#the way they are literally setting canon rhaenicent up……

[forgotmysword]

Sorry to all the girlies mad about the possibility of alicent going to oldtown instead of dragonstone in the finale but im here for the long haul. I want alicent exhausting every last option before going to rhaenyra. I want her as desperate as possible, begging for forgiveness after fully coming to terms with her life and her sacrifices truly being all for nothing. The day her life ended was the day otto had her go comfort viserys. Her and rhaenyra being torn apart was where it all went wrong. But maybe her youngest son, who she didn’t raise, who wasn’t poisoned by her or life in king’s landing, could be the one who saves her.

But he won’t be.

Bc in the end, even in chains, it will be rhaenyra who sets alicent free. It was always going to be rhaenyra.

[umalvie]

out of curiosity, what would it mean to you for fiction to replicate the maizula dynamic? like what features are most salient?

the heart of their relationship i think is replicable to an extent in that it's this sort of rotted love where you have known each other so long and so well that you couldn't not love each other but you have known each other so long and so well that you couldn't not hate each other as well. so that integral piece is absolutely something we can find in other relationship dynamics. like the rich girl/weird friend dynamic absolutely exists.

the sibling love triangle aspect with maiko's existence is also a hugely important and compelling aspect of maizula! this is techniaclly replicable in theory in terms of you can absolutely do love triangles where two members are related, but also it's so hard to duplicate the maizula-maiko triangle because mai is supposed to love zuko, and you can interpret her as actually loving him, and he feels like he's supposed to love her too, but they don't work fundamentally because he doesn't want to understand the worst parts of her, doesn't even want to admit that they exist, and she is so horribly caught up in azula who makes her feel so alive by acknowledging and knowing and seeing all these parts of her and bringing them out even more that she could say she chooses zuko because it's the right thing to do in terms of both heteronormativity and what choosing zuko represents, but i don't think realistically mai can actually turn away from azula and everything she's ever known and hated and loved and wanted to leave her alone and not known how to live without. not without regrets.

i think it's also so hard to replicate the way that their individual characters are and come together in the ship as a whole. like azula being a prodigious princess with such an insane relationship with gender and having such a tragic domestic origin and mai being a noblegirl who is so sullen and depressed and dead inside and has such an awful domestic life as well and who has to obey azula's orders but also absolutely doesn't do that because the power dynamic of their relationship is so complex by complete accident that while azula is higher ranking than mai socially and financially and in the military sense, mai absolutely has more power on an interpersonal level. that's something that you see a lot in lesser degrees in media with toxic female friendships sure, but never to the extent that one of the parties can literally have the other executed if she wants to, but she chooses not to do so even when she imprisons her former friend.

i wrote a mini essay on this here, but the way in which they play with the rich girl/weird friend dynamic is also INSANE on a level i have yet to see anyone else touch really except maybe rhaenicent.

speaking of other posts i've made abt their dynamic being so fascinating, this one about the "i love zuko more than i fear you" line vs what atla's show canon actually demonstrates is something i think is vital to understanding what makes them so insane. and i do think it's unique, if only because of what the narrative wants to tell you vs what it actually shows you.

also, one of the most important things which i touched a little on earlier is just... the politics of atla as a setting for their relationship. that makes it 10x more compelling that azula is this tragic figure who is on the completely wrong side of history, a child soldier who fights for imperialism and racism and xenophobia because she has been indoctrinated and abused and made into a weapon, and mai is someone who fought alongside with her until it inconvenienced her to do so, then switched sides in the name of love without ever actually analyzing or critiquing her own beliefs about what her country was doing. mai chooses the good and moral side by choosing zuko (who also doesn't actually reflect internally and... gets to kind of just keep doing a friendlier imperialism when we look at the comics and lok, but that's another topic), but does she actually want that? does she actually believe in that? has she actually let azula go? the comics can try to whitewash her morality more by pretending she cares abt tom-tom and she's totally reformed, but the show doesn't actually support that, and with no material in-between to show us mai's redemption beyond her betraying azula, not because she cares abt what's good and right but because she cares abt zuko, we as an audience have no real reason to believe that.

so yeah, maizula is endlessly fascinating to me, and i wish a ship would be more interesting than them

[sbrn10]

Things that, without fail, are so specifically MY SHIT and I lose my entire mind when encountering them: ways (primarily metaphor) in which characters talk about their feelings without actually talking about their feelings. (Bonus points if said metaphor is incomprehensible to anyone and everyone else, but not a requisite.)

Exhibit A: "Where is duty? Where is sacrifice? It's trampled under your pretty foot again." aka that one time Alicent actually said what she meant and even then managed not to say what it was really about at all.

Which is to say, every day I think of some of the following passages and internally scream. (Yes, this is a rhaenicent fic recs post, just because. Yes, I am quoting things, although I AM trying not to spoil too much.)

blood in your mouth (I wish it was mine) by dontaskmedude

“Is that all?” Alicent whispers, despising herself immediately for the way it breaks through the serenity coloring Rhaenyra’s features. “What did you want, a happy ending?” Rhaenyra mutters, face scrunching in reply, in a look that Alicent might describe as self-conscious if she didn't know the princess better. “I told you I wasn’t any good at telling these stupid stories.”

Literally 5k of a dog and a wolf never being able to speak to each other in a way that will translate, written beautifully.

ride the dragon (do it quickly) by molter

Before she can school herself, before she even knows she’s saying it, sorrowful and hopeless—“Let fucking go of me.” But Rhaenyra doesn’t pull away. Strangely. Doesn’t barb. Instead, her hand remains right where it is around Alicent’s waist, her chin over Alicent’s shoulder, just as it was. “Alright,” she soothes, softly. “Just a little while longer.” Her thumb rubs along her spine, a little. (Alicent believes she means the flight; decides it, really.)

Yes, yes, they do talk eventually and I'm glad they do, but the first half is exactly, exactly my shit. Also, if they were ever going to work things out in canon, it probably really would have been this (i.e., shipping them both OUT of King's Landing, my fucking god).

love is complicated by molter

“There were these—these shoes, she bought.” Laena frowns; watches. Alicent doesn’t look back. “So beautiful she wouldn’t wear them.” She’d waited, for a moment. “Alicent, I don’t know what that means.”

Modern AU where Alicent is an actress and Rhaenyra is rich (yes, that's her job) and best friends take their time finding love, etc., etc. It's delightful in many ways, but I am quoting this line specifically because *points wildly at the intro paragraph*.

what is it good for? by bluebaric

“I never wanted a wife,” Rhaenyra continues, heedless. “I know you didn’t either. This marriage is unasked for, by both parties, and incredibly uncommon in many ways.” “Yes…” says Alicent, cautious. “I want you to know that I will make no attempts to control you as a husband might. And I hope that you might extend me the same courtesy.” Alicent can’t begin to decipher the implications of that first sentence; she’s too caught up in the absurdity of the second. “I would never dream of trying to control you, Captain,” Alicent says, in complete honesty. And though yet again she has agreed with Rhaenyra, answered in as appropriate a way she can imagine, the Captain still seems disappointed.

Okay. Look. Arranged marriage AU set in roughly Edwardian era Westeros where Viserys is the PM and Otto is a governor of the Reach and they bicker about whether the Vale ought to have more railroads built or not, while also shoving Rhaenyra and Alicent into an arranged marriage because Reasons? The premise alone is genius, but the execution is also amazing, chef's kiss.

thine is the queendom by liadrell

“Who was there to prepare me? I had no one, not even a friend,” Alicent snapped, taking a perverse pleasure in the guilt that flashed across Rhaenyra’s face. “I would not wish that on anyone, even you.” “Even me,” Rhaenyra repeated. “There it is again, your hatred. What did I do, Alicent?” What did you do? Alicent wanted to scream, wanted to tear her skin to ribbons. What did I do? It was you who abandoned me first.

We had three mostly happy things, and we are now back to mostly sad. I wanted to quote something from near the end, but felt it would have been too spoilery for the fic in general. Anyway, the author's notes: "alicent has never once communicated properly and that's the real reason those dragons are dancing" YES, EXACTLY. EXACTLY!!!

And finally, the exception that proves the rule, one in which everything is laid bare utterly and brutally, spoken aloud only once speaking has no power to change anything, least of all the ending -- aka the one I read only once before today, because it hurt too much, except it was updated literally today when I wasn't expecting it and. Well. Sorry, this is canon to me now, the show can do whatever it wants (also it's really depressing af because everything that happens from now on is depressing af so, you know. fair warning):

someone to watch me die by dontaskmedude

“The city fell within a morning.” When Rhaenyra finally spoke, it was with a softness, a delicacy. “Not much of a fight.” Rheanyra’s voice fell melodic on Alicent’s ears. She had not lost that tone — almost tender, almost fragile, if not for the solid sureness that always sang just underneath — in her voice even after all these years. Somehow, that made it all worse. This was not the voice of a vengeful god, of a vindictive usurper. It was just Rhaenyra.  “My children-” Alicent choked the words out, her throat tight and dry with disuse. “Are traitors to the realm.” Rhaenyra cut her off, lip curling slightly around the words as she bit them out. “They will meet the fates they deserve.”

[galpalpetraral]

[20 Question Fic Writer Tag]

(tagged by @darlingpoppet)

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 17 currently, but I'm a serial deleter and I always wanna keep it under 20. would be like. 69 by now otherwise

2. What is your AO3 word count? 217,645...and see above LOL I shudder to imagine what it would be if I wasn't always deleting

3. What fandoms do you write for? mostly cql and asoiaf in recent years. tho I also have a zelda wip I've been kicking around for a while...we'll see if that ever amounts to anything :') and I'll still keep a few snk fics up, being mighty fond of those days

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? tuck the darkness in (wx shrinking haunted house fic), sunday night lights (eruri football au), friendly fields (wx ghost baby fic), fourth one will prob be deleted soon so it doesn't count lol, and where they grow (madam lan lives au).

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? yep every time! at most it'll take me a month to respond but I never let it go beyond that. even the negative ones (I'm a Pro-Crit Fanfic Guy sorry)

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? the ending to our shadow over the sea (rhaenicent fic) has garnered many delightful threats upon my person and I cherish them all. that and two slow dancers (eruri vampire au): FIGHT!

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? most of my other fics tbqh ugh :( maybe set me as a seal (eruri reincarnation au) just bc happy endings for the ruris are rare wah...

8. Do you get hate on fics? idk if I would call it hate, but criticism yes! most common word I hear along that line is "boring" which is definitely understandable lol, there are times when I reread my own works and find them too generic/not rly offering anything new, in which case I take that forward with me into new works to try to enrich them. although I guess if by "hate" you mean like, troll type hate on pairings & things, then yeah who doesn't LOL

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? yep, and more so in recent years! and it's the kind of smut that's way too sappy no matter the situation no matter the tone UGH :(

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? snk/asoiaf crossover for my yumihisu rights...idk if it counts as a crossover since it's just snk characters in the asoiaf world, but I did go Very heavy on the asoiaf lore lol whoops

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? yeah lol multiple but I kinda forgot until this was asked, can't bring myself to care unfortch, peace be with you

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? yes!! southern cross translated into chinese by gloria_77, set me as a seal translated into chinese by applethief326, and sunday night lights translated into russian by ackermantihora! and I know there's still several translations of deleted fics out there heh. I so appreciate the hard work of you amazing translators!!

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before? not since I was a kid doing it for giggles with friends, but definitely a lot of fun :)

14. What's your all-time favourite ship? eruri literally life-changing, so. and korrasami

15. What's a WIP you'd like to finish but doubt you ever will? oh man there was this one hannibal wip I had back in the day that like, the themes and imagery and stuff would've been so legit but I needed someone smarter than me to write it :( it was about will & hannibal taking sanctuary in that one silician cathedral while besieged by police. kinda weaving back and forth between past and present, contemplating God and gods and stuff. someone write this please. also there's this one cql post-canon fic but it's all about accepting death and the curse of immortality and stuff and it's kind of a bummer to write LOL maybe will keep chipping away at it one day

16. What are your writing strengths? seems like I'm good at getting across my goal themes & purposes - ppl seem to pick up what I'm putting down often and it makes me happy! because I do tend to err on the side of vagueness & trusting the audience, and it's nice when it's rewarded :)

17. What are your writing weaknesses? like mentioned before, my fics have been called boring & I think that has a lot to do with some generic imagery/syntax I've relied on - definitely something I've tried to improve on but it's a work in progress! like I've sometimes sacrificed diction for story flow ya know, it doesn't work on shrewder readers and I def respect that & want to do better

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? if you know what you're doing, cool! but I've come across too many instances in fics where the author demonstrated a lack of basic understanding of the language & not only does it throw you out but it feels disrespectful - I know ppl get all "it's just fanfic I'm not being paid!!1!!!!11" but if you're going to work within a culture that's not your own, research. not exactly sure if that's what the question is asking LOL but that's been my experience both as a reader and a writer

19. First fandom you wrote for? legend of zelda!! I wrote a billion words of ocarina of time pre-canon fic about the three goddesses at age 10 on a beat-up floppy disc. those were the days man

20. Favourite fic you've ever written? man something happened with southern cross that I've never been able to truly replicate...looking back there's a few too many extra words, few too many instances of passive voice, but for the most part I'm just like damn dude...what was she cooking

if you're a writer and you haven't been tagged yet I tag YOU!!!