maybeiwasjustjade

[maybeiwasjustjade]

Thinking of an AU where Aemond is the King’s only son in a sea of daughters. The Greens have their (one) claimant, but it is weak when his birth near coincided with Jacaerys. One cannot think of the king’s only son without mentioning the Heir’s Heir.

And while Vermax hatched in Jacaerys’ cradle, Aemond remains the only one of Viserys’ blood to not have a dragon. The King’s firstborn and only son, and he’s nothing more than a mummer’s farce.

His mother loves him but fears for his existence. His grandfather is disappointed in his failure to uphold the legacy of his blood. His sister does not find him a threat, simply amusing—for what is there to fear from a dragonless prince, a little Tower in a house filled with dragons? The queen’s other children were daughters whose claim came after her and hers; three dragons they may bond, but Rhaenyra is young still. She can have more than enough sons to bind her sisters to her.

Aemond is seven when Vhagar follows the Lade Laena’s corpse to settle on Driftmark shores. Seven, when the only dragon that can make him a threat to the heir becomes available. Seven when he realizes that unless makes himself worthy of the throne, he’s far more useless than all his sisters combined. Princesses were alliances; a landless, inheritance-less prince was worth nothing.

Aemond is seven when Vhagar is his. For one brief, shining, moment Aemond was free. He was king. Then—

A squabble between peers. Insults spewed carelessly between family. A hidden knife. And a boy—a prince—dead at their feet, a blade cut cleanly through. He bled out before they were able to get the Maesters.

The King’s only son is dead. And the Queen rages.

Come Hell or High Water, Rhaenyra will never sit upon the throne. Not when it was bought with the life of a child of seven.

(In this world, Rhaenyra never had to ‘kill’ Laenor to secure her crown. The Greens have no more claimants, and three little girls with only one adult dragon were no danger to her. Nor would it seem, another child born to the king anytime soon.

Viserys would never harm Lucerys the way Aemond was hurt. Not an eye or even a hand taken, and no threats of war and armies of the Faith deterred the king from his decision. Lucerys may be a kinslayer, but he is one of the blood. Exile to be raised under Maesters was the only agreement king and queen could come to; Lucerys will never inherit any thrones or land, but come his 16th nameday, his fate will be determined: freedom, the Wall, or a Sept.

In a war of thrones, the Greens have already lost. So the queen leaves. Takes her daughters to Oldtown, where at least they would be spared the reminders of their brother’s murder. The king has no choice but to agree, for the queen and the princess can never be allowed to live freely under the same roof. His one condition is this: that his daughters remain princesses of the realm, and for all their freedoms, their marriages are for him to approve.

Eleven long years pass, and Lucerys’ accursed nameday is upon them. The Heir’s Heir and his new betrothed must travel the realm in a progress, to make themselves known to the people. But there is one kingdom that none have been able to breach: the Reach. Ravens had flown the moment Aemond Targaryen’s corpse was brought into High Tide’s halls, his nephew declared a kinslayer. And there is nothing more accursed than a kinslayer.

And so every keep and every door had closed in the Reach. No spies able to breach Oldtown’s great walls. Not even those of House Tyrell would speak, every rumor and whisper mummed by the might of dragons enclosed within Oldtown. Only one had arrived to King’s Landing: rumors of Vhagar’s great wings shadowing the Hightower. House Targaryen may have been content to sit idly on their thumbs, but Alicent Hightower is nothing but efficient. She will burn their precious dynasty to the ground.

Oldtown had not stood quiet. Within its great citadel, dragons are nurtured and raised to dare. To defy. For Alicent Hightower’s daughters may bear Reacher names, but they will forever be heirs to the dragon. And dragons burn what they cannot cultivate.

Alaeyne Targaryen is no dreamer. She is no Helaena, gentle and strange, with her all-seeing eyes and dutiful heart. Nor is she Daenara, who smiles as brightly as the sun and a heart so forgiving it will lead to her slaughter. No, Alaeyne is defiant, a purveyor of freedom. All resentment and wildness. She will grow wings and she will survive.

Helaena Targaryen dreams of scorching sun and mischievous brown eyes. Where wings do not shadow what would not bow. Rats scurry beneath the boards, while spools of green and black break and burn everything in sight. Ashes will be all that remains, and she is left wondering “was it ever so serious?”

Daenara cannot remember her brother. She was but a girl of three when Aemond’s body was burnt and scattered. All she remembers is loss, and the way the specter of her only brother haunts every hall and corner, and in all the spaces left between her sisters. She does not remember Aemond, but she does not recall her father either. It is a boon to forget, Alaeyne would remind her. All Daenara will know of dragons is her own, and that is all that matters.

Jacaerys may be handsome, but he is no more than a distraction. A pretty boy sent to charm lords into bending; a platter served to wet the appetite before a grand feast. But even a handsome face cannot erase the stains already attached to his future reign. Bastard, they whisper. Brother of a kinslayer, they scream in taverns. Even a Valyrian bride cannot hide the stench of doom clouding every inch of the boy’s figure.

Alaeyne would rather have her Sunfyre devour him whole than consider his guileless words. Helaena cared not for his presence, for red and gold will tumble and yellow birds burn under their gaze. And Daenara—well, her mother always did say she had too good a heart for war.

Tessarion’s just trying to escape the world’s worst mating attempt.)

[maybeiwasjustjade]

Thinking of an AU where Aemond is the King’s only son in a sea of daughters. The Greens have their (one) claimant, but it is weak when his birth near coincided with Jacaerys. One cannot think of the king’s only son without mentioning the Heir’s Heir.

And while Vermax hatched in Jacaerys’ cradle, Aemond remains the only one of Viserys’ blood to not have a dragon. The King’s firstborn and only son, and he’s nothing more than a mummer’s farce.

His mother loves him but fears for his existence. His grandfather is disappointed in his failure to uphold the legacy of his blood. His sister does not find him a threat, simply amusing—for what is there to fear from a dragonless prince, a little Tower in a house filled with dragons? The queen’s other children were daughters whose claim came after her and hers; three dragons they may bond, but Rhaenyra is young still. She can have more than enough sons to bind her sisters to her.

Aemond is seven when Vhagar follows the Lade Laena’s corpse to settle on Driftmark shores. Seven, when the only dragon that can make him a threat to the heir becomes available. Seven when he realizes that unless makes himself worthy of the throne, he’s far more useless than all his sisters combined. Princesses were alliances; a landless, inheritance-less prince was worth nothing.

Aemond is seven when Vhagar is his. For one brief, shining, moment Aemond was free. He was king. Then—

A squabble between peers. Insults spewed carelessly between family. A hidden knife. And a boy—a prince—dead at their feet, a blade cut cleanly through. He bled out before they were able to get the Maesters.

The King’s only son is dead. And the Queen rages.

Come Hell or High Water, Rhaenyra will never sit upon the throne. Not when it was bought with the life of a child of seven.

(In this world, Rhaenyra never had to ‘kill’ Laenor to secure her crown. The Greens have no more claimants, and three little girls with only one adult dragon were no danger to her. Nor would it seem, another child born to the king anytime soon.

Viserys would never harm Lucerys the way Aemond was hurt. Not an eye or even a hand taken, and no threats of war and armies of the Faith deterred the king from his decision. Lucerys may be a kinslayer, but he is one of the blood. Exile to be raised under Maesters was the only agreement king and queen could come to; Lucerys will never inherit any thrones or land, but come his 16th nameday, his fate will be determined: freedom, the Wall, or a Sept.

In a war of thrones, the Greens have already lost. So the queen leaves. Takes her daughters to Oldtown, where at least they would be spared the reminders of their brother’s murder. The king has no choice but to agree, for the queen and the princess can never be allowed to live freely under the same roof. His one condition is this: that his daughters remain princesses of the realm, and for all their freedoms, their marriages are for him to approve.

Eleven long years pass, and Lucerys’ accursed nameday is upon them. The Heir’s Heir and his new betrothed must travel the realm in a progress, to make themselves known to the people. But there is one kingdom that none have been able to breach: the Reach. Ravens had flown the moment Aemond Targaryen’s corpse was brought into High Tide’s halls, his nephew declared a kinslayer. And there is nothing more accursed than a kinslayer.

And so every keep and every door had closed in the Reach. No spies able to breach Oldtown’s great walls. Not even those of House Tyrell would speak, every rumor and whisper mummed by the might of dragons enclosed within Oldtown. Only one had arrived to King’s Landing: rumors of Vhagar’s great wings shadowing the Hightower. House Targaryen may have been content to sit idly on their thumbs, but Alicent Hightower is nothing but efficient. She will burn their precious dynasty to the ground.

Oldtown had not stood quiet. Within its great citadel, dragons are nurtured and raised to dare. To defy. For Alicent Hightower’s daughters may bear Reacher names, but they will forever be heirs to the dragon. And dragons burn what they cannot cultivate.

Alaeyne Targaryen is no dreamer. She is no Helaena, gentle and strange, with her all-seeing eyes and dutiful heart. Nor is she Daenara, who smiles as brightly as the sun and a heart so forgiving it will lead to her slaughter. No, Alaeyne is defiant, a purveyor of freedom. All resentment and wildness. She will grow wings and she will survive.

Helaena Targaryen dreams of scorching sun and mischievous brown eyes. Where wings do not shadow what would not bow. Rats scurry beneath the boards, while spools of green and black break and burn everything in sight. Ashes will be all that remains, and she is left wondering “was it ever so serious?”

Daenara cannot remember her brother. She was but a girl of three when Aemond’s body was burnt and scattered. All she remembers is loss, and the way the specter of her only brother haunts every hall and corner, and in all the spaces left between her sisters. She does not remember Aemond, but she does not recall her father either. It is a boon to forget, Alaeyne would remind her. All Daenara will know of dragons is her own, and that is all that matters.

Jacaerys may be handsome, but he is no more than a distraction. A pretty boy sent to charm lords into bending; a platter served to wet the appetite before a grand feast. But even a handsome face cannot erase the stains already attached to his future reign. Bastard, they whisper. Brother of a kinslayer, they scream in taverns. Even a Valyrian bride cannot hide the stench of doom clouding every inch of the boy’s figure.

Alaeyne would rather have her Sunfyre devour him whole than consider his guileless words. Helaena cared not for his presence, for red and gold will tumble and yellow birds burn under their gaze. And Daenara—well, her mother always did say she had too good a heart for war.

Tessarion’s just trying to escape the world’s worst mating attempt.)

[maybeiwasjustjade]

Favorite headcanon is that Theo skipped a grade, and is actually a year younger than the core four (late 95-mid 96 instead of 94/95). So really, he’s calling everyone kid even though he’s younger than half of them 😂.

Liam, who’s only a few months younger, is extremely offended over this.

theo is that nineteen year old that calls everyone that is just one day younger than him "kid"

theo: *sigh* listen, kid...

[maybeiwasjustjade]

THANK YOU 👏👏👏. You get it!!!

But fr, I do think it was, at its core, revenge. Pure, simple revenge against Theo for being the only person to actually defeat the McCall Pack for a time. And for them—who had wins after wins after wins, no matter the loss? Oh, it must have irked them to high heavens that another teenager was the one that did it.

Not Peter or Deucalion or Gerard. Not even the Beast or the Dread Doctors.

A 17 year old boy destroyed the McCall Pack from the inside out, and he did it in less than two months.

He read them all to filth, weighed their egos against each other, played their paranoia and frustrations, and threw a bomb that blew them up. Theo managed to separate them all, turning them against each other so quickly in the span of less than 10 episodes, that it took episodes to get the Pack back together.

And I think, ultimately, it’s why they hated him so much. To them, it was personal. Insidious espionage. He hurt them, so Theo had to suffer thousandfold the punishment for making them realize they were, in fact, fallible to something as simple as a teenager with an agenda. And the funny thing is: it wasn’t even personal of Theo’s side, not really.

All the other villains wanted something from Scott or the others. To use him as a weapon or a shield, for revenge. Theo did it for his own sense of survival, self-serving and clinical. And that’s what ultimately made him so awful to them. But at some point, they should’ve realized what they did was as wrong as what he did to them.

The way Teen Wolf (and subsequently the McCall Pack and Parents) treated Theo is probably one of the most interesting dynamics in the whole show.

And by interesting, I meant downright hypocritical .

Because sure, we can’t kill or plot against people, but hey! Let’s also have the main characters constantly work with adults who did in fact hurt them, torture them, and even murdered them! Let’s have other murderers running around teenagers without problem. Or have them date almost murderers and actual murderers. We’ll even hand out second chances and thirds like candy on halloween!

Allison. Chris Argent. Peter Hale. Aiden. Ethan. Deucalion. Hell, half the McCall Pack at this point.

But hey, we draw the line at Theo fucking Raeken.

Let’s start with Theo’s vague childhood and the events leading up to his the Dread Doctors taking him. The story itself is so nonsensical that it’s a wonder we never actually got the whole true story.

1. We know there must’ve been something wrong with Theo’s health from a young age. No child would believe his sister wanted to give him her heart unless that child has a potentially soon-to-be fatal heart disease.

2. Teen Theo is very different from baby Theo. Enough that Stiles was able to guess that teen Theo wanted something from them. If baby Theo was a burgeoning psychopath or sociopath, Stiles would have mentioned it. He didn’t; baby Theo must’ve been a normal little kid before the Dread Doctors got their hands on him

3. Tara’s death. This happened around 4th grade. We know he was nine. Valack insisted that he was ten, but Theo himself admitted the Doctors were already manipulating him by the age of nine. We don’t know how long it was before that they started whispering in his ears.

4. Theo’s parents must’ve been quite absent. All the other Chimaera subjects were kids that were taken because no one would notice them gone for long periods of time. A nine year old going missing is a lot more obvious than a bunch of 15-16 year olds. So they must’ve manipulated him either during sleep time, or after school. Either way: where the heck were his parents?

Theo might be a good liar, but I don’t believe for a second he killed Tara because he wanted to. Or of his own free will. The Dread Doctors got into his head and manipulated him into doing it by focusing on his desperation to live.

A nine year old boy is abducted and tortured into a living science lab experiment. He spends the next 8 or so years being their only success. He’s exposed constantly to death and blood and torture. He’s raised to be the perfect spy, and was probably tortured into mastering his tells. Remember: at 17, Theo had more control over his shift and powers than even most adults. He was able to hide and manipulate his chemosignals. He was able to keep his heart steady despite lying constantly. Body language, eyes, tone—all manipulated to such a degree even Malia was fooled.

That is not a talent that comes naturally. That is not something a teenager should be able to do, not to mention do it so well he was able to manipulate so many shifters at once. That is something you could be trained and tortured into doing, though.

So you get a traumatized, brainwashed baby spy with murderous tendencies, who is self-serving to a detriment because he spent nearly a decade under the thumb of murderous scientists who could kill him anytime they deemed him no longer necessary. I’m not surprised Theo ended up the way he did: no one lives true that without accepting the need to do the worst possible things to survive.

What I don’t understand is what makes Theo so different from all the other antagonists/anti-heroes/villains that the McCall Pack considers him irredeemable and thus deserving of death.

They forgave Allison for Boyd and Erica and Isaac.

They accepted Chris Argent and his history of spilling innocent blood.

They let Peter live and worked with him after his return in S2. After S4.

Meredith Blake literally got people killed via a deadpool.

Deucalion was healed and allowed to go free despite the carnage he wrought in his revenge.

Nobody hunted down Gerard after needing his help in S5. Or made sure he was indisposed.

Aiden and Ethan were allowed to walk free.

So why Theo?

Kira sent him to hell. The entire McCall Pack stood there and did nothing while he was killed, even when he begged for help. Malia constantly threatens to kill him without remorse or care. Scott told Liam to put him back underground, essentially killing him again.

Oh, but this is the same pack that hands out second chances like candy! Who refuse to take lives or even consider it a possibility. Who works with murderers and killers without issue as long as it’s needed, with far less protest than they did Theo in 6A.

Or is because Theo’s the only one that succeeded, and they can’t accept they lost? This miraculous, spunky, rag-tag pack of teenagers who somehow survived against all odds…lost miserably to a teenager their age.

Even the adults showed more disgust and disdain towards Theo than, again, the literal adults who’ve hurt and killed kids before. You never saw Stilinski threaten anyone the way he did Theo, did you?

Or is it because unlike everyone else, Theo couldn’t really be manipulated? No loved ones or best friends or exes and lovers; no parents or sister alive to be used against him. He had no bridges to be burned, was already operating like a dead man walking.

I just find it funny that Theo had to stay dead and gone, but Peter was placed in Eichen and Gerard in a care home.

[maybeiwasjustjade]

Sending someone to hell without knowing what it is and regretting it deeply later, is such a Scott McCall thing to do lmao. Like, I don’t think the Pack would have done it if they knew the details, or they’d be the biggest bunch of hypocrites in the whole show.

“We don’t kill!” —> “We murdered someone accidentally because no one bothered to read the fine print :( .”

The way Teen Wolf (and subsequently the McCall Pack and Parents) treated Theo is probably one of the most interesting dynamics in the whole show.

And by interesting, I meant downright hypocritical .

Because sure, we can’t kill or plot against people, but hey! Let’s also have the main characters constantly work with adults who did in fact hurt them, torture them, and even murdered them! Let’s have other murderers running around teenagers without problem. Or have them date almost murderers and actual murderers. We’ll even hand out second chances and thirds like candy on halloween!

Allison. Chris Argent. Peter Hale. Aiden. Ethan. Deucalion. Hell, half the McCall Pack at this point.

But hey, we draw the line at Theo fucking Raeken.

Let’s start with Theo’s vague childhood and the events leading up to his the Dread Doctors taking him. The story itself is so nonsensical that it’s a wonder we never actually got the whole true story.

1. We know there must’ve been something wrong with Theo’s health from a young age. No child would believe his sister wanted to give him her heart unless that child has a potentially soon-to-be fatal heart disease.

2. Teen Theo is very different from baby Theo. Enough that Stiles was able to guess that teen Theo wanted something from them. If baby Theo was a burgeoning psychopath or sociopath, Stiles would have mentioned it. He didn’t; baby Theo must’ve been a normal little kid before the Dread Doctors got their hands on him

3. Tara’s death. This happened around 4th grade. We know he was nine. Valack insisted that he was ten, but Theo himself admitted the Doctors were already manipulating him by the age of nine. We don’t know how long it was before that they started whispering in his ears.

4. Theo’s parents must’ve been quite absent. All the other Chimaera subjects were kids that were taken because no one would notice them gone for long periods of time. A nine year old going missing is a lot more obvious than a bunch of 15-16 year olds. So they must’ve manipulated him either during sleep time, or after school. Either way: where the heck were his parents?

Theo might be a good liar, but I don’t believe for a second he killed Tara because he wanted to. Or of his own free will. The Dread Doctors got into his head and manipulated him into doing it by focusing on his desperation to live.

A nine year old boy is abducted and tortured into a living science lab experiment. He spends the next 8 or so years being their only success. He’s exposed constantly to death and blood and torture. He’s raised to be the perfect spy, and was probably tortured into mastering his tells. Remember: at 17, Theo had more control over his shift and powers than even most adults. He was able to hide and manipulate his chemosignals. He was able to keep his heart steady despite lying constantly. Body language, eyes, tone—all manipulated to such a degree even Malia was fooled.

That is not a talent that comes naturally. That is not something a teenager should be able to do, not to mention do it so well he was able to manipulate so many shifters at once. That is something you could be trained and tortured into doing, though.

So you get a traumatized, brainwashed baby spy with murderous tendencies, who is self-serving to a detriment because he spent nearly a decade under the thumb of murderous scientists who could kill him anytime they deemed him no longer necessary. I’m not surprised Theo ended up the way he did: no one lives true that without accepting the need to do the worst possible things to survive.

What I don’t understand is what makes Theo so different from all the other antagonists/anti-heroes/villains that the McCall Pack considers him irredeemable and thus deserving of death.

They forgave Allison for Boyd and Erica and Isaac.

They accepted Chris Argent and his history of spilling innocent blood.

They let Peter live and worked with him after his return in S2. After S4.

Meredith Blake literally got people killed via a deadpool.

Deucalion was healed and allowed to go free despite the carnage he wrought in his revenge.

Nobody hunted down Gerard after needing his help in S5. Or made sure he was indisposed.

Aiden and Ethan were allowed to walk free.

So why Theo?

Kira sent him to hell. The entire McCall Pack stood there and did nothing while he was killed, even when he begged for help. Malia constantly threatens to kill him without remorse or care. Scott told Liam to put him back underground, essentially killing him again.

Oh, but this is the same pack that hands out second chances like candy! Who refuse to take lives or even consider it a possibility. Who works with murderers and killers without issue as long as it’s needed, with far less protest than they did Theo in 6A.

Or is because Theo’s the only one that succeeded, and they can’t accept they lost? This miraculous, spunky, rag-tag pack of teenagers who somehow survived against all odds…lost miserably to a teenager their age.

Even the adults showed more disgust and disdain towards Theo than, again, the literal adults who’ve hurt and killed kids before. You never saw Stilinski threaten anyone the way he did Theo, did you?

Or is it because unlike everyone else, Theo couldn’t really be manipulated? No loved ones or best friends or exes and lovers; no parents or sister alive to be used against him. He had no bridges to be burned, was already operating like a dead man walking.

I just find it funny that Theo had to stay dead and gone, but Peter was placed in Eichen and Gerard in a care home.

[maybeiwasjustjade]

The thing with the Skinwalker Prison/Hellscape is: where the hell did the McCall Pack think they were sending Theo? Did they think it was just some kind of purgatory coma, where it was endless darkness and Theo was just…stuck there?

Because they showed zero to no interest or care that they straight up killed him, or at the very least sent him somewhere to be tortured for months on end. Which, is just not very chivalrous of them huh. Kira sends a teenager to hell without once even thinking about what Hell meant or even asking the Skinwalkers, and Scott stood by and watched along with everyone else. And again, they didn’t even know or care what hell was, only that they wanted Theo gone. So they did something without considering the consequences, again.

To threaten to send him back, to tell him that he deserved to rot down there, without even once asking Theo or wondering what Hell was to him is just—

It makes them naive beyond measure. And downright imbecilic.

Because what does it mean, that as penance for his crimes against you (The Pack: Scott’s temporary death, Lydia’s coma and incarceration, etc), you sent a teenager to be killed in deep terror cyclically every few minutes for four months? Without once even sparing him a single thought, or what your actions might’ve done to him?

600k deaths give or take. When does it stop being justice and becomes revenge and murder?

The way Teen Wolf (and subsequently the McCall Pack and Parents) treated Theo is probably one of the most interesting dynamics in the whole show.

And by interesting, I meant downright hypocritical .

Because sure, we can’t kill or plot against people, but hey! Let’s also have the main characters constantly work with adults who did in fact hurt them, torture them, and even murdered them! Let’s have other murderers running around teenagers without problem. Or have them date almost murderers and actual murderers. We’ll even hand out second chances and thirds like candy on halloween!

Allison. Chris Argent. Peter Hale. Aiden. Ethan. Deucalion. Hell, half the McCall Pack at this point.

But hey, we draw the line at Theo fucking Raeken.

Let’s start with Theo’s vague childhood and the events leading up to his the Dread Doctors taking him. The story itself is so nonsensical that it’s a wonder we never actually got the whole true story.

1. We know there must’ve been something wrong with Theo’s health from a young age. No child would believe his sister wanted to give him her heart unless that child has a potentially soon-to-be fatal heart disease.

2. Teen Theo is very different from baby Theo. Enough that Stiles was able to guess that teen Theo wanted something from them. If baby Theo was a burgeoning psychopath or sociopath, Stiles would have mentioned it. He didn’t; baby Theo must’ve been a normal little kid before the Dread Doctors got their hands on him

3. Tara’s death. This happened around 4th grade. We know he was nine. Valack insisted that he was ten, but Theo himself admitted the Doctors were already manipulating him by the age of nine. We don’t know how long it was before that they started whispering in his ears.

4. Theo’s parents must’ve been quite absent. All the other Chimaera subjects were kids that were taken because no one would notice them gone for long periods of time. A nine year old going missing is a lot more obvious than a bunch of 15-16 year olds. So they must’ve manipulated him either during sleep time, or after school. Either way: where the heck were his parents?

Theo might be a good liar, but I don’t believe for a second he killed Tara because he wanted to. Or of his own free will. The Dread Doctors got into his head and manipulated him into doing it by focusing on his desperation to live.

A nine year old boy is abducted and tortured into a living science lab experiment. He spends the next 8 or so years being their only success. He’s exposed constantly to death and blood and torture. He’s raised to be the perfect spy, and was probably tortured into mastering his tells. Remember: at 17, Theo had more control over his shift and powers than even most adults. He was able to hide and manipulate his chemosignals. He was able to keep his heart steady despite lying constantly. Body language, eyes, tone—all manipulated to such a degree even Malia was fooled.

That is not a talent that comes naturally. That is not something a teenager should be able to do, not to mention do it so well he was able to manipulate so many shifters at once. That is something you could be trained and tortured into doing, though.

So you get a traumatized, brainwashed baby spy with murderous tendencies, who is self-serving to a detriment because he spent nearly a decade under the thumb of murderous scientists who could kill him anytime they deemed him no longer necessary. I’m not surprised Theo ended up the way he did: no one lives true that without accepting the need to do the worst possible things to survive.

What I don’t understand is what makes Theo so different from all the other antagonists/anti-heroes/villains that the McCall Pack considers him irredeemable and thus deserving of death.

They forgave Allison for Boyd and Erica and Isaac.

They accepted Chris Argent and his history of spilling innocent blood.

They let Peter live and worked with him after his return in S2. After S4.

Meredith Blake literally got people killed via a deadpool.

Deucalion was healed and allowed to go free despite the carnage he wrought in his revenge.

Nobody hunted down Gerard after needing his help in S5. Or made sure he was indisposed.

Aiden and Ethan were allowed to walk free.

So why Theo?

Kira sent him to hell. The entire McCall Pack stood there and did nothing while he was killed, even when he begged for help. Malia constantly threatens to kill him without remorse or care. Scott told Liam to put him back underground, essentially killing him again.

Oh, but this is the same pack that hands out second chances like candy! Who refuse to take lives or even consider it a possibility. Who works with murderers and killers without issue as long as it’s needed, with far less protest than they did Theo in 6A.

Or is because Theo’s the only one that succeeded, and they can’t accept they lost? This miraculous, spunky, rag-tag pack of teenagers who somehow survived against all odds…lost miserably to a teenager their age.

Even the adults showed more disgust and disdain towards Theo than, again, the literal adults who’ve hurt and killed kids before. You never saw Stilinski threaten anyone the way he did Theo, did you?

Or is it because unlike everyone else, Theo couldn’t really be manipulated? No loved ones or best friends or exes and lovers; no parents or sister alive to be used against him. He had no bridges to be burned, was already operating like a dead man walking.

I just find it funny that Theo had to stay dead and gone, but Peter was placed in Eichen and Gerard in a care home.

[maybeiwasjustjade]

The way Teen Wolf (and subsequently the McCall Pack and Parents) treated Theo is probably one of the most interesting dynamics in the whole show.

And by interesting, I meant downright hypocritical .

Because sure, we can’t kill or plot against people, but hey! Let’s also have the main characters constantly work with adults who did in fact hurt them, torture them, and even murdered them! Let’s have other murderers running around teenagers without problem. Or have them date almost murderers and actual murderers. We’ll even hand out second chances and thirds like candy on halloween!

Allison. Chris Argent. Peter Hale. Aiden. Ethan. Deucalion. Hell, half the McCall Pack at this point.

But hey, we draw the line at Theo fucking Raeken.

Let’s start with Theo’s vague childhood and the events leading up to his the Dread Doctors taking him. The story itself is so nonsensical that it’s a wonder we never actually got the whole true story.

1. We know there must’ve been something wrong with Theo’s health from a young age. No child would believe his sister wanted to give him her heart unless that child has a potentially soon-to-be fatal heart disease.

2. Teen Theo is very different from baby Theo. Enough that Stiles was able to guess that teen Theo wanted something from them. If baby Theo was a burgeoning psychopath or sociopath, Stiles would have mentioned it. He didn’t; baby Theo must’ve been a normal little kid before the Dread Doctors got their hands on him

3. Tara’s death. This happened around 4th grade. We know he was nine. Valack insisted that he was ten, but Theo himself admitted the Doctors were already manipulating him by the age of nine. We don’t know how long it was before that they started whispering in his ears.

4. Theo’s parents must’ve been quite absent. All the other Chimaera subjects were kids that were taken because no one would notice them gone for long periods of time. A nine year old going missing is a lot more obvious than a bunch of 15-16 year olds. So they must’ve manipulated him either during sleep time, or after school. Either way: where the heck were his parents?

Theo might be a good liar, but I don’t believe for a second he killed Tara because he wanted to. Or of his own free will. The Dread Doctors got into his head and manipulated him into doing it by focusing on his desperation to live.

A nine year old boy is abducted and tortured into a living science lab experiment. He spends the next 8 or so years being their only success. He’s exposed constantly to death and blood and torture. He’s raised to be the perfect spy, and was probably tortured into mastering his tells. Remember: at 17, Theo had more control over his shift and powers than even most adults. He was able to hide and manipulate his chemosignals. He was able to keep his heart steady despite lying constantly. Body language, eyes, tone—all manipulated to such a degree even Malia was fooled.

That is not a talent that comes naturally. That is not something a teenager should be able to do, not to mention do it so well he was able to manipulate so many shifters at once. That is something you could be trained and tortured into doing, though.

So you get a traumatized, brainwashed baby spy with murderous tendencies, who is self-serving to a detriment because he spent nearly a decade under the thumb of murderous scientists who could kill him anytime they deemed him no longer necessary. I’m not surprised Theo ended up the way he did: no one lives true that without accepting the need to do the worst possible things to survive.

What I don’t understand is what makes Theo so different from all the other antagonists/anti-heroes/villains that the McCall Pack considers him irredeemable and thus deserving of death.

They forgave Allison for Boyd and Erica and Isaac.

They accepted Chris Argent and his history of spilling innocent blood.

They let Peter live and worked with him after his return in S2. After S4.

Meredith Blake literally got people killed via a deadpool.

Deucalion was healed and allowed to go free despite the carnage he wrought in his revenge.

Nobody hunted down Gerard after needing his help in S5. Or made sure he was indisposed.

Aiden and Ethan were allowed to walk free.

So why Theo?

Kira sent him to hell. The entire McCall Pack stood there and did nothing while he was killed, even when he begged for help. Malia constantly threatens to kill him without remorse or care. Scott told Liam to put him back underground, essentially killing him again.

Oh, but this is the same pack that hands out second chances like candy! Who refuse to take lives or even consider it a possibility. Who works with murderers and killers without issue as long as it’s needed, with far less protest than they did Theo in 6A.

Or is because Theo’s the only one that succeeded, and they can’t accept they lost? This miraculous, spunky, rag-tag pack of teenagers who somehow survived against all odds…lost miserably to a teenager their age.

Even the adults showed more disgust and disdain towards Theo than, again, the literal adults who’ve hurt and killed kids before. You never saw Stilinski threaten anyone the way he did Theo, did you?

Or is it because unlike everyone else, Theo couldn’t really be manipulated? No loved ones or best friends or exes and lovers; no parents or sister alive to be used against him. He had no bridges to be burned, was already operating like a dead man walking.

I just find it funny that Theo had to stay dead and gone, but Peter was placed in Eichen and Gerard in a care home.

[maybeiwasjustjade]

I think Feyre’s going to end the series pregnant again. The baby will be another boy, because SJM’s trying to parallel Feysand with Beron and the LoA.

The only difference this time, is that she (Feyre) ends up married to her mate.

~~*~~

Did anyone else find Helion’s story about his affair with the LoA familiar?

A very young Fae female set to marry a High Lord, and meets a handsome stranger who whisks her away for the night, and who just so happens to be her mate?

Sounds a little similar to what happened in the beginning of ACOMAF, no? The main difference being that Tamlin’s a better person than Beron, Helion/LoA being mates is merely a conjecture, and the LoA ultimately decided to stay and marry Beron. Be it due to her family ambitions (likely) or her own (also likely, given Autumn’s cutthroat reputation)—the LoA ends up married to the High Lord she does not (or no longer) love, and her mate forced to watch her unhappy for centuries as she births out six seven sons for her abusive husband.

Sounds a lot like what Feysand stans/pro-Feyre/anti Tamlin fans tend to believe Feylin’s marriage to be: shitty, toxic, and abusive, where she’s just a trophy and her only worth is her womb. Until her mate comes along, of course, and gives her the only child worth having. Nevermind of course, that Feyre ends up in that position anyway and of her own volition.

Then of course, there’s the constant pitting of Night vs Autumn:

Flames and shadows, cruelty masking beauty vs beauty masking cruelty. Night being full of monsters and brutes vs Autumn with its unchanging seasons hiding centuries of rot and decay. The Night Court never being able to move on from any of their issues vs Autumn being the literal representation of loving is to let go. Night being full of stars and hope vs Autumn being the state of constant dying.

500 years after the initial mess that was Eris and Mor’s funeral, they’re still beefing. Beron is openly hated and knows it; Rhysand seems to be surprised no one particularly likes him either. If the people of Prythian were to be surveyed, I don’t doubt those two would be on top of the shitlist. Autumn hunted down Night’s High Lady. Night gutted Autumn’s heir in their own land. Autumn’s heir left Night’s Third alone near death, and Night’s lady burned Autumn’s lady’s arm and the Shadowsinger strangled the heir during a peace meeting. Tamlin killed one of Beron’s sons, and yet it’s not personal with them like it is with Rhysand. Feyre died to save Prythian; Beron was the first person to give her the kernel.

And yet—

Despite their many, many quarrels and the fact the entire IC hates Eris, he still went to them for help against Beron. Not Helion—his mother’s potential mate and Lucien’s father—who has every reason to back up Eris in claiming Beron’s throne. Rhysand.

Beron’s vying for High King by allying himself with Bryallin and Koschei. Rhysand spent 50 years as Amarantha’s lackey (because the commoners of Prythian will never see him as a hero). Beron needs power to claim the Seven Courts under his rule. Rhysand has all the Made Fae and the Dread Trove under his thumb. Both are the only characters so far where the High King theory was ever uttered for.

Beron wants to subjugate; Rhysand will claim that he needs to subjugate. Especially with dearest Feyre or Nyx on the line.

What would Helion do, if he knew Lucien was his? If he had known since Lucien’s birth that the seventh Vanserra son was not a Vanserra at all? He’d risk war, I’d wager, for the rights to Beron’s head. Beron actively abuses and tortures his children. They’re weapons to him, and nothing more. The symbols of his power—seven sons in a land where even one is considered rare. Rhysand has a mate that wields all 7 Court’s powers, and a son saved by the Mother herself.

Symbols, symbols, symbols. Whoever wishes to be High King needs to crown himself with all those blessings.

So no, I wouldn’t be surprised if we end the series with:

Rhysand and Feyre as High King and Queen, as a foil to Beron’s failed plotting. Feyre will be pregnant with another son within 2-3 years, and deemed extremely fertile. Just like the LoA. Beron will be dead and Eris High Lord. Tamlin will still be a mess—god knows SJM won’t let him be happy because then it wouldn’t be fair to Feyre, and the only other option is death—and Lucien/Elain more than likely ruling Spring in his place. Helion, of course, will be alive and well and happily reunited with his mate and son. And of course, no one will mention the two dead Vanserra brothers or even name them; just as both Mama and Papa Archeron remain nameless.

[maybeiwasjustjade]

Unnamed Thiam fic snippet #2

Sneaky Peter, taking advantage of the chaos to stick his claws in places they don’t belong. Theo could fight back. Could thrash out of Peter’s grasps, break the chair under him; he’s escaped stronger foes than Peter’s half-starved Omega ass. Instead, he remains where he is, still like untouched water, as claws breach his brain stem.

It’s a lot more fun than he thought, watching Peter wrench himself out and away in the time it takes Argent to load his gun, screaming his head off while blood pours out of every facial orifice. The room bursts into panic at the sight, and Theo simply watches the ongoing chaos with a smirk. Peter looks half-drunk; that headache must’ve hit him hard.

He wonders if Peter got a good look at his mental assailant. She’s always been a brutal little shit.

*The Adventures of Teddy and Memi: starring He who has sociopathic tendencies and the (occasional) murderous whims, and his companion—the actual unholy lovechild of a psychopath and the devil.

Unnamed Thiam fic snippet #1

“No one’s killing anyone,” Scott interrupts, protesting, his imploring eyes and words a contradiction to the bloody streaks still congealed under his eyes.

“In this room?” Theo snorts, gesturing to the room at large and its occupants. “C’mon Scott, don’t be naive,” he jeers, head tilted innocently. “Everyone in here is guilty of it.” He smirks at the snarl Malia aims at him, the tightening of Argent’s hand on his gun. Stiles’ flinch. Winks at Peter Hale’s cackling, “I like him. He’s not as broody as the rest of the pups. This one’s got fangs.”

“I’m not,” Scott says softly, imploringly, but Theo just levels a flat look at him. Points a finger at himself and then the floor. Watch as Scott wilts, the tangy sour scent of guilt effusing out of him in droves. Lydia, who hadn’t spoken once, at least has the decency to look somewhat stricken; she smells regretful, if a little clinical. Everyone else explodes into a cacophony of emotions at the implication, displaying every possible iteration of anger, resentment, and smugness.

“What did you think Hell was, Scott,” Theo laughs, sprawling back in his seat. “Eternal vacation? A never-ending coma?”

*An introspective Theo-centric piece that covers Theo’s ‘childhood’ with the Doctors + a little twist, while also dealing with Hunters War. I call it the Adventures of Teddy and Memi, aka what happens when you let the little spy you’re raising keep the baby assassin, as a treat.

[maybeiwasjustjade]

You know what? Let’s talk about Vaegon.

I don’t have much of an opinion on Jaehaerys and Alysanne’s kids (except Viserra—she deserved SO much better and Alysanne did her so wrong), but Vaegon’s always an interesting one: either fans love him or they hate his guts for running away to the Citadel. Oh, and his general disinterest for Targ incest—which hah! Just makes me like him more.

We don’t support Targ supremacy in this blog (the Green kiddos are only spared because they’re half Hightower).

But yes, let’s talk Vaegon.

I remember the bare gists of his story, but the one thing that always sticks out is people praising Alyssa to the high heavens for beating his ass because he insulted Daella. An insult that happened because he REFUSED to marry his little sister. With the way everyone was acting—Daella being this poor little girl he picked on, and vilifying Vaegon for his general disinterest and perhaps dislike of her—one would have expected Vaegon to be an adult or even a teenager during this mess.

Except I remember quite clearly that Vaegon left at around 15 to the Citadel. So he most definitely was NOT an adult during the Daella incident or Alyssa bullying him in the training yard incident.

Wanna guess how old dear Vaegon was when he called Daella stupid and made her cry (as if literally everything didn’t make her cry, poor girl)?

Ten. He was fucking ten years old.

Oh but Daella was so young, such a poor little girl reduced to tears by her mean older brother. Guess what? Daella was nine.

But it’s okay that Alyssa was a bully to Vaegon, after all they must be close in age. Also wrong: Alyssa is close to three years older than Vaegon.

Alyssa was born in late 60 AC

Vaegon was born in 63 AC

Daella was born in 64 AC

The incident that painted Vaegon as this monster who refused to be a sister-fucker, and Alyssa dumped wine on his head for? Happened in 73 AC

So here, we have a boy of ten who does not like his sister much because she cries a lot (not her fault, but not his fault either for being annoyed by it), and again because he’s ten, being asked constantly and, if his parents had it their way, would’ve been forced to marry said sister in a few years for her sake. He’s uninterested in her and probably people in general, and makes a mean comment when badgered by this constant insistence that he has to marry Daella.

Again. He was ten. I don’t understand what kind of ten year old you guys have met, but most ten year olds still think girls have cooties. Him calling her stupid is borderline benign.

Alyssa pouring a glass of wine over his head should’ve been the end of it. No, ass-whooping was unnecessary because in the realm of Westeros one mean comment isn’t going to end the damn world. She’s fourteen here; she should’ve been the mature one.

No, bullying your little brother in the training yard until he completely refuses to ever return is not girl-boss. It’s not badass. Alyssa was the adult here, not Vaegon. And if Vaegon deserves to be villainized for being mean to Daella, have the same energy for Alyssa would you. Thanks

[maybeiwasjustjade]

Lex Talionis snippets

(aka the ACOWAR resurrection scene AU aka the I-will-humble-the-inner-circle-even-if-it-kills-me Azris fic. Also known as the time Eris suffered the worst heartbreak imaginable while on the battlefield, and is rewarded with a mate and a dead father, as a treat.)

#1

“Unless,” he drawled, gaze sliding from Feyre to Mor—Mor, who looked as if she swallowed a lemon whole with worry—and a taunting smirk broke across his face, “It is as I thought: she cannot hold the power. It will pass to another.”

“Keir perhaps, or his son,” the High Lord of Autumn mused, eyes gleaming with unchecked glee. Oh, how Azriel hated the bastard. Next to him, Cassian growled, red aura glowing softly. “Rhysand has no more relatives, after all. “

“Well, none that liked him very much,” Beron chuckled, turning to the rest of the High Lords with grandiosity. “It seems I was correct after all: Feyre Cursebreaker is no High Lady. Merely an empty title granted by Rhysand to his favorite whore.”

#2

Eris' blade swung forward, roaring and screeching like a drakon’s maw, the tip balanced precariously over Rhys’ too-still chest. Feyre froze. “Try to enter my mind again, High Lady,” he snarled, challenging, as if begging her to try him. Embers and sparks were practically dancing throughout his armor. Underneath his center siphon, Azriel’s chest began to itch. “And this blade will ensure your precious mate will never see another day.”

Azriel growled, and Eris' head snapped to meet his gaze. He froze at the sight of those eyes—flickering like a candle in the wind, blue to gold and gold to blue. Azriel’s brow furrowed. Eris didn’t have blue eyes. Nor were they ever quite so gold.

#3

A flash of silver armor and shorn ruby hair, irises splitting apart like a chasm until another set born true; blue bleeding from the amber of golden eyes, starlight the only demarcation between sapphire and living flame. A raised hand and the smell of ozone, like the air before a storm. A spill of nightfall, the absence of day. Flashes of whitened blue. And power—more than he’d ever felt before, surging into existence.

Two raised fingers. That was all it took to kill a High Lord.

#4

“I could take you back to Spring, force you to be my lady again as part of our bargain. I could even ensure you never see your beloved husband again,” Tamlin said casually, uncaring of the unfettered hatred radiating from Feyre. In fact, it seemed to be delighting him. “But that wouldn’t be fair, for the remnants of Spring to look upon the face of their destruction for all eternity.”

“Still, I will have what you owe me.” Green eyes glittered with malice, and canines jutted out of Tamlin’s beastly grin. “I will provide the last kernel, and in exchange the people of your precious Velaris will suffer as mine did.”

[maybeiwasjustjade]

I do think that whatever comeuppance Kit and Ty gets will be more metaphysical than straight up punishment. I don’t see either of them getting exiled or stripped or anything of the sort, because that would require Magnus getting into trouble as well. Not just for not reporting it, but because it’ll drag back what happened in TLH, and whatever coverup they had for Jesse.

CC did say that there’ll be consequences to Livvy’s failed resurrection. A nefarious effect from being dragged back from death to an unwanted half life. We already saw bits of it in GotSM, so we know being forcibly tethered to the mortal plane as a ghost has terrible consequences on the soul. Given that we will also be seeing Shadowhunters from generations past, my personal bet is that Ty’s spell weakened the barriers between life and death. Either there will be significantly more ghosts in TWP, or a short-term mass resurrections. Which will be all kinds of fun, in the worst possible way.

I know CC keeps saying there's consequences for necromancy but I just can't imagine that Ty (& Kit) will be punished by the Clave. like they're going to get off completely scot-free as far as the law goes because what are Alec Lightwood and Diego Rosales gonna do about it 😭

[maybeiwasjustjade]

Sebastian is awful yes & pretty much irredeemable within canon but sometimes I wonder how he would have turned out if he hadn't been raised by Valentine. like yes he has Lilith's blood but how much did that actually contribute to him becoming a monster. how much of it was from growing up being told your a monster, that there's something so inherently wrong with you that it drove your own mother away because she was incapable of loving you.

like maybe the two Jonathan ending up how they did has less to do with the experiments Valentine preformed and more to do with the different ways he raised him knowing which blood ran in their veins. which is supported by Clary & Ash, whom Valentine had no direct influence over, because Ash has Lilith's blood and is capable of being caring etc and Clary has Ithuriel's blood and is capable of being cruel & heartless.

[maybeiwasjustjade]

Something something about a few drop of demon blood turned Jonathan from baby to irredeemable monster, yet a few drop of angel blood didn’t make Clary and Jace into the pinnacle of Good.

Something something Tessa being half demon despite being a Shadowhunter, yet still retained her humanity. And warlocks being half demons too yet they have a choice in being evil.

Something something about Jonathan being ambivalent at best to his own father, yet absolutely abhorred his mother. Something something about how we are raised with the idea that a mother’s love is unconditional, yet Jonathan spent his whole life knowing that she rejected him from the moment he opened his eyes.

Something something about a little boy who still had some humanity in him, begging to understand why his mother left him, why he wasn’t good enough to be raised alongside his normal sister.

Something something about everyone talking about Jocelyn deserving a better son, but nobody really wants to think about how Jonathan deserved better parents. She cried on his birthday every year; he spent every waking moment knowing she gave up on him before he could even talk.

And this—

Is why I know that even if Jocelyn had the option to raise Jonathan, she was never going to. She chose Clary; the moment Jocelyn knew she was pregnant again, she was going to leave. It wouldn’t have mattered if Valentine had died then and there, or she got to Jonathan first—just as it hadn’t mattered at all that Jocelyn knew Jonathan was alive the whole time. She still would have chosen Clary over him.

Because she didn’t want him.

She hadn’t wanted him from the moment she held him, everything within her rejected him before he even committed a single sin. There’s a reason she only cried for him on his birthday. There’s a reason she never told Clary about him. Just as there’s a reason why Jonathan rejected the name his parents gave him. She never wanted him, and he might’ve wanted her, but it was brutally beaten out of him a long, long time ago. There’s only so long a boy can wish for his mother to save him, when she spent just as long wishing he was dead.

Do I think he was going to be the best person in the world if Jocelyn had raised him? Not particularly. But I also think he would’ve been a lot saner, and maybe even normal. Maybe he could’ve been happy, instead of itching to burn down the world that destroyed him. Maybe if he had been born with green eyes, his mother might’ve given him a chance.

Jonathan got saddled with shortest stick humanly possible as far as nature vs nurture went, and I suppose neither he or we would ever know if he had a soul to save, or if he was already doomed from the start.

I'll honestly never get over the fact that TMI spent 6+ books building up the central theme that your parents/origins don't define you, that having demon blood doesn't make one inherently evil & all creatures are worthy of dignity & respect regardless of their strange appearances/mannerisms, just to completely undermine all of that by making one of the main antagonists evil because he has demon blood -_-

[maybeiwasjustjade]

VALENTINE HAD BLACK EYES. Maybe not as dark as Jonathan’s, but canonically Jonathan got those eyes from somewhere.

And isn’t it so interesting that according to Jocelyn, no one thought baby Jonathan was weird? They all thought he was a normal, albeit quiet, baby. She was the only one who was completely revolted at the sight of him.

Makes you wonder if it was something else (like post-partum) that made her unable to bond with him, that she just…blamed on Jonathan’s demon nature.

Ugh I have THOUGHTS on these two

I'll honestly never get over the fact that TMI spent 6+ books building up the central theme that your parents/origins don't define you, that having demon blood doesn't make one inherently evil & all creatures are worthy of dignity & respect regardless of their strange appearances/mannerisms, just to completely undermine all of that by making one of the main antagonists evil because he has demon blood -_-

[maybeiwasjustjade]

I get what you’re saying, I do. Which is part of the reason I never really wanted to bring this up in the first place. However, the story itself never made sense because I don’t think SJM ever considered the implications of making Rhysand Amarantha’s sex slave aside from giving him an excuse to act the dick in TAR.

We know he wiped the memory of everyone who knew about the Inner Circle. Trapping them does little when as you said, people know about them. So he wiped it all away. My question is: if he had the power to wipe the entirety of Prythian’s memories of his dearly beloveds and had the power to seal Velaris, what was the need to play Amarantha’s tool for the sake of Velaris?

If it were just about Amarantha’s hatred for his father and the inevitability that her sights would be set on him, why make it about Velaris? Why make it seem that Rhysand sold his soul to protect a city nobody knew about for 5000 years, or the people nobody even remembers exist? Him being Amarantha’s sex slave changes nothing if she found out about the IC and Velaris anyway.

I’m not sure if this makes sense, but the general gist is just the logic of his actions is, well, illogical. Amarantha wasn’t after Velaris or his friends, didn’t even know they existed. If he was SA’d specifically because of his father and her rage, then that’s a different story. But Rhysand did “consent” to her attentions knowing what would happen, and he did it not protect himself in the only way he could, but again to protect people that essentially don’t exist. That’s my problem with his reasoning; that’s what makes it basically cowardice in my eyes. That Rhysand sold his soul to play the fool for something unneeded, and in turn damned millions for the sake of one city that is hidden.

I’m sorry if it sounds insensitive, and I can delete this if it does, but I was genuinely just confused by the logic of Rhysand’s reasons for his time UtM and why damning everyone else for Velaris is somehow selfless. That’s not to say that I don’t think he was SA’d, because I do. The narrative surrounding it just a bit vague and strange? It’s more a critic of SJM’s storytelling tbh, that I can’t make heads or tails of the logic of his actions re: Amarantha.

Can someone explain to me the logic of Rhysand working with Amarantha, and why I’m supposed to find it brave and selfless?

Seven High Lords on the continent yet none bowed low enough to work with her—except one. Rhysand sold himself into her slavery, turned himself into her pet dog and committed countless crimes in her name for fifty years, murdered children and innocent people in her name. All to protect Velaris—a city nobody even knew existed. Is it selfless or just plain stupid, to sell your soul for a city no one was even looking for?

Explain to me the logic in this. Please. The other High Lords inarguably had more to lose: families, bloodlines, entire courts instead of just one city. Velaris and its citizens are no more deserving of the blood Rhysand spilt to protect it than Adriata or Artemisia or any cities of Dawn, Spring, Winter, or Autumn. Yet, not a single other High Lord bowed to Amarantha’s whims. They were her hostages, but they were never her slaves. Unlike him. Three High Lords and their bloodlines wiped completely off Prythian in their defiance of her, yet somehow it’s Rhysand who is deserving of praise?

Was it bravery or cowardice that led him into her service? He had enough time and magic to erect a shield around Velaris, to wipe clean everyone’s memories of the Inner Circle. That’s more than what everyone else had, when they were all stuck hostages Under the Mountain. That’s more than what Tamlin got with his fifty year curse, when he had to send countless men over the border to die in his defiance of Prythian’s wretched self-proclaimed High Queen.

Power? Freedom? What exactly did Rhysand do with those little movements Amarantha allowed? He didn’t rule, didn’t orchestrate a rebellion, didn’t find intel on how to take down Amarantha from the inside. In fact, he seemed more than content to sit on his ass like everyone else while Tamlin tried to break the curse. So what exactly did those countless moments of hurt and pain and trauma bought Rhysand, hmm? Nothing more than anything else the rest of Prythian got.

Night was a dumpster fire because both Hewn City and Illyria were given too much freedom. Velaris was locked away as it had been for 5000 years. And Rhysand a mass murderer and a criminal, on top of being Amarantha’s consensual non-consensual sex slave too.

So really, what exactly did Rhysand’s whole deal with Amarantha do, beyond making him miserable?

[maybeiwasjustjade]

Can someone explain to me the logic of Rhysand working with Amarantha, and why I’m supposed to find it brave and selfless?

Seven High Lords on the continent yet none bowed low enough to work with her—except one. Rhysand sold himself into her slavery, turned himself into her pet dog and committed countless crimes in her name for fifty years, murdered children and innocent people in her name. All to protect Velaris—a city nobody even knew existed. Is it selfless or just plain stupid, to sell your soul for a city no one was even looking for?

Explain to me the logic in this. Please. The other High Lords inarguably had more to lose: families, bloodlines, entire courts instead of just one city. Velaris and its citizens are no more deserving of the blood Rhysand spilt to protect it than Adriata or any cities of Dawn, Day, Spring, Winter, or Autumn. Yet, not a single other High Lord bowed to Amarantha’s whims. They were her hostages, but they were never her slaves. Unlike him. Three High Lords and their bloodlines wiped completely off Prythian in their defiance of her, yet somehow it’s Rhysand who is deserving of praise?

Was it bravery or cowardice that led him into her service? He had enough time and magic to erect a shield around Velaris, to wipe clean everyone’s memories of the Inner Circle. That’s more than what everyone else had, when they were all stuck hostages Under the Mountain. That’s more than what Tamlin got with his fifty year curse, when he had to send countless men over the border to die in his defiance of Prythian’s wretched self-proclaimed High Queen.

Power? Freedom? What exactly did Rhysand do with those little movements Amarantha allowed? He didn’t rule, didn’t orchestrate a rebellion, didn’t find intel on how to take down Amarantha from the inside. In fact, he seemed more than content to sit on his ass like everyone else while Tamlin tried to break the curse. So what exactly did those countless moments of hurt and pain and trauma bought Rhysand, hmm? Nothing more than anything else the rest of Prythian got.

Night was a dumpster fire because both Hewn City and Illyria were given too much freedom. Velaris was locked away as it had been for 5000 years. And Rhysand a mass murderer and a criminal, on top of being Amarantha’s consensual non-consensual sex slave too.

So really, what exactly did Rhysand’s whole deal with Amarantha do, beyond making him miserable?