#however. first. squire dream.

[setmeatopthepyre]

and the 3rd word prompt i have for you is.. chill/cold 🥶

thank youuu for your prompt! not doing them in order at all lmao hope you don't mind!

here's some more very unedited stuff from buck's squire dream (pt 1 and pt 2) from bucktommy knight au aka sweetmeats au aka what can ail thee, knight-at-arms?

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Buck draws a gauntleted hand towards him, coaxes the leather-gloved fingers out of the straps keeping the articulated plates in place. The iron glove curls in on itself with no human hand left to animate it and Buck lets himself admire for a moment the intricate details, the sun with its rays, etched into the plate, before he sets the gauntlet aside. The second follows, and the gloves, and then the knight’s hands are bare. They are calloused, tender and red in places. They flex as if the knight needs a moment to become reacquainted with existing outside of his hard shell. Then they move up, begin to work at the straps of the plate that wraps along the bottom of his helmet.

With the knight’s arms lifted so, Buck can make quick work of the straps securing his pauldrons. It requires him moving in close, shuffling in between the knight’s splayed legs to reach his upper arms, release the width of his shoulders. The gambeson below is stained with sweat and rust and leather, though the deep blue of the fabric obscures most of it.

His vision focuses strangely then. He thinks vaguely that he must have laid aside the pauldrons, because they are no longer in his hands. Instead, his vision is filled with the flat edge of the knight’s gorget, where it dips from the protective circle around his neck and under his breastplate. Without the wrap of his helmet, the armorer’s mark has become visible at his throat - the sunseal and initials of a royal smith. Buck’s fingers trace the mark without his bidding, and then a cleft chin dips into view, and he is unable to do anything but trail his gaze upwards to meet with eyes more brilliant than the sapphires that adorn the knight’s blade.

Tommy. Buck wants so suddenly and fiercely to taste the man’s name on his lips but finds himself just as suddenly unable to will his tongue to speak. Nevertheless, Tommy’s eyes meet his, and his gaze holds him captive, and sweat prickles in his neck and then down his spine until Buck is half convinced it was not sweat at all, but a spirit’s breath chilling his skin.

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-> send me a prompt and make me write <-

[vampyrial]

A World For Her Alone | My dreams, as unknowable to me as you

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17

cw (chapter specific): pregnancy and childbirth, infidelity, death, suicide, disassociation

summary: for a change of perspective, let's give voice to another, forgotten to a higher will. if it was only a dream, why did it feel so real?

word count: 3.6k

Reverie was a rare thing to be spoken aloud in the life of a knight. To dream greater, or even just different than one’s own position was one thing, to speak it was another. That was why when Felix awoke with a start, covered in sweat and panting, he said nothing to explain himself to his comrade across the room. That was why his comrade knew not to ask at all, pretending to still be asleep in bed. 

He trembled in bed, frozen and curled into himself, longing for a moment. Just one moment to grab hold of the world gradually before the tumult of it hit him all at once again.

 He did not receive it.

Felix dressed in the dark, his hands moving deftly even without his mind’s cooperation. His body had been trained into an automaton, he ought to have been more pleased with that than he was, it had saved him a few times before. But it did make the lingering, vague horror of his dreams that much more concrete. He was inside the dream, the dream inside himself and yet he could not remember what it was about. He could not draw a single image from this dream, though he’d had it several times over, he was sure. He remembered the familiar infantile feeling of vulnerability which he woke with each time. He woke each time as a newborn, grasping for sense of the earth. He woke only with a single memory, the feeling of grasping the pommel of his sword so tightly that its shape was impressed into his hand. 

More oft in dreams did he wield his sword than in reality. He waited outside his lady’s door, his sword on his hip and his eyes routinely moving about the hall every few moments. The knight of an ordinary lady was not so valiant a title, he could admit, it was hardly a danger that most young knights wish to defend from. Even so, Felix took his position seriously. He held his position with as much preciseness as he had the very first day he’d been chosen. Sooner would he forget his mother’s name than he’d forget that day, he way his hands trembled when he took his lady’s hand to kiss. Her eyes looking down at him steadfastly. He thought she was so queenly then. He’d made the grievous mistake of telling one of the superior knights that he’d thought so and he’d been met with laughter and a biting jab. “The lady is no queen, if you ever live to set your sorry eyes on her majesty, you’ll look back at this moment and be embarrassed for comparing tavern ale to champagne.”

He’d been embarrassed for saying such a flowery thing. That was when he’d learned to hold his tongue around the older knights. Swarthy, they were, restless with the lives of relative inaction they led. As he grew into his new position, he came to reconcile with the fact that young knights came bright as the swords they swung and then sometimes decayed into what the elder knights were instead of aging into the kind of men he’d looked up to as a squire. It was no matter as long as they did their jobs, even if it did bother him. Despite his embarrassment, however, he still held to the sentiment. He didn’t need to set eyes on the queen, all the better that he didn’t. He wasn’t a knight for glittering gold armor, nor for illustrious titles, to him it was true that you were queen. He hadn’t meant it in terms of jewels, not even in beauty or wealth, though you had plenty of each. He had only meant that when his lips touched your skin and his eyes lifted to meet yours as he gave his oath– he’d felt that you were an ill-fated, gentle queen of old and he your nameless, honorless knight. 

You came out of the bedroom on a wisp of spring laden air, dressed darkly in sanguine red. Poorly hidden behind your queenly mask, an air of jubilance. His eyes stayed on you, heedless of how he looked. He had been right to stare but at the time, he had not known it. He had not known it would be the last time he’d ever see you look so happy.

Lord Claude, always the enigma. Felix remembered the first time he’d guarded the door while the two of you spoke in the drawing room. The young master proved rather dull and dreary, in his opinion, but you were obviously enamored with him. He’d never seen a woman in love before you and he was certain he’d never again with how incomparably you wore the glow of love. It almost overshadowed the weakness that lay beneath, the rot beneath the bright red flesh of a ripened apple. That was why he stood at your side, so stupidly pleased and hopeful, despite his distaste. It was for you to have something of your own. The mansion and everything in it belonged to Lady Diana, but if you could become a marchioness, you would be your own. You would have escaped and taken refuge in a love you had always been worthy of. And surely the Lord Claude– much beloved by you, would reward your efforts twofold. 

The more that he saw you give yourself away to be worthy of being a marchioness, the more he prayed. Later on, he would have assumed his role long enough to realize that though he was your knight, it was implicitly decided by the unspoken rules of decency in society that his role was to protect you from an outsider, a thief, a bandit. He was not to protect you from the Lord Claude. But that was not now, he was a green young knight yet, whose head still danced with fond thoughts of the muted glory in serving such a lady. Of the place he would take at your side as you managed to lift yourself to the position you deserved. So much hope had been leaned on the idea that your marriage to Claude would be your salvation that it was perhaps destined to fail. Too much hope had yet to do Felix any good at all.

Felix’s stomach churned when Claude reached over to brush a petal from Diana’s hair. The indignation of it was one thing, the guilt was another. He should have trusted Claude much less than you had, he realized. It was your prerogative to be romantic, his to be weary. Now, he was reeling with undue humiliation, unable to think of how to spare you this, all because he’d refused to see.

The decay from there fell especially quick to his eyes. There was no offsetting the fatigue in your features, the pain subtly adding an odd flinch to your otherwise graceful and measured gait. Each time Claude decided to grace the manor with his presence, you looked entirely drained. You looked stunned like he had been as a young squire returning to his quarters from a particularly mean spirited day of sword training. It was as though Claude had sunk his fangs into your skin with every word, seeking a boastful memory of the sanguine dress you’d worn when he’d first drawn the warmth from your skin. 

Come the late night after that he had gone to Diana instead of visiting you at all, he crawled into bed eagerly, forgetting why he had dreaded sleep so to begin with. It is such a dangerous thing as a knight, to forget. You are full of spite and fear without target, the whole world an uncoordinated dance of precarious steps. You walk into traps of your own making and you do not realize because you have not learned to fear yourself properly.

The dream melded seamlessly with reality, never was it fanciful. It ended as it began, in feasibility. A dream had no master nor cunning, it simply was. Still, it felt as though this dream was predatory with the ability and thought to lure him carefully. This dream always began the same way, with him at the tea party, a memory which did not weather with time. This dream, if he were to indulge the belief of it being somewhat sentient, seemed to play with the fact that he thought of it every time he saw Claude’s face.

It was a clever thing.

This time something had been taken from you, thieved from your pockets rather than wrenched from your hands. The news of Diana’s poor health sent Claude scattering from the house as though driven out with a sword at his back. It was as though he saw no reason to hide his affair. Or rather, the urgency of Diana’s impending death made his love for her flare to heights that couldn’t be hidden. That he’d no will to hide. The latter was somehow more infuriating than anything. To think that a lord who had you and knew you, could truly love another far better.

While your husband rode for Diana, you sat in the drawing room waiting for a carriage to be prepared. Felix assumed there would be some manufactured problem with the carriage at Claude’s behest just so that he could have that much more time with the young lady. If such had truly been the case, he needn’t have bothered trying to delay you any further, his insolence had a more than serviceable job of it. By the time Felix entered the room to check on you, you were laid on the floor in a heap and barely breathing.

He could not keep grief from erupting from his lips when he saw you. He was at your side in an instant, scooping you into his arms as he would a child as he called to the servants outside to fetch the doctor. He brought you to bed, not being advised against moving you by the wide eyed servants he passed by and subconsciously thinking that it’d be best for you to wake up in bed rather than discarded carelessly in the drawing room where you still waited to receive your husband. In retrospect, as he stood outside your door with the doctor inside, he’d realized that the wariness of the servant might have been due more to his oddly frantic and personal grief on behalf of his lady rather than their master’s apathy. But in that moment he couldn’t have cared less for decorum, he almost hadn’t left the room when the doctor dismissed the servants. He always forgot himself when it came to you.

The doctor came out of the room looking troubled, he’d always been a somewhat fragile looking man as Felix saw him and it gave him the courage to pry. “Is the lady alright?” He asked quickly before the doctor could turn down the hall. 

The man’s face sagged with immediate exhaustion at the question. “…Keep the mistress in your thoughts, she’s with child.” 

Felix’s stomach dropped. His hopes were that you’d just fainted from stress and the only necessary treatment was enforced relaxation. From the way the doctor seemed to age in a moment just from him asking how you were, this child was not cause for much happiness. 

In the months that followed, Felix kept his gaze trained on you steadily, not knowing what he should anticipate from your condition. He saw you in decline as Claude was nowhere to be found. In the early days of your pregnancy, he’d returned in a haste to get back to work. He’d forced you to reveal your pregnancy from the foyer because he wouldn’t spare a moment for you and after that, his reaction…he had the audacity to look bereaved. Bereaved that his wife had only done what was asked of her. What they were married for. 

Felix felt such misery at your position. He felt the growing lethargy of your movements and the claustrophobia of being confined to your room. Through none of it could he comfort you and Claude was unwilling even though it was practically his only duty to you. What he felt was more pressing than that was being at Diana’s side as she slowly, much too slowly, faded away. But it was as though she never actually would. She was never going to die and return your husband to you. Even if she wilted mercifully, her ghost would haunt Claude who’d force everyone else to pretend that she still lived. Her memory would be the plague that replaced the one she enacted in life. He feared you’d never be free of this and it was a shameful feeling that he tried to shake off at every turn.

Days passed monotonously without him ever seeing you, the only sign of life being the servants who entered and exited your bedroom, bearing things like medicine and the scant amount of food you could keep down. Until one arrived with a note bearing Claude’s sigil. 

Felix had been fool enough to believe this was some comfort to you, some belated and lazy excuse, no doubt but a comfort nonetheless. Something that would display the barest semblance of care for you might have put some manner of relief in your heart. 

It was never to be.

Whatever Claude sent seemed to add ten sleepless to your body for how slowly, painstakingly you moved as if carefully dancing around the exhaustion would keep it from catching up to you. And you flinched as you moved down the stairs, the weight of the duty placed upon you threatened to drag you downward from your still somewhat graceful gait. It was a bleak sight to his eyes, the way your grace and the need for it had not faltered even now. It was as though just like the woman he loved so very much, he’d taken the ability to haunt a place while still living. 

He summoned you to his side while you were like this, it made the already grating hatred he fostered inside become an unbearable hurt. A hopelessness that made him wish for Claude to die, to suffer, to hurt as you did. But he knew it wouldn’t be. He was born with too much to hurt like you did. When Felix offered you his hand, he ‘d tried to convey all that he felt for you as his lady in that gesture, for he could do nothing else to show his…what was it that he felt? Something more than affection, surely. What he wanted to convey was more than a knight was able to offer his lady. It was something less like what Claude might have felt for you and more than it, too. It was surpassing, a life’s wish.

He felt as though a conduit for your experience as the carriage rocked along, it was a curious thing. He felt hurt as you stepped into the carriage, as the horses began to race down the path. The pain was dynamic, flitting about his whole body and grief held fast to him. 

Through dim halls he followed you to Diana’s room. The acrid, sickly sweet smell of medicine steeped in the air made him hold his breath as stood outside the door. He could not hear Diana’s voice well, it was a thin whisper, true to her condition. He could not even hear your own voice. What was occurring between you unsaid? Still, he found himself cooling down to a resoluteness as he observed the indignity of all you endured. Your parents had not even bothered to care that you were pregnant, your husband was horrified and probably sent for you in hopes of your miscarriage. Claude was a selfish, romantic fool. He’d surely have sacrificed legacy for the girl who laid in bed dying. So die. He thought. Die quickly, before Claude can have what he wants of my lady.

How easily such gruesome thoughts came to him did not inspire any fear nor shame. He was no longer a green knight.

Claude accosted you when you returned. Not even having yet sit with the thought that your husband had risked your health and safety for the whims of a dying, useless girl, he decided to grace you with anger. He demanded to know what you’d said to her. Of all things to say to the pregnant wife you left confined and isolated. His hand met the pommel of his sword with a loose grasp as he looked on with the thought that he’d meet his end right after he killed Claude if he were to move. He thought on his own death with pragmatism. 

“That child you’re carrying…is it even mine?” Claude’s remark made him see red and yet he had to stay his hand. You fell to the floor in front of him as he scrambled forward to hold you. It was as though Claude had struck you with only his words and Felix had been helpless to stop him. All he’d been waiting for was a step in your direction. He would have unsheathed his sword in a second. He hadn’t expected this. Yet Claude’s cruelty had taken such a clever form. He hadn’t needed to lay a hand on you, something that would warrant Felix to step before you. He knew exactly how to harm you and his child.

He’d carried your body, soft and feverish, to your bedroom. Time and time again you had done this dance, it seemed. Only then did he become vaguely aware of how familiar it felt to pick you up from the floor.

The doctor came again and left without pretense of hope. 

There had been nothing he could do to protect you from the harm Claude had done to you and Felix did believe that what your husband had told you was done for this very effect. If that weak, limp, useless lady could not live, neither could you and the child which might be a thorn in her side in her last days of living. He hated himself for this. He was a coward for not taking Claude’s head off the second he took his position against you that night. For letting him go back to Diana after what he’d said.

The next months passed in uncertainty. Though, in retrospect, Felix might have found that he was the only one uncertain of the outcome. Or at least, the only one pretending to be. He heard your cries through the door as you gave birth with much difficulty. He shifted his weight, chills running down his spine. The screams were bloodcurdling and at times, he accidentally let out a muffled sound of anguish behind his hand at them. It was a violent ordeal, he could smell the blood from outside the door and on the wind as servants whisked in and out of the room carrying towels heavy with blood.

At last, he heard the cry of a child but the room was lacking your voice which he awaited eagerly. He waited to find relief in your voice, cooing to the newborn but he never did. Finally, he simply entered the room, dispensing with propriety. What he saw began to dissolve the corners of reality, leaving him somewhat detached, watching from outside himself. The blood leaked out from under your body off of the sheets and down to the floor, you lay motionless in the center of it, your hair and nightgown wet with sweat. 

“My lady?” He called, wishing he could steal the foolish words back as soon as they came out. 

“The madame has passed,” the doctor said, wiping the blood from his hands with a blank look on his face as the midwives about him tended to the child and began to discard the ruined towels.

He needed nothing more for the world to turn to seafoam beneath him.

The next time he resurfaced, he didn’t even know what day it was, what he had been in the middle of doing. He only knew he’d been outside your door though you were probably hours dead. A dog at his master’s feet. He’d gone feral, ready to tear the flesh from Claude’s body in a moment’s notice, he took his sword in hand hastily. Somehow, he knew that Claude was inside though he could not remember seeing him enter. It was strange, as though the integrity of reality was dissolving with each blink.

He entered the room without tact or stealth, his singular goal to kill the man who had harmed you so. Even if it wouldn’t bring you back, there was a sense of desperation to the act, as though you could benefit from his act of retribution. But when he entered the room, which seemed desaturated and alive, moving with each breath of his— he found Claude in a pool of blood, his and your own, next to the bed. The sight enraged him so much, the audacity of it, the strange juxtaposition of his death here and his actions before. The stolen chance of bringing you vengeance turned the shards of glass from his shattered persona of knighthood turned inward, bleeding only him. 

He could only stare at the hateful scene before him with grief before him as something drew him outward further, the horror of the world becoming mush around him, crumbling in on itself. It happened quickly, that he was drawn from what he believed was his body. The transition was seamless and sudden. 

He startled awake. The darkness of his room seeming like a void, an end, for a moment before he remembered himself. It was slowly that he realized he’d been consumed by a dream, that all the grief he’d woken with was not real. The slurry of memories running through his mind melted together, evaporated as he tried to collect them. Dread settled deep in his stomach even as his false reality turned to dust in his hands. 

He was left only with the hollow feeling, that of a horror endured and buried.

tags: @kage-tobiuo @kreishin @rosephantomhive @yeahdrarry @splaterparty0-0 @dear-dairiess @qluvrv @hafsuhhh @eissaaaa @ayolk @doan-19 @fourcefulcupid @ariachaos @cerisearan @irisspade @yaesflorist @jcrml @xiaosprettygf @yevenly @amaris08atoshi012022 @obsessed-with-a-fictional-man @softbummiee @cassanderasblog @waka-babe @bananatwirl@s1mp69 @mitsuyamistress @hottiewifeyyyy @reiko69 @syyyy4ever @pinkpastel-l @dododododooosworld @gwyneveire @mvoonxlightv @noisyenthusiastface @coldpeachkitten @brightykitten @worstliving @kailyan

[trancylovecraft]

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ WANDERILLUSTREOUS!

(YANDERE GENSHIN VARIOUS x READER)

IT'S WANDERILLUSTREOUS!

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

[F/N] [L/N], A twenty-two year old college student goes about her mundane life. Most people would describe her as content, And maybe [F/N] would've described it as such too- Her life. Over and over again, Day after day, The cycle never stops. That is, However, Until she suddenly drops into Genshin Impact out of nowhere. In any other case, [F/N] might have been glad to be there. In a fantasy land where she had only ever visited in her dreams, With a feeling she couldn't describe flooding her entire being. However, [F/N] couldn't be further from excited.. She had never played Genshin in her life. [F/N] threw her head into her hands, Holding back the urge to scream. “I’m absolutely screwed, Aren’t I?”

*ೃ༄

A WHOLE NEW KIND OF FEELING!

GENDER: Femme GENRE(s): Isekai, Adventure, Fluff, Fantasy, Canon Compliant LIST OF YANDERE'S: https://pastebin.com/ErsuA2cz SONG: Risk, Risk, Risk! - Jhariah

*ੈ✩‧₊˚AO3 LINK *ೃ༄

All chapters will first be uploaded onto AO3 before being posted onto Tumblr!

*ੈ✩‧₊˚CHAPTER LIST!

0. PROLOGUE 1. Fall into Wonderland! 2. The Birth of The Wanderillustrian (Paramnesia) 3. New Dawn (What's the point of a past life?) 4. Stab, [F/N], Stab! 5. Settle down! (As best you can, babes!) PT.1 (ON AO3) 5. Settle down! (As best you can, babes!) PT.2 (ON AO3)

ੈ✩‧₊˚ YANDERE PROFILES ✧.*

*ੈ✩‧₊˚SIDE STORIES!

The Grandmaster's Squire

-UNLIKE ANY OTHER, WANDERILLUSTREOUS!

[maleyanderecafe]

Duke Richard's Haven (Webcomic)

Genre: Romance/Fantasy

Created by: Onehit / East / Gecha / Asis

Man, I really do like boyish female leads in these type of webcomics and this one isn't even one where she has to hide as a male. This one has an interesting premise where the main character actually reincarnates into another person, but her original body still is alive, though I wish they used it more than what they did. There are two possible male yanderes in this one, the first being the main lead Jules and the second being a second lead, Eric. As of writing this, there are about 70 chapters out.

The story starts out with Ilian, an old swordslady retiring after her years of service. Despite the protests, she wants to live her life happily but is instead attacked by a bunch of mercenaries instead. Prideful, she decides to jump off of a cliff and prevent them from taking her and instead reincarnates into a girl named Haven, having gone back in time for 10 years. She decides to live as her, as she wants to save her child (adopted), Raul, as she wasn't able to do so before. She first is able to block off her aunt's attempt and stealing her heritage before kicking her out. As a result, she goes to IIian's safe to get her things, only to meet Jules, the person she took care of as a child when she was still IIian. Haven refuses to sell any of the items to Jules out of pride (which is a shame as it would have probably been more than enough to pay her mansion's debt), though thanks to this, Jules starts to take an interest in Haven. Haven then hires a bunch of workers to get them to do garden work, something she was good at when she was still IIian, which allows Haven to slowly gain money for her household. As the story goes on, she ends up helping Jules with his sleep deprived state, serving him tea at night. At first he is very antagonistic towards her, but starts to accept her slowly as she reminds him of IIian, so much so that he becomes her patron, so she can learn both academics and swordfighting. During this time, she also meets with Eric, the lead worker's son and befriends him. Her sword fighting is taught by Gaulis, Jule's right hand man, and she's able to beat fanboy Retrich in a duel using wooden swords. This is also the time where Gaulis notices that she uses the same type of duel wield as IIian causing Jules to question who she really is.

After a timeskip, Haven ends up attending a ball with both Gaulis and Retrich after getting an invite, and gets scorned by the women there as she wears more masculine clothing, though this soon flips on its head once she reveals that Jules is her patron with Jules coming to defend her. She ends up winning over most of the girls there and even befriends one whom she helps with her own gardening business. She also gets invited by her aunt again to get favor for her daughter so she can get into the high society, but she refuses pretty outright considering her aunt's abuse. We get to see Jules backstory on why he cares about IIian so much. When he was younger he was shunned as the black mage, thus causing him to run away. IIian was able to hide him away and basically raised him, not caring about where was from, thus Jules developed an obsession with her as she grew older and sees the similarities in Haven. Haven/IIian's old friend eventually passes away, something that happens early as a result of Haven changing the original timeline. Here Haven also sees Ilian and her son alive for the funeral. Here we get to see how IIian was able to get her son, as she actually adopted him from another knight who worked closely with her after his death. She ends up going to her recently deceased friends place, however, has to hide when Jules goes there as well and bandits come to ransack the place. Eric ends up being a squire, giving up his dreams of building boats to try to get closer to Haven and even tries to pledge his allegiance to her.

Haven meets Jules at the ball where she protects him from an assassin, and Jules ends up once again noting how similar she and IIian are. Haven, with Eric goes to the snowy area where her son Raul died to try to prevent his fate, but also ends up facing with Jules again as a result. In this timeline though, Illian is the one who gets killed, much to Jules's dismay but Raul is able to live. Haven is able to stop Jules outburst of emotions, though Jules lashes out at her. Haven is able to safely bring Raul back and tries to adopt him as her brother (though still treats him like her child, much like before). She feels pretty distant though as he still doesn't see her as when she was Illian and is still cautious around her. Jules on the other hand gets extremely depressed, even going to an auction to spend money on something that could go back in time just to try to save Illian again. After people start coming after Raul, Haven tries to separate herself from him so he can be safe and looks for Jules, who has tried to variously kill himself after Illian's death. Haven and Raul get jumped again by Raul's grandfather who wants to take his grandson back to get him killed. Haven defends Raul, getting tortured in his place before Jules comes in and saves both of them. After this, Jules ends up confining Haven inside of his mansion for a while, not wanting her to get killed as he now recognizes her as Illian. We also see a flashback of before Haven was confined with Eric, who tried to fight back against him, only to fail. Eric gets extremely angry and heartbroken when his confession is rejected by Haven, as Haven favors Jules. Jules, Haven and Raul end up going out together and having fun, but Raul ends up getting kidnapped causing the two to panic. Luckily, Eric is in the area and is able to save Raul, however after seeing Jules and Haven be lovey dovey, decides to be petty and have Raul and him play together out of their sight. After Haven finds him, she's pissed off that she kept Raul away from her and Eric gets really angry as well, kissing Haven and telling her to back off from Jules as he's insane. After a while, Haven makes a deal with one of the knight's parents to help them own a store. During the ball, she also changes her appearance, abandoning her more boyish apparel for a more feminine one in order to try to separate her old self, Illian and Haven, as she feels that Jules is too devoted to Illian and is projecting onto Haven. After the ball she gets to see the crowned prince for the first time and Jules is able to find her, stating that even with her changed appearance he will still find her and love her. The last couple of chapters have her going to war and trying to get into the army as a low level knight.

The story itself has some interesting premises, but as I said before, it's not really used effectively. The idea that you are not only able to go back in time into another body but also able to see your old body still living and being its own person is fascinating, but Haven basically only sees Illian a handful of times, once when attending a funeral and once at her death when trying to save Raul. I don't really understand why she wouldn't even speak to her old self and she doesn't even seem to be that surprised that her old self died or is still, well roaming around. It seems like a very big waste of time that this happens as it adds very little at least to Haven herself. It does leave a bigger impact on the male lead Jules, as while he does see Illian in Haven, he has a huge breakdown upon Illian's death and uses Haven as way to cope and become even more obsessive over her once he figures out that she is also Illian.

I do like Haven as a concept, but in execution I feel like it's a bit strange. I really generally like more tomboyish female leads and I love when they are in more swordsperson or fighting roles, which is something Haven is and wears more masculine clothing. However, she does make a lot of weird decisions throughout the story, like not selling her old items despite the fact her house is in debt, the fact that she never interacts with her old self at all, and most importantly, the fact that she falls in love with Jules in the first place. You can argue this for any regression story or isekai where the female lead is isekaied into a child's body/form, but it is especially weird here as it is shown that Illian raised Jules as a child, but in Haven's body still develops a crush/feelings for him. Which is... weird as mentally she seems to be around 40ish while Jules is half or even more than half her age. It makes it very weird when she does fall in love with him as the story goes on (and once again, she essentially raised him). I do like Haven's personality of getting things done, even at a young age, befriending her workers and starting a company with her estate to get money, as well as getting herself to swords lessons and other things as it does seem like someone who knows what they're doing inside of a child's body. I also think the moments where she realizes that Raul will never see her as Illian, or at least have the same relationship with her was sweet as well. One of the things I was more iffy about (though this is more of a nitpick and probably a personal taste thing) is her couple of chapters of when she does become feminine to try to separate herself from Illian personality and appearance wise. Even besides the fact that I prefer her in her boyish form (I know, it's an ongoing thing with me), I think the reasoning of her wanting to separate herself from Illian is... weird? At this point, Jules pretty much knows that Haven is Illian as well so her trying to redo her appearance doesn't make sense to me, as it's not as if Haven is trying to change her personality at all, and Jules still knows that it's Haven, and still sees her as Illian (the original) regardless. I think I would have preferred it if she did so more out of her own willingness to dress like that, maybe to explore what dressing like that is to offer. At least for now though, it does seem like it was reverted once she joined the army, it just seemed it was a weird addition (though again, its probably not a big deal).

Jules from the beginning is pretty obsessed with Haven/Illian as in the original timeline when she did die, Jules soon after took his own life. In this one though, I'm not sure why he's so obsessed with Haven being like Illian considering that Illian in this world is still alive. I guess it's more of the fact that they are so similar that it confuses him. In the beginning he's already trying to buy off Illian's stuff and he's able to pick up on her mannerisms extremely fast and relating them to how Illian does things. Other characters are able to do this as well, namely Gaulis, though it's mostly seen through her fighting style if anything. Jules is generally pretty overprotective towards Haven, especially towards other people like Eric who is also pining for her. It comes full steam when he sees Illian die in front of him, even attempting to kill himself unsuccessfully until Haven is able to snap him out of it. He also confines Haven for a while in his mansion trying to get her to admit that she is Illian and otherwise funds Haven mostly because she is similar to Illian in this way. After she is able to get Raul back from Eric, he even admits to saying that she would sacrifice Raul's life to make sure Haven lives (though he also says he wouldn't do that because it would make Haven sad), as well as attempt to buy an artifact that would allow him to go back in time just so that he could try to save the Illian as well. It does make sense given that Illian was the one who both saved and raised him to some capacity, so having this kind of devotion is pretty understandable.

Eric as well has yandere tendencies, though not to the extent of Jules. He throws away his dreams of building ships (I was almost about to say becoming a baker because of that bdg song, sorry about that), just so that he can be by Haven's side, even when she ends up rejecting him. He tries really hard to get on Haven's good side and even confesses to her, and understandably becomes pretty bitter that she chose Jules over him as a result. Given his more petty behavior of not giving Raul back after he was kidnapped and trying to keep Jules away from Haven in various moments, he does seem very protective over her and just wants to be with her. Though because of the fact that he's not nearly as strong as Jules nor to the even more obsessive degree, he's more of a second yandere light character.

Overall, I think that while Duke Richard's Haven is pretty entertaining, there's a lot of things that could go better if it was written with more intent. Lots of fun concepts and cool swords lady things, but I feel the romance is a bit wonky. Nevertheless if you are interested, please try it out.

[first-edition]

Fox and the Hound

Sum-Joffrey wants to send a message to your family after your brother embarrasses him, so he marries you off to his most unwanted man in his court, the hound. But will this marriage truly be a statement for an eyesore, or will it grow into something more. 

Cw for chapter- pregnancy, 18+ words and themes overall. Slight angst, brief mention of vomit and sea sickness, attempted r@pe, sexual assault, slight abuse, family death. Description of dying (start)

// A/N: just wanted to apologize for the broken links at the beginning of the book since i changed my username they haven’t been working but i assure you I’ll get to fixing them. I will also end up making a goggle docs with the entire book for downloading when this series ends//

previous chapter here.

CHAPTER 18

The first thing Sandor thought about in the day was you he day dreamt of your safety and the helpless thing inside you that took your body as refuge. He silently prayed that he wouldn’t have to be away from you for any longer. It was also the last thing he thought about before sleeping and dreaming of you. 

But he was more afraid of what his thoughts would be like after his body went quiet. 

Here he layed against the rock bloddied from the fight leg broken unable to move, not that he wanted too. Breanne of fucking Tarth, a women, took him down. He had put up a good and fair fight however but he could feel his life fading before his eyes. The image of you ghosting into his vision you calling his name sweetly as his hand caressed you soft cheek. You smile that warmed his soul. 

Oh he loved to see you smile. He loved to see you happy at his doing. It feels as though you have been together for years on end when it has only taken him 2 months to fall completely under your spell. He knows he won’t survive yet unable to move to end his own hes cursed to lay until he bleeds out or dies from starvation. But at least he will go out knowing he was loved and loved back. 

————

You stand against the side of the boat as you watch the rocky shore pass by slowly. 

“Your highness.” A man speaks to you. You turn around seeing the captain of the ship. 

“We are porting to widows watch in 20 minutes.” He says you nod. 

“I sugesset her highness is tended to by a meister while we take the day to careen. Her ladyship is carrying the further heir is she not?” He asks. 

“Thank you captain i shall take your kindness to the next meisters hut.” You say giving him a smile. He nods giving you a smile back before heading to his previous post. 

Over the course of 20 days or so on and off sea you and joss have become much more that a squire and royal you’ve become friends best friends. you will laugh and dance and tell stories, you’ve told him about your childhood and hes told you about his granted his wasn’t that long ago. 

You’ve celebrated each other birthdays and you now no longer allow him to talk to you anything but plain. 

“My lady.” Joss says walking up to you leaning against the side of the ship you smile at him nudging him with your arm. He chuckles. 

”youre looking more and more like a grown man with that stubble your growing.” You giggle at him. He nods feeling the stubble growing on his face. 

“Yeah. Ill have to find a barber when we dock.” He says. 

“I didn’t say i dosnt suit you.. however the prince Marco fraud over there hasn’t kept a meal down since we got on this boat. That says a lot. Im the pregnant one.” You say joss laughs as you both look over to Marco who wipes his forehead with a cloth. 

“D-do you still think of him?” Joss asks. 

“Of course I do. Everyday i pray for his safety and health just as i do yours. I want him to meet his child preferably in this life and not the next.” You say about Sandor. 

“Would you ever take another man?” Joss asks turning around facing backwards. 

“No..why?” You ask. 

“Even if he died?” He asks again. 

“I dont think, despite out beginning, i could ever take someone else i love him too much and i love what he gave me…why do you ask?” You wonder turning to him your eyes fix on his gaze as he looks across the boat deck to Lucy who hands the prince a glass of water. 

“There’s no point in wanting something if you don’t try for it.” You say to him. He looks back to you a blush forming on his cheeks as he realizes that you know who he was talking about. 

“I-I’ll grab you coat my lady.” He says before hurrying to your quarters below deck. Footsteps make your way to you once more you sigh as you see Marco coming to you. 

“It seems that the uh. The weather for this trip has treated us well?” He smiles. 

“We’ve stayed as close to shore as we can theres been no open water without seeing land through a scoop and were guarded by two man o’ war ships when my parents sent me off to kingslanding we went the long way comanded 4 storms three men died and our sips main mask was missing by the time i arrived and still. I had to endure of that wearing a corset and looking pretty. Meanwhile your vomiting up every fucking meal you consume on the charter of a little turbulence.” You say to him. 

“And yet you still have the energy to mock me.” He snaps back. 

“Yes. Consider it being hormonal.” You bite right back to him and turn to walk off. 

“Why do you fester against me!?” He asks leaving you to stop you back facing him. 

“We’ve been not but 2 feet from each other for 23 days and you prefer to fight on my name instead of getting to know it.” He says. You scoffs and turn back to face him. Joss comes back to you your cloak in hand.

“I dont need to know your name becuase i will not be taking it, as little as you may know, i belong to another. I wont belong to anyone else but him. As a care taken prince I wouldn’t expect you to understand after all your used to feeding off a silver platter and suckling from a gold breast.” You say as joss helps you put on the cover before you both walk to the end of the boat where you’re meant to get off to port for the day. 

————

The day is spent visiting a midwife not allowing a maester to touch you, having a meal with Lucy and joss at the inn you’re staying at and exploring a little before you became to tired and went back to the room. You were unfortunately told that the careening of the underbelly of the boat would take until the night so you should leave in the morning. 

Un happy about the news you reluctantly placed yourself in your room. 

You sit in the bras bath tub alone. You pick at your nails as you lean over the side your raised belly proving it to be a bit of a challenge. Your fingers move up to your hand glazing over the ring that is placed on your ringer. The jewels within it shine against the fireplace light. 

”im sorry i still haven’t made a name for you little one.” You say speaking to the babe within you. 

“But perhaps if your a boy then i will name you after you father? Hmm, and if your a girl I shall name you something beautiful like a flower or the stars. I was going to let your father name you but I'm afraid that wont be the case and id prefer you not go unnamed.” You sigh resting your head on your arm. you open your mouth to speak once again but you hear slight bickering out side your door before it opens. 

“You cannot enter my lord she is bathing!” Joss yells out at prince marco who stumbles into the room clearly drunk you cover your self sinking into the tub further. 

“Get out!” You yell at him. Joss grabs Marco to pull him away but he turns around and lands a hefty punch onto joss’s face causing him to fall to the ground before Marco kicks him. 

“YOU DARE PUT YOUR HANDS ON ME BOY!?” The prince yells before pushing joss out of the room and closing the door behind him bolting the door. Marco turns to you. 

“Get out. How dare you enter my room like this.” You bark out at him. 

“Get up.” He says you ignore his request sinking deeper into the tub. 

“You mock me, taunt me, refuse to conform to your duties as a princes!” He grumbles as he stomps twords you grabbing your hair pulling you. you welp in pain as he pulls you out of the tub. 

“AH! LET GO OW!” You scream out in pain as you drags you. You slip on the seat floor loosing your footing. He pushes you to the floor fighting above you. 

“No- NO STOP!” You scream tears welling up in your face as you fight under him. 

“You will know your fucking place!!” He grunts as he hits you across your face. 

“Ah!” You cry out in pain tear balling from your eyes and you continue to fight him stretching his face. He bails his hand into a first and punches you across your face twice. The taste of metal hits your tounge as your lip is split under the impact. You hear faint pounding behind the wooden door of the room as joss calls your name. The sound of a belt buckle clinking. You stop your fight as he holds you down. Before the imminent pain you could experience hes shoved off you two guards and joss pounce on him as he hollers out a multicellular of curse words before being dragged out of the room.

“Your highness?!.” You hear as Lucy and two others run to you wrapping a sheet around your naked body as they help you sit up. Lucy pulls you into her arms as you sob the pulsing pain in your face far from the pain in your heart. The fear flooded illness that could’ve resulted much worse.

”h-help me d-dress.” You say getting up weakly as she helps you. 

“Are you alright did he-“ 

“No. i want to leave now. Help me dress!” You speak. She and others nod. 

“Joss.” You say before he walks out after the guards. he looks to you holding his side from the rough kick Marco gave, his face bloddied. 

“Th-thank you. We will be t-taking a guarding ship the rest of way.” You say he nods to you before walking out closing the door after himself so your ladies can help you dress. You pull off the sheet holding your stomach before they slip on your undergarments and then and easy dress and shoes. They take the small bag you had packed for the night before you all hurry out. To the shipping dock. 

You board the guarding ship with the others, a few guards and joss, despite his condition help board over your items from the main ship before taking off back to the sea

Next chapter coming soon.

TAGLIST. If you’d like to be added to the tag list please leave a comment down below.

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[infoglitch]

has thoust played ttrpgs, like dnd, before?

Alas my good man, yours truly has never played a ttrpg..

I wanna play DND eventually one day, get some of my friends who do like DND and maybe i can dm.. I like story telling.. though I fucking suck at it and doing combat.

BUT I DO HAVE A CHARACTERS LORE! Which I'm going to share because I want an excuse.

DnD character lore: Mandrius the scorched

Mandrius was a ”squire” as he referred to himself. Stable boy to his towns noble family's horse and raptor mounts, Mandrius had high aspirations of being the mighty paladin of his town worshipped fire god, so he took any chance he could get.. and got to be the Nobles stable boy. He did enjoy seeing the many mounts however.

He grew to connect with the prince Karmikal, with the prince taking mild interest and deciding to humor the boy and his impossible aspirations and bringing him to the prince's combat training, and mandrius was both stubborn but eager to learn.

The two would grow to be almost like brothers, with Mandrius almost always being the Prince's trusted advisor, but never allowed to be a knight, as he was not worthy in the eyes of the Church of flames. So he was never allowed to leave with the prince and his knights, instead he had to work as the one who answered the many quests or marriage opportunities the prince had to receive.

But when he finally managed to sneak alongside the prince and his men, he would regret it. The group had left to meet with the old mage who once protected the town. The mage was arrogant with age and believed he deserved payment after his services had long passed, and if he didn't? He would burn the noble family and the town to cinders. Karmikal would try to broker a deal but when the mage insulted him, Mandrius would be enraged and strike the mage, angering the spell caster who released upon all who were under the princes reign the curse of fire, they would be engulfed in eternal flame, meant to suffer until they either died, or the minds could no longer process the pain.

5 years, five years Mandrius burned, his body forever ablaze as he watched all his friends die, the prince even damning Mandrius. Five years of nothing but burning, as he felt many emotions, rage, sorrow, guilt, but he has some form of clarity.

Dawning flame resistant weaponry and armor, he has set out on one simple quest. Find a way of undoing the curse and returning everyone he damned to life. He at first dreamed of vengeance, but now is humbled, and he mourns how foolish he was.

[ride-thedragon]

Lady Laena Velayron Headcanons

(Adult Laena is a separate post. This is basically up until she would marry.)

1. After rejecting her hand, Viserys actually sent her the location of Vhagar and little updates about her sightings.

2. She claimed Vhagar after Laenor left for the Stepstones, appeasing Rhaenys by saying Melyes deserved company.

3. She looked a lot like and tried to dress like Jocelyn Baratheon.

4. When they were younger, she'd follow Laenor with a dragon egg to bond with Seasmoke.

5. She was the first person to ride with Laenor.

6. They would both get in trouble for leaving their rooms and finding themselves all over High Tide to sleep.

7. Anytime they were in King's Landing, she'd seek out Daemon or Corlys to talk too (at about 6)

8. Vaemond would carry her on his ships and into the city against her father's hesitation.

9. She was a good mediator between Vaemond and Laenor.

10. She took the blame once after catching Laenor with a squire when their father was looking for her.

11. Her favour for tourneys was always blue, gold with little perfumed flowers and pearls.

12. She'd give her favor to Joffrey at Tourneys in Laenor's place.

13. When she was introduced to the Braavosi Sealord, she did try to be less ladylike to get him to drop the matter. (Birdy core)

14. She got into a bad habit of sneaking away to Spice Town after the betrothal.

15. The first time she flew Vhagar, they ended up in King's Landing rather than Driftmark. Viserys congratulated her after attributing the feat to his father. A brave girl compliment was placed.

16. She got close to Rhaenyra on Driftmark and closer after the royal wedding.

17. She tried her best to help Laenor consumate their marriage after Joffrey's death. They would wear black as a symbol of mourning for him, but together, they did not let rumours spread too far.

18. She joined the court to be close to Laenor after his wedding.

19. She found Harwin strange and didn't care for his advances on Rhaenyra so soon after her wedding.

20. Seasmoke and Vhagar would fly together every morning when Laenor returned from the Stepstones.

21. They had a dream of being sellswords in Essos when they were younger.

22. Rhaenys would teach her about politics in a very similar way to Baela.

23. She was better at politicking than Laenor, but she'd go out of her way to teach him through her understanding.

Laena and Daemon

1. He very specifically was tasked with looking after Laenor by a young Laena

2. She had been very apathetic towards him when they all came back from he Stepstones, actively ignoring him all together.

3. She would've kept it up but she learned quickly after about Lady Rhea's untimely passing and saw an opportunity.

4. Vaemond warned her against seeking out his company before they got to King's Landing.

5. Throughout the rest of the wedding events (Viserys didn't cancel them), she always found herself around him, extending a personal invitation for him to stay at Driftmark.

6. She didn't tell Rhaenyra about her predicament and her plans to get rid of her fiancé as a result.

7. She proposed the offer to Daemon a day after he and Corlys had a very similar discussion. He said that she was using him, and she specifically said that it was only if he wanted to be useful.

8. They managed to sneak out twice to Spice town before getting caught and subsequently reprimanded by Rhaenys after being found in a brothel (no compromising this time)

9. Laena actively used her mother getting to choose Corlys to defend her actions (it didn't go well)

10. She went out of her way to kiss someone else before marrying him.

11. They would casually wander the shore during the tide idly to avoid the Son of the Sea Lord.

12. Rhaenys did not like the idea of her marrying Daemon at first until Laena went out of her way to prove that she'd prefer it.

13. She flew to King's Landing with Rhaenys to let Viserys know about the wedding, he was upset and did not attend. He didn't object however.

14. After learning about it, Rhaenyra leaned more to Harwin despite Laena's insistence that nothing would change.

15. They started flying together during the stay of the Braavosi sea Lord.

16. Daemon insulted the Sea Lord not only by demeaning him but also by implying that he'd compromised Laena.

17. They had three separate ceremonies for their union, one on Driftmark, one in King's Landing, and a secret Valaryian adjacent ceremony.

18. She'd joke about the fact that it was heavily speculated that he hadn't slept with Lady Rhea throughout their marriage with him and her mother.

19. He'd kissed her before they were married.

20. The first time he mentioned leaving for Essos, she thought he was making a joke about her past fiancé.

21. In a similar stroke to Laenor, she was known to be very close to her lady companions on Driftmark and in Spice town.

22. Their respective wedding band stones blue (sapphaire) for him and red (ruby) for her to wear representing the other.

23. He'd joke about the idea that the only reason she sought him out was because of Vhagar's influence on her. (Vhagar was his dad's dragon before, and caraxes was her granddad's dragon)

[laurellerual]

Arya and Sansa storyswap: an exercise in imagination

Premise: I tried to speculate what might happen if Sansa manages to escape King's Landing and Arya gets stuck in the capital. I collected my thoughts on this scenario trying to make logical, credible choices that respected the characterization of the characters and the timeline of the books (the wiki was very usefull for this). I discarded all the scenarios that end in "…and then she dies horribly" because they're boring. I write with assumption that they would still remain POV characters and therefore mantain a minimum of plot armor. Like everyone, I have my biases so it's not perfect, but I tried to put myself in the most neutral mindset possible. Enjoy and let me know your thoughts. Part 1, Part 2

Part 3/3: Reunion

A Storm of Swords

Sandor and his “squire" are captured and bringed to Stoney Sept in the Riverlands. The Brotherhood without Banners takes them to Hollow Hill. Clegane is put on trial for various atrocities committed by Lannister soldiers, but he survives and is freed.

Arya is recognized by Harwin and Sansa. The two sisters reunite and remain under the "protection" of the outlaws. Because of this, the story takes a very different turn from here on.

For example, I don't think Arya would try to escape the Brotherhood so soon. As a result I don't think the Hound would be unable to kidnap the Stark girls again. However, the Hound could also decide to stay with the Brotherhood. He could plan to go to the Twins, introduce himself to Robb as Arya's savior, and ask him for a job.

So the Brotherhood proceeds as planned, they now have another valuable hostage and intend to take both girls to Lord Edmure's wedding and ransom them to their family. A group of men (like Lem, Harwin, Tom, etc) accompanies the sisters to Harroway to cross the Trident, but their journey is delayed because they find it flooded (like in Arya IX).

They reach the Twins just in time for the Red Wedding, and the outlaws manage to drag the Stark sisters away and save them. Arya and Sansa go through a complicated period of mourning but the fact of being together helps them. The two want to hold onto hope that perhaps their mother might have survived.

One night Arya has her first wolf dream in a long time: she sees Cat's body and drags it out of the river. In the morning Sansa suggests asking the men to go back and look for the woman, but Arya tells her that she's dead. As per canon Lord Beric, Thoros and the others come across the corpse and Dondarrion dies to resurrect her.

Lem's group continues their journey, this time they intend to take the girls to Lysa Arryn, but they discover that the mountain clans are bolder than ever and decide not to take the risk and return to the Riverlands.

The Stark sisters are getting impatient, Arya suggests that the two could run away and try to get to Winterfell alone. Sansa has to inform her sister that Winterfell was conquered by Theon months ago. She is devastated and abandons all plans. Lem's group returns to the Hollow Hill to discuss a new plan with Beric or perhaps to take more men as escorts before returning to the Vale.

Waiting for them in the hill, there isn't the lightning lord but Lady Stoneheart! Mother and daughters reunite.

A Feast for Crows

That's it. Final cliffhanger, sorry.

[jedimaesteryoda]

Ser Balon Swann is down in Dorne hunting down Darkstar. I think he likes the change of mission as he is hunting down a knight who hurt the innocent princess and ostensibly slew his sworn brother in place of the one given to him by Cersei.

Cersei in another one of her missteps, assigned him to the mission where Trystane is supposed to be assassinated. He is for the most part an honorable knight who defended Tyrion at his trial, and she basically made him complicit in a plot to kill a child in violation of his knightly vow to defend the weak. Balon wasn't needed to do this job, as she could have assigned it to any of the other Kingsguard like Kettleblack, Trant or Blount who would have had less qualms.

She likely ended up isolating one of her top two best Kingsguard knight. It might be another in a list of issues Balon has had with the Lannister regime. His family will join Aegon's army to fight against Tommen, and he may keep his vow to continue to defend Tommen, even against this family, but what happens when Tommen dies?

Swann was the son of a marcher lord, and Storm's End was for Aegon. Vhagar was ridden by Prince Aemond, Aegon's brother.

Balon will still want a king to serve, and Aegon may fill that niche as he will become popular and is for the most part a decent person. Arys defected to the Dornish out of love for Arianne while Balon does out of a desire for a good king to serve. It would be a dream come true at first with Aegon's seeming fairy tale come to life as it is for everyone else involved.

Tyrion grinned. "Ser Byron Swann. He was roasted for his trouble … only the dragon was Syrax, not Vhagar . . . Ser Byron's squire saw his master die, and wrote his daughter of the manner of it. His account says it was Syrax, Rhaenyra's she-dragon"

However, he will find himself embroiled in the second Dance of Dragons after Daenerys arrives to spoil the ending. Could he learn of how Arys really died by then, realizing Arianne's role? Apply it to Aegon's situation and see her as another Cersei?

I could see him striking up a friendship with Areo Hotah along the way only to learn that Areo killed his sworn brother.

Balon would fight against Tyrion, the Hand who had given him his white cloak in the first place. I could see him going up against a dragon, specifically, Daenerys's mount Drogon. Daenerys would be the prime target as it is her claim the Blacks would be pushing. Of course, he might balk at fighting against a woman. It would be akin to the man he chased down, Darkstar, who himself tried to slay a princess. It was Myrcella's mount that saved her and it may be the same for Daenerys. I could see Balon charging towards Drogon like Arys did Hotah.

A White Knight verses a Black Dragon, the actual sigil of the house he is fighting for. How ironic. Of course, he could have asked the people at Daznak's Pit how wise a decision that is. It would likely end the same way as Ser Byron's.

Thus ends Ser Balon Swann's story.

[thatscarletflycatcher]

Not to write meta about my ocs instead of writing the story itself, but I have been dwelling a lot on Percival's relationship with Avensley Hall.

Avensley Hall is a lot like Hamley Hall from Wives and Daughters, 100+ years and two world wars later. Ancestral home of small land owners, time, and lack of resources for maintenance have left it in very poor condition.

A very young Percival, in his high moments of triumph, dreamed of becoming a very famous -and rich- architect, who could, in time, bring his family home to its former beauty and splendor, and so bring more comfort and joy to his parents' old age. The war, his time on the desert campaign and later on in Italy, the death of his parents and subsequent suicidal disregard for his own life ending in the operation that disabled him physically and mentally, would have been the perfect set up for a rousing tale of strength, self reliance and determination to go from rock bottom straight to the top... had Percival been the choleric, proud, driven type. But Percival was not that man. He had, however, many other virtues: he was patient, methodical, generous, dutiful, principled.

And so he went home, after demobilization, a broken old man to a broken old home, and it was very easy for him to fall into this melancholy mood of sympathetic decay with the house itself. He was now, like it or not, "The Squire", no longer "young Percival" but Mr. Avensley; he wrapped himself in his father's clothes -as much an act of sentimentality as a product of war rationing- and set out to fill his role as best he could, without guidance or experience. Life now, he thought then, was for him a mausoleum where he was both corpse and sexton, and so he decided he would be there keeping the rotting place until he was done rotting himself. After all, how was he, tied down as he was by family duty and the mobility complications brought by the loss of his leg, to ever develop professionally? And how would he dare think of marrying, of dragging a poor woman down into his pit, where every night was a Russian roulette of insomnia and vivid nightmares?

He would have noticed the touch of silliness in this way of going about if it wasn't that he was really ill in his mind, and very isolated, as his sister had married a diplomat and gone abroad, and dear old Mrs. Andrews was a terribly serious and reserved woman, little inclined to humor or displays of affection. People in the town pitied him, and he did not like pity that wasn't his own, so he withdrew as much as he could, which only had the effect of intensifying the general pity towards him. The old ladies of Avensley, who had known him since he was a baby, were not above romanticizing him as a sort of lonely prince in a tower, and often wishing between themselves that a sweet girl bride -which they meant in the Victorian sense of young, innocent and beautiful- could be found to cure all his ills and cheer him up. How much Percival understood of this wish -which was mercifully never verbalized in his presence-, and how much it influenced his decision to further isolate, I rather not clarify.

So it is interesting when Nadine goes to live at Avensley, that she does not notice or think at first of what Percival considered a heavy-handed sympathetic metaphor of ruin in the narrative of his life. Perhaps it was because proud young men putting on brave faces was not a novelty to Nadine the way an old country house that has seen better days was, or a little wounded vanity at his apparent complete indifference towards her, or that nothing seemed to be the matter with him other than he was perhaps a bit too thin and a tad too impregnable, but she was clearly more attracted by the house at first than his owner. But then Nadine was a determined woman and she would befriend the man, and once friendship was established she started to see the likeness, but in a very different way. Percival, obsessed with light and air (we must forgive him, he is an architect after all) can only see the limitations, the constriction, the annoyances of stone and mortar and earth; Nadine, as she lets her old romanticism unsour her restless energy, sees strength, safety and warmth that has suffered the storms and survived, not unscathed, but all the same survived them.

Ultimately it is this contrast of perspective on who Percival is and who he can be that is at the crux of his part in the main conflict of the story, and an understanding that his circumstances are as much an opportunity as they are a limitation to flourishing so essential to its resolution. Just because a set of circumstances contrary to what his aspirations and plans once were is more or less forced upon him, it doesn't mean that there is nothing he can do, that all hope is lost.

The first Avensley of Avensley Hall was unwittingly wise when, in trying to draw from the Gospel maxim, wrote the Avensley family motto to be ex vetera nova, from the old, the new.

[sunnyrosewritesstuff]

I was coerced by @fantasyinallforms and @hobbityalse into doing just one more of these and honestly I think it might be my best one yet! Thank you so much to everyone who voted or supported me during this event!

Chasing Dreams

Rating: T

Warning(s): N/A

Tags: Alternate Universe - Erebor Never Fell | Kingdom of Arnor | Knights - Freeform | Knight/Squire Relationship | Canon Typical Violence | BAMF Bilbo Baggins | BAMF Thorin Oakenshield

Summary: Bilbo has been waiting for the chance to be chosen as a knight's squire for a very long time. However, being the first hobbit page does not endear him to most. So he should be ecstatic when Sir Thorin "the Oakenshield" choses him...it's just that dwarf is hard to get along with. However, it may come to be that Bilbo doesn't need Thorin as much as he needs Bilbo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Guess what Bilbo? Dwalin chose me as his squire.”

Bilbo blinked in surprise. Dwalin? The bald dwarf? Not the Oakenshield? But why would he not choose his own nephew? Bilbo didn’t have time to get his thoughts in order before there he was. The legend standing before him with a hand on his chin assessing Bilbo.

“So this is the hobbit.” He marveled as he began to circle him. “Looks more like a grocer than a squire.”

Bilbo flinched before glaring up at the dwarf.

“I assure you, I am completely qualified.”

“ Over qualified from what I’m to understand.”

“All the better.” Bilbo grit through his teeth.

“Or made worse from being so long out of these walls.”

Bilbo has never had to defend himself before. Usually, he is ignored completely by the knights that come in. He couldn’t decide if this was better or not, but he had a strong desire for Thorin to pick him so he could prove him wrong.

For more of this chapter, please click the AO3 link above!

[aimportantdragoncollector]

I give you the title "The Dragon's Quest" for the Three Weeks of Trioholders' game!

Dragons my beloved!

As a baby dragon, Yoichi dreamed of being a knight and going on quests. However All for One always told Yoichi that dragons weren't allowed to be the heroes of stories, and besides, Yoichi was the runt of the litter and too weak to leave his cave. After he grew up Yoichi finally learned how to turn himself into a human and snuck out to become a knight. However his magic isn't very strong so he still has to hide his scaly tail.

Yoichi finds knights Second and Third and begs them to let him come along on their quests even if he has to be their servant. Both of them are shocked at how naive Yoichi seems. They take him along partly to look after him.

Second is a prince in disguise and Third is his betrothed, going on one last quest before Second gets crowned as king. Absolutely everyone knows this except Yoichi.

Third warms to Yoichi first and agrees to let him be a squire. Second acts annoyed but secretly likes Yoichi. When the trio is sent after a giant, Yoichi surprises them by negotiating with the giant and striking a truce with the town instead of killing anyone. Both of them are impressed. They agree to knight Yoichi.

All for One followed after his brother in secret to protect him (cough to sabotage him.) He's not happy to find his dear little brother getting along with two humans--and even more shocked that Yoichi seems to have fallen in love with the fools. All for One interrupts Yoichi's knighting ceremony by setting fire to the castle and revealing Yoichi's tail, framing him for the crime.

Second and Third refuse to believe it despite heavy pressure and investigate to prove Yoichi's innocence. Yoichi gets granted the title of Royal Dragon Knight and marries both Second and Third. All for One doesn't get an invitation to the wedding for being a douchebag.

(Reminder that all of these are free to use in my Three Weeks of Trioholders event.)

[crazycoke-addict]

The Character Assassination of Jaime Lannister

I've been thinking a lot about Game of Thrones and, more specifically, one of my favourite characters, Jaime Lannister. Jaime Lannister is a character whom you aren't fond of. He has an incestuous relationship with his sister, Cersei. He is rude to people whom he comes across like Ned Stark, and he has an arrogance to him. However, as the book progresses, you'll notice another side that he doesn't show because he plays a part. He is dubbed as the kingslayer for murdering King Aerys II Targaryen, where we later find out, he did it because King Aerys was going to burn down kingslanding killing innocent people in the process.

The show seems to be on the right check to make Jaime Lannister's redemption arc to be the best redemption arc you follow. While they did end up ruining it by making him return to Cersei. There's one specific scene that definitely ruins any growth we had on Jaime, and that is the rape scene between Jaime and Cersei.

In Season 4 Episode 3 "Breaker of Chains," Jaime forces himself on Cersei in front of their son, Joffrey’s corpse. During the scene, Cersei says no, and it's not right multiple times. Now, what's so upsetting about this is that in the books, it is all consensual. I think they changed it because Cersei is a bit more level-headed in the show, and yet it completely ruins and assassinated the character of Jaime Lannister.

In the aftermath, it doesn't really do anything for their characters going forward. The reason why I feel so disingenuous and disrespectful to Jaime Lannister is because throughout his POVs, he is shown to have guilt and a soft spot for women who have experienced with rape whether it happened with a random stranger or their husband.

When Jaime became a member of the Kingsguard. He witnessed a lot of horrific things that King Aerys did, and the one that Jaime haunts the most is how he felt so defenceless when hearing King Aerys abuse and rape his wife, Queen Rhaella. Jaime was so confused and empathetic because, as a member of the Kingsguard, you are sworn to protect the Queen as well, but because there's hierarchy. The King is allowed to get away with abusing the Queen.

Jaime is also haunted by what happened to Elia Martell. At one part, in the books. Jaime has a dream where he visited by Rhaegar Targaryen, who was married to Elia Martell. Dream Rhaegar blames Jaime for leaving Elia and her children defenceless when the mountain killed the children and Elia as well as raped her. Which was ordered by Jaime's father, Tywin Lannister. However, it's not Jaime's fault even though he believes it is. Jaime wishes that he was there since The Mountain wouldn't be able to kill Jaime unless Tywin says so. Jaime couldn't disobey the king's order.

Another victim that Jaime felt that he failed is Tysha. Tysha was Tyrion's first wife and first love. When their father, Tywin, found out about it. He had his guards raped Tysha while making Tyrion watch. After that, he had the guards paid her in silver coins. Throughout his life, Tyrion believe that Tysha was just a whore only didn't really loved him and just wanted his gold. It's not until after Jaime helped Tyrion that he decided to tell him the truth about Tysha.

This dark secret felt like a heavy weight that Jaime had to carry throughout his life, and It's one of most traumatic things that Tyrion had to experience . Not to mention, Tysha is another victim that Jaime felt he failed. After telling Tyrion and the two have a falling out. Jaime decides to go to Riverlanda and try to be a noble and just person.

At one part, he saved a girl named Pia from being raped by one of the mountain's men by ordering Ser Ilyn Payne to chop the man's head off. Jaime noticed his squire seems to like the girl, so Jaime encouraged him to take Pia as a lover by being kind and gentle to her. The squire name is Josmyn Peckledon, who is known to have good martial instincts, meaning that Pia will be in good hands and protected.

Another character he saved from being raped even though they start off on the wrong foot is Brienne of Tarth. During that time, him and Brienna disliked each other. It's possible that he was having flashbacks of Rhaella Targaryen, Elia Martell, and Tysha. How they were raped by powerful men and how he believed he failed them.

The raped scene shouldn't have been made because it's assassinates the character of Jaime and his redemption arc.

[sunderingrivers]

just a thought #6

I haven't done one of these in a while, and that's because I wanted to get the recent batch of queens who never were done first; because I think they exemplify the absolute clusterfuck that was that generation of royals. Daeron and Myriah had four children, who all married, and a subsequent eleven grandchildren, who all married (with the exception of matarys and aemon). You'd think the lineage would be more secure than ever, and in fact, Daeron worried there were too many viable Targaryen heirs.

However, of those fifteen direct descendants, nine died either in terrible accidents or illness, of which most were male. Five were described as either sickly and withdrawn, or outright mad, whilst three who were married either had no children or those they did have were stillborn. Almost all had some sort of terrible incident in their life, ranging from Maekar and Aelora accidentally killing their respective brothers to Aerion literally chugging wildfire to try and become a dragon.

Out of all fifteen prospective heirs, the one who inherited was the fourth son of a fourth son; and yet, he was named Aegon, had a cradle egg (unhatched), had the typical Valyrian features in contrast to many of those further up the line of succession and was half Dayne. He was already quick-witted and compassionate as a child, travelled across Westeros as a squire to a hedge knight, is widely theorised to have had dragon dreams, and married a Blackwood for love and had five children.

If I were the suspicious type, I'd say Bloodraven used his position and power to knock those he deemed unworthy or insufficient out of the line of succession. I'd say that he wanted the strongest, most typically Targaryen, dragon-reborn candidate who just so happens to have wed a Blackwood and merged three of the most magically potent lines in Westeros (Dayne / Targaryen / Blackwood).

I'd say that thematically, Aegon rejecting these concepts, as well as banishing Bloodraven for murdering the Blackfyres who came in peace, is emblematic of him attempting to break away from that master scheme. Him trying to have his children wed the other Great Houses to create peace, shielding them from the consequences of instead marrying for love, and showing profound and actionable empathy for the small folk all demonstrate a cathartic and heroic push back against the schemes of magic and blood purity.

And the greatest tragedy is that in the end, his dynasty and the feudal system eroded his will and sanity until he desperately tried to bring back dragons, and died trying, killing many of the symbols of his grounded nature with him. Dunk the Tall, Duncan the Small who wed sweet and lowborn Jenny; and in the end, the realm was consigned to incest and madness again. First through Jaehaerys II, and then through Aerys the Mad King.

[magic-is-something-we-create]

LAKIA K'RON - The Millennium Saga [Firebreathers ; Echoseers ; Goddess-Touched]

[Lakia's] gaze falls back to the coals, her head ducking just enough for the shadows to hide her expression. In the low light, the scarring on her face looks almost like magma. “Not much to tell,” she finally says, bitterness caking her tongue. “[Actaea] broke my spine before I had a chance to feel any of it, and twisted the knife anyway. Not a great way to wake up, that.” Guilt punches any lingering curiosity from my mind swifter than I can take a breath. For asking, for thinking, for not giving her an easy way out. I can’t find a single thing to say other than a weak, “I’m sorry.” She scoffs, meets my eyes. “You know, first time I ever heard her say that was after I got back up.” Her unscarred lips twist into a smirk that only ignites the anger behind her eyes. “Too bad the part of me that would’ve forgiven her was the one that stayed dead.”

Basics:

She/her - Cis girl Demiromantic Lesbian - 18 [~20 on Earth] Rill Ehlf - Plant Mage Dyslexic; ADHD- an CPTSD-coded.

Where she begins:

We first meet Lakia when she declares that she's commandeered her father's ship while he was away, demoting him to second mate and promoting Isa to first. That playful moment is over quickly, however, when she meets the rest of the party and immediately resorts to insults and vulgarities that only barely veil her awkwardness in the face of peers.

For a while, Ember assumes that's all she is: a vaguely abrasive, awkward girl with some anger issues and dreams of glory.

And then they see her in battle, and it chills them to their core.

She sinks a ship with a kelp-made kraken. She leaps into the fray with vicious glee instead of the desperation of the others. She kills without flinching, and she's still a child.

Soon, they realize that glory is not her dream.

Vengeance is.

What she finds herself confronting:

Her hatred for Actaea has only managed to strengthen in the months since she stole away from Impalfahr in the dead of night to follow her brother and father in exile. And though she fears her grandmother as any sane person should, eventually, her slights against family and the world at large become too large for Lakia to care about that fear anymore.

And if no one else is willing to deal with the impossible problem, well, she's already done the impossible twice.

She'll find a way to do it again.

And the stories they tell of her will be incredible.

Important connections:

Family: K'Ron Actaea (grandmother), Elar (father) and Isa. Rillmother Veratrum (32nd generation).

Friends: Lu'Syr Typha (she wants to be a Whiptail Knight like him, someday); eventually Dusk Timber, Quartz, Slate, and Iggy Meywin.

Rival: K'Syr Dawn (for taking her place as Lu'Syr Typha's squire)

Enemies: K'Ron Actaea (she wants Actaea dead more than anyone alive), Tieling of Nimia (for never noticing what Actaea did to them), every single person who helped Actaea (she has a list)

MUSIC

Themes - El Dorado by Thomas Bergersen and Two Steps From Hell, Hymn of the High Seas by Antti Martikainen, Iron Fable by Pauli Hausmann

Vibes - There Was Time by Koethe, Warbringer by TheFatRat, Everen Maxwell, and Lindsey Stirling, parents by YUNGBLUD

[defira85]

I am stopping myself from ordering more BG3 commissions until after I've seen the surgeon in case money needs to be spent on surgery so HERE IS A RAMBLE ABOUT THE FAMILY ANSURAN aka spoilers for Keep Telling Me To Breathe

Flynn Ansuran. Kass and Enver's firstborn. Precious miracle child, long after Kass had accepted that she would never have children. A slight and subtle intervention on Torm's part, because the gods are never not meddling in the lives of mortals, even with the best of intentions.

Born with Ansur's copper scales, a reminder of Kass' pact with the undead dragon to protect the city, he is nonetheless quite reserved in his use of magic. He does not have his father's knack for charm and manipulation, nor does he have his mother's sense of flamboyance and cunning. He's a sensible, quiet boy, and there are jokes amongst the Tadfools that a mistake was made and they've actually ended up with Heron's child, as he takes after his uncle strikingly so.

He does however have the same sense of rigid determination and dogged perseverance of his parents, and he takes his mother's stories about Ansur and the Heart of the Gate so, so seriously. He takes to the sword and shield, and he follows Knight Commander Tavares around like a lost puppy. He's a squire by his tenth birthday. He's an officer in the Flaming Fists by his eighteenth. By the time Kass feels ready to retire and pass off the Heart of the Gate to Flynn, he's a fully fledged paladin, Oath of the Crown: "The Oath of the Crown is sworn to the ideals of civilization, be it the spirit of a nation, fealty to a sovereign, or service to a deity of law and rulership. The paladins who swear this oath dedicate themselves to serving society and, in particular, the laws that hold society together." Flynn Ansuran, Heart of the Gate, serves Baldur's Gate, and there are none who love this city more than he does

Orin Ansuran. Kass and Enver's secondborn. Capricious first daughter, she bears so many traits of her namesake, as well as some of the more questionable traits of her parents. Ambitious. Self confident. Arrogant - a toddler who absolutely knows what the word no means, and absolutely does not accept it under any circumstances unless she's the one using it.

She bears the same draconic sorcery as Flynn, but she takes to it like a duck to water. Magic comes as easily to her as breathing, but that's not enough for little Orin - she does not simply wish to have magic, she wishes to conquer magic, the same brazen confidence that was her father's downfall. At the age of seven, and with significant help from Gale, they are able to convince the Blackstaff Academy to take her in as an apprentice despite her incredibly young age, and she begins training as a wizard. She spends the school semesters living in Waterdeep with Gale and Rhyme and their children, and returns to Baldur's Gate for the holidays. If you had to put a label on her, it'd probably be a multiclassed sorceress/wizard with draconic sorcery and Order of Scribes subclasses, but you probably shouldn't try to label her

Beautiful to the point of disbelief as an adult, Orin Ansuran knows exactly how attractive she is, and she knows she's definitely smarter than you, and she's absolutely insufferable. She is voraciously loyal, almost blindly so, and sometimes her intense fixations remind Enver very much of a younger Kassara. He would never dream of saying that out loud in front of the two of them

Hope Ansuran. The almost-didn't-make-it miracle third. Hope is the darling of the family, hopelessly (hah!) spoiled, endlessly doted on, and incredibly mischievous. She is the balance between her brother's stoic sense of duty and her sister's arrogant notions of grandeur. She is eager to learn, and eager to play, and just sees life as a grand and happy adventure

Perhaps it was inevitable that she would be drawn to Enver's tinkerings, given that her siblings were away from home through much of her childhood and she gravitated to watching her father in his workshop. Enver crafts a little mechanised go-kart, essentially a kiddie sized chariot, just big enough for little Hope and Sceleritas to stand in as it wheels through the city streets, and the two of them absolutely menace the population of Baldur's Gate with their hooligan antics. It's impossible to stay mad at Hope Ansuran, though, she just radiates a timeless joy that you can't help but smile at in return

She tags along endlessly behind her mother and father, soaking up everything from them. Like Flynn, her draconic sorcery is useful, but not her main interest, and she follows after Enver to become an artificer. She builds her first Steel Defender pet by the time she's nine, and becomes the finest Battle Smith in all of the Gate, even above the Gondians. And while Flynn is automatically afforded a title and a place in parliament as the Heart of the Gate, Hope networks aggressively and makes her way into politics on her own merits, and one day will serve the Gate as one of the Grand Dukes. Oh, and just to finally set old wounds to rest, she marries Hypatia Ravengard, daughter of Wyll, Karlach and Violet Ravengard - nothing better than the new generation healing the hurts of the past