#in a line of royal conquerors

[luv-again]

UGHHHHH *turning in my pre-made grave* I wanna write another shadamy au

[world-of-wales]

⋆ William, The Conqueror to Prince George of Wales ⋆

⤜ William I ia Prince George's 28th Great-Grandfather via his mother's paternal line.

William I of England

Henry I of England

Empress Matilda

Henry II of England

John of England

Henry III of England

Edmund, Earl of Lancaster

Henry III, King of England

Henry, IIIrd Earl of Leicester and Lancaster 

Sir Henry Percy, Ist Earl of Northumberland

Mary of Lancaster, Baroness Percy

Sir Henry Percy

Sir Henry Percy, IInd Earl of Northumberland

Sir Henry Percy, IIIrd Earl of Northumberland

Lady Margaret Percy

Agnes Gascoigne

William Fairfax

John Fairfax, Master of the Great Hospital

Rev. Benjamin Fairfax, Preacher at Rumburgh Church

Benjamin Fairfax

Sarah Fairfax

Philip Meadows, Mayor of Norwich

Sarah Meadows

Thomas Martineau

Frances Elizabeth Greenhow

Francis Martineau Lupton

Olive Christina Lupton

Peter Francis Middleton

Michael Francis Middleton

Catherine Elizabeth, The Princess of Wales

Prince George Alexander Louis of Wales

[ramblings-of-a-chaotic-neutral]

Hello again everyone! Thank you all so much for the overwhelming support for the last part of the "Merlin accidentally conquers Camelot" au! I've had so much fun writing this au, and I'm so glad that you've all enjoyed it too! This will probably be the final part of this au (for now), since I have more au ideas to share with you all, but I'll probably revisit this au some day! For now, I'm approaching two pretty big tumblr milestones, so I'm working on an extra-special au to post in celebration of those (and I won't give anything away, but I think that this new au may be my best one yet, so stay tuned)!

Also, warning, this one is a long post! Be prepared!

Now, onto part four of this au! You can find part one here, part two here, and part three here!

As it turned out, planning a royal wedding was no easy feat.

Merlin had thought that simply adding a quick and (hopefully) painless wedding ceremony at the end of his coronation would make everything go smoothly. After all, the castle would already be decorated, they'd already have all of the important lords in attendance, and everything needed for a consort's coronation ceremony would already be there.

However, when Merlin announced to the lords and the steward in charge of preparing his coronation ceremony that he'd also need a quick wedding and coronation to take Arthur as his consort, they reacted with so much shock and horror that Merlin thought for a second that he'd accidentally announced that he was ordering their executions instead. The only person in the council room who didn't look like death itself had just appeared before him was Gwaine, who took advantage of he shocked silence following Merlin's proclamation to start laughing so uncontrollably that he doubled over and had to grab the wall for support.

Merlin had expected some shock and pushback from the council at his decision, not... this. All of the lords on the council had gone as pale as parchment, some trembling in their seats with fear. What on earth...

"Sire," the ever-unflappable Geoffrey called out, jolting Merlin from his confusion at the state of terror that had gripped the other council members, "while such a marriage would not be unlawful, it would certainly be unprecedented. I'm not questioning your judgement, I know that establishing yourself as a strong ruler this early in your reign is paramount, but are you sure that this is the best way to go about it? I'm certain that the citizens of Camelot will accept you as their rightful ruler as soon as they witness their true power for themselves, so taking the former king as your war prize isn't entirely necessary to show your dominance over the land."

The lords grew several shades paler at Geoffrey's words, and the trembling councilman sitting next to Geoffrey leaned in to fearfully hiss something into the librarian's ear. Merlin watched with growing confusion as Geoffrey's eyes went wide at whatever had just been whispered to him, and he rushed to speak once more.

"Of course, if this decision was made as some form of revenge or humiliation towards the Pendragon line, that is well within your right as a conqueror, Your Majesty. We would simply advise you to take the disgraced king as a concubine, perhaps, instead of your official consort. As a ruler, you must now also consider the issue of one day producing legitimate heirs, which can only be borne to you through your consort."

Merlin blinked, desperately trying to follow whatever logic Geoffrey was using. Take Arthur as a concubine?! Had the old man gone insane?! And Merlin certainly wasn't concerned about heirs, since if he got his way, then his reign wouldn't last longer than this week!

Still, with most of the council looking like they were being plagued by waking nightmares, they weren't likely to listen to Merlin's very reasonable objections to being king in the first place, so Merlin just had to get them off his back until the wedding.

After a deep sigh, which made most of the council members flinch back with a still confusing amount of fear, Merlin addressed Geoffrey's concerns.

"Thank you for your input, but I'm afraid that my decision has already been made on this... issue. I will be taking Arthur as my consort at my coronation, and my decision is final. And don't concern yourself with the topic of heirs, that will be sorted out shortly."

Several lords choked on the air at Merlin's last comment, with a couple outright fainting at his words. Merlin's brows furrowed even more with befuddlement. What... what had he said that garnered such a reaction?! He was just telling them not to worry about it!

(Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Merlin, the lords had a very different idea of what their new king- a powerful, brutal warlord and sorcerer- had planned. They interpreted Merlin's intent to marry Arthur as an act of revenge against the son of the man who killed off so many of his people during the purge. It apparently wasn't enough for the mighty Emrys to defeat his enemy and leave him with nothing to his name. No, this ruthless new king of theirs planned on forcing the former king into a life of humiliation and servitude in the court that was once his own. To a king, that must be a fate worse than death.

These lords, who were some of the most active and complicit members of Uther's purge, looked at the punishment that Emrys had planned for Arthur and thought if that's what happened to the king, what's he going to do to us?!)

The days went by quickly after that meeting, with Merlin's time being filled with a never-ending list of his new duties and things that needed to be done before his coronation, not to mention organizing the coronation itself and the subsequent wedding (which Arthur didn't know about yet, as Merlin had been deliberately avoiding the dungeons after his last conversation with Arthur).

It took the better part of a week for everything to finally be prepared for the official coronation ceremony. The ceremony itself would consist of Merlin being crowned in front of the court (a nauseating thought for Merlin himself), the vassal lords and knights willing to swear fealty to him taking the oath of loyalty, and finally Arthur being handfasted to Merlin and crowned consort.

Merlin was, for once, thankful for the amount of work that he had to do over the days leading up to the ceremony, as it kept his mind busy and his thoughts away from the pit of self-loathing that had taken up permanent residence in his head. After all, what kind of friend stole everything from the person they love the most in the world and then turns around and forces that same friend (and unrequited crush) to marry them?!

Merlin had attempted to rationalize his selfish decision to keep Arthur in the dark regarding his plan to reinstate him as king by telling himself that if Arthur didn't know about the wedding until the last minute, then he would spend less time worrying about it in the long run after he was king again! Besides, if Merlin's plan worked, they would only be married for a day or two, so there was no reason to get Arthur worked up over that by telling him earlier!

Truly, Merlin was not being a complete scumbag by doing this, he was just looking out for his friend's best interests and mental wellbeing! This would all blow over in a a matter of days anyways, Merlin was certain of it.

Still, Merlin found himself anxious and pacing the floor of his room on the morning of the ceremony. He had sent a team of servants and guards to retrieve Arthur from his cell and prepare him for the ceremony, so he likely wouldn't see Arthur until he was brought into the great hall for the handfasting ceremony. However, he still worried over Arthur's reaction when he learned what exactly when was being prepared for.

This worry lingered in Merlin's mind and consumed his thoughts throughout the entire day and into the coronation ceremony, so much so that his own coronation seemed like a blur to him. One moment he was standing in the great hall in front of the assembled crowd of lords and knights, and in the next, he was sitting on Arthur's throne with Arthur's crown on his head, with the crowd shouting "long live the king".

The sound of it almost made Merlin sick. Those words should never be directed at him, but he'd make this right soon enough. He just had to suffer through this ceremony to appease those disloyal lords who had turned their backs on their true king.

Perhaps the worst part of the coronation itself was the ceremony in which the lords and knights willing to pledge their fealty to him took an oath declaring such. It was no surprise to Merlin to see those weasels on the council of lords pledging themselves to save their own skin, but the knights who showed up to pledge their fealty were... very unexpected.

Look, Merlin had assumed that it would just be Gwaine and a small handful of guards and younger knights that he had roped into his mischievous scheme swearing loyalty so him. All of the other knights with their wits intact would surely still be down in the cells of the dungeon, holding true to their prior oaths of loyalty and keeping their true king company.

What Merlin did not expect, however, was for nearly a quarter of all of Camelot's knights to take a knee before him and pledge their loyalty, led by a highly amused Gwaine, who was no doubt enjoying every minute of this. Merlin quickly scanned the crowd of knights, trying to take count of who all had turned their backs on Arthur and could no longer be trusted.

Gwaine, of course, came at no surprise. Many of those assembled were commoner knights whom Arthur had taken in, including Percival, but the giant regularly got pulled into Gwaine's nonsense, so this wasn't truly that much of a shock if Merlin thought about it. There were a fair number of noble-born knights in the crowd, including all of those whom Merlin had noted had a softer outlook on magic. And then, of course, there were a decent number of pompous, high-born knights who had never given a lick about magic or loyalty, they just wanted to preserve their own wealth and power no matter the cost.

Merlin narrowed his eyes at the cluster of those knights. All the rest had logical reasons to side with Merlin, between Gwaine's persuasiveness, solidarity between the lower class, or a connection or sympathy towards magic, so they would be allowed to stay in court after Arthur had retaken his rightful throne. But these knights? These cowardly snakes had to be dealt with at the first opportunity. But how could he get rid of them without people becoming suspicious?

... Wait a minute, Merlin was king now! He might only have that title for a day or so, but in that time, he could certainly use it! (And he absolutely was not using this as a tactic to prolong this part of the ceremony so that he had a few more minutes of peace before the wedding began.)

Right, but how was he going to play this? He couldn't exactly just announce that he wanted those knights to leave because he wanted them gone before Arthur took over again.

Merlin narrowed his eyes at the group of treacherous knights and noted how they squirmed a bit under his gaze, with even some of the people around them shuddering. Right, he looked like a ruthless and powerful sorcerer to them now. He could use that to his advantage.

As the knights finished reciting their oaths, Merlin held up his hand, signaling for them to stay in place. The knights did so, but a confused and concerned murmuring started buzzing around at this strange departure from the normal ceremony. Slowly, Merlin lifted his hand and pointed at the assembled group of knights in the back.

"You lot. In the back."

The murmuring died down the instant Merlin opened his mouth and was instead replaced by an oppressive dread weighing down the ornately decorated hall. If Merlin wasn't trying so hard to keep a straight, intimidating face, he would have winced at causing such a wave of fear with nothing more than a few words.

Hesitantly, one of the called out knights stepped forward, addressing their new king.

"Yes, your majesty? Is there something you require of us?"

Merlin held back the urge to smirk as an idea, and a very satisfying one at that, formed in his head. He quietly cleared his throat and put on his most imperious "Emrys" voice that he could muster.

"I can sense insincerity in your hearts with my magic. Just as you abandoned the previous king, you would also turn your backs on me at the first opportunity to do so. Do not even attempt to deny it, you know just as well as I do that this true. I cannot trust any such men as knights of mine."

The group of knights went pale as Merlin called them out for their flimsy loyalty, and at once whispers began fly in the crowd. Perhaps they were intrigued by this show of his "powers"? Were they scandalized by this public shaming of a group of high-ranking knights?

Either way, the knights immediately began groveling, begging Merlin to let them keep their positions, their wealth, their power, but Merlin dismissed them with a wave of a hand and publicly revoked their knighthoods. The murmuring of the remaining people in the great hall grew louder as the disgraced former knights made their way out of the hall, no doubt intimidated and scandalized by how quickly their new ruler was purging his court of the disloyal.

However, with the loyal knights having taken their oaths and the untrustworthy ones having been cast out, the coronation ceremony was now officially complete, meaning that Merlin could no longer stall what would come next.

Merlin sat still on his stolen throne, trying his best not to fidget with nervousness as Geoffrey gave some traditional speech that had to be done before the doors of the great hall opened to let consort walk down the aisle to the throne.

After a couple minutes, Geoffrey's monotonous voice became nothing but a buzzing in Merlin's ears as he stared at the doors of the hall, desperately trying to imagine any scenario where those doors wouldn't open to an Arthur who was filled with nothing but rage and betrayal.

All too soon, Geoffrey's droning speech ended, and the trumpets in the hall announced the arrival of the soon-to-be-consort and signaled for everyone of lower rank to stand. Merlin's heart leapt to his throat as he jumped to his feet, even though he was the only person in the room who didn't need to. Ever so slowly, the doors to the hall swung open, revealing... Arthur.

Merlin damn near choked on his own saliva at the sight of him. He had seen Arthur in a wide range of states over the years as his manservant, ranging anywhere from sleep-rumbled to solemnly prepared for battle. But this... he had never seen anything like it.

Merlin couldn't decide if whoever had been in charge of dressing Arthur and preparing him for the ceremony ought to either be promoted to Arthur's personal tailor or immediately banished. In place of Arthur's usual surcoat and chainmail for official ceremonies, which was what Merlin had foolishly assumed the servants would dress Arthur in, there was... a monstrosity that would haunt Merlin's dreams for the rest of his life.

Merlin didn't even know how to begin to describe it. The garment that the servants had no doubt forced Arthur into, as Merlin knew that he would never wear such a thing of his own accord, was somewhere between a set of intricately intertwined robes and a dress, which hugged Arthur's shoulders, upper arms, and thighs, highlighting the muscles there. Most of the outfit appeared to be made out of a rich velvet, dyed in a majestic royal blue that both looked entirely out of place on Arthur and brought out his eyes like nothing Merlin had ever seen before. And dear gods, was that lace on there?! And why the hell did the outfit need elbow-length lace gloves?!

(The servants who had been in charge of dressing Arthur for the ceremony had assumed that their brutal new warlord would probably want his war prize to look as far from a warrior as possible, in order to further prove that he had beaten the previous rulers. So, they selected a delicate and elegant outfit for Arthur in the hopes of appeasing their new king.)

Merlin swallowed dryly as Arthur slowly began making his way down the aisle with measured footsteps. The movement snapped Merlin out of whatever temporary madness the outfit had sent him spiraling into, and Merlin finally locked eyes with Arthur.

Merlin winced at the sheer amount of rage that Arthur managed to fit into one glare as he took another step towards the throne that was rightfully his. Merlin tried to give Arthur his most reassuring smile, but he was almost certain it only came across as a nervous grimace.

Just go along with this, Merlin tried to beg of Arthur with only his eyes. Their bond had always been one that allowed them to communicate without words, and Merlin prayed that their connection would hold strong once more and get his message across to Arthur.

Neither Arthur's impressive glare nor his furious scowl let up though, but he kept his pace towards the throne steady, which Merlin decided to take as a good sign. After all, if Arthur truly did not any merit to this impromptu plan, why would he still be walking of his own accord towards the altar?

Still, as Arthur grew closer and closer to the altar prepared for the handfasting, his eyes became darker with rage as Merlin winced. Yes, this would certainly be harder than it needed to be, but this had to be done to get Arthur back on the throne! Surely Arthur would understand that!

After what must have been an eternity, Arthur finally reached the altar and, ever so slowly, walked around to stand at a fidgeting Merlin's side.

As Geoffrey began yet another speech that had to be done before the handfasting took place, Merlin quietly turned to Arthur and gave him a small smile, trying to a least let Arthur know that everything was alright, that everything would turn out fine.

That little smile, it seemed, turned out to be the final straw for Arthur. Merlin wasn't even entirely sure how it happened.

One moment, he was standing next to Arthur in front of the altar, with the only sound in the room being Geoffrey's boring voice. And in the next, there was a savage war cry coming from Arthur, who was now armed with a sword, and a decent amount of screaming coming from the crowd.

It spoke volumes about Merlin's state of mind that his first thought upon seeing Arthur run at him with a blade in hand wasn't get back, dodge! but was rather that dress is tight, where on earth did he hide that sword?

However, Merlin's sense of self-preservation wasn't nearly as terrible as Gaius accused it of being, as his second thought was I should probably try to avoid getting stabbed at my own wedding.

Reluctantly, Merlin gathered his magic, ready to disarm Arthur and hold him still if need be. Arthur could stab Merlin later if he really felt like it, but Merlin needed to at least officially make Arthur his consort and heir before Arthur did that!

However, to Merlin's surprise, rather than trying to run Merlin through, Arthur instead stabbed at the wooden handfasting altar, sinking his blade deep into it. Merlin carefully kept his eyes on Arthur as the other man viciously pulled off one of the dainty lace gloves and threw it on the ground at Merlin's feet.

Dumbfounded, Merlin stared at the thrown glove on the floor and then looked back up to stare at Arthur, not quite getting what Arthur was trying to tell him here. Did he just really hate the outfit? Or was it this whole marriage plan that he objected to?

"Pick it up."

"Huh?"

Arthur nearly started growling, his rage apparently rising with Merlin's confusion.

"It may not be a proper gauntlet, since you have denied me such a dignity, but it will suffice for this. Pick it up, King Emrys. I challenge you to a duel in single combat for the throne of Camelot. You may have defeated my sister, but you did not defeat me! I am no prize for you to claim!"

Merlin simply blinked, completely thrown off by this turn of events, while loud shouts started erupting from the crowd. By the time his mind caught up to what Arthur had said, Arthur had taken up his sword from where he had struck it into the altar and was pointing it threateningly at Merlin again.

As Merlin's shock wore off and he finally understood what exactly Arthur had just done, he had to fight back the urge to scream into the sky with frustration as yet another one of his plans to reinstate Arthur as king had just been ruined by the obstinate clotpole himself. Couldn't the prat just let Merlin help?!

With his frustration rising, Merlin glared down at the thrown glove. While a duel would certainly allow Arthur to retake the throne, Merlin wasn't entirely sure how his magic would react to such a fight. Merlin would never consciously hurt Arthur of course, but who knows if his magic would strike out in self-defense?!

And, besides, formally accepting and preparing the duel would take days. And, in Merlin's opinion, this whole farce has gone on for long enough.

"No. I will not accept your challenge."

Arthur's face went red with anger at Merlin's refusal.

"You are just as much of a coward as the rest of your kind, sorcerer! You would not even grant me the opportunity to take back what's mine!"

Merlin bit back a frustrated scream at that. Arthur would be getting his throne back if he just followed through with any of Merlin's plans instead of ruining threm!

Merlin took a deep breath and sighed on the exhale, trying the rein in his own anger. He just needed to go through with this ceremony, and then everything would be fine.

With a quick flash of gold in his eyes, which had Arthur flinching back (and didn't that just sting?), Merlin turned Arthur's blade into dust had Arthur's glove fly back onto his hand, setting everything right as it had been before Arthur had pulled out a sword and all hell had broken loose.

"That's enough! I've been trying to restore you to your rightful position as king this entire time, and yet you push back at every opportunity! I am not about to let you sabotage your own destiny! So, here's what's going to happen!"

Distantly, Merlin heard the wind outside whipping around, like his own frustration and stirred nature itself into a frenzy.

"You are going to stand here, complete this ceremony, be named my heir, and then retake your throne when I abdicate! Are we clear?"

Arthur, who still looked rather shaken at Merlin's display of magic, scowled, but still nodded his head. Merlin, satisfied by this, turned back around to face the shocked crowd.

"And do I make myself clear to all of you?! There will be no more interruptions of this ceremony, and Arthur will take back his throne!"

The frightened crowd went silent at Merlin's outburst, seemingly relenting to Merlin's demands.

Merlin then turned to Geoffrey, who was still standing in front of the handfasting altar with the rope in his hands.

"Now, Geoffrey, I would greatly appreciate it if you would get a move on here. I don't want to wear this stupid crown for any longer than I have to."

The only indication that Geoffrey gave that he was surprised by Merlin's outburst was a mere uptake of his eyebrows, rather reminiscent of Gaius's signature look. Without further ado, Geoffrey tied Merlin and Arthur's hands together, declaring them to be now married in the eyes of the gods of the Old Religion.

(Merlin tried to ignore the hurt and longing that built up in his heart in that moment. How many times had he dreamed of something like this? But he never wanted it to happen like this. This was Merlin's dream come true, but it was all wrong. In that moment, Merlin didn't dare look at Arthur, too afraid of what his dearest friend thought about this grievous overstep of boundaries.)

Immediately after Geoffrey untied the handfasting knot, Arthur's coronation as consort began. The ceremony itself went smoothly, but Merlin's heart broke both at the sight of Arthur kneeling before him, waiting to be crowned, and at the furious glare Arthur gave him as he gently put the consort's crown upon Arthur's head, officially naming Arthur as his heir.

As soon as Arthur stood from where he was kneeling, applause broke out from the crowd. Someone (Merlin heavily suspected Gwaine) started a chant of "long live the kings!", which caught on quickly. Merlin winced again at the chant, not daring to turn and look at Arthur's face.

Still, Merlin reminded himself as he took a deep, calming breath, everything was coming along. Arthur was now officially his consort and heir, and all that was left to do... was the copious amounts of paperwork finalizing his abdication.

Yeah, no. Merlin wasn't going through that process when he could just take care of it here and now.

"Citizens of Camelot, on this most joyous day, I, King Emrys, abdicate the throne!"

Even though he had made his intentions clear only a few minutes earlier, shocked whispers flew around the crowd, like they hadn't truly believed that he would go through with it.

Merlin couldn't help the grin that was forming on his face. Finally, everything would be set right again!

"I am no longer your king, and as per the laws of the kingdom, the throne now rightfully belongs to your true king, Arthur Pendragon!"

With that, Merlin reached up and yanked the crown off of his own head, marched over to a dumbfounded Arthur and, without any hesitation, replaced the consort's crown on Arthur's head with the true crown.

"There, that's much better," Merlin whispered to himself as he gazed upon Arthur, finally looking like himself again, but he was certain that Arthur must have heard it too, as Arthur's eyes went wide at his words.

But that was a conversation for another day, as Merlin was now done here. This entire calamity was over, and now Merlin was going to savor its end.

Merlin turned back to face the crowd once more with an undoubtedly crazed grin.

"Goodnight everyone! Be sure to obey your true king! In the meanwhile, I'm off to bed for my first full night's rest since this nightmare started!"

And with that, Merlin merrily skipped out of the great hall, made his way to his cramped room in Gaius's chambers, and slept soundly.

Bonus Scene!

THE NEXT DAY:

Arthur: Busts into Merlin's room

Merlin, unwillingly woken up from the best sleep he's gotten in years: Ugh, what do you want you prat?! You're king again, aren't you?! Don't you have kingly duty to be attending to?

Arthur: Merlin you idiot, you abdicated the throne.

Merlin: Yes, and now you're king again. You're welcome!

Arthur: But you never dissolved our union!

Merlin: Huh?

Arthur: A divorce can only be granted by the same ruler who authorized the marriage! You know what this means, right?!

Merlin: Yeah, that you can just declare us to be not married anymore and we can all be on our way.

Arthur: No, YOU were the ruler who authorized the marriage, and now that you've abdicated, you can't dissolve the marriage! Legally, no one can!

Merlin, turning pale: What?

Arthur, looking weary: Yes, apparently it's some legal technicality that Geoffrey cited from Bruta's code. I've spent all morning arguing with him, but there seems to be no way around it.

Merlin: So... what you're saying is that we're stuck being married to each other.

Arthur: Yes, you buffoon, that's exactly what I'm saying! Now, get up!

Merlin, feeling incredibly guilty over this entire situation: Arthur, I'm so sorry, I take full responsibility for this, I never should have forced you into-

Arthur, cutting him off: Let's go. We don't have much time before the rest of the castle is up and about, and I'd rather us not be seen here.

Merlin, confused but complying: Arthur, where are we going? Why don't you want us to be seen here?

Arthur, blushing: It would reflect poorly on the king if word got out that he let his consort sleep in this dirty broom closet on their wedding night, wouldn't it?

Merlin, blushing: Ah, I suppose it would.

And that's a wrap for this au for now! I hope you've all enjoyed this story!

A huge thank you for everyone who asked for this continuation! (and holy cow there were a lot of you!! Thank you all so much!)

@magic-mushroomss @miyriu @whole-buncha-snakess @achillesuwu @aerismoon

@tidalwavesandthunderstorms @marki9 @isaidno @retro-wallflower @samwinjester

@lascienzadellafantasia @sugar-coated-prat-dragon @theoldfroglady @ryeallytired @mind-of-a-crow

@whynotreinventmyselfeveryday @likeapaperplane @odinjm @orliththedragon @aglmry

@caraspud @aostrek-236 @justaz @slippysalt @coffee-shop-gay

@the-king-and-the-druidess @theroundbartable @fanfic-library-for-me @linotheghost @scuttlingsleipnir

@guiltyscarlet @cinnabon-sweetroll-tiramisu @247merthur @veryroadpartystatesman-blog @verxen

@lascienzadellafantasia @jareicanon @arrowlovesdragons @juliairian @thesuperstitiousoldelf

@lovermyme @bootprivileges @rem-the-moth @hippielittlemetalhead @ole-to-you-nonetheless

@lordmushroomkat @starchaos01 @reynaharmonia @anastasia0614 @starlight-crow

@wheneverfeasible @savlikesbluengreen @fuckingdeadinsidetm @notquitehumanwrites @purplesandwichtiger

@rocks-d-xerxes @olli-is-a-fish @luluzealand2565 @dangerhumming @tireddruid

@spiralingtowardtheabyss @mundaneone @anxiousdragoncollector @catface233 @bennedict

@elementalpirate4 @bertolio @vadis-protenus @chaosofbelievers @floating-on-avalon

@merthurogies @justaz

And, as always, thank you all for reading through my ramblings! :D

I'll see you all next time!

[honeycaksy]

About your regulus’s son au, I think it’s so cute that you made reg and alphie speak in French to each other. Do Alphie and Sirius also speak primarily in French or is that just a father/son thing? Also your art is incredible!!

Aww thank you so much dearrrrr 💕💕

Sirius and Alphie mostly speak in English, even though Sirius is fluent in French. For him, French is tied to memories of Grimmauld Place.

In my head, the House of Black is British but comes from a noble line that, during the time from William the Conqueror to Henry IV, spoke French as a sign of high status in royal courts. They kept the tradition, especially since their house motto is “Toujours pur.” 🤔

Regulus, however, kept speaking French with his son, and it even became Alphie’s first language. It created a special bond between them, since most people couldn’t understand them (except Sirius hahaha).

Regulus and Alphie even have a little secret code; when Regulus says “Let’s go practice your French” in public, it means he wants some one-on-one quality time with his son (date, hang out, etc).

And when they really want Sirius not to understand, they switch to Arabic 😂😂

[yoru-no-seiiki]

DOG BLOOD （狗血）

YANDERE! PROTAGONIST x SADISTIC! LOVE INTEREST! READER

tw/cw: everyone’s gender is up to interpretation. dddne, yandere themes, violence, suggestive content

but what if you were never the villain, but a love interest.

MINORS/AGELESS BLOGS ARE STRICTLY FORBIDDEN FROM ALL MY POSTS!! LEAVE OR I WILL BLOCK!!

CASSIEL was a bored, lonely person. Through countless of timelines and people they’ve been with, none have piqued their interest in the slightest.

Even you.

But as a love interest, it was your job to keep them well — interested. Engaged. Entertained by the thought of romancing you.

But they never did.

They always ended up completing the game without touching a single person. Not any of the romancable options nor even the concubines offered to them in their conquests. A solitary existence.

You could only smile as a façade to hide your frustrations, as in some timelines they saw it fit to kill you.

“You . . . “

Your lines were as followed,

‘You can use me however you’d like.’

You said it at least a hundred times now. Your diction, tone, gestures were always perfectly replicated. It was the one line you could say that didn’t result in a horrific torture and death.

But this time, you felt nothing. Fear left you long ago. What was the point of being careful when you knew every outcome of every action and decision?

“You’re bored are you not?”

Cassiel’s head swiveled so quickly you were almost worried it would come right off.

You did the same thing you always did. You climbed their lap. Your hand around atop shoulders. Your face next to their ear.

In many other lifetimes, it’d end with them shoving you off. Maybe even, breaking your legs before outright killing you.

And yet this time it was as different. Stiff.

Your pointer finger grazes across their jaw, to their lips, and then their nose bride as you studied their beautifully crafted features. The protagonist was the Gods’ favorite after all, you never truly had the opportunity to savor that perfectly sculpted face.

“Lie down, be good, and we can have some fun. Shall we, your highness?”

The night was long. The two of you were inexperienced, but you weren’t about to let go of such an opportunity — your stamina be damned.

Adrenaline carried you throughout the night. Their highness’s wet eyelashes and swollen lips were another point of motivation. As they came undone underneath you several times, it all ended when curiosity took hold of you once more and your hands reached their throat.

And you squeezed. Wrenched all the air out of their throat.

Finally, a familiar sight greets you as the world collapses. Because what would it be without its protagonist?

[ RESET COMPLETE : BEGINNING CONSCIOUSNESS UPLOAD ]

You awoke again, back to the same place and time. Your eyes flicked to your hands.

Your heart fluttered.

You reached climax after climax with the royal. The protagonist you sought after for what felt like hundreds and thousands of years.

But nothing felt better than the moment you ended their life instead. The power you felt. You were utterly drunk on it.

In any case, after that event, you slowly began realized how soft the protagonist truly was. The conqueror of the world melted like a puddle when you took the charge, and almost evaporated when you’d coddle or pamper them afterwards.

You also slowly began to realize how much more you needed to get that high once more. Simply killing them wasn’t enough. You wanted them to feel betrayed. You wanted them to scream in horror once you flayed them alive. You wanted them to cry out in fear when you’d chase them down and re-create those times when they’d torture you.

But then, you would catch a smile here and there. In moments where it wasn’t supposed to exist. Cassiel moaning during the times you’d cut open his arms in an attempt to study their body’s anatomy better wasn’t something the pleased you at all. It took away the pleasure of your hobby. The joy you’d receive when you had them to play within your hands. The ecstasy of being the one to bring about pain to your torturer’s favorite.

“Stop making sounds you’re distracting me.”

“My . . . hah . . . apologies. It just feels . . . amazing.”

You paused. Your movements frozen as your mind processed what they just said.

Tch. Turn-off.

©️ yoru.no.seiiki - yun | 2023

taglist: @the-dumber-scaramouche @justkouisenough @rxflen

[redtsundere-writes]

Part 8: Differences

King!SukunaRyomen x Servant!FemReader

Summary: You used to be just another servant among the army of humans operating under the command of the terrible king, Sukuna Ryomen. An ordinary human who only knows how to wash, clean and cook. Until one day, he notices something in you that you hadn't seen before.

Tags: MDNI. +18. Murder. Blood. Cannibalism. Sukuna Ryomen Is The Warning Itself. Nudity. Sexual Display. Vaginal. Fingering.Sometimes fluff, sometimes angst.

Word Count: 3856 words.

Beginning. | ← Previous | Next →

Sukuna hates mornings. Birds chirping, getting out of bed heavily and watching the sun conquer the skies are things he despises with all his heart. Just a curse that lives in a gigantic dark castle in order to have to deal as little as possible with sunlight. The windows with bloody roses, besides serving as decoration, have specific colors to mitigate the intense day to day light. Sukuna rubbed his eyes as he made his way to the dining room for breakfast at a slow pace as he was just waking up. As he approached the door, he heard the servants encouraging themselves to work faster. 

“Good morning, my king,” the servants said in unison once the great conqueror of their lands entered the room. 

The table was set as it was every morning. The tableware was elegantly placed in front of each seat, the candles were symmetrically spaced between the empty spaces and a subtle lemon scent could be perceived from how clean everything was. The servants lined up against the perimeter of the room as usual as they heard the king approaching. Sukuna inspected the faces he saw each morning, making sure no one was missing. It was strange not to see you in your usual place. Mrs. Inoue had not seen you at breakfast time or in the kitchen. She was so worried that she had already thought the worst. She wanted to ask the king about your whereabouts or the confirmation of your sudden death, but she didn't have the courage to do so.

“Did you inform her that she must have breakfast with me?” Sukuna asked Uraume as soon as he sat down at the head of the table. 

“Yes, my king, she must be getting ready,” Uraume answered as soon as one of the servants served him his breakfast: fried eggs and shredded meat, human, of course. 

The door opened again, interrupting the king's first bite. Finally, you have arrived. Your figure was wrapped in a beautiful dress that had been made especially for you. A pair of braids framed your face while a crystal tiara rested gently on your head. Your neck and wrists were adorned with precious jewelry that cost more than your old cabin in the countryside. Even though you had no royal blood, you felt like the princesses you used to see at balls. Sukuna was so used to seeing you in your uniform that he dropped his fork in shock. 

“Good morning, everyone,” you greeted with a small bow before entering the room. 

All the servants looked at you in shock for dressing so extravagantly. It was the first time you felt so many eyes on you, completely exposed even though you were clothed from head to toe. You just smiled and made your way to your new seat, the right side of the king. Mrs. Inoue was on the verge of tears of happiness to see that you were not dead and better than ever. 

“Good morning, my king.” You bowed respectfully to him. Mrs. Inoue overtook another servant to pull your chair, the perfect excuse to approach you. 

“Are you all right?” She whispered in your ear. You just nodded as you took a seat. 

Sukuna was still enthralled with your extreme change in appearance. He had known you as an ordinary girl in a hideous brown dress full of dirt that hid your good attributes. Now you stood before him in a beautiful purple dress with gold flowers decorating your chest and flowing down to the skirt. The sleeves that subtly rested on your arms allowed him the exposed skin of your shoulders that used to be covered by the uniform. Since you always wore a white scarf, I had never noticed your pretty hair color. You were a diamond in the rough that just needed to be polished to shine among the stars. Quickly, you noticed that Sukuna was just looking at you with his lips parted as if he wanted to say something. 

“Is something wrong?” you asked, confused. 

Sukuna quickly returned to his reality, picking up his fork as if nothing had happened. He coughed a couple of times before looking away so it wouldn't show that he loved your new look. His heart was beating like crazy and he didn't know how to make it stop. 

“That color doesn't go with your skin tone,” he complained, pretending that was the reason why he was looking at you so intently. 

“Do you think so?” You asked while looking at the contrast between the dress and your skin tone. 

It had been a long time since you had worn a dress as beautiful as that one. I repeat, you had never worn a dress as beautiful as that one. Your mother used to buy dresses for you, but they were a solid color and not the best material, as she bought the ones that were within her financial means. You had forgotten how tedious it was to wear a corset so tight to the body and heels that hurt your feet, but it was nice to pass in front of the mirrors and see something nice on the other side. 

A servant soon arrived to serve you a breakfast similar to Sukuna's, but with mutton instead of human flesh. You bit into it, happy to be eating something other than porridge after a long time. You missed eating meat after the time Sukuna invited you to eat with him for the second time. You were very excited that from now on you would always eat with him. 

“Your tutor is coming today," Sukuna informed you. 

“My tutor?” You asked confused. 

“He will make sure you have the necessary intellectual tools to be my wife and the mother of my future heir. He will teach you literature, mathematics, health and give you piano lessons,” he explained before drinking from his wine glass. 

That last thing got you very excited. You couldn't wait to learn to play like the professionals. In your head, you could already imagine all the songs you would learn. The king could be a heartless being, but sometimes he was generous. 

“He will arrive in the afternoon for you to welcome him, since he will be living here from today on,” he ordered before continuing eating. “You better not waste his time.” 

“I will try my best to be the best student.” You smiled before continuing to eat. That only made Sukuna's heart flutter even more. "Is my heart failing me already?" He asked himself. 

The sun was still struggling against the cloudy sky so that it could stand out among the heavy clouds. You waited patiently for the arrival of the tutor Sukuna had arranged for you as he had instructed. You paced back and forth as you could not contain your curiosity as to who this mysterious teacher would be. Your heels echoed against the old concrete beneath your feet as you told Mrs. Inoue what had happened the night before. 

“He proposed to you?!” Mrs. Inoue exclaimed in astonishment. 

“I still don't believe it,” you commented while shaking your head. 

“And did you really accept?” She asked you as you stopped next to her to answer. 

“What was I supposed to say? No?” You asked before following the sway of your steps. 

“No, well, yes..." The old commented when the logic hit her full on. “At least you will be able to live better than the rest of us," she said, trying to look on the bright side. 

“But what if he finds out I don't have what it takes? He'll be disappointed! He'll kill me!” 

You had told Mrs. Inoue everything except about the last test your king had imposed on you. Because of that deranged test, you hadn't been able to sleep the night before. Although you could now rest in a bed far more comfortable than the straw bed in the dungeon, you had to think about how to ensure that you would continue to sleep in it. You could only remember the words of your king in an infinite loop. 

"You must kill one of your race." 

"One of your race." 

"Of your race."

The king was smart. If he let you kill whoever you wanted, he knew you would get the foolish idea of killing a curse, a being that preys on humans and eats them with no thought for their suffering. He couldn't risk you getting hurt trying. He knew you didn't yet have what it takes to do it. Besides you had no idea how to kill them, curses are more agile and cruel than any human. It wouldn't hesitate two seconds to devour you, even if it meant betraying its king.

“Don't be silly, girl, you have everything it takes to be a real queen,” Mrs. Inoue scolded you for being so pessimistic, something rare in you. “Don't let yourself be influenced by the pressure.” 

“I'm a human, how can I be at his level?” You complained as you approached her again. 

“It's true. You may never be at his level, but he won't be at yours either,” the old said before taking your hands. 

“What is she talking about?” You arched your eyebrow in confusion. 

“The king may be very intelligent and powerful, but he will never be as kind and elegant as you are.” That comparison made your mind relax. “What I mean is that you will never be like the king because he could never be like you. You have your own strengths, use them to your advantage and you'll be fine, girl. Just like you always have.”

A smile appeared on your face and you did not hesitate to hug her tightly at her touching words. You closed your eyes as you leaned against her plush shoulder. It was just what you needed to hear, a loving and reasonable voice to quiet your mother's paranoid cries in the back of your mind. Mrs. Inoue gave you a couple of pats on the back for extra moral support. 

“You'll be fine, child. We've survived everything and we'll continue to do so.” 

You genuinely hoped that she would continue to support you when the time came that you had to kill someone. So far your only plan was to kill the oldest servant in the castle in the most peaceful way possible. The first and only idea was to use poison. The most complicated part would be to take off his head to give it to the king and live forever with the guilt of killing an innocent, but that was a concern for another time. 

The gigantic gate descended along with the sound of heavy chains, straining to form the bridge that connected to the castle. The bars opened to let in a black carriage, one of the many that King Sukuna had. The two jet-haired horses paraded across the parade ground to the entrance. Behind the imposing horses, stood the coachman, a slender curse wearing an elegant suit and top hat. 

“That must be the tutor,” You murmured to your friend once you pulled away from the embrace. 

The coachman took care of parking the carriage in front of you. He jumped down from his post to open the passenger door. From inside, a tall man with long black hair emerged wearing a light colored rakusu with checkered patterns and underneath a yukata with black bloomers. Your nerves went away once they saw a human face instead of a cursed one. He was a really attractive man with captivating black eyes, sharp features and thin eyebrows. The only odd thing was the stitching that adorned his forehead. 

“Welcome to our noble lands.” You bowed next to what used to be your co-worker. 

“You must be the lady I will be in charge of, aren't you?” He asked you, beaming a beautiful smile. 

"He is so charming," you thought in surprise. In all your years of life, you had never seen such a beautiful man as him. Your heart was pounding with nervousness as soon as he approached you. Gently, he reached under your chin to cup your face for a closer look. You blushed immediately and tried to instinctively take a step back, but his fingers flexed on the back of your neck to keep you from moving and looking into his eyes. 

“You are prettier than King Sukuna described you in his letters. It will be a pleasure to work for you, Miss.” He said with a smile that looked sincere, you reciprocated amidst your nerves. 

“Let me show you around, sir…”

“Master Kenjaku,” he answered before releasing you to take your arm and entwine it with his. “Lead our way, miss.” He asked you, to which you complacently obeyed. 

After a long tour of all the common areas and where his new room would be so he could settle in after the long trip, Kenjaku decided it would be a good idea to start classes as soon as possible. You took him to the game room where the gigantic and endless library was located. 

“I see our king likes to read,” he said, scanning the place in awe. “Do you?” he asked you directly. 

“I like reading fairy tales. It's the only thing I can read, everything else I find complicated to understand.” You answered honestly. 

“Don't worry. We are all born knowing nothing, that's why there are people like me who are in charge of guiding others towards the understanding of things, so that later they can guide other people.” He answered with a philosophical air as he glimpsed a green chalkboard that was kept between two bookcases. “Since we'll be seeing each other a lot from today on, I want to start with the basics,” he said as he took it out next to a small flask with chalk. 

“The king told me you would teach me many things, what exactly are the basics?” You asked him before taking a seat in front of one of the work tables. 

“I see that you have a curious mind. That is fundamental for learning, we are on the right track,” he commented with a satisfied smirk. “Your primary job is to be on par with the king. What does that mean? That you must understand everything he tells you the first time he says it. For that, there are things you must understand.” Kenjaku took one of the chalkboards and wrote the word Jujutsu on it. “This world is made up of humans and curses, right?”

“Right.” 

“What many people don't know is that there are three types of humans: monkeys, people with vision and sorcerers,” he explained as he drew three stick people. “The monkeys are the people who can't see the curses and think they are ghosts or evil spirits. The people with vision are those who can see curses, like you. And finally there are the sorcerers, the people who eradicate curses using Jujutsu.” He pointed to the word he had written at the beginning. 

“Jujutsu?” You read with difficulty, familiarizing yourself with the word. 

“You see, we all have a soul and that soul radiates energy. Sorcerers radiate what is considered cursed energy. Which allows wizards to have their powers and..." Geto stopped when he saw your surprised face. “Is something wrong?” 

“Sorcerers? There are a lot of those?” you asked. 

Sorcerers used to be a myth among humans in the Sukuna kingdom. Your father used to tell you and your sisters that there used to be people with extraordinary powers who were in charge of guarding humans from curses, but they were slaughtered by King Sukuna so he could spread his reign of terror and have everyone under his control as flesh and blood puppets. Many said that these magical people would return, but they have never been present. 

“That's a lie, Dad.” Your sister, Yorozu, scolded your father before eating a boiled potato in her mouth. 

Not letting it cool enough, she bit into it and burned her tongue. You shook your head in disappointment and passed him a glass of water. Yorozu was always like that. Careless, clumsy and rebellious. She always used to get into trouble when she didn't have to, but she was the most spoiled in the house being the prettiest of the daughters. Your parents saw her as the perfect opportunity to improve the family economy.

“I'm serious! My great-great-grandfather used to be a very powerful sorcerer,” her father said, offended that they didn't believe him. 

The whole family was gathered around the table like every dinner. When your father was alive, there was always bread, potatoes, wine and cheese on the table. Your mother would eat quietly while observing the manners of each of her daughters. Starting with you, you always ate with your back straight and took the utensils with care. 

Yorozu ate the first thing in front of her and whatever she felt like eating quickly. Mimiko and Nanako, being twins, acted similarly, eating slowly while listening to the conversation attentively. At the end of the day, they were all good girls, but you could tell how different they were. 

“I wish we had powers, so we could kill all the curses that get in our way," Mimiko commented bravely. 

“And why don't we have powers, daddy?” Nanako asked, disappointed. 

“I don't know, honey,” Her father answered honestly. “All I know is that we were born blessed with good health and good spirits.” 

“There are many.” Kenjaku replied, bringing you back to the present. “There are so many that there are kingdoms full of them.”

“Really?” You asked, still surprised. "And I thought Uraume was unique." 

“The Gojo kingdom is a good example. The royal family is the largest family of sorcerers in existence and harbors secrets as old as life itself.” Kenjaku answered. 

“And how does one know one has powers?” you asked curiously. 

“They usually manifest themselves at five or six years of age. As a defense response of the body to a life or death situation.” Kenjaku explained. 

You leaned back against the chair with a hopeless expression. You didn't stand a chance. You had never noticed any kind of power in yourself. That disappointed you, but you remembered Mrs. Inoue's words of encouragement. "You have your strengths, use them to your advantage and you'll be fine, child." Kenjaku quickly noticed your downcast face and approached you. 

"Don't worry, I will see to it that you become a powerful queen with or without powers. I may be in the service of King Sukuna, but you will always have the last word,” he promised you. 

All your life you had always been someone's subordinate. Since you were born, you obeyed your parents above all things. You always cared for your sisters before you cared for yourself. Now, you were under the total control of the most terrifying curse of all time. It was nice to hear that someone was at your service and would help you in everything you needed. You were sure that Kenjaku would be the best ally you could ever ask for. You were not going to waste his kindness. 

Sukuna read the biweekly reports from Uraume. A document that summarized the shortcomings around the castle, the attitude of the curses and the behavior of the servants. He carefully read every word until I saw your name on the paper. Hiser heart skipped a beat again as he remembered how pretty you looked that morning. He put the document aside to feel his own confused pulse. It didn't hurt, but it was throbbing harder than usual. "I should ask Kenjaku for a second opinion," he thought, worried about his own health. 

Sukuna doesn't believe in love. He has read theories about it and heard humans talk about it before, but he has never experienced it. Therefore, he came to the conclusion that it does not exist. It must be an invention of humans to cope with the idea of being tied for life to someone by the bond of marriage. Why don't humans just marry a person who gives them prosperity and that's it? That was the most logical thing to do, according to our king Sukuna. Rats just like to complicate their lives. 

Someone knocked on the door of his office. It was Kenjaku, the guy he wanted to see. He let him in while he put away the documents he had not yet read in a drawer. The last time they had seen each other had been in the kingdom of Jogo when he conquered their lands. Kenjaku surrendered completely to him and betrayed his king to now serve him. Sukuna hated traitors, but this one had qualities that he could use to his advantage. One of them was his vast knowledge in medicine and botanics. 

“I'm sorry I was late in greeting you, your majesty. I found the young lady so interesting that I felt the need to start the lessons as soon as possible. I can see why you chose her to become your wife.” Kenjaku greeted him with a bow. 

“Did you do what I asked you to do?” Sukuna asked, getting straight to the point. He still had things to do and he didn't want to waste time in formalities. 

“I started with the investigation, but you must understand that investigating the inter-species birth between humans and curses requires time and patience,” the lesser curse answered honestly. 

A month ago, Sukuna sent a letter to Kenjaku instructing him to investigate whether it was possible for a woman to conceive a baby from a curse. Kenjaku, despite his confusion at the strange task, set to work. Curses are born thanks to cursed energy, they are the direct product of the intense emotions that humans manifest. They manifest randomly, so it is difficult to create one from scratch. What Sukuna was asking was nearly impossible, but it was worth a try. Now that he knew the reason why he was interested in the subject, it all made sense. He wanted to make sure he left offspring and that the mother would be okay during the process. 

“I need you to hurry," Sukuna ordered. 

“I will do my best.” Kenjaku answered placidly. 

“Good.” Sukuna mused. “Come closer and check my pulse.” He ordered.  

“Does your chest hurt?” The subordinate asked. 

“No, but since the morning I feel like it's getting lumpy out of nowhere.” 

Kenjaku pressed two of his fingers against Sukuna's neck while taking the time to calculate his heartbeat. Although his heart was pounding, there was nothing out of the ordinary. He had a healthy pulse. 

“It sounds good. There's nothing to worry about.” Kenjaku smiled reassuringly. 

“Good. You can go now. I am very busy.” Sukuna asked him after receiving the conclusion of a connoisseur on the subject. 

Kenjaku bowed before retiring. The king took out again the documents he was working on. He scanned the bi-weekly report to return to where he had left off. Seeing your name, his heart fluttered again. Sukuna put the document aside with an annoyed sigh to clutch his chest. 

“Fucking liar.” He cursed Kenjaku under his breath. 

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Masterlist.

[witchthewriter]

𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝑜𝑓 𝐶𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑅𝑜𝑐𝑘

𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒐: officially, "Hear Me Roar!", unofficially "A Lannister always pays his debts." 𝑺𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒍: a golden roaring lion on a field of crimson. 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒔: have a reputation for being comely with fair, golden hair and emerald green eyes. Lannisters are known for wearing crimson cloaks, and their household guard are known as the red cloaks.

𝑯𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑳𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 one of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms; their seat is Casterly Rock, and their secondary exists close by in Lannisport.

The Warden of the West is a Lannister by tradition. Their gold mines have made the Lannisters the wealthiest of the Great Houses, and the Lannister fleet is anchored at Lannisport.

Through the female line the Lannisters boast of descent from Lann the Clever, the legendary trickster of the Age of Heroes who tricked the members of House Casterly into giving him Casterly Rock during the era of the First Men.

Later marrying Andals, the Lannisters reigned as Kings of the Rock until the Targaryen conquest, when they were defeated at the Field of Fire. King Loren I Lannister's surrender to Aegon the Conqueror allowed the Lannisters to remain the liege lords of the westerlands.

While the great wealth of Casterly Rock was untouched by the Targaryen Conquest, the Lannisters were reduced from kings to lords, and they did not have close ties to the new Targaryen kings. The Lannisters had little presence at the royal court for the first century of Targaryen rule, and no Lannister is mentioned as a member of the small council until the lead-up to the Dance of the Dragons.

During this first century, the noble houses with the closest political connections to the Targaryen dynasty were the Velaryons, Baratheons, Tullys, Hightowers, and Arryns.

[baleriontheblackkitten]

Something I find intriguing about the books is how, the more you advance through the story, the more Targeryen there are in one way or another. You start with this picture of a realm that has gone through a regime change years ago, all the royal family killed except for two kids in exile, half a world away, with no remaining connections to the land their family used to rule. And the land the Targaryen used to rule seemingly has no more connections to the old regime, and yet - the bones of the dragons are still there, underneath the main halls, hidden but very much there. There's a Targaryen in Castle Black, assumed to be harmless - a disabled elderly man whose allegiance to both the Citadel and the Night's Watch excludes him from the line of succession, theoretically wiping away his family history. And yet he is a Targaryen, and he mentors a new generation of protagonists of Westerosi politics, and surely the fact that Sam heard his words about the prince/princess who was promised and Daenerys will have consequences. There's a secret Targeryen also in the North, although very few know. There are Targaryen loyalists who are planning to topple the new regime. There's a boy who is either another secret Targaryen or the descendant of a Targaryen cadet house, either way someone whose identity (real, imagined or both of them) matters so much to many. But there are also people with Targaryen ancestry who do not carry the name because they're not descended from the male line, or descended from someone born out of wedlock, like Bellegere Otherys and who even knows how many others. And of course Targaryen blood runs through the veins of many whose ancestors married Targaryen women - the Baratheons themselves use their Targeryen blood as a crutch for their ascent to the throne, we see from Quentyn Martell that his Targaryen blood is something he feels important to who he is (although it appears not to be as relevant as he hoped to, it's still something he's acutely aware of). And of course there's Bloodraven doing what he's doing, tapping into a power no one else even understands, and also mentoring a new generation.

House Targaryen is simultaneously a ghost haunting the Seven Kingdoms, and something very much alive. After all, in this world ghosts can be things that are very much alive. It's not a contradiction. There's dead dragons under the floor, but their eyes follow you. There's more living dragons that you knew.

Speaking of which. The way the lines between dragons and Starks/weirwood trees are blurred is obviously so important. A man of Targaryen blood tapping into the power of the weirwood network and teaching a Stark about it. The empty sockets of the dragon skulls underneath the Red Keep seemingly watching you like the faces on the trees... but also the statues of the dead Starks in the crypts underneath Winterfell! It's all about the meeting of ice and fire, of Stark and Targaryen, of the Old gods of the North and the gods of Old Valyria. Aegon the Conqueror knew, he did call his prophetic dream a song of ice and fire. Rhaegar tried to figure out what that meant, at some point probably assumed the prince that was promised was supposed to be born from a Stark and a Targaryen parent. But there's probably more than that.

Also - the Starks are also assumed to be mostly dead! At some point, the general consensus (at least among those who know that the fake Arya is fake) is that only Sansa remains alive, just like the general consensus about the Targaryen is that only Dany remains alive after Viserys dies. But more Stark children are alive than most people know - there's Stark loyalists planning on putting Rickon back in Winterfell, even.

The post ended up taking a life of its own and I don't actually remember what point I was going to make initially, but hey.

[pessimisticpigeonsworld]

Rhaenyra's Victory

The "nobody won the Dance" argument is so ridiculous and just flat out wrong. Certain fans (read TG stans), constantly argue that, because Rhaenyra and Aegon both died, the Dance had no victor. GRRM clearly disputes this in both F&B and ASOIAF.

In F&B, the end of the Dance is clearly in favor of the Blacks, despite Rhaenyra's murder. Cregan Stark and the rest of the Black forces took KL, forced the last of the Green supporters to surrender, and placed Aegon III (Rhaenyra's oldest surviving child) on the throne. After that, the last of Aegon II's line died with Jaehaera, leaving Rhaenyra's as the only legitimate and surviving royal line. That means, in simple terms, Rhaenyra's family won the war. They were the survivors of the war and ruled for the rest of the Targaryen Dynasty.

Speaking of the rest of the dynasty, there's a second way GRRM makes Rhaenyra's victory clear, and that's through Daenerys Targaryen. Despite the Blacks winning the final conflict of the Dance, male primogeniture was accepted and reinforced throughout the following kings' reigns. Baela and Rhaena were passed over as options to be Aegon III's heirs before his marriage to Daenaera. Daena and her sisters were passed over in favor of Viserys II and his children. Vaella was dismissed in favor of Aegon V. The first woman to be named heir to the IT since Rhaenyra was Dany, something done purely because she was Viserys III's final surviving relative (no, the relatives in other houses don't count).

No matter the reason Dany was named as heir, she eventually succeeded her brother as the head of House Targaryen and the rightful ruler of Westeros. After becoming the head of the house, she awoke dragons from stone and became Khaleesi of her own Khalasar. Dany then began a conquest across Slaver's Bay and eventually conquered Meereen and became its queen. Thus she became a conqueror and queen in her own right.

Despite House Targaryen embracing the sexist Andal traditions about succession, the future of the house now rests on the shoulders of a woman. Dany is the final ruler belonging to the house, a queen regnant who overcame every man who stood in her way. Not only that, but she awakened dragons from stone, thus beginning to heal the damage done by the Dance and the greens' misogyny.

Dany, a woman, is the savior of House Targaryen and arguably one of its most powerful rulers to date. She not only is continuing its legacy, but is bettering it. Rhaenyra's legacy is her female descendant who will save not only the house but the whole goddamn world. Dany enacts radical social change in Essos, rules her city well (as much as she can with the slavers' interference), and brought dragons, the key to defeating the Others, back into the world. Daenerys is Rhaenyra's final victory over the greens' misogyny and treason.

[kingsanddragonsandgods]

⁂Early life:

Princess Visenya Targaryen of Runestone was born on the last day of the year 90AC, at her mother's ancestral home.

The newborn child was named after the Conqueror Queen, Visenya, by her father and anointed by holy oils seven days after her birth at the Sept-by-the-Sea in Runesport.

Queen Alysanne, who held the child during the ceremony is noted for having remarking that ‘the girl has all of Viserra’s beauty, but Alyssa’s temper’ to which the King is said to have answered ‘Gods be good’.

As Princess Visenya grew, her parents continued to battle, using the young girl as a pawn in their conflict, with both parents appealing to the King and Queen to take their side on occasion.

During her early years she grew especially close to her natural born brother, Orys Stone, the illegitimate son of Prince Daemon by Lady Rowena Royce, Lady Rhea’s older third cousin. The young boy was brought into Lady Rhea’s household in the year 90AC, following the passing of his mother.

From the age of five, her parents’ estrangement was permanent, with Prince Daemon returning to the Crownlands and Lady Rhea and their daughter remaining at the Vale. After royal intervention it was agreed that the Princess time was to be split between living in Runestone with her mother, and between the Red Keep and Dragonstone with her father, alternating during the seasons, summer and winter was spent on the Vale, while spring and autumn in the Crownlands, special celebrations were shared.

Her education appears to have been strict and somewhat old-fashioned, thus, in addition to her studies, Grand Maester Runciter notes in his journals, she was taught spinning and weaving and had an innate talent for weaving intricate tapestry. From the year 92 forward, Visenya, who had been betrothed to her newborn cousin, Prince Aerion, was expected to become Queen Consort, and her education reflected it. Her betrothed passed away in his cradle two years later, and Visenya was then betrothed to his newborn brother, Prince Aelor.

Her tutors at the time, Maester Adelin, Archmaester Vaegon and Master Petrarca of Volantis, regarded Princess Visenya as an extroverted, lively, highly intelligent, and strong-willed girl. Prince Daemon was reported to be proud of her horsemanship and marksmanship.

Because of her outstanding intellect, and his blunt favoritism, King Jaehaerys named Princess Visenya as his cupbearer in the Year 96AC, at the age of six.

The young princess often was allowed to discuss the classics, philosophy, and the affairs of state with ambassadors and envoys visiting the court of Jaehaerys. Moreover, she was personally acquainted with the painters, musicians, writers, and scholars who lived in and around the royal court.

Princess Visenya if often considered one of, if not, the best educated women of her generation.

The year 96AC marked another milestone for Princess Visenya: on the eight moon of the year, the young princess bonded and became the first rider of a she-dragon she named Huraxes. The same dragon that as a hatchling had been brought to Princess Daenerys Targayen. Huraxes had pearly scales and iridescent wing membranes, with pale and pinkish flames. The princess was allowed to bond with the she-dragons by royal decree after falling ill with a bolt of Spring Fever that nearly took her life.

Matches for Princess Visenya started being discussed by the Small Council, brought up by the Lord Hand. Thought Visenya was heiress to the largest fortress in the Vale and to the Ladyship of Runestone, it was argued that as she was a Princess of the Realm, the matter of her marriage was a prerogative of the King, which infuriated Prince Daemon, who at the time occupied the seat of Master of Law, the Grand Master agreed that such line of thought might anger the Vale, as the Princess was highly regarded by her people and her second cousin, the Lady Jeyne Arryn. Lord Corlys suggested his own son as a match for the princess, four years her junior, most likely to tie another dragonrider to his house. His Grace put down all talks of marriage for his niece, agreeing that such was the right of his brother and good sister to choose her match.

For the celebration of his niece's fifteenth nameday, the king ordered seven days of celebrations, with a tournament and grand feasts. The Queen's absence was noticed, excused as Her Grace was in the early stages of her final pregnancy, and Visenya was allowed to sit in the seat usually reserved for the consort; she was crowned Queen of Love and Beauty by the Dornish Ser Eldric Dayne, the Star in the Morning.

Since the Princess's return to court early in the spring of 104 AC, Visenya had caught the king’s eye, and it is reported that Viserys and his niece have become very close, spending hours each day in each other's company, promenading in the gardens, hunting in the Kingswood, and dancing together during feasts and balls.

The king is said to have spoiled his niece with lavish gifts, including presenting her with a manse in King’s Landing, a country estate crossing the Blackwater Rush and later a sea palace in the Reach.

⁂Marriage and Queenship:

After the death of Queen Aemma Arryn in the Year 105 AC, Princess Visenya, aged 15, became the 2nd wife and Queen Consort of her uncle, King Viserys I Targaryen. Their betrothal was announced a month following the queen’s passing, and a private ceremony was held three months later in Dragonstone.

It was a scandal at the time, as not only the King’s new marriage was announced a moon after the late queen’s passing in childbed, but it had also been rumored for some time that Viserys and Visenya had been lovers.

More salacious tales propagated by the fool Mushroom during the Dance of the Dragons tells of the princess sitting on her uncle's lap during feasts, kissing him shamelessly, and nibbling his fingers sensually as he fed her like a beloved pet; of the king fondling her breasts in public, and announcing to his courtiers that he and his niece would retire to make love. These have no contemporary support, with Septon Eustace calling such tales absurd and slanderous.

Over the matter of his marriage to his niece Viserys claimed that the marriage was in the public interest and ordered a grand celebration for the occasion of his new queen's coronation, to happen after the end of mourning period for Prince Baelon. Visenya was the first Queen Consort crowned in a separate ceremony from the reigning King. During the occasion the apparent advanced state of the queen's pregnancy caused a new wave of rumors that Visenya had been the King's mistress while the queen was still alive and that their child was conceived out of wedlock.

In their more than two decades of marriage, Visenya and Viserys had fourteen children, all survived into adulthood, something that the maesters attribute to the queen’s management of the nursery. Visenya’s role as a mother was glorified throughout the realm, their young new queen’s obvious fertility was seen, by the smallfolk and nobles alike, as both a bless from the Mother and a sign from the gods. With the birth of her twin girls, Princess Viserra and Princess Rhaelys, coins were issued, portraying her as the Mother, an allegory that would repeat itself many times for the remaining of her husband’s and son’s reign. If in her maidenhood, as a young princess, Visenya posed as a model for sculptures of the Maiden, in motherhood and queenship, she was now the Mother.

Although it was not the norm of the age, and in fact, apart from the late Queen Alysanne, no other queen receive such a honor, King Viserys granted Visenya a seat on his Small Council, leaning on her for advice on varied subjects due to his respect for her opinion and good judgment. She became a formidable figure with far-reaching influence during this time. According to some sources, her influence was such that Queen Visenya effectively ran the government alongside the Hand of the King.

In the year 115AC, around the time of her stepdaughter’s wedding to Ser Leanor Velaryon and in the years that followed, the Queen Consort started to work and put her own trusted people in ever higher positions to strengthen herself and her sons through them.

Visenya acted as her first husband’s regent after his health decline, sat in her eldest son’s war table following Viserys’s death.

⁂Personality:

Some historians have contended that to some extent she deserved her negative reputation propagated by her stepdaughter following the death of King Viserys I, despite the inaccuracies of the claims that she was sexually disreputable or regarding the legitimacy of her children, other criticisms of her were valid: she was ambitious, proud, obstinate, and masked her cunning behind a sweet-toned voice and flawless manners.

Princess Rhaenyra described her as a woman of reckless extravagance and wantonness, who seduced a grieving man, and whom the King nonetheless loved passionately and faithfully. It is widely known that those part of the Black Court of the Princess of Dragonstone took to call the queen ‘the King’s Great Whore’ and ‘Lady Concubine’, however always away from both the queen and the king’s ears as well as her supporters, further spreading the rumors of an extramarital affair while the late Queen Aemma still lived and questioning the validity of the legitimacy of their children. Despite rumors spread on her sons legitimacy supported by the queen's supposed lasciviousness, all of Visenya’s children resembled those of her lineage.

In her youth, Visenya was celebrated as ‘the most beautiful creature in the world’ and that there was ‘nothing lacking in her that the most beautiful girl should have’. Ser Alyn of Hull would reflect later in her lifetime that regarding her appearance ‘there were few women who could compete with the Queen in her prime’.

Visenya was fiercely independent, a trait she shared with her mother. Mellos described her as having ambitions to match her pedigree. However, Archmaester Gyldayn notes that Visenya was fully aware that a woman in Westeros could not hold power in her own right. Instead, Visenya orchestrated the rise of her sons.

Capable of acts of extreme ruthlessness, she, in contrast, was also able to demonstrate uttermost kindness and charity.

⁂Issue:

At four and thirty of age by the time of their weeding, Viserys was already considered in his middle age. The union however proved itself to be a happy one, and together they had 14 children, nine sons and five daughters.

Visenya had been taught the importance of receiving an education and came to play an extensive role in her children' education, resulting in the creation of a "superior breed of princes."

Queen Visenya was know to call her children her 'precious jewels', and took great pride in all of them, she was particularly close to the princesses Alyssa and Elaena, however it is said, that from all her children, her favorite was Prince Aegon.

edited on 11/04/2024

[selkiewife]

The Hunt Episode is so pivotal because Viserys is so into baby Aegon at first! He’s playing with him and remarking about how much they look alike and generally just seems so happy with the son he’s always dreamed would be.

He spends the rest of the episode torn between Rhaenyra and Aegon- essentially torn between the guilt he feels over killing his wife in pursuit of his dream son and the desire to believe his dream really was true- and that Aegon is the son of his dream and should be crowned king. And then there is the whole white hart search that haunts the entire episode:

OTTO: The royal huntsman have sent a report, Your Grace. There's been a sighting of a white hart. The stag is "The King of the Kingswood," Your Grace. A regal portent for Prince Aegon's name day.

Otto sets up the white hart as a divine sign that Aegon should be the future king. And though Viserys spends most of the episode upset at everyone's politicking- he does confess to Alicent that he might have been wrong to name Rhaenyra heir, now that he has a son:

VISERYS: You know, I... I named her to protect the realm from Daemon. She was my only child. "The Realm's Delight." I named her out of love because I no longer believed... ALICENT: Believed what, my love? VISERYS: Many in my line have been dragonriders. Very few among us have been dreamers. What is the power of a dragon... next to the power of prophecy? ALICENT: The hour is too late, husband. VISERYS: When Rhaenyra was a child... I saw it in a dream... as vivid as these flames, I saw it. A male babe born to me... wearing the Conqueror's crown. And I so wanted it to be true, to be a dreamer myself. I sought that vision again, night after night... but it never came again. I poured all my thought and will into it. And my obsession killed Rhaenyra's mother. ALICENT: Viserys. VISERYS: I thought Rhaenyra was the way out of my abyss of grief and regret. And naming her heir would begin to set things right. ALICENT: Oh, it did. VISERYS: I never imagined I would remarry... that I would have a son. What if I was wrong?

It is so interesting that it is right after this that the horns are blown and they tell Viserys that the white hart has been found. Because I think this is the scene that makes up Viserys' mind. They bring this poor brown stag to Viserys and it is clearly not the white hart. And Viserys cannot even kill him cleanly. You can see he doesn't really want to kill this stag, but he does it because it is expected, because he is the King, because it is in honor of his son's 2nd name day, etc. But I think that maybe the senseless butchering of this poor creature reminds Viserys of Aemma. I might be reaching, but I felt like he was reminded of how he allowed her to be butchered in the quest for a male heir. And as he is butchering this stag, he has to face the fact that it is not actually a sign. It is only a regular stag, not a white hart. It is not a sign. And it is after this moment that Viserys decides that he will no longer be swayed by the other lords nor by his own desire for his prophetic dream to be true. He will keep Rhaenyra as heir for Aemma, as he explains to her after the hunt:

VISERYS: Rhaenyra... I did waver at one time. But I swear to you now, on your mother's memory, you will not be supplanted.

And I think that once he decided Rhaenyra was his heir and that he would not supplant her, that’s when he began to distance himself from Aegon. So maybe it wasn’t that he didn’t like him or found him unworthy- as Aegon assumes in the carriage ride- but that he was afraid he would like him too much and that he would be swayed to choose him as a fulfillment of his prophetic dream.

The tragic irony about ALL of this is that Viserys really was a dreamer. But his interpretation of the dream was wrong. Viserys does (unintentionally) end up placing his son on the throne- and "all the dragons roared as one,” just as he prophesied. But, they roar as one in war... in a war with each other. Viserys unfortunately was not dreaming that his son would "unite the realm against the cold and the dark." He was not dreaming that his son was the “Prince that was Promised.” His prophetic dream was actually about the Dance of the Dragons.

[goodqueenaly]

Hello! I’m so sorry if you’ve answered something like this before, I’ve been reading different alternate universes of Fire and Blood, what do you think would happen if Maegor had had a posthumous son from Queen Elinor or Rhaena? How would Jaehaerys and co have handled it? My guess would be the son being forced to either go to the wall or joining the faith when he came of age to prevent any potential succession issues.

Of course, it’s important to note at the outset of this ask that the author made a very specific point of Maegor not having living children. Whatever the specific reason Maegor was unable to father a living child - and I think the author has left the answer deliberately obscure - GRRM took pains not only to not have Maegor have a surviving child, but to have the children Maegor did father be “a monster, with twisted limbs, a huge head, and no eyes”, “a legless and armless creature possessed of both male and female genitalia”, and “a malformed and stillborn child, an eyeless boy born with rudimentary wings”. (We’ll leave aside the question of Silver Denys, whose paternal ancestry assertions are at best highly speculative.) Indeed, Maegor’s inability to gather a living child gave his enemies in-universe strong grounds to denounce Maegor as cursed (with such colorfully coarse rumors as Maegor’s “privy parts [being] poisoned, his seed full of worms”, such that “the gods would never grant him a living son”). Therefore, to have Maegor father a living child by either Elinor Costayne or Rhaena Targaryen would potentially substantially change how characters in universe viewed Maegor, and by extension how the author wanted us to perceive Maegor himself.

Likewise, I think the scenario might change, though perhaps not significantly, depending on when such a child was born vis a vis Maegor’s death. Depending on when such a child would have been conceived, it’s possible that either mother would not have known she was pregnant until after Maegor was dead. Therefore, unless the new King Jaehaerys or any of his courtiers insisted on verifying whether Elinor or Rhaena were pregnant following the death of Maegor (which no one seems to have done, likely for obvious reasons, IOLT), it’s possible that Jaehaerys would simply have been acclaimed as he was IOTL, as the only remaining legitimate male male-line Targaryen, with the rights of this posthumous son coming up after Jaehaerys had already been acknowledged as king - hardly a good starting ground for such a child in terms of a potential royal claim, when King Jaehaerys would presumably have already been blessed and crowned. (I should point out here that Elinor Costayne did IOTL give birth to a child by Maegor early in 48 AC, though exactly how much time there was between this birth and Maegor’s death is unclear, and in turn whether Elinor could, on a purely biological level, have conceived another child by Maegor in the time.)

All of that said, I think any living son of Maegor, whether by Rhaena or Elinor, would have been passed over in favor of Jaehaerys anyway. Between the unborn or newborn child of a tyrant usurper, who had so far only proven able to father stillborn “monsters” by his many wives, and the near-adult only remaining son of the Conqueror’s elder son and heir, there might have seemed like very little reason to back the former; indeed, given the rapid and substantial erosion of support for Maegor IOTL before his death, I highly doubt that anyone would have been. Nor indeed would Jaehaerys have lacked an argument to undermine the legitimacy of this baby: if Maegor had forced his pet “High Lickspittle” to perform the triple wedding between himself and his “Black Brides”, this polygamous arrangement was denounced by Septon Moon and his Faithful followers; with young King Jaehaerys eager to come to a peaceful (albeit frustratingly under-detailed) settlement with the Faith at the outset of his reign, it would have been all too easy for the king to say that Maegor’s simultaneous weddings to the Black Brides were illegal in the eyes of the Faith, and subsequently that any children born of such unions were bastards with no right of inheritance. (It’s perhaps worth remembering that Jaehaerys would later sternly remind his sister Rhaena that she was only a “queen by courtesy”, the implication being that he could choose to no longer recognize her as a queen at his leisure.) Too, given Jaehaerys’ willingness IOTL to pass over the very colorable claim of his niece Aerea, and his unwillingness to recognize his eldest brother Aegon as the rightful king between the death of their father Aenys and Aegon’s own death above the Gods Eye, I think it’s quite likely that Jaehaerys would have similarly decided that any son of Maegor would not be permitted to reign in the place of Jaehaerys himself. Jaehaerys may not have expected to come to the throne in his youth, but once he was acclaimed at the tail end of Maegor’s reign, I think Jaehaerys was quite certain on not letting anyone - his sister, his niece, the shade of his brother, or even a would-be son of his dead usurping uncle - claim the throne instead. At best, such a child may have been relegated to the Faith or the Wall, in the vein of Aerea’s twin Rhaella; at worst, Jaehaerys may have seen to this cousin being quietly murdered, much as I think his descendant Viserys would with his troublesome nephew Baelor, or Philip of Poitiers did with his royal infant nephew Jean in The Accursed Kings.

[linguisticdiscovery]

Ways English borrowed words from Latin

Latin has been influencing English since before English existed!

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of ways that English got vocabulary from Latin:

early Latin influence on the Germanic tribes: The Germanic tribes borrowed words from the Romans while still in continental Europe, before coming to England.

camp, wall, pit, street, mile, cheap, mint, wine, cheese, pillow, cup, linen, line, pepper, butter, onion, chalk, copper, dragon, peacock, pipe, bishop

Roman occupation of England: The Celts borrowed words from the Romans when the Romans invaded England, and the Anglo-Saxons later borrowed those Latin words from the Celts.

port, tower, -chester / -caster / -cester (place name suffix), mount

Christianization of the Anglo-Saxons: Roman missionaries to England converted the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity and brought Latin with them.

altar, angel, anthem, candle, disciple, litany, martyr, mass, noon, nun, offer, organ, palm, relic, rule, shrine, temple, tunic, cap, sock, purple, chest, mat, sack, school, master, fever, circle, talent

Norman Conquest: The Norman French invaded England in 1066 under William the Conqueror, making Norman French the language of the state. Many words were borrowed from French, which had evolved out of Latin.

noble, servant, messenger, feast, story, government, state, empire, royal, authority, tyrant, court, council, parliament, assembly, record, tax, subject, public, liberty, office, warden, peer, sir, madam, mistress, slave, religion, confession, prayer, lesson, novice, creator, saint, miracle, faith, temptation, charity, pity, obedience, justice, equity, judgment, plea, bill, panel, evidence, proof, sentence, award, fine, prison, punishment, plead, blame, arrest, judge, banish, property, arson, heir, defense, army, navy, peace, enemy, battle, combat, banner, havoc, fashion, robe, button, boots, luxury, blue, brown, jewel, crystal, taste, toast, cream, sugar, salad, lettuce, herb, mustard, cinnamon, nutmeg, roast, boil, stew, fry, curtain, couch, screen, lamp, blanket, dance, music, labor, fool, sculpture, beauty, color, image, tone, poet, romance, title, story, pen, chapter, medicine, pain, stomach, plague, poison

The Renaissance: The intense focus on writings from classical antiquity during the Renaissance led to the borrowing of numerous words directly from Latin.

atmosphere, disability, halo, agile, appropriate, expensive, external, habitual, impersonal, adapt, alienate, benefit, consolidate, disregard, erupt, exist, extinguish, harass, meditate

The Scientific Revolution: The need for new technical and scientific terms led to many neoclassical compounds formed from Classical Greek and Latin elements, or new uses of Latin prefixes.

automobile, transcontinental, transformer, prehistoric, preview, prequel, subtitle, deflate, component, data, experiment, formula, nucleus, ratio, structure

Not to mention most borrowings from other Romance languages, such as Spanish or Italian, which also evolved from Latin.

Further Reading: A history of the English language (Baugh & Cable)

[tomionefinds]

Hi! Any recs that is royalty-themed? Either Hermione or Tom is from royal blood. Even better if there’s a possessive/jealous Tom. Thanks!

Here are some royalty recs! - Haus

Light of the Moon by Maloreiy (admin favorites)

T | Complete | 69k

King Riddle needs a bride, and he has declared he will marry whoever is smart enough and strong enough to solve his magical riddle. Written for the Tomione Fest, hosted by the Tomione fanfics Facebook group. Tied for the winner of Best AU, and tied for the runner-up of Best Cover Art.

Nobility by Olivieblake

M | Complete | 148k

When a tyrannical king takes the throne by the blood-stained tip of his sword, two women find themselves tangled in his search for power. Who is the pawn and who is the queen, and what will they sacrifice for love? Hansy/Tomione, eventual Dramione. Royalty AU. COMPLETE.

The Girl with Everything and the Boy From Nothing by bunnystealsyourcarrots (also an admin fave)

M | Complete | 36k

A Tomione Medieval Au where a lord from nothing and nowhere surrounds the castle of a princess with the intent to take everything from her brick by bloody brick.

Serpentine Moves by Betagyre (not quite royalty but peerage)

E | Complete | 357k

Medieval Norman Conquest AU. Fourteen years after eloping with a Muggle, Merope Riddle, of an English wizarding noble family, discovers that she and her son are the last of the line, so she petitions for her title and fiefdom back. Meanwhile Lord and Lady Granger are minor nobility who want their daughter taught magic, but Lord Malfoy, appointed by William the Conqueror to rule English wizards, won’t allow an unattached Muggle-born to study alongside young purebloods at Hogwarts. Merope and the Grangers make common cause and betroth their children, thwarting him for now. But war is coming, and a long, dark path lies ahead.

No Grave Can Hold My Body Down (I'll Crawl Home to Her) by TMRiddles

T | One-Shot | 4k

He's her bodyguard with a nasty secret, and she's the heir to Magical Britain's throne. This is the five times he saved her and the one time he couldn't.

Pearl by Imotales

M | One-shot |3k

In search of pearl Tom Riddle finds his treasure. Inspired by a scene of an incredible Indian movie 'Padmavat' Regency era romance between king Tom aka Voldemort and princess of a small country. Tom doesn't fall in love. No, he only seeks to use and covet. Or is he? Is it the greed of a king or falling in love at first site wrapped in the skin of want by a dark wizard who doesn't know the meaning of love?

[drconstellation]

The Golden Lions of Heaven

S2 has several prominent lion symbols in it, and at first watch they don’t appear to have anything to do with the main story line. But there are lions in both seasons, and they are all connected.

Lions are intrinsically linked with royalty, and are often called King of the Beasts or King of the Jungle. They also symbolize courage, nobility and strength.

Whenever lions appear in GO they are always coloured gold, which is associated with Heaven. Nearly all the angels have some bit of gold on them somewhere - unless they have just discorporated.

In Christian iconography Jesus is represented as a lion upon his return. When he was crucified he was a sacrificial lamb, but the Second Coming is a time when he returns to reign again. As a descendant of the royal house of David, it therefore seems quite logical to assign this symbol to the king of kings.

There is also this paragraph from the Medieval Bestiary:

“In Christian allegory, the three main natures of the lion each have a meaning. The lion erasing its tracks with its tail represents the way Jesus concealed his divinity, only revealing himself to his followers. The lion sleeping with its eyes open represents Jesus, physically dead after crucifixion, but still spiritually alive in his divine nature. The lion roaring over his dead cubs to bring them to life represents how God the father woke Jesus after three days in his tomb.”

There is also an often misquoted line “when the lion shall lie down with the lamb,” but it’s not that at all. The full verse is:

“The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.” [Isiah 11:6]

It is referring to a time of peace that should come once Jesus returns. Somehow I don't think we are going to get that in S3.

The Two Lions in the Dirty Donkey

There are two large golden lions sitting on the ends of the bar in the Dirty Donkey. Because one of the underlying themes in S2 is about the Second Coming, even if its not obvious until the end, its fairly easy then to interpret these two as being connected to this event. The Dirty Donkey itself can be seen in several ways: a simple donkey that needs a wash, or a black horse. Both are relevant to referencing Jesus. In the former, Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem the first time to signify he came in peace, but the second time he arrives will be like on the back of the black horse of a conqueror come to rule. One lion for each occurrence.

The Lion under the lamp in Jimbriel’s room

While there is some argument for Jim’s character in S2 re-creating parts of the life of Jesus from two thousand years ago, such as the cleansing of the temple and facing temptation from demons. I think we shouldn’t also forget that this is also Gabriel the Herald, and he was doing some ominous heralding of doom at various points in S2 that in hindsight we can see were warning us about the Second Coming. So this lion at the base of the lamp Jimbriel is playing with has to alert us to Jimbriel’s connection with Jesus. (I will probably revisit and add/rewrite this one in the future, I think there is a bit more to it)

The Lion Rampant on Aziraphale’s Ring

At the end of S2 we learn that Aziraphale has been manipulated into going back to Heaven to run the Second Coming by the Metatron. In hindsight, its hard to see how he wouldn't be involved, somehow. What is surprising, however, is that this expert in prophecy didn't see it coming - but then he didn't expect to see Jimbriel arriving either!

Usually the first thing we notice about Aziraphale's ring is the stylized lion rampant on the shield. We know it's definitely a lion because it upright - if it was down on all four paws it would be referred to as a leopard. The upright tail tells us its on guard.

There are more elements to the ring that also add to the story here, it's a much more complex ring than Michael's. The crown on the top is a symbol of victory and sovereignty, and also a connection to God, who considered the "King of all." On either side of the shield are two stylized sprigs of laurel, reinforcing a picture of triumph and fame.

Then there are a fringe of feathers, banded in sharp triangular spikes. Feathers signify willing obedience and serenity of mind in heraldry, so I would tend to lean towards the former. The triangles represent celestial rays, so they reinforce his obedience to the will of Heaven.

You might think, "well this makes sense, Aziraphale is a Principality, he's a protector, that's why there is a lion," but I think it more complicated than that. It tells us something about both the past and the future at the same time. The purpose of the rings remain a mystery to us at the moment, in that we don't know why some angels have them and others don't, or if they have any function. Aziraphale has a tendency to touch his when he is feeling troubled or worried (its easy to miss if you aren't paying attention,) so perhaps it helps to strengthen his connection to Heaven somehow, or is a reminder of his duties.

There is another connection Aziraphale has to a lion, and that is through his past status as a cherubim in the Job minisode in S2E2.

As pointed out in this post, the pattern is stylized to represent the four wings that Cherubim are said to have, with a pearl in the center for an eye. These Cherubim also have four faces: an ox, an eagle, a lion and a man. Well, we sort of get all of those with Aziraphale at some point in the wider story. And the angel set at the eastern gate of Eden with the flaming sword was supposed to be a Cherubim, too. Yes, Aziraphale changed rank from Cherubim to Principality, we just don't technically know whether it was a step up or down...

The Honolulu Roast Lion

There is a lion you don’t see in S2 – the lion logo for the Honolulu roast coffee, mentioned briefly on a blackboard in the background of a shot inside the coffee shop.

The islands of Hawaii were a kingdom up until 1893, when a commercial coup took them over and allowed them to be annexed by the US. You can read more about it here. While the op in that post relates it the Eldritch Ball in S2E5, it still connects a lion to royalty.

The lion at the beginning of S1E1

Right at the beginning we have a lion as well – a real live lion! After Adam and Eve leave the Garden of Eden they meet a big lion out on the dunes. As Aziraphale and Crowley watch and talk atop the walls of the Garden, Adam confronts the lion with the flaming sword Aziraphale gave him and eventually kills the lion before he walks away with Eve.

What are we to think of this? I've see one op suggest that it was Aziraphale "throwing them to the lions" as his first act. To me it seems more like Adam has just slain God instead to gain their freedom.

The Lions on Crowley’s “throne”

There are two lion heads on the arm rest of Crowley’s “throne” (I don’t know what else to call it, really) in his Mayfair flat in S1. If I understand correctly, this should first be viewed as a homage to the US show Supernatural, as this chair is the exact copy of the one the demon Crowley in that show sits in, only his one is black. But if I’m to look at it in terms of GO symbology, my brain keeps going [error 503: Server cannot process the request due to a system overload; should be a temporary condition...] because I can’t quite believe what its telling me. And I should, because I’m the one running around touting a list that is now 22 items long for why Crowley was once a very powerful archangel and written a batshit-crazy meta on King Arthur themes presenting in GO. So I’ll just present my quandary this way: There are lions, they are golden, of course, so they are connected to Heaven, and a symbol of royalty – but they are being used by a demon in a residence paid for by Hell…(too.much.gold...! what were they thinking?)

Further reading: The Golden Lion by Cobragardens

[cityandking]

O, R, T for Dai, Minah and Kol?

thank you!! // AU ABCs

O. omegaverse. What’s their subgender? What's their scent? How do they feel about it?

DAI — I hate saying this. he’d be an alpha. he’s got the defensiveness and the protectiveness and the instinct to put himself between a threat and his pack. scent would be something kind of rich and ozone-y. fresh-turned earth and the baking heat of the sun, maybe

MINAH — omega. one more thing for her to try to hide. no idea what she’d smell like. kind of maple-y maybe? she’d be so fucking annoyed about it most of the time, and also afraid of it being used against her

KOL — I think she’d be an alpha. she’s got the propensity to turn to violence as a solution and is just a kind of big aggressive presence in general. she had a really hard time with her presentation growing up but has learned how to control herself to a degree that leads to her sometimes (often) ignoring her own instincts. not sure about her scent. something gunpowder-y or a little metallic, I think; the smell of a fight or a battlefield. kinda unsettling.

R. royalty au. How would your OC handle being royalty? If they're already royalty, how would they deal with being a commoner? What kind of royal would your character be?

DAI — oh prince daichi 🥺 the ritual and the respect and the gold circlet of a crown almost like a halo. there are so many ways this could go—pelor-touched and helaine's heir, or the scion of house amelkiir in the underdark (t’velle is the older twin, and lhoras was the heir for so long but then along comes dai and the lines of inheritance shift and oooooh queen regent grandmama would be so furious to have this half-djinn Wished genasi as her heir), or just a normal prince in his own right. he’d be patient and wise and constantly worried about fucking everything up—shouldering the pressure of expectation and holding people’s lives in his hands (royalty au arranged dairef marriage…. I’m in trouble)

MINAH — I’m trying to imagine minah as a princess and blanking. maybe she’d be kinda princess and the pauper barbie-core? like, royal but flirting with the freedom/adventure of a more common lifestyle? it’s all fun and games til her dad dies and then she has to deal with like, actual responsibility

KOL — kol kinda has strains of this with her mom’s (and step-dad’s) social standing. I think if she were actually royal it would be both better and worse—it would be all the expectation and the ceremony and the rules about what she can and can’t do/who she can and can’t see dialed up to eleven, but on the other hand, maybe she’d have a little more power to bend the rules and (eventually) change them. I think any world where she got to stay with her family/didn’t get sent to military academy would be better for her, even if she had to contend with being royalty. though I also think as royalty she might have had some standing/protection in the academy that also would have made her life a little better. it’s bleak when life as an unsubtle political pawn and prisoner to keep your family in check/prove their loyalty to their conquerors is the better life than just being A Guy in the same situation

T. (star) trek au. What would your OC's role be in a Star Trek AU? Are they part of Starfleet? Another organization?

DAI — he’d join starfleet. medical track, but he might end up in a command position (I could see him getting his own captaincy eventually). I think he’d be part romulan—his dad left his homeworld when dai was a baby and he grew up in federation space and dai always knew he wanted to join starfleet. he's gonna boldly go!

MINAH — she’d be in starfleet and work in engineering. I think she’d have come to the academy late? she definitely had a period in her late teens/early 20s where she was off with a touring company doing mostly performances and maybe a little crime, and it wasn’t until later that she joined up (maybe not entirely of her own volition—maybe the orchestra gets caught and alesso talks the officer into taking her on as a cadet, or she’d caught on her own and given that ultimatum). she’d really take to it, though. I think star trek au minah is significantly less paranoid and happier than canon minah

KOL — this is the best possible AU for kol. she’d 1000% join starfleet. all that structure and purpose and organization loyalty but turned towards science and exploration and discovery and helping people? she’d fucking thrive. I think her parents would pressure her to go command track for the prestige but she’d take so many science-track courses that she’d practically double major and end up in a sorta spock situation—command crew, but science officer. she’d have such a good time. my god. get this girl a uniform.