards.

[pijulle]

Dark Rise / Heir theory

what if the S of Sarcean’s brand was a reference to the snake kingdom? Because S looks a lot like a snake shape.

[porryc]

We all remember this scene from the Gabriel Agreste episode, right? Felix's warm and loving look at Emilie's portrait , Isn't it weird that both Gabriel and Emilie are wearing rings that control Adrien, while Felix hates Gabriel so much but has a loving attitude towards Emilie?

I have a theory for this and it really fits the situation but first of all this theory is made up of leaked scenarios from Episode 24 and if you don't want spoilers please don't read it

First of all we need to get down to the origins of the Graham De Vanily family , and the story of this family will be revealed in Episode 24 by Felix , Felix uses fairy tale elements to tell this story, so the story has a very medieval look.

The Graham De Vanily family is a powerful monarchy family that rules a kingdom

The King and Queen announce to the whole realm that they are expecting a son, but they endd up with twin daughters ; Emilie and Amelie

Emilie is the twin who is older by a few seconds and therefore the heir to the throne and future queen of the kingdom

This powerful family has rings that have been their symbol, her parents wear these rings as a necklace around the neck of older twin who is the heir

Time passes by , and both girls grow up , they look exactly the same but are very diffrent

In the story, the older twin girl is called the "Curious Princess" and the younger one is the "Good Princess"

The “Curious Princess” never wanted to be an heir or queen, never enjoyed royal duties and hated royal life and was known as being rebellious to her family , she always wanted to leave the kingdom see different places, explore different things and changes somethings for herself

The "Good Princess", on the other hand, would do her royal duties, stay inside, do whatever her parents tell her, and always try to be the perfect daughter for her family .

(The Two Scenarios Write Different Things So One Of These Two Is True One) The Curious Princess's family sent her to study overseas when she was a teenager either at her request or because they think she matures there

Curious Princess goes to a different country , she meets a commoner boy there who design clothes and not royal or noble like her called as “Tailor” , they end up falling madly in love with each other

At a time , The King and Queen force Good Princess to arranged marriage with a Warlord , a rich man from another kingdom

The King and Queen, who hate the relationship of the Curious Princess with this Tailor , tell their heir that she must end her relationship with this boy immediately and come to the her kingdom but instead princess ended all her relationship with her family resigns from all her titles and duties and she marries with him and starts a new life with her husband in the country where she went for education once upon a time

Curious Princess splits the family ring two for her and her husband , saying all they need to complete now is a son

Time passes, the two princesses are not capable of having children but one day Curious Princess get pregnat “magically”

Princess was rejected and hated by her family at this point so the tailor and her thought it best to raise the miracle son as a secret

Warlord and Good Princess find out about that miracle boy , Warlord is extremely jealous and angry, while the Good Princess is jealous and sad. The Warlord can't believe the Curious Princess , who gave up her royal lifestyle for love, was having a child before his wife

They go over to where the Curious Princess and Tailor live, demanding to know how they were able to conceive the child. The Tailor, who hates the Warlord , says it was created out of love, and maybe the Warlord should learn what that is. The Warlord and Good Princess go back to their kingdom

Cut to a bedroom, where the Tailor and Curious Princess are talking , Princess feels bad for her younger sister, as she knows her sister wants a son, and asks if there's anything they can do

Cut to a dark alleyway, where the Tailor and Warlord are. The Tailor says he has a way for the Warlord to get a son and be able to control him, but he'll have to give up his riches in the process. He gives him the magic amulet. The Warlord uses the amulet to get his son, making the Good Princess pregnat

Months pass, and both princess give birth to their sons, both molded in the image of their likeness by using the amulet with the power of light.

The Warlord soon found out that using the amulet to make his son cost his life, and became sick. He blamed his son - the miracle boy - for it and would lash his anger out at him. He called his son a "monster" and used the ring to control his actions.

One day, the Warlord is lying in bed incredibly sick. He screams "MONSTER" and starts punching the nightstand. The ring breaks slightly, which causes the miracle boy to fall from a pain in his chest. That's when the boy realized the ring controlled him and was connected to his life. One his father passed, the boy took the ring from him

Motifs like "Princess" and "Kingdom" used in the story are probably not real, it's just a symbol that the Graham De Vanily family is a very powerful and noble British family , The fact that Amelie has the title of "Lady" and is described as an aristocrat on Wikipedia is an indication that they are already in the lower branches of the British royal family , In England, a woman holding the title "Lady" means having a father who is a duke or earl.

To explain their position, we can take the real-life Spencer family as an example, a powerful and very wealthy old-money British family, Princess Diana's family, which has held the title of earl for generations and has a lot of kinship with the royal family, Princess Diana's came from this family. She already had a congenital title of "Lady" before marrying the Prince

The character played by Kagami with the cowboy hat and mustache is Colt Fathom

The Warlord of the story is Colt Fathom, a American billionaire and The Tailor of the story is Gabriel Agreste who is a French fashion designer , Although we know Gabriel as the most famous fashion designer in the world and one of the richest men in Paris, as we learned from the Style Queen episode, he was not born rich, all his wealth and fashion empire is the result of his own work .

A fan asked Thomas Astruc how Gabriel and Nathalie met in 2019

Astruc explains to a fan that they are working on a comic about Gabriel's teenage years and how he met Emilie and Nathalie in his teenage years , So as we can tell, Emilie's sending to Paris for "study" was probably for her high school education and back then Gabriel was just an ordinary boy who wanted to be a fashion designer

Now let's get to the main stars of the story, Graham De Vanily parents and and their attitudes towards their daughters ;

They forced Emilie into something she didn't want her whole life and hated her personality because she didn't want it all this legacy stuff , since she did not want to live as the heir of his family and stay in London all her life they thought that she was a rebellious person and sent her to Paris for education with the hope that her personality would change and they never accepted their daughter who she was

When she grew up and fell in love with a boy, they rejected that boy because he was not upper-class like them , yep this boy was biggest piece of shit Gabriel Agreste but we can’t reject how he loves Emilie so much and their reason was he was not rich and and they probably have an arranged marriage plan in mind for Emilie, as they did with Amelie

The only way for Emilie to marry the person she wanted was to leave the family, and the story also explains that the reason Adrien had no freedom for all these years and lived closed to the other world was Emilie and Gabriel's fear of the Graham De Vanily family of all this time

On the other hand, let's come to the story of Amelie, which is much more tragic for me

All her life, Amelie tried to be the perfect daughter to her family, did whatever her parents told her and never got what she wanted.

I firmly believe that Emilie has always been in the spotlight as she is the heir and Amelie has always been overlooked so she always tried to be perfect

Amelie openly cares about her family and their ringa and tries to get the rings from Gabriel who stole her sister from them

Amelie, who seems like a character manipulated by her family, was married to a man chosen by her family against her will and and this man is described as a hideous abuser to the her son she loves dearly and as a monster who can't even understand the existence of love

Amelie's support for her son to go to Paris alone and her unconditional support of Felix's movements is an example of her trying to give her son the freedoms and choices she didn't have when she was younger.

In the story, the King and Queen expect a son but having twin daughters explains born of these twin girls who crushed their dreams of a son were a disappointment to them.

As such toxic and disgusting parents, I don't think this family is a good place to have a happy and healthy childhood

And when we see an adult Emilie and Amelie in the story, Emilie clearly feels sorry for her sister who was not able to have a son when she can have and and asks Gabriel if there is anything they can do to help her sister and thats why Gabriel helps them

This scene shows that even though Emilie was disowned from the family, she still has love for her sister and she wants to make things better for her

Does the personality traits and presentation styles of the two princesses in this story remind you of some other charachters in the show ? If your answer is Felix and Adrien you are correct

Felix's rebellious attitude towards his family members, his hatred of being controlled, being forced by his father to do things he didn't want while growing up, his effort to change things for himself, and what we thought was a villain at first, but then we realized that he was actually a anti-hero with his reasons , and his secret love for Adrien and wanting to save Adrien from the oppressive and terrible environment he is in reminds you someone ?

Felix's demeanor bears resemblance to Emilie, the "Curious Princess" in the story

What about Adrian? The boy who always tries to be perfect for his father, does whatever his father says and never goes against his ideas, never has a choice and can't be allowed to be himself , and goes to an arranged marriage with Kagami that he doesn't want.

Adrien's story, on the other hand, is very similar to the "Good Princess" character.

I believe Felix has great empathy towards to Emilie, both characters have rebellious and unaccepting personality traits , neither of them never accepted the system they were in and hated the feeling of being controlled by their family

He has great sympathy for Emilie's refusal to accept the life she is in and for wanting to be free and get her wish

In his mind, he sees her personality as close to him and may have a growing admiration for her thanks to his fulfillment of a wish similar to his own

The "Control" here is Felix being severely controlled and Emilie forced into a life she doesn't want, but they both share the same parallels

At the same time, Emilie, who in one of the leaked scenarios says that her little prince, Adrien has the right to create his own happiness and live with his own election may be an indication that she never controlled Adrien with her own ring and we know Felix would greatly appreciate that.

I think this idea underlies Felix's loving gaze towards Emilie.

[rinadragomir]

It's me trying to convince y'all to get invested in the Sword Catcher, read it all cause I tried!

1) I need someone to talk about it + see your theories/memes/edits, I NEED MY FRIENDS IN THIS FANDOM okay?!

2) listen, we have to wait about 2 years before The Wicked Powers, let's try to distract ourselves with something exciting!!

Reviews from George Martin (my beloved, listen, this man knows a good fantasy book when he sees one, trust him), Holly Black and Leigh Bardugo

Synopsis (read the full detailed version here):

In the vibrant city-state of Castellane, a young orphan named Kel is stolen from his old life to enter a new one of luxury and peril. He’s to become Prince Conor Aurelian’s body-double, shielding the Prince from all dangers. As his ‘Sword Catcher,’ he and Conor become close as brothers – yet Kel lives for one purpose: to die for Conor.

Lin Caster is an Ashkar physician, part of a community ostracised for its rare magical abilities. But events pull her and Kel together and into the web of the mysterious Ragpicker King who rules Castellane’s criminal underworld.

Together, they’ll discover an extraordinary conspiracy. But can forbidden love bring down a kingdom? And will their discoveries plunge their nation into war and the world into chaos?

Here, a boy lives to protect his Prince with his life. A girl is destined to return lost magic to the world. A Prince must choose between his heart and his duty. And thrumming beneath it all, the heartbeat of a city unlike any other. Welcome to Castellane.

Known characters: (from top to bottom, from left to right, please appreciate the wonderful arts below)

Kellian Saren - our protagonist~ was kidnapped from his family when he was 5 and brought to the palace in order to be the Sword Catcher, the body double for the Crown Prince(🏳️‍🌈?). Used to have a crush on Antonetta, now too busy spending time with Prince Conor (🏳️‍🌈?). Big spoon energy

YOU'LL SAY: Rina... bestie he looks exactly like the second guy a bit lower, why so many Will Herondale cosplayers🤨 YES YES, THAT'S THE POINT, THEY HAVE TO LOOK ALIKE, IT'S LIKE Keira Knightley and Natalie Portman in Star Wars

Lin Caster - female protagonist, doctor, is skilled in healing magic (Catarina & Clary's daughter🤨?). There is a prophecy surrounding her, that says a very powerful goddess would return one day and it would be one of the girls from her community, ~possibly her~

Antonetta Alleyne - Heir to the wealthy silk charter, her mother dotes on her, dressing her in lace and grooming her to marry Prince Conor (the next guy). Her, Kel and Conor used to have this gang😎 when they were kids, but then her mother decided to turn her into a Kendall Jenner and now she's 💅🏻not like other girls💅🏻 and makes this ew sound everytime our protagonist walks by (secretly feels something else towards him....I guess?...)

Conor Aurelian - our Prince🤴🏻definition of: So you're a tough guy, Like it really rough guy, Just can't get enough guy, Chest always so puffed guy. What else? Oh, everyone tries to kill him and he hides behind his boyfriend's back. Little spoon energy

Joss Falconet - some lazy whore, idk. He has been friends with Conor and Kel since they were all small children. He loves parties, a good time, and ridiculous exploits, but there may be rather more to him…Matthew Fairchild core?👀✨ maybe....

The Ragpicker King - he's so 😋😩🤤he lives his dark emo girl aesthetic life. Doesn’t have a name or real identity. He lives in a big black mansion in the middle of Castellane and runs the crime scene. My future husband btw

Merren Asper - part-time student, full-time poisoner, and hopeless romantic. Merren has a dreamy, cheerful personality, despite being a poisoner. Well good for him, god bless🌿 he seems like a mixture of Kit Herondale and Wylan Van Eck

I'm going to update this post in case Cassie shares some new information!

The first book comes out on October 10 THIS YEAR so~ you can pre-order🌟✨for example, I can't so I'll just wait till someone sends it to me once it's out.

I REALLY hope I managed to get you slightly invested. It seems like a really nice fantasy series and I'd like to support Cassie's new work. She gave us our beloved TSC world and I have a strong faith in her. I know it's hard to dive into a new series but let's give it a chance!

@chibi-tsukiko @hahahax30 @roseofthomas @queenhelenblackthorn @not--a--pipedream @tea-and-a-clandestine-agenda @spacehero-23 @tys-kitty @carelessflower @dustandducks @one-fond-mortal @magnus-the-maqnificent @delightfullyterrible @learningshelfcontrol @thewolfnephilim @literallytypogod @gayforcarstairsgirls @clockworkbee @elettralightwood @captainswanandclintasha @radisv @lord-jethro @luciehercndale @bytheangell

[hoodlessmads]

Dark Heir spoiler thoughts:

Okay some of these are criticisms but please understand I really liked it! I liked it even more than Dark Rise. I’m just an overdramatic person and need to yell sometimes.

These don’t have any particular order, I’m just freestyling -

Reading Captive Prince years ago (and rereading since) before reading Dark Rise made me have an unfair resentment towards James for being basically the same character as Laurent but not as good and that continued here

Will is the second best character Pacat has ever made after Laurent and book 3 might push him ahead

I loved seeing Will use more and more of his evil powers

The best one being where he possesses anyone with a brand and his eyes turn black and he turns into Legion (maybe shoulda turned that off before trying to appeal to Violet…)

Finding out his mom actually was tying him to bedposts and beating him this whole time somehow shocked me because for some silly reason I believed one of the most unreliable third person subjective narrators ever, Will, that she was a nice lady just doing her best. Anyway I love this revelation because it makes such perfect sense, it’s just, “Oh. Of course.”

Violet and Cyprian are both himbos yet Violet is somehow the only character with a single brain cell left at the end of the book

Cyprian drinking from the cup makes no sense after they had a whole discussion in the first book about how drinking from the cup put the Stewards into the Dark King’s plans and made them his thralls and was the entire reason they died, a massacre which Cyprian experienced viscerally, and then he goes and drinks from the cup anyway and oops surprise Will can in fact enthrall him. Cyprian is able to fight it off but that doesn’t change the complete recklessness and out-of-character-ness of it to me.

Violet/Cyrprian is a good ship

Phillip/Visander is hilarious (in a good way)

Will/James is fine but I wish I was more compelled by them than I actually am. For being the main couple, I don’t feel like their relationship has been given the room it needed to develop organically and instead it feels like we’re falling back on physical attraction and a vague shadow of a past relationship in the old world that we didn’t get to see. It’s hard not to compare to Damen/Laurent which by contrast was developed so painstakingly.

Elizabeth is incredible

Visander sucks, actually

The whole Light kind of sucks. The Stewards, the Sun Kingdom, they were all assholes

People with black-and-white morality are truly terrible, aren’t they? And pretty much everyone is like that except for Will, James, and Violet

Sometimes I felt like that fact was really being hammered in on purpose almost as though to make James murdering like 300 people seem less bad (but it didn’t….)

But I don’t dislike James because he murdered 300 people, I actually love villains and I especially am attached to the idea of everyone being redeemable. But what I don’t like is the book telling me I should like James without giving me a good reason or the book downplaying his actions to make him seem more sympathetic. He can have murdered all the Stewards and still be compelling, we don’t need to diminish what he’s done in order for him to be likable

Also everyone in this book except like, Will and maybe Violet and James is an idiot (and I’ll excuse Elizabeth for only being ten). Someone send these characters to Psych 101, they don’t seem to understand the concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy…

Like obviously if you tell someone they’re evil over and over again for their whole lifetime they will become evil

Theory - I don’t think Violet will turn on Will. I think she’s just shell-shocked. She wasn’t really given a chance to take a stance before James Peter Panned him away. Violet knows exactly what it feels like to be told you are evil because of some past thing, and she knows Will better than any of the other characters. And she knows that morality is not black and white (Tom is her brother). She’ll definitely end up in Will’s corner by the end.

Theory - The line of the Lady and the line of the Dark King are the same bloodline and they split off later. Sarcean’s “cataclysmic night together” with the Lady was mentioned not once but twice. Pacat doesn’t waste lines. The child that the Lady had was Sarcean’s, or at least one of them.

Will better figure out how to destroy that collar quick…before they both get even more traumatized. I think that will be one of his main goals in book 3. Or I hope…otherwise it will be hard to develop the genuine romance

I sure hope Will can also figure out how to expel that shadow from Cyprian before he like… dies. Don’t do that to Violet D:

So, I’m not a huge fan of YA in general (outside of YA anime and manga which for some reason hits different). I used to like it a lot, it used to be most of what I read. I grew up reading series like Redwall, Darren Shan, Demonata, Pendragon, and so on. But I’ve grown out of the genre (I’m 27). Not every adult does - one of my best friends who is a year older than me still really enjoys YA. But because I don’t like YA, I think my enjoyment of Dark Rise/Dark Heir is influenced and my criticisms may be unfair.

But I find that with fantasy series like this, I the books really need to be longer. Or there needs to be more of them. I feel like Dark Rise has so many moving pieces, enough characters that there could be a trading card game (and there are literally collectible cards), so many different magical artifacts and magical powers, an entire magical old world beneath the semi-magical 1820s Europe world to develop, and also by the way a whole story that took place 10,000 years ago that has to be told at some point. I find myself feeling like all these different elements are being introduced and moved on from too fast and I wish they were all given more time to breathe. I think that’s part of why the relationship between Will and James feels a bit rushed to me. I don’t know if the short length of the series was Pacat’s choice or an editor’s, though. I don’t feel like Captive Prince had this issue because there were no supernatural elements, the cast was much smaller, and the plot was comparably simple so a lot of it got to be characters just talking to each other, which was great, and the world building was accomplished mainly through these interactions. The plot and world of Dark Rise is much larger in scope but the page count is the same (a little longer maybe).

So wait who is Mrs. Duval

Why did Ettore leave the Stewards anyway? Other than the obvious, which is that they suck

Where was Grace during the whole ending scene? Wasn’t she there but just not saying anything. As this total calamity befalls her only remaining friend group she finally has seen too much and just nopes out and is busy making tea in the corner or maybe popcorn

I do really like Cyprian btw in spite of thinking his moral code is shitty. Gave Violet a chance but sold Will for one corn chip… I see how it is (okay that’s not fair but you know what I mean, he has flaws)

It sounds like I’m in the majority when I say that I still don’t like Devon - I saw that theory about him being the final big bad and I’m so on that train. I think he’d make a good enough final villain. I agree there is something predatory about him and Tom. I don’t necessarily think Pacat wants us to root for them as a couple, though. There were better ways to pull that off if that was the intent.

Not to repeat myself but Phillip was such a pleasant surprise. Like who is this fruit and how did he get here

So next book, I hope (assume) we get to see the rest of the old world story filled in so we can understand where it all went wrong for Sarcean and also the exact nature of his relationship with Anharion because so far it’s been quite vague (intentionally I assume). Like….. you know….. did he agree to put on the collar?

The tricky thing about this series is that once the reader learns that Will is the Dark King, it’s hard to maintain any sort of external tension. Right? It’s hard to feel afraid of the forces of the Dark when the protagonist has total effortless control over them just by virtue of who he is. Will can literally just be like, “No, don’t” and everything’s fine. He did just this at the end of Dark Rise. I find the way Dark Heir seems to end with their “only hope of stopping the Dark army” destroyed to be pretty unconvincing. Why on earth would Sarcean create a destructible object that is the only way of controlling his own army? Of course Will should be able to control them with his will alone. If he can control Shadow Kings and make them die with his words alone, why didn’t he try yelling at the shadow army to stop trying to possess people? This doesn’t make sense to me. And if people become Returners through his magic, shouldn’t he be able to exert some control over their existence the way he does with the branded? Pacat has done a good enough job at getting us to know Sarcean (an extremely good job btw) so as to make the destroyed brand plot point unbelievable. Anyway…

Instead, the tension in Dark Heir is almost entirely internal or realized in character relationships rather than physical threats. The tension is between Will and himself, and between Will and his friends. (There are tensions between other characters but focusing on the main plot here.) The possibility that they might find out and abandon him, and the possibility that he might actually be as nasty of a guy as Sarcean was, the slim chance that he might learn something that makes him go, “You know what, I agree with my past self after all.”

Now that everyone has found out who he is, that particular source of tension has sort of evaporated, so now in book 3 Pacat has to find a way to make Will’s conflict with himself and his friends compelling enough to carry us through 450 pages (I don’t expect this will be difficult). What I see as the problems now are 1) what was Sarcean actually planning and how did he plan on getting Will (himself) to fall in line with them (this was a question in Dark Heir as well but now it’s bigger), 2) how is Will going to destroy his own (Sarcean’s) Dark artifacts so he can free James, and 3) Can he convince anyone to ever love him (oh no ouch).

If I had to rank these books at this stage I’d probably give Rise a 3.7 ish…. and Heir a 4.2. I’m holding out for Dark King to be a 5 or close. (I don’t know what the actual title will be, I’m just guessing lol.) I definitely think Dark Heir is an improvement over Dark Rise since I always thought the most interesting part of the latter by far was everything that happened once Will learns he is the Dark King at the very end.

“Are we going to talk about the magic pseudo-sex scene—“ No and I hope we never will

[stealeroflemons]

eah plot hole fixer thing #27 because I'm stressed as hell and need a distraction

Okay so we've all been wondering how the hell the whole inheritance of destiny and kingdom management and nitty gritty details about certain elements of eah work. Well today I'm gonna dive in a little.

1.) How did the Evil Queen curse Sleeping Beuty to sleep for 100 years and steal Madame Thorn's destiny when all their kids are the same age?

Here's my little fix-it theory. If you know anything about fae lore then you know there's a general rule not to step into faerie circles (made of mushrooms or flowers but most commonly mushrooms) because you will lose all sense of time and become a slave to the fae or become a blood bag to them. (at least that's one of the more common interpretations)

I think the Evil Queen is far older than we realize. I think she's hundreds of years old but has used magic to keep herself young. I also think destiny is more fluid than we realize and that being the next evil queen is dependent on if you have the heart for it.

Thirsting for power and glory, the Evil Queen stepped into a faerie ring not to become a blood bag, but to learn the secrets of the dark fae. Since time works differently in the fae realm, she managed to stay young enough to walk back into the mortal world with vast amounts of new knowledge.

Wanting to prove she had a dark enough heart to earn the title of Evil Queen, she stole the destiny of Madame Thorn, Faybelle's mom.

Then to escape Madame Thorn's wrath of a lost destiny, she hid in a different pocket of the fae realm

Seeing that she got a taste for cursing princesses to eternal sleep, she emerged in time to go to school to pick Snow White as her next target.

2.) How does ruling kingdoms work if destinies run on different timelines?

I think there's a reason why many characters in the eah canon universe have siblings that don't have concrete destinies.

Take Briar for example. Even if she were to sleep for 100 years after being cursed by Faybelle, she canonically has eight younger brothers who could rule the kingdom and produce heirs to rule while she slept through her 100 year timeline until she could take her place ont he throne with her supposed true love

Historically also, kingdoms rise and fall all the time. If Ashlynn is supposed to live in poverty and be abused by her step mother and step sisters, it would make sense if her kingdom fell or was conquered and that is what drove her family to poverty. Then if she marries say a random Charming (which is canon that there are multiple unrelated Charming families) who isn't bound by a destiny, she is following the story of marrying a handsome prince. Then, once they're married, that is the next Cinderella kingdom.

3.) What about the stories where they aren't supposed to grow up as royalty?

Think back to Briar again. In the more popular version of Sleeping Beauty, Aurora doesn't know she's a princess. all she knows is that she's been raised by faeries her whole life until she turned sixteen. She knows nothing of the curse she's placed under.

I believe that when many of the elder generations reach adulthood, they don't feel the need to take precautions for their children. They believe that their children must grow up knowing their fates so that when the time comes, it'll go down smoother.

4.) What's with the names?

"why would Apple be named Apple-" because Snow White is a narcissist. She has a fantastic life where she's famous, adored, rich, beautiful, and virtually untouchable. How did she get this life? Because she bit a fucking poisoned apple. She's naming her daughter after the very thing that acted as a gateway to her happiness. It's like when guys name their daughters after their ex-girlfriends because "if we didn't break up I wouldn't have the life I do now", that shit

Same with the Charmings! They all name their kids after admirable attributes because they want people to admire them. It's a word association. Like when girls are named Grace or Aria or literally any flower with an aesthetically pleasing name.

These are just a few of my own little fix-its and theories and shit. You don't have to agree with them or think they're correct, but ultimately, we're looking at the logistics of a kids show guys, I promise you not even the creators were looking this deep into it lol

[moonshine999]

Aegon and Gold 

Side note : this is a very mixed up “analysis” that sort of combines both show elements as well as some popular fan theories/assumptions since we barely had time with the character (may I remind you all, to possible infuriation, that we never saw Sunfyre up close). So yeah <3

So I do think it is said quite a lot that Aegon would wear gold to honour Sunfyre and what not and I do believe he would happily do that, it’s just he can’t.

Okay so first let’s just get straight what gold can mean for him. 

Yes of course, it’s the colour of his most beloved dragon. They aren’t strongest dragon - rider bond in all of Targaryen history for nothing. Sunfyre was able to kill dragons much larger than him, defended Aegon in crisis and would not go down without a fight even when he was on the brink of death. Looking at the larger picture I think Sunfyre represents a sort of freedom for Aegon. To fly anywhere he’d like, on his own terms, never to be found and be freed from these shackles of duty that he (initially) does not want. Sunfyre also symbolises him finally having bonded with someone. His father acted as though he didn’t exist ; his mother was too young and pressurised to shape him into a worthy heir (and taking whatever means it takes to do so). His dragon is his very first true bond, him claiming the dragon alone is proof enough that he is a worthy Targaryen (in his head) 

Other than Sunfyre however, gold is also the colour of the first dress we see (a grown up) Helaena in. His lady wife and younger sister. Now going off the show alone, sadly we do not have any scenes of them together but in context and background clues alone (Helaena laughing at his taunts at Jace, Aegon getting jealous when she accepts Jace’s offer, Helaena looking at him with pity/worry when he is crowned - knowing what this means for both of them and so on) I do not think that their marriage is a utter disaster (as some fans suggest). Gold is the first impression of his wife, the mother of their three children. Who do you think he had the courage to vent his heart to when he got too drunk in their shared rooms? Who do you think he constantly sends gifts to, as an apology for not being around? Who do you think Alicent brings up first when the Dyana situation happens? (“think of the shame on your wife..on me”). I do believe that Helaena is some source of happiness for him. It may have taken years to develop a strong bond ,as he did with his dragon, with her but they are there. After three kids and six kingdoms to manage, I think it is fair to assume that they get along fairly well.

Now obviously there is a lot more to Helaena and Aegon’s marriage than “getting along fairly well” but for the convenience of the post and the topic at hand, I have had to make it somewhat more concise. 

So Gold is definitely a positive colour for him. But one thing that is not gold is the very symbol of his title, claim and rule. His crown.

The crown of the conqueror is black with the red ruby in the middle. I’ve also heard some people call it a dark silver (which would be the direct contrast to gold). So while gold represents his freedom and happiness, silver (the direct contrast) or black (the title colour representing the opposing faction) represent the cage of duty he has to put himself in for his and his family’s safety. During the coronation itself, he does not wear dark green (as he did earlier) or gold (even though he may prefer it) but rather black to represent this in a way. 

In comparison, the crown worn by Rhaenyra (the key figure of team black) is gold. And I think arguably Rhaenyra (even as a Royal woman in Westerosi society) has more freedom than Aegon.

Also the gold crown of The Old King was also worn by Viserys. I do not think that in Aegon’s perspective, his father was a source of happiness in any way. But what could have been, was his crown. Gold and the symbol of King Jaehaerys I, someone who had a long, relatively peaceful reign over Westeros. Since the idea that he was to inherit the throne was put in his head so early, he must have thought about it quite a bit. He did not want it of course but if it had to be done then perhaps, he would have desired a reign like the Old King’s. (Not to mention, he and Helaena named their first borns after Jaehaerys.)

A few comparisons to my Alicent “analysis” : 

So similar to Alicent leaving her childhood memories with Rhaenyra behind when she became queen (abandoning the colour blue), Aegon also leaves his freedom behind when he becomes king (not wearing gold or green but black)

Both her eldest children and now king and queen (Aegon and Helaena) are following her patterns and reaching their breaking points and have had a shift in their wardrobe to symbolise as such.

[tiredsunrisesmeta]

Cyprian and Ettore are the Descendants of the Sun King

I recently read a theory on the Dark Rise subreddit about the Sun King possibly having a Reborn or Descendants (here), and it got me thinking about who the descendants could be. The first person to come to mind is Cyprian because, out of all the main characters, his parentage and origins remain the most mysterious. I then combined this with the theory that Ettore is Cyprian's father, written by @clotpolesonly (here). The conclusion: Ettore and Cyprian are the line of the Sun King. I think this for several reasons. Here is my reasoning:

The Fourth King that refused to drink from the Cup, and the Sun King are the same person. This is because both are described as having fled. Both their whereabouts and the fate of their lines remain unknown as of Dark Heir.

Cyprian's initial refusal to drink from the Cup in Dark Rise mirrors the Fourth King's refusal to drink from the Cup.

The Stewards are said to be waiting for a King to return in their darkest hour. Marcus writes in his journal that the Stewards must call on the King. This is probably the Fourth King/Sun King.

It's interesting that Marcus writes that the Stewards must find the King, then the Eldar Steward leaves a message for Will and Co. to find Ettore in Italy where the Sun Kingdom was/is.

The last detail is one that is the most shaky but the one I'm the most excited about. Ettore's last name is Fasciale. This is an Italian word that translates to "facial" which means "of or affecting the face." The deeper meaning for this has eluded me until now (I think?! Lol). His surname relates to the face because the Sun King covers his face with a mask!!

All of this adds up to Ettore and Cyprian being descendants of the Sun King!

[basedcomments]

Time for some theorising about the Collar

"Take me. Use me. Do it.", The Collar is calling out to Will but is using the pronoun 'me', and once James gets put in the Collar he gets Anharion's memories back. Seems to me a piece of Anharion is inside the Collar, which could also be why James is so compelled to wear it because part of his soul is calling out to him wanting to be full again.

So also a mini theory is that Anharion made the Collar for Sarcean/or they both made it together, idk why the reason I think this is because the collar while being red with the rubies is also gold, and in 'Dark Heir' Will is thinking of how Sarcean dressed Anharion up in red unlike how he was dressed in gold in the Sun Kingdom. So my brain is kinda going gold (Anharion) + rubies (Sarcean) = Collar. And James seemed to get a power boost from the Collar so maybe that is from either his soul becoming whole or Sarcean putting energy into the Collar for Anharion.

Sidenote: I forgot that Sarcean didn't saw off Anharion's head, I kept thinking it was him and clearly he must of been at least kind of malicious to have chopped off his lovers head to remove the Collar. I think Sarcean had no intention of having a reborn Anharion (James) wear the Collar (although Will does keep having those weird intrusive thoughts that sound like Sarcean speaking to him, but maybe it's just Will's own intrusive thoughts of what he perceives his past self to have been like. Or maybe Anharion and Sarcean just have a dom/sub kink, I'm not here to shame them if they do.)

The thing that always makes me majorly like 'nope, get atta here' about the Collar is how much James absolutely didn't want it to be on him. Like yeah sure whenever it's exposed James feels drawn to it, but even then he's pretty frightened of it. And maybe that's just because he doesn't know how it was made/what it actually does, but I'm not gonna be cool with the Collars existence until the third book comes out and it's proven that James is actually chill about the Collar being on him.

I think in the third book James's personality is gonna be a mix of his usual sassy self and also Anharion's devoted loyal self. And going off how the 'Captive Prince Trilogy' went, I think Will and James aren't gonna immediately clear up the Collar situation, I think after we wait however many years for the next book, it'd be kinda a cop out to immediately have James be like 'nah it's cool the Collar works different to how you think' and have Will believe him.

Maybe book 3 will start with the memories also and then can go to that revelation, I just can't imagine it getting resolved immediately is my point anyway, we need a few chapters of ambiguousness first.

I do think it'd be kinda funny tho if for part of the book James is like "my king, I'm not being controlled I swear, let's go make out" and Will is like "I bet that's just the Collar talking 😭 I'm such a despicable man"

Okay, okay kinda long rambly post over, I hope some of it made sense

[pterodactylterrace]

Oi Oi, it’s your girl sliding in with another crackpot theory! Today, I’m here to ramble on about Maegor!

As I mentioned in a previous post Maegor was likely conceived through the use of magic.

“Even those who loved her best found Visenya stern, serious, and unforgiving; some said that she played with poisons and dabbled in dark sorceries.”

“Visenya childless and perhaps barren.”

“All such speculation ended in 11 AC, when Queen Visenya suddenly announced that she was carrying the king’s child.”

So at 40, after more than a decade of marriage, Visenya ‘suddenly’ falls pregnant. Only after her sister dies in Dorne and the heir (Aenys) refusing to eat and regressing to crawling. I believe Visenya was just fine not having a child of her own, but with Aenys taking the death of his mother so hard, there was a chance he may not recover. The king was being pressured to take another wife, so Visenya did what she had to do.

Somewhat noteworthy that she boasted she would birth a son. Only somewhat because in reality, she had a 50/50 of being right. Still worth mentioning because she doesn’t seem the type to boast about something unless she knew it to be true, though. If she conceived through magic, she may have specifically conceived a son to ensure the line wouldn’t end if Aenys did not recover.

Knowing what we know of Aenys, that would make Maegor the last true born Targaryen.

It is noted that he killed a cat first thing when his mother gave him a sword, but keep in mind, this was written after the fact.

Maegor’s first wife was ten years his senior. He, like his mother, brags that he made a son the day after his wedding. Unlike his mother, this proved to be false.

In fact, years went by, and she never became pregnant. Perhaps because she was older than him (though still very much in her fertile prime, mind you) she was thought of to be the problem. I challenge that, however. I believe Maegor was the one with the issue, but not ‘worms in his privy parts’ or however they put it. Rather, I theorize that Aegon was infertile, and Aenys was a bastard from one of Rhaenys’s paramours. If Visenya managed to conceive Aegon’s child through magic, then it would make sense for any child born of that union to also be sterile.

Maegor was a badass though. He defeated 3 members of the kingsguard in back to back tilts in a tourney. He was knighted at 16. The youngest knight in the seven kingdoms. He is what you would expect of a Targaryen.

What he wasn’t, however, was as a dragon rider. Lady Alyssa (his sister in law) teased him about it one day, asking if he was afraid of dragons. Maegor coolly replies that only one dragon is worthy of him. He has some beef with her. Every child she has, pushes him further down the succession. And she just called him out in open court. That was an awfully tame response from someone who would later be known as “The Cruel”.

He later retrieves his father’s sword from his funeral pyre. When his brother is crowned, Aenys pulls him to his feet when he kneels, tells him he need never kneel to him again, and gives him back Blackfyre. Which means after Maegor retrieved it from his father’s funeral pyre, he gave it to his brother.

When the Eryie had problems with a Kinslaying usurper, Maegor was sent to deal with it. We can see how he feels about Kinslaying and usurpation when he doesn’t spare anyone involved in the revolt.

He is noted to have his mother’s disposition. Stern, strict, unyielding. Yet, not yet described as cruel.

When Maegor takes another wife, thinking his to be barren, Aenys denounces the marriage and calls his new wife a whore. Awful big words for the son of a second wife, but ok. Also, uncalled for. Multiple wives was a Valaryian tradition, and all this girl did was get married. Alyssa openly mocked Maegor in court and he just said only one dragon was worthy of him. Maegor gets married and suddenly the woman is a whore. For… getting married… That makes absolutely no sense to me. Normally a woman wanting to be married is seen as virtuous.

Maegor points out that their dad had two wives, and he had done nothing wrong. Aenys demands he put aside his wife or face exile. Pretty harsh for not doing anything wrong or even out of the ordinary for Targaryen men.

I fully believe Visenya poisoned Aenys at this point. He died slow of tummy troubles that would get better for a while, then come right back. Like an hour after he died, Visenya was going to fetch Maegor from exile. Maegor just came and grabbed the conquerer’s crown for his coronation. The succession had no precedent to follow. Some believed it should go to Aenys’s eldest son. Some to Maegor. There was no clear heir, and Maegor took the crown. It belongs to the man with the strength to seize it.

Then he went to squash an uprising in Kings Landing. This is where his head injury occurs. They didn’t think he would recover. Tyanna of the Tower arrived and THE NEXT DAY he awoke.

The first thing he did when he woke up was get on Balerion and kill his nephew and his dragon. That doesn’t track at all to me. He slew everyone involved in the Eyrie uprising for Kinslaying, and he is suddenly cool with it?

Something doesn’t add up. Every cruel deed followed his recovery.

Good folks of Tumblr, I submit to you this theory:

Maegor the Cruel was not cruel, but had severe brain damage.

We also see that when all his children are born deformed, that Tyanna admits to having a hand in it. She also tells him that his unborn child will also not survive.

Perhaps because the magic she used made him unable to sire a viable child? We don’t know what magic she used, but she used some sort of magic to heal Maegor, and he never had any children before then, and all born after were deformed. She also knew that his unborn child would be the same. Did she know that because she had already gotten to the mother and done something to her, or because she knew Maegor was unable to have viable children?

Tyanna tricked him into killing Alys Harroway. The deformed child was likely his, considering all children aired by him are similarly monstrous. It was just a ‘happy’ accident that of all her paramours, Maegor was the winner. OR all eighteen men that confessed did so under duress (torture) and you can’t really take what they say as truth. They would do anything to make it stop.

He had his nephew tortured to death. He killed everyone involved in building the red keep. He slaughters people in droves, but the question still remains:

Was Maegor always cruel, or did the blow that almost killed him alter his personality completely?

[min3tta]

penelope gives birth

- a small group is gathered around penelope (eurycliea and other midwives)

- penelope lays on a wooden daybed, propped up with pillows

- a warm, damp cloth is laid over her abdomen, scented with olive and rosehip oil

- beads of sweat appear on her upper lip, neck, and forehead, so eurycliea ties penelope’s long, dark hair into a braid

- “breathe, my queen” a midwife instructs her, “like this” and gives her a pattern to follow to hopefully regulate her body movements

- another midwife massages her hand on penelope’s belly, (in theory) helping to push the infant out

- “lady penelope, it is time to push!”

- penelope feels a wave of pressure over her, then a sharp pain

- she lets out an uncontrolled wail

- “oh! my gods! hear me! give me the strength to bring this child into the world! oh lady demeter! lady hera! give me your blessings!”

- eurycliea tightly holds her hand and acts as her physical comfort, as ancient greek custom forbids the husband to be in the room while the wife gives birth

- the two midwives kneel at the foot of the daybed, constantly checking on penelope’s progress, ready and waiting with a swaddling cloth and shears

- meanwhile, in the palace courtyard, odysseus kneels to the ground, praying begging to the gods for security over his wife and unborn child

- “o demeter, goddess of new births, hear my prayer. give my wife strength and comfort to produce an heir and loving child. lady athena, i pray that you give our child courage and wisdom throughout their days. lord zeus, god of gods, bless our growing family that the kingdom of ithaca would grow with it. mighty eros, ensure penelope and i’s love and trust would only deepen as our family grows deep roots into this blessed island and kingdom—“

- eurycliea finally interrupts him after hours of him nervously waiting

- “my king, there is someone you should meet”

- odysseus makes his way to penelope’s chambers, and sees penelope out of breath, lying in a pool of blood and assumes the worst

- “my love?” he manages to choke out

- penelope gives him a weak smile and glances at the other end of the room, where their newborn son is swaddled in white linen, quietly sleeping in the arms of his wet nurse

- odysseus silently cries, overjoyed that he is now a father

- he kneels before penelope, who still lies in her day bed, exhausted

- “i am so proud of you, my sweet penelope. what a beautiful mother you will be, and what a beautiful wife you are”

- he brushes her hair stuck to her face from sweat, and gives her a tender kiss on the lips

- she leans in closer, deepening their passion

- “what an amazing father you will be, my odysseus. i love you so much”

- “i have waited for this day for so long, my dear. i prayed that this moment would come to fruition”

- “the gods are on our side, odysseus”

- odysseus nods and gives her another kiss and squeeze of the hand

- “rest, my queen. i will see you in the morning. i love you and our son more than anything”

- “telemachus” penelope says

- “hm?”

- “that is our son. telemachus. there is no battle here”

- odysseus grins. “then it shall be so. as long as you and i are together, as long and telemachus is with us, there shall be peace”

[sp3ctacles400]

I have so many thoughts after Dark Heir so here’s my yap session about it

some people, or groups of people, have been doing considerably more lying than some other groups of people.

Like there’s a difference between withholding the truth and lying to generations of children, repeatedly.

We’ve already determined that the side of the Light has been using the evil dark magic to their own benefit for thousands of years while also condemning it, and fully kicking out one of their own because of said dark magic. but also it’s heavily implied that the white death thing is one of those dark magic things yet Visander has returned because of that very magic??? I’m not saying Sacean wasn’t evil, cuz he obviously was. I am however reminding everyone that history is written by the victor because CLEARLY there’s some bullshit in the buttermilk.

Also i don’t think the Collar is as all powerful as we’ve been led to believe because like, purely for entertainment purposes it’s doesn’t make sense.

This might be a stretch also but I do not believe Sacean made the color PURELY based on its color scheme. Like yes my back DOES hurt from the reach i’m currently making but throughout all of this we can see that his colors lean more towards black (potentially purple based on the covers) and typically cooler colors. And the Collar is gold and red, which are both warm colors and (in my personal belief) would line up more with whatever the sun kingdom probably had going on. Now, you could absolutely argue that he made it those colors for Anharion, since gold can be associated with him. but I bring you this, Anharion was clearly loyal to Sacean wayyyyy before the collar was even a thing. So why in the world would he need to spend time and energy (in the midst of a war) making a fucking loyalty collar? Tbh i think someone else made it, but Sacean somehow took control of it and thus took control of Anharion.

Uhhh take all of that with multiple handfuls of salt because i have NOT gotten enough sleep and this is probably a dumpster fire of half baked theories.