" Aemond is homophobic", "Screw Aemond, he is disrespecting his mother"... Really?
As for the first statement: why does literally everything concerning Alicent have to be about her being deeply in not-so-platonic love with Rhaenyra? Nothing Aemond said implied that it is precisely "not-so-platonic" part he disapproves of.
And here we come to the second one.
For one, there is a war going on/about to begin. The lives of their entire family are at stake, at the very least due to Daemon being involved. As far as Aemond is concerned, the latter is either Rhaenyra's faithful dog who kills for her without second thought (just remember Vaemond's murder) or a mad one who can't be controlled. Either way, bad news - and Alicent still chooses to proceed with caution. To which point must the Greens do so? Till there is no one left of them to get in Rhaenyra's way? Alicent is one of my favourite characters in the saga (at this point "was" might be more suitable) but presently "Alicent holds love for our enemy. That makes her a fool" is basically a statement of fact.
As for the emotional side of the situation, just look at it from Aemond's point of view for a second. To cover her own ass and those of her children, Rhaenyra, an adult, in cold blood demanded for Aemond, a child, to be tortured - for telling the truth and right after Rhaenyra's own son maimed him for life. Alicent defended him then - and Aemond was the one who comforted her with words and with actions when the majority of the people in the room gaped at her as if she was a madwoman. He chased after Lucerys thinking not only of his mutilation having gone unpunished - he also never forgot Alicent being humiliated (hence 'a gift for my mother' line"). But when push really comes to shove Alicent, taking into consideration how high the stakes are, basically turns her back on him and his siblings - because she doesn't want her childhood friend (even if we actually count Rhaenyra as Alicent's friend) to be harmed. What about her children? Grandchildren? Her father? If you look at Aemond's face when he is asking Alicent whether she wants them to prevail, there is hurt in his eyes. And who can blame him for being hurt - and mad - when his own mother is not on his side but on the side of the person who harmed them both before? And if this happens after B&C, he is all the more justified in his feelings.
I might get a lot of hate for what I'm about to say but in the grand scheme of things it looks like as the Dance begins show!Alicent does precisely what Viserys did at Driftmark (and for years before and after) - which is disregarding her children's (in Viserys' case "other children's") best interests for Rhaenyra's sake.
P.S. There is also the fact that Aemond is not one of the most forgiving people in the world (just as book!Rhaenyra by the way). But it doesn't mean that his thoughts and feelings should be disregarded just because they happen to clash with his mother's.
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There was this post a little while back suggesting that Beard gets kicked out by Jane and moves in with Higgins and that’s very narratively satisfying and right, given that Leslie’s the one person daring to tell Beard that his relationship with Jane isn’t, you know, great. However, I’m a Roy & Jamie girl at heart, so I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if Beard instead moved in with his fellow fan of few words, ie one Roy Kent.
Say, for instance, that Roy and Jamie are fucking/dating/what have you and Jamie gets it into his pretty, silly head that they can somehow hide the fact from Beard. Roy tells him stop being an idiot, of course he’s going to know if he’s staying here, only way to keep it from him if you keep away until he finds another place to live, and fuck no, I’m not moving in with you, how the fuck would I explain that, and anyway your fucking headboard would give me a migraine.
Well, Jamie says mulishly, I’m not staying away.
Fine, Roy says, secretly a little relieved. So he’ll know. Big fucking deal.
And in this version of events Roy really is cool with it, because it has to come out sooner or later and he’s not ashamed and it’s not like Beard’s gonna say anything (Roy may or may not be mistaken in this assumption), and anyway, he’s Roy Kent, he does whatever the hell he wants, okay. Only Jamie doesn’t accept that, because he has this strong and somewhat misguided notion that he needs to defend Roy’s honour by not letting anyone suspect he’s fucking his player. So Jamie starts making up increasingly absurd excuses as to why he should show up at Roy’s place like having some work done at my house and Roy was concerned I’d be breathing in poisonous fumes, yeah, so he said I had to come over here and um, Coach, I think I strained my calf today, could you maybe take a look here in the bedroom ‘cause my back hurts too and I need to lay down and yeah, Beard’s eyebrows are not as psychotic as Roy’s but they certainly climb and climb and climb. Later in the evening he just glances at Roy, so, you and Jamie, huh? And Roy shrugs, unconcerned, yeah, and pours himself another cup of tea. He doesn’t tell Jamie that they’ve been made, though; it’s still kind of fun watching the muppet make a fool of himself. Besides, the idea of their encounters being particularly illicit seems to really get Jamie going, so.
Alternatively, Jamie agrees to stay away, and then proceeds to do everything in his power to set Beard up with someone else so that Beard can be happy and move in with his new friend and Jamie can go back to shagging his grumpy old boyfriend all over the house. The attempts are predictably absurd, but also oddly sweet (‘cause Jamie wants the relationship to last, right, so that Beard doesn’t come knocking on Roy’s door again anytime soon, so obviously he needs to find someone properly nice, but it’s hard for him to figure what nice means to someone as odd as Beard).
(These two scenarios work if Keeley’s part of the mix, too, btw. She can either join in Jamie’s antics because she’s a weird girl at heart, or she can be the voice of reason if a voice of reason is what gets you going.)
Or say that Roy and Jamie really are just friends (for the moment, at least) and it’s Roy that gets a little nervous about Beard realizing just how close they are. Like, he’s reluctantly cool with everyone knowing that Jaime is his favourite player (though of course he’d deny it if someone dared say it to his face) or them knowing that Roy spends stupid amounts of time torturing training Jamie, but he’s not quite comfortable having people know that they also just… hang out. That Roy cooks Jamie dinner. Leaves Phoebe with him when Roy’s busy with a coaching crisis. That they watch stupid shit on the telly together, and that Roy doesn’t complain (much) when Jamie curls up to him like a cat. That stuff’s private, all right? So he stops having Jamie over, starts brushing him off, and at first Jamie’s undeterred because if he let Roy’s grumpiness get to him he’d never not be gotten to, but Roy persists and Jamie starts to wilt, hurt and confused. In the end, Beard – wise, all-seeing Beard – fixes Roy with one long stare and notes that there’s nothing wrong with having a friend, Coach. Plenty wrong with being shit to the ones you’ve got, though, and Roy doesn’t even yell fuck he just stands there, stony like, until he jerks a short nod and stalks off to make things up to Jamie.
Anyway, the idea of Beard bearing witness to Roy and/or Jamie being particularly ridiculous about each other is very funny, to me.
(I tried to hunt down that original post because even though I didn’t want to add to it and derail OP’s poignant take with my Roy & Jamie obsession, I still want to credit them for the original idea. Couldn’t find it, however, but please give me a shout if you have a link. Aha! @coachbeards is the original galaxy brain!)
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You.
finally, you have done it. you had broken up with Simon. After months of torture, he sold as some forbidden paradise. the constant bickering, bossing you around, neglecting you, missing dates, and worst of all. not telling anyone he was even in a relationship. God it lit a fire so deep inside of you. you blocked his ass the second you broke up with him. sure it did no good cause he still had a key to your house but, that's a battle to deal with tomorrow. or at least you thought tomorrow. it was 2am and you had finally fell asleep
it wasn't long after you fell asleep you heard the door to your apartment being kicked down. you knew who it was immediately, I mean what other kind of physcopath just kicks down someone else's door?. you quickly get up wrapping a robe around you and walking out. there he is simon fucking Riley staring at you with pure anger.
"SERIOUSLY Y/N?!" "JUST LIKE THAT OUR 5-YEAR RELATIONSHIP IS OVER? OVER ONE FUCKING TEXT!"
as he gets closer, you back away.
"simon i explained everything in detail in that text." you spat with fiery. "I'm not doing this anymore" you look at you door, "and your buying me a new fucking door!"
He grabs you with anger and you panic, he would never hurt you. Right? he would never hurt you? shit I mean yeah he's a killing machine at work, but he's never been physically aggressive.
"thats what your fucking worried about right now? your stupid fucking door?" He practically shook you with his anger.
"Simon I'm not doing this, I already expressed that we're over. get out, Simon."
he towered over you, beginning to spit something at you, but held his mouth, sighing letting you go then turning around and walking out your broken door. attempting to shut it before disappearing.
you sighed as he walked away. it was really that easy all along? that's all it took? you questioned to yourself as you slammed your body into your broken door.
"fuck." you say to yourself as you realize the doors not gonna shut. you just hope for the best as you go back to bed. Simon is gone finally, you think to yourself as you finally fall asleep.
the next morning you wake up, and continue your usual routine. less than an hour later you walk out of your apartment, looking at the door trying to decide what to do. "we'll figure it out". you walk down your apartment complex before heading to work. it was a usual day at work. nothing too stressful.
it isn't 9:30 till you finally close up for the day. gripping your bag close to your side. your nail shop is down the street from a local bar, it's usually pretty busy during the weekdays. It is dark, and the lights from the bar light the walkway as you mindlessly walk. suddenly a drunken man from the bar grabs you.
"aye sweetheart why dont you sit down, and enjoy a drink eh?"
"no. thanks." you jerk away from him but he grabs your waist this time
"ah come on dont be unfriendly, lets have a chat sweetie. You too pretty to be sleeping on a beautiful night like this."
you chuckle trying to be nice "Yeah thanks but no" You attempt to jerk away again but this time the man pulls you hard
"Now dont be a bore," he says with anger as he drags you to the dark alleyway. this can't be how you die. for the first time in years, you're alone without Simon to call, everyone in the bar is too drunk to realize what's happening, and you're small compared to most men.
you panic as you try to break free, pushing him off at your most might. but he doesn't let go, his fingers practically dug into you. "please stop" you panic doing everything you can.
as soon as you start to scream, you hear a loud metal-sounding hit, you look back and see Simon standing over the man with a metal bat.
"she said leave her alone!" he boomed
the man held his head as he scurried off. you held your arm as you looked at him. you start to back up before Simon grabs you. "quit acting an idiot and go home." "before I actually have to kill someone."
you say nothing swallowing your pride and walking away but stopping. "are you fucking stalking me?"
"my stalking just saved your life sweetheart." "go home."
side notes/ babbling: I imagined Simon as joe Golberg in a alternate universe and viola came up with this. I really want to do a part 2, so lmk how y'all feel about this!!!
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the sweetest temptation °☆^
synopsis: a good night with your boyfriend, what could go wrong?
Pairing: Zayne x afab!reader
Mdni
"Is it okay for us to be awake at this point of night?" you looked up at Zayne questioning him for his peculiar behaviour. He was too punctual for his own good, so you were surprised when he asked if both of you could watch a movie until the late night.
"It's not healthy but we could do it for once, I'll make sure to cover up for the loss" he told you calmly looking down at you sitting in his lap, cuddled up to his chest, his eyes looking down at you.
"oh lord should I be scared?" you sighed dramatically, trying to sit comfortably, the movie playing in the background. "You sound like I torture you" he frowned amused and used to your antics, looking at you adjusting in his lap.
"and you never listen to me anyways" he said back, gently grabbing your chin making you look up at him, "I had to make restrictions because you never take care of yourself, making me worry" he retorted, seeing you blink up at him, his one arm at your chin and other spreading over the couch.
"Stop worrying, doctor. Life is too short to worry about everything. Let's just enjoy being alive, yeah?" you smiled up at him, he was looking so handsome even from this angle. It was as if he was sculptured by the best artist, while thinking your eyes wandered to his lips, staring for a little too long. Becoming embarassed you cleared your throat, breathing out a breath looking down.
Zayne noticed your staring, his lips curved up slightly for a second. "Enjoyed staring, my love?" he asked calmly, knowing how embarassed you get.
"I— I was not staring" you stuttered a bit, standing up from his lap, turning away.
"Yeah, must have been your ghost then?" he mused, pulling you back on the couch, his eyebrows quirked up at amusement at your reaction.
"Shouldn't you stop taking hallucinogens doc, seeing me as ghost?" your poked your cheek at that, looking him in the eyes.
Zayne hovered over you, making you lay back on the couch, your back touching the softness of the cushions."So does that mean you really were staring at me?" he asked his hands went to your hair, calmly staring at you.
"When did I even do that?" you lied turning your head towards right, away from him.
"if it wasn't your ghost then it must have been you staring at me, sweetheart" he smiled a bit at your actions, his hands playing with your hair.
You huffed out a breath, "Okay fine. I was lying. I was staring at you" you leaned into his touch, still keeping up the act of innocence."But is it wrong to stare at my boyfriend? Is it a crime? Can't I stare at you" you argued back.
His heart thumped at you saying my boyfriend, smiling a bit he bopped your nose affectionately "Well, I never said you couldn't, sweetheart. If anything I'm more than happy if you are staring at me. You were just making it a big deal" he leaned down his mouth fanning over your ear. "I am more than willing to be stared at all places by you, love" he whispered the last words softly, seductively
Your breath hitched at his words, heat forming on your cheeks by the timbre of his voice. "Zayne—"
"Yes, my snowflake?" he answered, his lips faintly touching at your cheeks, before trailing near the side of your lips."What is bothering you, my love?"
"You are too— ha~ close" you said faintly, your voice cracking in between, feeling ticklish by the proximity of his lips touching you.
"Am I?" he asked while his lips trailed down to your neck.
"Yes...you are-"
"Really? But I think I'm not close enough yet" he chuckled, pecking your neck softly.
"Zayne, stop playing games with me" you warned him, still feeling restless by his actions.
"Me? You blame me, my love. I haven't even started yet" his hands went from your hair to your arms, sitting up he looked down at you.
You waited for his action, trying to calm your heart down.
"Can I taste you, my love?" he asked respectfully, his face still calm, but you could hear the anticipation in his voice, trying to calm himself down.
His words went straight to your core, nodding fastly at him.
"I want words my love." he said, "Can I taste you?" he waited for your response, looking in your eyes for any sign of discomfort or hesitance. He has always been like this, always a gentleman, always trying to make yourself feel comfortable. How did you get so lucky to have him?
"Yes." You said, nodding simultaneously. "please Zayne yes yes yes"
He chuckled, at your desperation, he himself kneeled in front of the sofa, his eyes looking up at you, he pulled your legs off the sofa.
"Thank you cause I'll be diving on this pussy tonight" he said, before desperately pulling down your pants, leaving you in your panties.
"Open your panties, my snowflake" he commanded, his voice stoic yet lustful.
His words made you wet, you squirmed under his gaze squeezing your thighs together, gently raising your hips you started pulling down your panties, feeling his gaze on you. He helped you open them, gently sitting between your thighs, bringing your legs on his shoulders.
"My love" he groaned, his eyes looking at you, mesmerized by your glistening folds, you tried to bring your thighs together, only for him to stop you. "NoNoNo my love, let me see you. Let me paint this picture in my mind" he said his eyes still on your folds, as if capturing you.
His lips trailed kisses up your thighs, leaving sweet love marks there. "You are so beautiful, my snowflake" he whined, his hairs tickling your thigh. His kisses reached your core, you hitched in anticipation, waiting for his mouth to be where you want him.
He blowed hot air at your core, making you burn.
"Fuck, you are so messy down here, my love" he groaned in your cunt, kissing your folds softly, his thumb grazed your clit, making you moan a bit.
"My snowflake, I'm gonna eat you out now, but I want you to look at me while I'll be tasting the mess down here. Would you do that for me?" he asked, his eyes looking at yours, his mouth still between your thighs. His disheveled look, the lust in his eyes made you whine, looking down at him, you nodded. "I'll ah— do that" you told him, feeling his fingers playing with your clit.
"That's a good girl" he praised diving back into your sweetness. His mouth lapped at your juices, groaning against your core. "So fucking messy" he mewled, his words coming a bit blurred, his eyes still at you. He saw you closing your eyes, he pinched your clit making you gasp.
"my love keep looking at me or else I'll stop" he warned, while still lapping at your juices. His fingers grasped the fat of your thighs, pulling you even closer to his mouth, his nose bumping against your clit.
"Zayne—" you moaned his name, your hands clasping the cushions beside you, your hips moving up against his nose. "Please" you gasped, feeling yourself, getting stimulated a little too hard, "keep going" you moaned, eyes rolling back against the couch.
Zayne could feel your hips grinding against his nose, he smirked a bit, his tongue protruding at your slit, sucking at your folds. "so fucking good to me, my snowflake" sounds of him lapping your sound could be heard, you rolled your hips against him again. He stopped you, smacking your thighs, "be a good girl and stay still" he blatantly said, looking you in the eyes, he noticed you shivering at his praise.
"fuck, Zayne please" you begged, eliciting Zayne to go faster, licking, sucking, biting faster at your folds, his tongue moving out of your spasming slit. You felt your high coming at his fast pace, making you arch your back. Zayne took it as a hint that you were about to cum.
"keep going, my snowflake, cum in my mouth" he stimulated your clit as well to bring your high, you moaned at his words, feeling a knot forming in your stomach, your vision become blurry. You started feeling heavenly, Zayne was still drinking up all your juices, his tongue lapping up at every drop, not leaving a single one all while maintaining his eye contact with you. After lapping up all your juices, he kissed your thigh.
"Thank you so much for the meal, my snowflake"
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Seen some stuff about Astrid being problematic in the same breath as praising Essek. I know media literacy is tough, but let’s examine.
How is Astrid problematic and Essek isn’t? They both are manipulative when it’s called for. Both are capable of lying, killing, and other untold horrors. Both are incredibly powerful.
One has had a lonely by choice and privileged life as the weird but useful son of the head of a Den.
One has had their identity stripped from them in a way that combines the worst of cults and the military. Tortured, experimented on, changed in ways we don’t even know the extent of.
One has had the pressure of his Den, his mother, his father, his brother, his whole community pressing on him his whole life. He stepped up into the air and took the weight as if it was effortless. He focused his life on study because it was the only thing that gave him worth in this society and it was genuinely what he enjoyed, whatever enjoyment was for him then. He had access to materials, books, almost anything.
One has had the pressure of her community, her background, in her face as she tried to beat the odds. The expectations for her were nothing, but she said fuck that. She studied with nothing, clawed her way into the venerated halls of higher magic learning. She does everything for the Empire, for Trent. She wants success for herself, because that is what gets her approval, keeps her safe.
One is in a position of power in his society. He has the ability to pull strings. He doesn’t think about how his actions impact his community or really anything besides himself. Sure maybe he wants to find something to impair the religion in the region, but it feels like even that starts out as a quest to prove himself right. His life is largely his own, despite the derision of some.
One is continuously tortured, tested, forced to PROVE herself. Cut her hair, stomp out any resistance to her mentor through any means necessary. Find some solace in their two peers. Made to kill their family to prove themselves based on a lie. She is conditioned to fight because who else will protect her country in the dirty, dark ways she has to? She is trying to salvage her sacrifices into a purpose. Bren is one of those sacrifices.
One kills indiscriminately if they get in his way. The man the Nein dropped off at the peace talks? I still remember how sad it was as he tried to piece together his broken mind, a mind Essek broke to save himself.
One kills for their country. Follows orders, kills when they find it necessary to protect those who cannot protect themselves. This is what she believes.
One GAVE AWAY a powerful religious artifact to HIS PEOPLE’S ENEMY. The intent was purely selfish curiosity.
One helped protect and study that artifact to PROTECT her country. The intent is curiosity to assist in her job, protect her country.
One finds the strength to allow himself to be loved and have friends after years of solitude. Because he just never was so fully loved. He finds the strength to let the ultimate time travel power and the knowledge that he was right go. To become comfortable with time he has left.
One finds the strength to listen to one of the only real, genuine relationships she’s ever had. Her first love. A reminder of her younger, hopeful self. She changes. She realizes the lies she’s allowed herself to believe. She finds the strength to not kill her torturer just to kill him. She finds the strength to testify. To promise that no other kids will suffer. Justice. To become comfortable with the time she has left.
One is a he.
One is a she/they.
I wonder what the issue is.
These characters are two sides of the same coin. They are both INCREDIBLY WELL THOUGHT OUT characters. They are more than just paramours of Caleb Widogast.
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Hell Circles
Alright time for a soul-crashing post!
When I saw Edwin curling down on the floor in that room in Hell, trying to be as quiet as possible and not even trying to run when Charles found him, my mind faltered.
We know Edwin escaped Hell. So why did he look like he gave up? He hasn't been there for as long as the first time, I think even with hell's no-time he should have been able to feel this.
I explained it to myself in 2 ways, they aren't mutually exclusive and are both pretty painful to think about.
It was just this devastating to end up in Hell for the second time, and Edwin clearly didn't expect for anyone to come for his rescue. So his resilience and resolve weren't as strong as the first time or, rather, he felt broken by this sudden developement and didn't manage to bounce back from it yet (again, it wasn't very long this time). The boiling point of "I WILL get out of here again, everything be damned" wasn't reached yet. (As you can clearly see, I have no doubts whatsoever that he WOULD HAVE done this eventually, just after much more trauma and suffering. I'm so glad Charles came before all that.)
This is a psychological cycle. I often go through a similar one so I couldn't help remembering it. When you run as fast as you can and try your best to no avail until you're out of all the resources to go on, and so you give up. Curl up in the corner and hope the outside world won't notice you, give you some respite. The future seems bleak or non-existent. You give. up. It won.
And then over time the inner battery charges, or the desperation reaches its breaking point, so you grit your teeth and get up. And run and try again and again and again. "Impossible just means try again".
I thought Edwin must have went through similar cycles time after time. The first time he was dragged into hell, then the second. After every couple of "deaths".
The worst thing about it is that while real life has at least one escape (not recommended but as a last resort it's at least always there if everything becomes too unbearable), Edwin has none. His only choice is either to tremble in the corner forever (and who said the doll-spider won't notice him even so?) or to run and be torn to pieces. Forever is a very long time. Only with running there's still this very thin, very subtle hope to escape, so in a way this choice is unavoidable.
Oh, right, Edwin actually has another possible escape - into madness can you tell I'm fond of loveraftian horror. Locking himself up in his own mind might help, although I'm not sure it would have been effective enough. And honestly I'm glad he wasn't this broken after all.
So yeah that was fun to realize :')
Also Edwin doesn't handle change well, as we know from Charles' words. How jarring (beside the obvious) was it to be tossed from one demon to another? I bet the "punishment" changed, too. It must have felt devastating to figure out the way of handling one and get more used to it, more mentally stable, however horrible it might be, - just to be thrown into a completely new situation.
Let's add insult to the injury, shall we?
Look at the corridors Edwin was kept in. The greenish hue, the dim light that makes even the most spacious halls feel claustraphobic. It feels heavy, weights on your mind. There are no windows, no outside, forever. It's suffocating. This place is a pure torture on its own, even without demon doll head spiders.
All in all, I didn't like Edwin much when I first started watching, but after completing the series and rewatching on top of that, I admire him. To go through all these horrors and get out of them is worth that on its own. But Edwin retained his kindness, compassion, moral compass and a will to help others in need. He didn't grow callous, didn't lock himself away emotionally from the world fearing to be hurt again - at least not completely, not even close. I really didn't expect to come to respect and admire a teenage series character like that.
This show has a heart in it, it's living and beating and big and kind, and its characters reflect that in full.
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