#Power R&D

[symphonyofsilence]

Let the poor man rest.

[soranker]

my girlfriend

[andy-clutterbuck]

Rick in 8x16 | requested by Anonymous

[mswyrr]

This moment shapes how I interpret where they will go in season 3. In the book, Rhaenyra relies increasingly on Mysaria as her advisor as the war continues. Including during some of the darkest chapters of her reign. I can see the seeds of that here - Rhaenyra committing to a path of taking and holding power by any means necessary and Mysaria supporting her in that, believing that it is justified by the kind of queen Rhaenyra will be (and their apparently now shared belief that the gods have chosen Rhaenyra - very significant that they're on the same page religiously in that, or that Mysaria is choosing to say that she shares that view. With Dae/mon's visions and commitment to Rhaenyra as the ruling queen, that makes three people on this "team" who are all in on mystical fanaticism).

I think it's important that, despite Rhaenyra and Dae/mon's reunion in a prior scene, it is Mysaria who Rhaenyra shares her doubts and moral discomfort with. It is her opinion alone that has that weight. This is due, I believe, both to Mysaria's own history as a low born woman who has suffered due to that, her advocacy for the smallfolk, her support and loyal validation of Rhaenyra, and the long-term fractures of trust in his judgment Rhaenyra had with D/aemon over young Jaehaerys' murder and their prior disagreements over who will "rule" in that relationship.

Rhaenyra is Rhaenyra - she has always craved love and will not deny herself any connection that sustains and comforts her. But I think that, going forward, the "lady wife" role Mysaria can play to her [a role that, as I've argued before in this meta, Rhaenyra seems to crave in her life and has since her youthful bond with Alicent] will be vital to shoring her up, intellectually and emotionally, and that Mysaria's strategic thinking will be important to her as well.

Their bond will be an essential one for Rhaenyra going forward, imo, based on s2 and the book info. I hope the studio is brave enough to let the queerness of that bond be clear as the story continues.

[wikitpowers]

I think we as a society don't talk enough about that part in lady midnight where ty suggests going back to rook's house and this time use his son as a pressure point 😂 homeboy was looking for an excuse to see kit again, he was obsessed from the moment he stumbled upon kit

YES YES YES!!!! anybody who says ty didn’t have feelings for kit since day 1 must not have been reading the same books bc looking back, it was so obvious that he felt drawn to kit and his presence from the get go! and it’s really giving red string of fate if you ask me… they’re soulmates🥹

[incomingalbatross]

So after seeing your posts about City Between, I decided I had to give it a try - and having finished book ten today, I am so glad I did! I love how so many of the fae aren't used to anyone else caring about the people they care about (North's comment in one of the later books about Sarah having to live and telling Pet to "add that to your plan" because even after how much she's seen from Pet she STILL can't trust that OF COURSE saving the twelve year old is automatically part of the plan), I love the growth so many of the characters go through, I love Pet's stubborn morality, I love the twist at the end of book ten, and I love the complicated situation with Athelas.

However, having read it, there is one thing I felt I had to rant about:

Zero's dad is so *stupid.*

I mean, he's clever! He has very clever plans! And he has goals that even if they aren't sympathetic, they're understandable - lots of people throughout history have tried to get their relatives on the throne.

But the whole point of that is supposed to be that once they are on the throne, they'll do you favors! Protect you! Get you more powerful!

And here Lord Sero is, having spent Zero's entire life making sure Zero will thoroughly hate him.

I guess he assumed he would know Zero's weak points and be able to manipulate him? Use his name, maybe?

But given how well that worked for him leading up to the Challenge . . .

Even if he didn't love Zero, he really should have tried to make sure Zero loved him. Because if Lord Sero's plan HAD worked, and he'd ended up, say, murdering Pet and getting Zero on the throne . . . I don't think that ends with Sero getting the reward he wanted.

The reward Athelas wanted, maybe. But not the one Sero wanted.

Oh I'm so glad to hear you liked it!! :D

That's such a good point about the fae - they're often bad at generalizing "caring for people" beyond their own in-groups, but they're ALSO definitely bad at imagining anyone else might do that. Because right, obviously Pet is going to take care of the twelve-year-old, but that's not a given in North's world, even after everything up to this point. And yes, I also love all of those things!

But man, you're very right about Sero.

Presumably he was planning to somehow dominate Zero through fear/force after he got him on the throne... but yeah historically that has not worked well for him, even with Zero NOT, you know, King of the World Behind. Any power he's had over Zero has always had to be very brute-force - I know Zero himself thought he'd be stuck as a puppet of the Family, but honestly there wouldn't be a lot left for them to hold over him at that point, right?

Certainly by the end of the series, if his dad had killed Pet, I think Zero would be much more likely to break than to bend. Not a good future for Zero but also DEFINITELY not a good one for his enemies.

...best route I can imagine is that Sero was figuring he'd use Athelas as an inside man to influence the new King? That could have worked. If, you know, Athelas had ever for a second been up for doing that.

[blueflipflops]

Sometimes I dream up a fic So Good that I go to my ao3 then realize FUCK I haven't written all that shit yet. Then FUCK I have write all that shit. Then I just cry

[wristglitter]

[ayrennaranaaldmeri]

welp since some of those shitty leaks turned out to be true, those rook's rest leaks are going to end up being true and from the very bottom of my heart i wish c*ndal a very never get work adapting anything again i hope by the end of this your reputation is worse than benioff's and weiss's because it's all you deserve.

[macbethz]

When I’m looking for chords and all I can find is tabs with drop d tuning

[andy-clutterbuck]

[s0fter-sin]

wooimbouttamakeanameformyselfere

[egginfroggin]

There are so many good shots in "Mother Knows Best" that I could redraw for the GF au I keep forgetting how utterly dramatic Gothel is

Also I never noticed her little fluttering hand motions when she says "knew that soon you'd want to leave the nest"

[wikitpowers]

Repeat after me: Drusilla Blackthorn loves Ash Morgenstern.

OH YOU DON’T HAVE TO TELL ME TWICE! DRUSILLA BLACKTHORN LOVES ASH MORGENSTERN DRUSILLA BLACKTHORN LOVES ASH MORGENSTERN DRUSILLA BLACKTHORN LOVES ASH MORGENSTERN DRUSILLA BLACKTHORN LOVES ASH MORGENSTERN

🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️

no but seriously she’s gonna fall for him just as hard as he fell for her & us morgenthorn stans ain’t ready

[zhxme]

im into denial in the way they can neglect me all day despite my begs to get fucked. i want to be left like an emotional wreck for so long that my worth as a person becomes meaningless. then, i want them to use me, take advantage of me, make me their cum bucket and ignore my existence again onces they are satisfied.

[sydmarch]