#the maiden in the tower

[death-of-cats]

A Game of Thrones, Sansa VI

A Dance With Dragons, Theon I

Sansa and Jeyne, Jeyne and Sansa, their experiences mirroring each other. Two maidens locked in their towers, choosing life instead of death.

[adarkrainbow]

I just noticed that the common list of fairytales for "Rapunzel's evolution" is actually incomplete.

If you searched a bit about this story, you will know that it goes like this: the "Rapunzel" fairytale type is, of course, best known through the titular "Rapunzel" story told by the brothers Grimm, in the 19th century. When looking for a previous occurence of the fairytale, people usually brought forward its Italian equivalent in the Pentamerone: Basile's "Petrosinella" (Parsley), early 17th century. And recently, people have added a third story in-between the two, from the late 17th century, the French "Persinette" from mademoiselle de La Force "Les Contes des Contes", because it has been proven that the Grimm's story was influenced by a German translation/adaptation of the French fairytale, that the Grimms mistook for a genuine German story.

This list, Petrosinella-Persinette-Rapunzel is indeed, correct, as it reflects the "three big eras" of fairytales in Europe, and it presents three pretty direct variations of a same story... However the list is incomplete. Because they forgot about madame d'Aulnoy.

While yes, mademoiselle de La Force's story IS the one that directly influenced the Grimms' Rapunzel, mademoiselle de La Force stayed a somehow "secondary" author of fairy tales in France, who never had the lasting impact or fame of authors like Charles Perrault... or madame d'Aulnoy. The Perrault d'Aulnoy duo was still going very strongly by the 19th century (see the Sleeping Beauty ballet). And did madame d'Aulnoy write a Rapunzel variation? Well yes she did!

(I should say a "Maiden in the Tower" variation, because talking of a "Rapunzel variation" is an anachronism, but you know...)

In fact, d'Aulnoy's "Rapunzel" is one of her most famous stories: The White Cat. Everybody focuses on the first part of the fairytale, which is one of the most famous rendition of "The Animal Bride" fairytale type (402), but the entire second part of the story is a "Maiden in the Tower" tale with echoes to Rapunzel. A princess sold when she is born because her mother wanted to eat the fruits of an orchard belonging to fairies... The girl being raised in a doorless tower by an old, malevolent fairy she calls "Mommy"... A prince behaving as a hopeless suitor at the bottom of her tower... But with its own unique variations typical of a d'Aulnoy tale. No long hair: the fairy "mother" goes through the window on a dragon's back, and the girl must escape by secretely building a rope-ladder. The prince and the princess speak using a parrot messenger (heck, her parrot and dog pet somehow manage to perform the wedding ceremony between her and the prince in secret?). The fairies send a venomous dragon to destroy everything in the king's realm when he refuses to give up his newborn daughter ; the princess in the tower must avoid a horrible wedding to a dwarf magician with eagle's claws for feet, no bones in his legs and birds' nests in his beard...

So don't forget madame d'Aulnoy. She did Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, even sort-of variations of Sleeping Beauty, and she also did a Rapunzel!

[koalamuffin01]

Made For You - Chapter 2

Chapter Summary: Astarion finds himself on a beach after the crash of the nautiloid. To his surprise, the sun doesn’t burn him. He wants to revel in the joy of his new freedom, but it won’t last. He must get back to Cazador. Several plans start forming when he sees a female elf heading his way.

Ratings: Eventually, full story - E - Explicit (only suitable for adults) Chapter 2- T - Teen and Up

Warnings: Chapter 1: Canon BG3 Typical Violence, Act I Spoilers Full Story: Violence, Abuse, PTSD, Nightmares, Astarion’s Backstory, Cazador, Terrible Parenting, Force Marriage, Assault, Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Sex, Eventual Smut, BG3 Spoilers, Probably More (Will Update With Each Chapter)

Word Count: 1,660

A/N: Astarion POV (eeee!) Let me know if I just totally got his voice wrong. Much love <3

The Maiden In The Tower

Astarion was trapped, again. This time wasn’t in a dusty tomb or a coffin; he even had a little window to see out of, perfect for him to watch the world pass him by.

His mind felt fuzzy, and his limbs weren’t listening to what he was telling them to do. He remember the ship, the mind flayer, and devilish worm thing inserted into his eye, but then nothing. He must have blacked out, and he didn’t know how much time had passed.

Every so often the world would shift and then right itself as if someone was giving it a shove. He saw two figures run past the pod-thingy he was trapped in. One appeared to be a githyanki and the other an elf. He tried to scream, tried to will his arms to bang on his encasement, but his voice and body refused to listen.

Another shove to world, this time hard. Good thing he wasn’t currently standing. He felt like vomiting, probably would have if there was anything in his deprived stomach. Another shove, even harder, and then the world went black.

Astarion felt warm. A warmth had wrapped him in itself like a blanket, bringing a comfort and peace he hadn’t felt for - he didn’t know how long. And then it all came crashing back.

His eyes shot open, the first thing he noticed was a bright blue sky, a bright blue sky with a bright warm sun shining down on him. He tried to scramble away, tried to look for somewhere to hide. His mind raced, panic overtook him. Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods. There was no where to run, no where to hide. He was going to burn to death. He closed his eyes and accepted the inevitable…but it never came.

He slowly opened his eyes again. He…he wasn’t burning. How was this possible? His body should be cinders by now. Instead…instead he felt fine - felt knocked about, confused, and his ever present hunger, but relatively fine. What in all the hells?

Astarion burst into a full chested laugh. Had his horribly ill fated luck finely turned? Could this be a side effect of that monstrous thing implanted in his brain? He closed his eyes and smiled up at his once enemy and just basked in the moment.

Well, hello, darling.

And then the fear set back in. Cazador. He would punish Astarion for being gone this long. It wouldn’t matter that Astarion was taken by the ship against his will; it wouldn’t matter that Astarion had no idea where he was, let alone how to get back to the Gate. Cazador would punish him and punish him severely.

He had to get back, and he had to get back fast. Off in the distance, Astarion saw two people approaching. One of them appeared to be the elf that he saw on the ship, but she wasn’t with the githyanki. No, she seemed to be with a half-elf. Anger fueled him. Astarion needed to know who she was, why they’d taken him, what they put in his brain, and how he could control it.

The elf and half-elf were approaching but were stopped by an attack of brain monster things. They handled themselves well enough; the elf even healed them after. It gave Astarion a delicious idea. He’s played damsel in distress plenty of times throughout the centuries. And once they have their guard down? Well, his dagger would do nicely.

As the two women got closer, Astarion could see the elf didn’t look half bad. She was very clearly a high elf from a family of good standing. Maybe she would fancy herself a knight?

He looked around and decided the bush next to him would do well enough. Crouching, he started to call for help.

“Hurry, I’ve got one of those brain things cornered.” He gestured to the bush. “There, in the grass. You can kill it, can't you? Like you killed the others.”

The elf drew closer while the half-elf stayed back. This would be almost too easy. “There, can you see it?” A wild boar dashed out of the grass nearby. How had he missed that? Oh well. He drew his dagger across her neck and brought her to the ground.

“Shh. Not a sound. Not if you want to keep that darling neck of yours.” He remembered the half-elf. “And you - keep your distance. No need for this to get messy,” trying to keep control over both women.

“I need her alive - stow that blade or I'll show you just how messy things can get.”

The one in his arms’ heart was beating wildly. He could smell her blood and was positioned right near her neck. It took every ounce of willpower to try and not sink his teeth in her.

“Promises, promises. But I have other business, I'm afraid. Now, I saw you on the ship, didn't I? Nod.” He said to the elf. She nodded. “Splendid. And now you’re going to tell me exactly what you and those tentacled freaks did to me.”

“You’ve got it all wrong-” she tried to plead.

“Don't lie to mel I-agh.” A shooting pain overtook his head and he felt something wriggling inside his brain connecting his mind to that of the elf’s.

The eyes he saw through were not his own. He was running through streets that he himself knew as ones in the upper city of Baldur’s Gate, but whoever’s mind he was in did not. They didn’t know where they were going, they didn’t have a plan, all they knew was they had to get away. Get away fast and as far as they could. He was afraid and exhilarated all at once. I did it, I did it and I will be free.

Then a large boom came from the sky. A mindlfayer ship appeared. It looked like the one that took him (Or, do they all look like that?). Then an all new type of fear overtook him. He continued running but even harder this time. Trying not to look back. Heart beating out of his chest. What in the hells is that?! The thoughts were not his own but mimicked the same ones he himself felt when they took him.

He looked over his shoulder, just to see how close they were, and saw a giant tentacle come down from the ship heading straight towards him. Oh gods!

Then the pain subsided and he was back on the beach, back with the elf between his arms, looking just as scared and confused as he felt.

“What was that? What's going on?”

“It's the mind flayer's worm - it connected us.” She said, her voice shaking.

He slowly released her, and she rolled away in order to stand and face him. “You're not one of them. They took you, just the same as me.” He was seeing through her eyes when their brains connected.

The elf nodded and looked up at him with the biggest eyes he thought she could muster. Curios, one green, one blue. How did I not notice that before? “And to think I was ready to decorate the ground with your innards. Apologies.” He stood up straight, put the dagger away, and then flashed her a charming smile.

Okay, new plan. If she didn’t take him, maybe she could help him find a way to control the worms inside their heads. Then he could bring her with him back to Baldur’s Gate for his master. Surely Cazador wouldn’t punish him too severely if he brought him back something as pretty as this one.

She stayed silent so he pressed on. “Please, allow me to introduce myself. My name’s Astarion. I was in Baldur's Gate, when those beasts snatched me.”

“I’m Tav, and this is Shadowheart,” she gestured to the half-elf beside her, “we were both on the ship when it crashed. Well, actually, we were kind of the ones who made it crash.” She said with a small smile. Interesting. She might be tougher than she looks.

“My, my, you've been busy.” He put both of his arms on his lower back and leaned slightly towards her. Let her think I could be a friend, a confidant. “So do you know anything about these worms?”

“Yes. Unfortunately, they'll turn us into mind flayers.”

His arms and face fell. “Turn us into - ha. Hahaha!” Astarion looked away and started cackling because of course. Of course he was an idiot to believe his rotten luck would just magically get better. Of course he would never be free. “Of course it’ll turn me into a monster. What else did I expect.” What appeared to be a gift would turn into his doom, just like the last time. “Although it hasn't happened yet.” He turned to the elf. “If we can find an expert - someone that can control these things - there might still be time.”

“Control it? We need to get rid of it.”

“Well yes, of course. But first things first.”

He wasn’t really paying much attention to her. He was more focused on trying to come up with a plan on how to turn this whole thing to his benefit.

“You should travel with me. Our odds are better together. We’re going to look for a healer.”

What? Oh, this was going to be much easier than he expected. It was like she was asking to be a victim, better his than someone else’s. “You know, I was ready to go this alone, but maybe sticking with the herd isn't such a bad idea. And you seem like a useful person to know. All right, I accept. Lead on.” He did a little bow.

He could make this work. Let her play the hero, but he’d make sure he was the one that reaped all the rewards. This is going to be easy. And maybe even a little fun.

[sainct]

my fave girls

[galadriels-silmarillion]

Elrond is and I'm sure of it, very beautiful and handsome. That's it. No big explanation, we just know. He is luthien beautiful. I'm standing with that. I'm sure he got some compliments in his time.

[etheral-moon]

I'm sorry but I'm going to chose Clock tower as much as I love it

[unexpectedbrickattack]

panel from a comic i am NOT going to finish u.u

Bonus close up of Peppino (bc i love how he came out heehee) and a face from another scrapped panel ^^

[illustratus]

Constantinople - a view across the Bosphorus towards Leander's Tower by night

by Carlo Bossoli

[fadingstudentbananacookie]

Monstrous sons and their mothers who started a war in their name.

Visenya Targaryen and baby Maegor / @orlaite2, House of the Dragon, The Girl with No Shadow / Joanne Harris, Dune Part Two / Denis Villeneuve

[turkeyblogblr]

Maiden's Tower, Istanbul, Turkey: The Maiden's Tower, also known as Leander's Tower since the Byzantine period, is a tower on a small islet at the southern entrance of the Bosphorus strait, 200 m from the coast of Üsküdar in Istanbul, Turkey. The tower appeared on the reverse of the Turkish 10 lira banknote from 1966 to 1981. Wikipedia

[crimson-nail]

i drew this before meryl actually kicked him and it was so funny

[vinlynce]

many tiny doodles for the poll

[demigodofhoolemere]

I’ve been seeing this float around on Facebook lately and it’s bugging the crud out of me:

What is with everyone’s obsession with insisting it’s bad to need to be rescued? For as long as the human race has been on the planet, people have had problems that they needed other people’s help to resolve. Needing help is not a failing nor should it be the takeaway from these princesses’ stories as if it’s a bad thing that makes them weak. Yes, they do need help. Your point?

Snow White and Aurora were both under a curse that rendered each of them effectively dead. Were they supposed to magically wake themselves up? I’d want to be rescued if I were them. Plus, breaking it down to “she needed a prince” belittles the efforts of the Seven Dwarfs and the Three Good Fairies, who did most of the legwork in the resolution of their respective movie plots out of deep platonic love for the girls under their care. Then there’s Cinderella, who lived in an abusive household. It’s not a weakness that she wasn’t able to get out of that situation on her own, and once again, giving all the credit to the prince (and credit where credit is due, he did search far and wide for her and was able to take her away from that life in the end) detracts from the aid provided by the Fairy Godmother who enabled her to get out in the first place. All of these ladies had more helpers than just their princes, and it is because of the combined love and efforts of all of these people that our heroines were able to have their happy endings. There are plenty of great stories where the heroine is able to fight for herself, but these particular stories aren’t about that because these ladies are each in terrible circumstances where they simply don’t have the ability to do so. They do what they can, but in the end they can’t save themselves alone and there’s nothing wrong with that. These are beautiful stories about having people in your life that value you enough to fight for you when you can’t fight for yourself. Wouldn’t we all want someone to come to our rescue when there’s nothing we can do about our situation? Is it not a good and comforting moral to show that there are people in your corner who will show up for you no matter what the circumstances?

The other thing that’s bugging me about this:

Leia has to be rescued. By a man, and at that, one who could technically be seen as a prince. No one bats an eye at this, because it’s understood that she’s being held prisoner on the Death Star and couldn’t possibly be expected to get out of that on her own. It’s not seen as a weakness that someone had to come for her and take her away from there. Leia is awesome and is rightfully acknowledged as a great heroine, but she also needs help sometimes, because everybody does.

So WHY do people get so hung up on these princesses who also shouldn’t be expected to get out of their own prison cells of eternal sleep or abusive family by themselves? Why the strong negative reaction to girls needing outside help in such serious scenarios? For all that people say these stories teach girls to sit and wait for a man to save them, the stories themselves absolutely never try to say that, and frankly, with the opposite trend in recent years of fictional women who have to do everything on their own and can’t be shown to need help because they have to be the Strong Female Character, I’d be far more concerned about the impact that would have on girls. Far better to say you might need help at some point in your life than to instill the idea that you’re not a strong girl or not good enough if you can’t do everything by yourself.

Anyway. Justice for the classic Disney princesses.

[satoshi-mochida]

Some games that are currently stuck on older consoles that I hope get rereleased in some way, Part 5:

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7

Pandora's Tower

The Last Story

Unchained Blades

Deadpool(putting this here as a technicality since it got removed from digital platforms for licensing reasons)

Liberation Maiden

Jeanne d'Arc

Drakengard series

Shadow of Destiny(Shadow of Memories)

Ray Gigant

Michigan: Report from Hell

The older Deception Series games

Disaster Report Series before 4

Breath of Fire Series

Xblaze 1 and 2

Blinx 1 and 2

Pokemon Conquest

Higurashi Daybreak(hopefully a newer version would preferably based on Higurashi Daybreak Portable Mega Edition, maybe add even more characters to it)

Whiplash

Godhand

Under the Skin

Scaler

Dragon Quest IX

Namco x Capcom

Project X Zone 1 and 2

Time and Eternity(I know it's kind of divisive, but I liked it's style. Battles in Ray Gigant have a similar look, though not the same feel.)

Mega Man X Command Mission

Yakuza: Dead Souls

Yakuza: Kenzan

Albert Odyssey

Twilight Syndrome series/Moonlight Syndrome

[mermaidfromhell]

In honor of the selfcest debate on twt have some self loving yuris from games I like

+ a white bg version

[dr3adlady]

Excerpt from my fic "Wolfswood"; Sandor climbs a tower to meet Sansa in her room [Sansa pov]

His grey Stark cloak was dancing in the wind like a proud banner. He looked up at her and rasped lowly, “Hush, girl, you want to rouse the whole castle?!”

“You might just fall!”

“I won’t. You go inside and wait if you can’t bear to look.”

She couldn’t. She climbed off the window and paced the room, her heart beating madly. She was worried sick, but strangely, there was still a certain appeal to what he was doing for her. It was like a song and thinking about it made her blood run faster. When he finally stepped into the room and closed the window, she rushed to his side.