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whetstonefires · 4 years ago

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atla flashfic that got over 1k so it gets a readmore!

Pu-On woke up in the middle of the night to a cloaked, masked figure with a naked blade.

"Oh spirits," he squeaked, after a second spent realizing that it wasn't a cast member trying to be funny, and pulled the bedclothes up under his chin like that would help. "I-I'll--" He wasn't sure whether threatening to scream or offering not to was more likely to work out.

"Pu-On Tim?" the figure asked, in a hushed voice that made it hard to tell anything about it except that it wasn't a bass-baritone and it was probably from around Caldera City, or trying to sound that way, which a lot of people did. "Staff scriptmaster with the Ember Island Players? Writer of the play 'The Boy In The Iceburg?'"

"Y...yes?" He hoped that was the right answer. Trying to lie about it didn't seem wise, considering they'd already found his bedroom.

"We're here on behalf of the Fire Lord."

The 'we' made Pu-On take his eyes off the figure at his bedside and realize there was another masked, cloaked figure lurking behind them. Oh, spirits.

"Listen, he wasn't written like that in the previous draft!" he blurted. "I know what you probably heard about the performance version, but that was just a matter of political exigency! I have nothing against Fire Lord Zuko!”

This was a slight exaggeration.

Zuko had figured in the earliest stage of the script as a quixotic, mildly absurd sympathetic figure, only to have to be rewritten with a character arc leading him toward betrayal after the great Tragedy of the North, and then rewritten again as the main hero of the piece, after he redeemed himself at Ba Sing Se.

Then not two weeks from opening night, on the Day of Black Sun, he'd turned on his father and joined forces with the Avatar, and Pu-On had had to hurriedly dig through his old drafts to restore less flattering dialogue, to spare himself having to fully rewrite all Zuko's scenes again. Shun had barely slept for three days getting the rewritten part down. Pu-On had begun to feel personally martyred by Prince Zuko of the ever-changing allegiances.

He might have made him a little more ridiculous than he’d had to, out of aggravation, but mostly in hopes of managing to get a watchable play in the end. A work focusing so much on enemies of the state had had to be the broadest of comedy to begin with, and making the brooding Zuko character fit into that on short notice hadn’t been easy.

And then Sozin's Comet had come, and they had a new Fire Lord.

He'd be lying if he said the possibility of reprisal hadn't crossed his mind, but the new Fire Lord had by and large shown considerable restraint about actions performed under his father's regime, even when he didn't like them. On the other hand, none of that had been personal.

"It was just a matter of political exigency," he wheedled the two masked agents in his bedroom. "The Fire Lord knows his father's laws, whatever I write has always had to conform with national policy."

"Lord Zuko knows," said the agent standing further back. "We're just here to ask you a few questions."

It was more than a few. The questions started on the subect of his loyalties and political opinions, quick darting things trading off quickly from one interrogator to the next, clearly designed to push him past the usual mealy platitudes and into sincerity. Pu-On has always been careful not to have too many sincere political opinions, since they tend to seep into your work and that's how you get dragged off to the coal and sulfur mines, but they wring a surprising amount out of him.

Then without his quite catching the instant of transition they were asking him about the research he did for 'The Boy In The Iceburg,' the various sources he listed as part of the script and how he tracked them down and what he did to get accounts from them, as well as which of a long list of inaccuracies in his script were intentional rhetorical devices and which the result of bad or no information on his part.

Toph the Earthbender's height and gender were bad information he recognized as such by comparison to other sources and used anyway; the mechanism behind her blindsight was pure supposition based on a text about bats. The agents were taking notes now. He found himself flattered, even though he knew this was unwise of him.

Pu-On had always been enthusiastic about his research process. He would have liked to go to university in his youth, if it were achievable for someone from his station of life, and he'd cribbed what academic tricks he could to bolster the story-collecting he'd started as a child haunting wineshops with a notebook of his own.

So he almost forgot to be frightened at some point in this stage of the discussion, sitting fully upright in bed with the bedclothes pooled into his lap and gesticulating for emphasis. “Prince Zuko’s hair!” he said. “Oh, that was a dramatic saga in the version that had to be scrapped last, the information I’d put together on his movements after the Siege of the North showed he was growing it out for the first time since he was thirteen, after obviously cutting his phoenix tail to go into hiding. The…well, anyway, we had to make all new wigs for the actual performances.”

He remembered himself suddenly, clutching the edge of the blanket again. “I didn’t mean any harm,” he added. “Please, tell the Fire Lord…would he like another rewrite? I’d be happy to—” He wouldn’t, he tore that play apart and cobbled it back together again so many times he’d prefer never to look at it again in his life.

In a few years he might go back over his notes and write something entirely new, but he was going to wait for the dust to settle first. Fire Lord Zuko had disrupted his work with dramatic upheavals enough times already. If only current events weren’t so irresistibly exciting; history was so much more accommodating.

(Although even history was currently being heavily rewritten. School curricula were among the many things the new Fire Lord was overturning.)

“Maybe he would,” said the agent in the middle of the room. “You can ask him yourself.”

“I can?”

The agent beside his bed nodded, stuck their knife into what must be a hidden sheath at their hip (note: find out how that’s done, the effects crew would love a new technique for fake stabbings) and reached up to take their mask off.

Revealing a round-faced girl with grey eyes, currently grinning widely at him. “Hi! I’m Ty Lee, and you’re invited to join His Majesty’s intelligence service!”

#hoc est meum #atla #pu-on tim #i have so many questions about this character #when i realized how hurriedly he must have had to have rewritten his play to keep up with zuko #i forgave him the bad writing a bit #but the fact remains his info-gathering skills are incredible #and his plot decisions as reflection of government policy #are intriguing #ty lee #that may or may not be mai behind her #depending on whether you think the fire-lady-to-be doing field work #is improbable or not #she and iroh are totally splitting oversight of zuko's spies tho #iroh's probably transferring her his entire network #to make up for how many of ozai's people are too fucked up to keep on staff #seriously cleaning house in that administration must be a task and three quarters #politics #censorship #fire nation #fascism #recovering from fascism #my writing #fanfic

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storylinecaroline · 4 years ago

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Queen’s Thief Appreciation Week 2020

Day 4: Short Story Day – “Wineshop” is my favorite short story! (though I haven’t ever gotten my hands on the eddis one) Love the reveal, the symbolism, and the Teleus/Relius friendship moment :)

#qtappreciationweek #the queen's thief #the queens thief #eugenides #attolis #wineshop #king of attolia #megan whalen turner #my art tag

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throwaninkpot · 4 years ago

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My reread won't actually be a full one, bc I can read "Eddis" in the back of aKoA, and "Thief!" is up on MWT's website. But I lost my pdf of the short story where they drop the Gift into the Sacred Mountain, and I don't have the new editions of the books, so I can't read "Wineshop" of "Knife Dance". :(

#inky rereads qt

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fuckyeahqueensthief · 4 years ago

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Hi. Do you know where I can find the short stories?

I feel like I’ve gotten this question before but for the life of me I can’t find it.

There are six in total, and the editions they are found in as follows:

Thief! - printed in a Disney magazine and can be viewed here on MWT’s website

Knife Dance - printed in the 2017 edition (aka the new minimalist covers) in QoA

Wineshop - printed in the 2017 edition of KoA

Eddis - printed in the paperback edition of KoA (aka the covers most everyone has, this one shows Gen from the side with Irene’s hand on his shoulder)

Destruction - printed in the paperback edition of ACoK (same edition as prior one)

Envoy - printed as the epilogue of TaT

There’s also this page here that lists the names of the short stories and the editions they can be found in, as well as a short synopsis of what happens in them, if you want a page to bookmark:

https://eugenides.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Short_Stories

As far as I know, they aren’t sold separately or offered online otherwise. But if anyone has any other helpful information, feel free to reply!!!

#avithefandommaster #asks #the queen's thief #queen’s thief #the queen’s thief #queen's thief #book: knife dance #book: wine shop #book: destruction #book: thief!#book: envoy #book: eddis #megan whalen turner

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whiskynottea · 7 years ago

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We’ll rise up - Chapter 10 - We’ll find a way.

Previously Chapter 9

This story starts here and you can find the master list with all chapters here!

Jamie heard the church bells spread their sweet heavy chimes thrice.

One more hour.

There would probably be no chimes in the air in the years to come. The corruption of the church and the higher clergy wealth were more than obvious and most obnoxious to the people. Jamie didn’t mind about the Catholicism in France. He was raised a Catholic but the ministry of the church in France was now far from being holy. The clergy were becoming the First Estate of the realm and this had nothing to do with the word of God. The church was the largest landowner of the country and making a tremendous income from the outrageous taxes given from its tenants -- tenants that didn’t have enough to feed themselves and their families. Jamie had heard that it was a plan of the Revolution to abolish the privileges of the First and Second Estate. When done, the church would finally lose its power on people’s lives. They would be free of its rein and maybe the clergy found their way back to God.

But the pealing of the bells was a thing on its own. Jamie liked the bells. They provided stability and normality, a reference point during the day. Their sound filled the air as if it was solid, filling each and every empty space in the atmosphere with purity and hope. Hearing them was a gift of peace and he always had that strange feeling that they were ringing just for him. Following him around during the day, they were always there, invisible but strong and filled his heart with an inexplicable optimism.

That sound would soon to be no more and even though it would be a pity to lose their beautiful chimes, the joy of losing their master’s effect in human lives was making him anticipate that day with all his heart.

For now, the bells were aiding his counting of the hours passing; the hours separating him from Claire.

He’d been eager to leave the wineshop since morning and he’d already asked Murtagh – as nonchalantly as possible – if he knew where Master Raymond’s apothecary was. The man gave him one of his usual frowns but answered nonetheless. Before he could make inquiries of his own, Jamie engaged a client in conversation all the while planning his escape. If Murtagh was right, he would need less than fifteen minutes to reach the apothecary from the wineshop. He would start earlier than this, though. He didn’t want to be late and have Claire wait for him.

A little after half-past three he made to collect his coat and leave.

“Where d’ ye think ye go lad?” Murtagh asked, seeing Jamie from the corner of his eye. So much for avoiding him all day.

“I thought I could take a break, a goistidh. I’m working since dawn, aye?” Jamie replied with an innocent look.

“Ye’re working since two hours past down, lad. If ye recall I couldna wake ye up this morning. And from the moment ye’re on yer feet ye didna stop smiling and whistling, ye wee gomerel.”

“Aye, ‘tis that a crime then?” Jamie asked, grinning even now.

“’Tis no crime but I canna say ‘tis good and well either. Jamie lad. What d’ye have in mind?”

“Nothing.” Jamie shrugged and attempted to change the subject “Are we expecting another batch of red wine today?”

Murtagh replied with a nebulous “Mmmphmm”, totally ignoring Jamie’s attempt for a fresh conversation. “Ye met wi’ Annalise yesterday? Is she the reason for yer...” Murtagh gestured at his face with a frown.

“Annalise?” Jamie couldn’t hide his surprise. When he realized that he had actually seen Annalise the day before, he nodded. “Aye, we met.”.

“Ye’re in love wi’ the lass then?” Murtagh was frowning, his black eyebrows almost connected.

Jamie couldn’t but only laugh at that. “I dinna give a fig about the lass Murtagh – in a personal manner that is.” He looked Murtagh in the eye and continued somberly. “She’s alright, I s’pose. But ye know that I am seeing her as… a matter of business.”

“Aye, business ye say and business is what I knew. Till yesterday, that is. But now wi’ ye smiling like the cheetie that got the cream…”

“Well, her skin is like cream,” Jamie whispered too low for Murtagh to hear. “I have to go man, dinna fash, aye?” he said louder, facing a worried Murtagh. He was still grinning when he headed to the door.

“We’ll talk when ye come back, d’ ye hear me lad?” he heard Murtagh’s determined voice from the back of the shop.

“Aye, we’ll do!” he answered with a huge smile in his face.

Jamie ascended the numerous stairs leading to Master Raymond’s apothecary by two or even three at a time. His pulse was pounding in his temples and he had to stop and compose himself before entering the shop. He didn’t know who this Master Raymond was, but it seemed that Claire trusted him and Jamie wanted to make a good impression on the man.

The little bell above the carved wooden door rang and Jamie stopped in his tracks, trying to adjust in the apothecary’s darkness. Little bottles labeled with nice calligraphic letters were sitting on shelves all around him, clean and orderly, and a life-size crocodile was hanging from the ceiling.

Well, that was eccentric, at least.

A huge wooden counter divided the shop into two parts and Jamie saw a young woman behind it, watching him.

“Puis-je vous aider??” she asked with a kind voice.

“I’m looking for…” Jamie trailed off. Whom should he ask for? Claire? Raymond?

A small door opened at the back of the shop and a short, stout man walked towards him. He was well dressed and wore a wig, and smiled with friendly eyes while approaching. Jamie thought that he was as close to a frog as any human could ever look like, but tried to diminish such reflections from his mind.

“Bonjour monsieur,” the frog – no, not frog – the man greeted with a small nod of his head.

“Bonjour. Ye must be Master Raymond?” Jamie smiled back at him.

“Indeed I am. And judging from your accent you must be James, no?”

Jamie nodded grinning. Claire had talked to this man about him!

“So how may I help you James? Is there something specific that you need?”

Quite specific, Jamie thought. And what an exceptional choice of a verb. Need. That was true enough; he needed to see Claire as much as he needed water to sustain him alive.

A light cough brought his thoughts back to the apothecary. Master Raymond was smiling at him with a knowing look in his eyes that made Jamie blush. Shaking his head he whispered, “ah, l’amour,” and with a slight move of his eyebrows, he asked Jamie to follow him to the back of the shop.

Master Raymond opened the same door he’d used to enter the main apothecary space and a second room was revealed to Jamie. The door frame was a bit small and he had to duck as he came through it. The moment he entered the room his eyebrows shot so high, they almost touched his hairline. And Jamie had a big brow, to be sure.

Skulls and bones were all around him, placed in immaculate clean dark wooden shelves, looking at him with black holes instead of eyes. He instantly remembered the crocodile in the other room and decided that the amicable frog-like apothecary had a macabre side as well; or a queer sense of humour. The fossils belonged to various animals and the fact that -- at least -- none of them seemed human made Jamie feel a bit better. Tiny similar skulls were standing one next to the other while huge skulls from animals Jamie had only seen as pictures in books were in spots reserved to highlight their superiority. Everything was placed with such care, giving the sense that the owner valued each of the exhibits as a treasure. Absentmindedly, Jamie stood by the door and stared around the room.

A light touch on his palm made him turn his eyes, only to be captured from the most alluring panther-like eyes looking back at him. His heart missed a bit and then he sighed with relief.

Claire, safe, with him and her amber eyes looking into his.

Jamie smiled and instinctively raised his free hand to tuck a stray curl behind Claire’s ear.

“Hello,” he whispered and his fingers lingered a bit on her jawline, feeling her smooth creamy skin. How right Murtagh was, even without knowing a thing!

With her lips in a smile, she responded with the most beautiful “hello” he’d ever heard.

“I’m leaving you two now, but please behave!” Master Raymond said with a laugh while heading to the door.

Claire gave him a look and his smile grew bigger. “Just remember, mon chéri, you don’t have much time.”

“I know, Raymond.” Claire nodded gravely. “I know.”

With her hand still engulfed in Jamie’s she led him to a bench at the far side of the room.

“Interesting meeting point, Sassenach,” Jamie stated, looking around.

Claire laughed. “Master Raymond is not your common apothecary, to be sure.”

“What are all these, Claire? How come he possesses such things?”

“Oh, these are his pride and joy, or so he says. He will be delighted if you ask him about any of these fossils but he never talks about where and how he found them.”

“He’s a strange fellow. D’ ye know him well, lass?”

“Yes Jamie, he might be different but I can reassure you that he is never going to hurt us,”

Us. She couldn’t give him a greater gift. Every time Claire talked about them as one, the blood in his veins started dancing. With both his hands enveloping hers he accepted her reassurance. “How are you, Claire? Fergus? How are things in Saint Antoine?” he asked in one breath.

Claire laughed and squeezed his hand. “As you left them, yesternight.” Taking a stern look, she continued. “You shouldn’t come, Jamie. You should never come again.”

“I couldna but come, Claire, ye dinna understand? How could I sleep knowing ye might be in danger?”

“Coming in Saint Antoine puts yourself in danger Jamie,” she scolded.

“Not at night!”

“What if someone saw you αnd asked me about you today? What could I possibly say to explain things?”

“Ye could say I was sick,” he retorted with a smirk.

“Jamie! You surely understand this isn’t the point!” Claire said, rolling her eyes.

“Aye, I do. I had to see ye and I came and I don’t regret it a bit.” He stopped, feeling all his confidence leaving him in an instant. “Did ye regret it, Claire?”

Maybe that’s why she didn’t want him back again.

Claire ran her fingers on his cheekbones lightly before closing the distance between them. When her hand reached the nape of his neck she pulled him to her lips and kissed him, softly and tenderly, to persuade him of her opinion.

Their kiss was long, but not enough. It seemed it was never enough.

With lips parted, hands tightly intertwined and chests heaving, they stared each other for some minutes without saying anything. Between them, it seemed that words weren’t enough either.

But they had to talk. To finish what they’d started in the park and find out what their next step was going to be.

“Who was the man in the park, Claire?” Jamie asked in a low voice.

“What did he tell you after I left?” Claire asked troubled.

“Nothing. He just looked at me, as if he sorted me in a category in his head, nodded and left with an ‘Excusez moi, monsieur’. Who is he?” Jamie insisted.

Claire took a breath and replied with tight lips while gazing at the floor. “Randall. Frank Randall. He’s a historian. He was a colleague of my uncle”.

“And?” Jamie encouraged her to continue.

“And he wanted to marry me,” she said, raising her head not to miss his reaction.

Jamie swallowed hard, trying to speak calmly and not show the pain that ran through his chest. “Are ye promised to him Sassenach?”

To his relief, her eyes became big as saucers. “No! Of course not! I’d never accepted him and he has no right on me!”

“Maybe ye didn’t, but yer uncle… Ye said they were colleagues.”

“Lamb would never do that. He told him to ask me and when he did, I refused. But he insisted. He couldn’t let it go. He would come again and again, trying to convince me of my grave mistake. I think he took it personally. It wasn’t about me anymore, it was about rejecting him. I had to leave everything behind and move to Saint Antoine for him to lose track of me completely. And it’d been nine years since I last saw him.”

Jamie said nothing but kept nodding, his brow furrowed in thought.

“Jamie, I thought he wouldn’t recognize me yesterday. We had to leave and he lingered there… I didn’t have a choice.”

“I ken that, Sassenach. We were unlucky yesterday. D’ ye think that he’ll search for ye, now that he knows ye’re in Paris, still?”

“I don’t know, Jamie. But he surely can’t come at Saint Antoine!”

“No, he canna. But he could send someone, no?”

“I guess so,” Claire said and Jamie felt the urge to take her in his arms and never let her be a step away from him. But that was still impossible.

Thinking how he could keep her safe, he came to his last resort, the least preferable but the only plausible option. “Ye have to be careful from now on, Sassenach. Be alert. If someone follows ye, ye have to stay close at home and always keep a company there around ye.”

Claire, with a sorrowful expression in her face, sighed. “Hiding again,” she murmured.

“There is no other way,” Jamie replied stroking her hand reassuringly. “I wish I could just take ye with me, mo mighean donn,” he resumed with a rueful smile. “But this will make everything more complicated and maybe it’ll be easier for him to find ye that way.”

She nodded without a word.

“I’ll keep ye safe, Claire. I promise. We’ll find a way out of this.” With two fingers under her chin, Jamie tilting her face to bring her lips closer and kissed her, burying his desperation and putting all his encouragement in his kiss.

“And who will keep you safe?” she asked after the kiss, in higher spirits now.

“Your kiss, Sassenach.”

“Oh, a warrior and a poet! What am I to do with you, James Fraser?” Claire was smiling, lightening all the dark space around her.

Marry me.

He’d almost said it. There, amidst the skulls and the bones of long-dead animals, he’d almost asked her to marry him.

Not now ye clotheid. It’s not the time yet.

Instead, he opened his arms and engulfed her in a hug, with her cheek touching his chest and their hearts beating as one.

“Jamie?” she asked and raised her head to look at him again. “What have you done with the Comte? Did you manage to learn anything?”

“Nothing yet. I hope I’ll learn something in the promenade the day after tomorrow.”

“I was just thinking that if I remember correctly he had a châteaux in Maine. Maybe you could check if he went there.”

“Aye, that’s great information Sassenach. Thank ye, I’ll see to it. I dinna ken how long he’s going to last in Maine, though. People there took arms and support the revolution, ye ken,” he smiled, satisfied with the spreading of the revolution.

Claire smiled. “Glad I could help, Jamie.” She then added, with concern in her eyes, ”Are you going to the promenade alone?”

Now how d’ye answer this one?

“No,” Jamie replied feeling uncomfortable. “I will accompany Annalise, Claire, but –”

“It’s alright, Jamie, I know. I just wanted to know”. Her reply was firm and her lips pressed tightly together.

“I wish I didna have to do this,” he confessed, with slumped shoulders.

“I know,” Claire repeated, with a sad smile. With a sigh, she brushed her hair from her face. “We have to go. You stayed much too long in here for a wine salesman.”

Jamie snorted. “Are we meeting again tomorrow, here?”

“I don’t know Jamie. Maybe not tomorrow – if someone saw us today we’ll be making it way too easy for him. Maybe wait for a while?”

She’d better told him that he’d had to carry all the wine barrels from the warehouse to the shop for the rest of the year by himself. But she was right.

“Where is the wineshop?” she asked with a flash in her eyes.

Jamie looked at her, bewildered. “Claire, ye canna come to the wineshop, ye surely know that.”

“I can’t. But I know someone who can!” she winked at him and when his frown didn’t leave his brow, she explained. “Cl-“ she shook her head. “Fergus!”

Jamie smiled and took her in his arms again, telling her the location of the shop. “Tell him to ask for me or Murtagh, aye?”

“Aye,” she mocked him.

“Making fun of me, lass?” Jamie asked and with a hand on her waist pulled her closer to him.

“I most certainly am!”

“Well then, ye’ll have to pay for that!” He kissed her fiercely, first with mirth and then with passion, until they had no more breath.

“I’ll wait for Fergus, Sassenach. And I’ll think of ye.” Jamie took two steps backwards and bowed to her before turning to leave.

He kept his eyes on her as long as possible, to commit her in his memory -- with red lips and rosy cheeks, smiling at him.

Chapter 11

#we'll rise up #outlander fanfic #jamie x claire #french revolution #Historical fanfiction #18th century #outlander fanfiction

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ferocity-flynt · 4 years ago

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Don't worry i got u

edit: woops heres a nicer format

anyone mayhap have a pdf of destruction, the short story from the queen’s thief novels? my copy of conspiracy of kings doesn’t have it :/

#queen's thief

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dracaworld · 7 years ago

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It seems that the new “it” thing is to shit on Dany with a claim that Martin compared her story to the Iraq war, which is a complete fabrication. Here are the quotes straight from the horses mouth.

Ah, and btw Mareen first appeared in ASOS which was published in 1999, four years before the Iraq war.

I borrowed this from Oadara, hope you don’t mind. http://oadara.tumblr.com/post/160663404011/what-do-you-think-about-grrm-equating-daenerys-and

Also, it seems that the bullshit claim that the wine sellers daughters were little girls is still going around.

Here are the quotes from the books and no description is ever made of them as little girls. I don’t approve of torture but it something common in that world, even Jon engages in it.

Daenerys II ADWD:

Dany knew their tidings were bad before a word was spoken. One glance at the Shavepate’s ugly face sufficed to tell her that.

“The Sons of the Harpy?” Skahaz nodded. His mouth was grim. “How many dead?” Reznak wrung his hands.

“N-nine, Magnificence. Foul work it was, and wicked. A dreadful night, dreadful.” Nine.

The word was a dagger in her heart. Every night the shadow war was waged anew beneath the stepped pyramids of Meereen. Every morn the sun rose upon fresh corpses, with harpies drawn in blood on the bricks beside them. Any freedman who became too prosperous or too outspoken was marked for death. Nine in one night, though …

That frightened her.

“Tell me.” Grey Worm answered. “Your servants were set upon as they walked the bricks of Meereen to keep Your Grace’s peace. All were well armed, with spears and shields and short swords. Two by two they walked, and two by two they died. Your servants Black Fist and Cetherys were slain by crossbow bolts in Mazdhan’s Maze. Your servants Mossador and Duran were crushed by falling stones beneath the river wall. Your servants Eladon Goldenhair and Loyal Spear were poisoned at a wineshop where they were accustomed to stop each night upon their rounds.”

Mossador.

Dany made a fist. Missandei and her brothers had been taken from their home on Naath by raiders from the Basilisk Isles and sold into slavery in Astapor. Young as she was, Missandei had shown such a gift for tongues that the Good Masters had made a scribe of her. Mossador and Marselen had not been so fortunate.

They had been gelded and made into Unsullied.

“Have any of the murderers been captured?”

Your servants have arrested the owner of the wineshop and his daughters. They plead their ignorance and beg for mercy.” They all plead ignorance and beg for mercy. “Give them to the Shavepate. Skahaz, keep each apart from the others and put them to the question.”

“It will be done, Your Worship. Would you have me question them sweetly, or sharply?”

“Sweetly, to begin. Hear what tales they tell and what names they give you. It may be they had no part in this.” She hesitated.

“Nine, the noble Reznak said. Who else?”

“Three freedmen, murdered in their homes,” the Shavepate said. “A moneylender, a cobbler, and the harpist Rylona Rhee. They cut her fingers off before they killed her.” The queen flinched.

Rylona Rhee had played the harp as sweetly as the Maiden. When she had been a slave in Yunkai, she had played for every highborn family in the city. In Meereen she had become a leader amongst the Yunkish freedmen, their voice in Dany’s councils. “We have no captives but this wineseller?”

“None, this one grieves to confess. We beg your pardon.” Mercy, thought Dany. They will have the dragon’s mercy.

“Skahaz, I have changed my mind. Question the man sharply.”

“I could. Or I could question the daughters sharply whilst the father looks on. That will wring some names from him.” “Do as you think best, but bring me names.” Her fury was a fire in her belly. “I will have no more Unsullied slaughtered..“

#daenerys targaryen #misrepresentation #learn how to read #learn to think for yourself #don't argue with me #I know my shot

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oadara · 8 years ago

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What did you think about Daenerys ordering the severe torture (and likely rape) of the wine-seller's daughters (what a feminist she is)? How did you justify it? Or do her fans ignore uncomfortable truths to push the white savior agenda on her?

While I don’t condone torture in general especially in our world, in the world of ASOIAF it’s common practice among rulers and leaders. We see Jon, for example, locking the Karstark in the ice cell at the Wall to torture him with the cold or not caring about the Qhorin torturing the Wildling for information or forcing Gilly to give up her baby and switch her little boy with that of Mance’s.

The events of Meereen are muddled but we do know that at the establishment of the wine seller where his daughters worked, 9 people were massacred by the Harpy, including some of Dany’s Unsullied, presumably with the assistance of the wine seller and his daughters.

At first, Dany doesn’t want them to be tortured but when she remembers what happened, to her butchered Unsullied and that one of them was Missandei’s brother, she acquiesces to the Shavepate’s request to have the women questioned sharply.

Here are all the quotes in the ADWD that mention the wine-seller and his daughters.

Daenerys II ADWD:

“The Sons of the Harpy?” Skahaz nodded. His mouth was grim. “How many dead?” Reznak wrung his hands.

“N-nine, Magnificence. Foul work it was, and wicked. A dreadful night, dreadful.” Nine.

That frightened her.

Mossador.

They had been gelded and made into Unsullied.

“Have any of the murderers been captured?”

“It will be done, Your Worship. Would you have me question them sweetly, or sharply?”

“Sweetly, to begin. Hear what tales they tell and what names they give you. It may be they had no part in this.” She hesitated.

“Nine, the noble Reznak said. Who else?”

“Three freedmen, murdered in their homes,” the Shavepate said. “A moneylender, a cobbler, and the harpist Rylona Rhee. They cut her fingers off before they killed her.” The queen flinched.

“None, this one grieves to confess. We beg your pardon.” Mercy, thought Dany. They will have the dragon’s mercy.

That’s it, that’s all we get about that incident. I will note that an attack that is lobbied at Dany by detractors is that the wine seller’s daughter were children. Nowhere is that mentioned in that text, as you can clearly read.

Was is it a shiny moment for Dany? No, of course not. She shouldn’t have allowed the Shavepate to question the women harshly in front of their father in order to get the information they were looking for. But at the time Dany’s people were being butchered by the Harpy and she was desperate to make the killings stop.

Dany’s time in Meereen is about learning to lead. She’s trying to balance being a benevolent ruler while also having to deal with an insurgency within her own walls. She doesn’t want to be a butcher queen but it’s hard when you live in such a harsh environment where children a covered in honey and thrown at bears for entertainment and not act in kind to punish those very people. Dany made plenty of mistakes in Meereen, her fans are quite aware of that. It’s the reason we love her so much as a character because she makes mistakes but still tries to do right by people. She’s a complex character with plenty of flaws and virtues.

Being a feminism is about allowing women to make the same mistakes as a man makes and judging them by the same metric. It is ingrained in society that women should behave in a different manner than men and judge differently. Most women who call themselves feminist want to be allowed to make their own decision and make their own mistakes and not be judged for being a woman but for being a person.

As for the “white savior” nonsense, I suggest you read the links listed below to inform yourself about what the term actually is and why Dany is not one. Long story short, many of the slaves Dany freed in Slaver’s Bay were white like her. She was neither a colonist nor an imperialist trying to impose her culture upon them. Because while the Ghiscari have a culture of slavery, the slaves themselves, who hail from all over Essos, do not share that culture. Nor do they wish to be enslaved. Look no further than Volantis a city filled with people who are descendent of Valyrians and have 5 slaves for every free person there.

Dany saw people being enslaved and abused to levels of depriving that is unthinkable. She saw she could do something about it and did it. The end.

http://towerofthehand.com/blog/2015/02/01-laboratory-of-politics-part-vi/index.html

#daenerys targaryen #q&a #meereen #wine seller #feminism #hate mail

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knife-dad · 4 years ago

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Ok ok last one for reals. I finally read my last short story today and found this in Wineshop.

I think Relius might be wrong about this one.

So so so... this is what the book 6 title is referencing right

#queen's thief #qt spoilers #lucy's qt reread 2020

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recentanimenews · 7 years ago

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The Queen’s Thief, Books 4-5 by Megan Whalen Turner

A new installment of The Queen’s Thief is here! That proved an excellent incentive to reread the first three books (which I deeply love) and finally tackle the fourth book as well as the handful of short stories that’ve appeared as paperback extras.

A Conspiracy of Kings A Conspiracy of Kings is a coming-of-age story for Sophos, the sweet, scholarly boy we met in The Thief who also happens to be the heir to Sounis. Some of the barons are in revolt, and when the villa in which he’s staying is attacked, Sophos tries to save his mother and sisters but ends up captured himself. Although he’s resourceful enough to escape and hide out amongst enslaved field hands, he nonetheless is bitterly self-critical and sure his father is disappointed in him (as usual). And yet, throughout the course of the novel, he exhibits a great deal of courage, makes some hard choices, and—though still the sweet, scholarly boy underneath—ultimately becomes a worthy king.

A Conspiracy of Kings strikes me as a simpler book than The King of Attolia, probably because Sophos is earnest and idealistic rather than guarded and secretive, though that’s not to say that he’s incapable of carrying out a secret plan or clever strategy. The book does have an unusual narrative style, beginning in the third person with Sophos already in Attolia, switching to first person as he tells Eddis his story up to that point, going back into third while everyone’s together in Attolia, going back into first when he returns after claiming the throne and fills Eddis in again, and then back into third for the ending.

It occurs to me that as The Queen’s Thief series continues, the further we’re getting away from Eugenides. The Thief was first-person from his point of view, The Queen of Attolia was third-person, The King of Attolia viewed Gen and his relationship with the queen through the eyes of a palace guard, and now we have a story about Sophos in which Gen appears occasionally and spends some of that time behaving with icy formality. I appreciate the expanding world the characters inhabit and genuinely enjoy spending time with everyone, but I do love Gen best and hope the focus returns to him someday.

Thick as Thieves After waiting so long for a new book in the series, learning that it would be about Kamet, the slave of the Mede ambassador Nahuseresh, was somewhat of a disappointment. Now, I feel compelled to apologize to the author because I really should’ve had more faith in her. Kamet is a smart, distrustful protagonist with somewhat of a superiority complex and his evolution throughout the novel is fascinating.

Thick as Thieves is most similar to the first book in the series, since it involves a road trip peppered with storytelling. An Attolian soldier has been dispatched by Eugenides to steal Kamet out of spite, and after initially planning to decline the offer of freedom (thinking of all the power he will one day wield after he is gifted to the next emperor), Kamet is forced to accept after learning that his master has been poisoned and that he must escape quickly or face torture and execution. A Goodreads reviewer describes what follows as “bloodshed, betrayal, and bromance,” and I really cannot improve on that description. Although he initially thinks the Attolian is an idiot and plans on ditching him at the earliest opportunity (rather than return to uncivilized Attolia) he comes to like and respect him very much. I also love how one little piece of information lets readers know exactly who this soldier is, although Kamet does not use his name until near the end.

I don’t want to spoil the ending, but that’s the part of the book that really shines. (Alas, the road trip does drag a little in parts.) There are quite a few surprises—including one satisfying “I knew it!” moment—and the conclusion is both sniff-inducing and exciting, as conflict is still brewing between the Empire and the small countries on the peninsula, though the latter (thanks to Eugenides) appear to have acquired some powerful allies. This is such a great series and I hope we’ll see Kamet again in what follows.

The short stories: “Thief!”, originally printed in Disney Adventures Magazine in 2000, is a prequel short story about Eugenides as a kid. There’s not much to it, but I liked seeing Gen interact with his older brother and favorite sibling, Stenides.

“Eddis” was included in the 2007 paperback edition of The King of Attolia. In it, nine-year-old Helen—wonderfully described as round, solid, sturdy, and not too bothered by the fact that she isn’t pretty—slips away from the palace to go exploring. Her destination is a desolate temple where she is visited in the night by a trio of gods, who refer to her as “the last Eddis.” It’s a neat story that not only fleshes out Helen’s background a little bit and explains why she uses the masculine “Eddis” rather than “Eddia,” but ties in nicely with her motivations in A Conspiracy of Kings.

“Destruction” was included in the 2011 paperback edition of A Conspiracy of Kings. In this brief story, we witness the ceremony to dispose of Hamiathes’s Gift in the fires of the Sacred Mountain in Eddis. Frustrated Sounis is in attendance as is Attolia, who never takes her eyes from Eugenides. Scant though it is, I find I appreciate having a mental image for this occasion, as well as the moment in which Eugenides achieves certainty that the stone is really gone.

“Knife Dance” is included in the new paperback edition of The Queen of Attolia. In it, a juggler named Druic is coerced by his jerk of a brother to perform a certain Eddisian knife dance—”one of the Mysteries of the Thieves”—for the court of Attolia. Both the king and his god have something to say about it. I liked this one, and the ending was very satisfying.

“Wineshop” is included in the new paperback edition of The King of Attolia. It’s extremely short and depicts Eugenides enjoying his final moment of anonymity before coins bearing his likeness enter circulation and how Teleus spoils it all. There’s one part of it that makes me wonder if Eugenides knew that was going to happen. It would not surprise me.

By: Michelle Smith

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

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