#princess lavinia jatd

[incorrectjane-andthedragon]

*Lavinia playing a card game with the knights, because, well, she's Lavinia*

Lavinia, triumphantly slamming her cards down: King me!

*The knights groan as they lose*

Sir Ivon: That's not fair! She doesn't even know what we're playing!

Lavinia, looking up innocently: Go fish?

[castleseer]

Day 15: Startle

(From the Jane and the Dragon Discord Server Prompt List)

This scene takes place during the episode: Knight Light, where Lavinia attempts to cure Jane of being afraid of the dark.

[thelightfantastik]

she's thinking about figs

[gogogoats]

Dragonblade Deep Dive - Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen – Confrontations

First of all, the Big Thing that we were told was going to happen this chapter doesn’t actually happen. Secondly, this chapter really doesn’t make a lot of sense, but I will do my best to summarise. Caution: swearword. Also spoiler: there are no confrontations in this chapter.

We’re back with Jester, who is feeling frazzled. He wants to chase down Gunther and force him to commit career suicide but acknowledges that his duty is to the royals in this time of anguish, so he goes in search of them instead. Jester admits that Lavinia is not in any danger with Dragon, and in fact Dragon is probably at greater risk.

Most of the court and castle staff have moved back inside, with “dozens” gathering in the throne room to remain close to the action. The population at the castle has certainly grown a lot in the last few years! The King and Queen aren’t there so Jester heads to their chambers, where he finds Ivon (miraculously not passed out drunk in the dungeon anymore!) standing guard. Ivon won’t let him in to see the Royals, telling Jester they need time to “boil in their anger” and that he should instead go and pack Jane’s bags for her as the knight says she will not be permitted to stay at the castle after this.

Jester of course starts crying again and, oddly, Ivon gives him a hug. Jester begins to go into mourning over all the seggs he won’t get to have with Jane, but Ivon reminds him he must turn his energy towards Lavinia and her current escapade. He stumbles out into the garden, where he sits and mopes at the fountain, fully self-absorbed until he catches a glimpse of Dragon’s silhouette against the moon and remembers he’s supposed to be doing something.

Dragon is delivering Lavinia into the market square outside the Merchant’s house. His house is the largest in the village and sits opposite the tavern. There’s some useful “lay of the land” type information here.

Dragon tries to warn Lavinia that she should talk to Jane rather than the Merchant, because Dragon doesn’t trust him. Lavinia wants to know why not and Dragon says there are lots of reasons, although his leading argument is that he wears scented oil and doesn’t like Dragon. He goes on to trash talk Gunther as another reason for not liking Merchant. Anyone remember the JatD TV series where Dragon and Gunther actually had a lot in common and sometimes got on well? Until Magnus sabotaged things? Yeah, me too.

Lavinia somewhat defends Gunther before also wilfully misinterpreting his plan to keep her safe. She also talks a bit about how she will be a queen one day, which means she will have to marry a prince from another kingdom. So she’s not actually opposed to the idea? What’s all this stupid carry on for, then?!

They land, and Lavinia sets off for the Merchant’s house, dismissing Dragon.

We change to Gunther’s POV. Fortunately his hangover appears to have miraculously cleared up, in keeping with all hangovers in this novel. He is in his father’s house, having snuck inside and up to his room just a few moments before, and is looking on in disbelief as the Princess arrives.

He reflects on the miserable childhood he has spent in this “forlorn place” ever since he arrived at three years of age after his mother married Magnus.* If he has any memories of his real father** or birth place or happiness, they have been completely smothered by this “dark and brooding house”.

Gunther continues his evolution into a Bronte sisters character as he considers his options for safety, and settles on running away. Now that Jester knows his plan (and has so completely failed to understand it) Gunther knows there will be no forgiveness from the King and no safety from his father. He has some money stashed away that he has earned on the side while doing dodgy deals for Magnus, and has snuck into the house to retrieve it before jumping on a ship and getting far, far away from this hell hole. Once again Gunther is the only sensible character in this story.

Some of Magnus’ crew is at the house, eating and drinking with their employer. They are even referred to as his “henchmen”, cementing Magnus’ rise to Villain-status even while Gunther is treated as though he is far worse by all of the people who should have been protecting him this entire time.

He sneaks by unseen, or at least unacknowledged, and into his bedroom, which is also treated as a storage space for his father’s wares. Gunther has been preparing for the possible scenario of needing to run away for the last THREE YEARS, stashing his money away in his bedroom walls, and is retrieving it when he feels Dragon land by the house. He sees the Princess and is instantly alarmed for her safety.

We are now with Jane, who is still riding down the mountain in the dark after throwing her torch away. She thought the moonlight would be enough to see by, but an errant cloud has parked itself in the way and now she must let her eyes adapt to see by starlight. Instead of giving her horse its head and letting it guide her back to the castle she decides that the safest thing to do is dismount and lead it. The horse rears in fright as she is getting off and throws her to the ground. Jane knows instantly it’s because the horse smelled a wolf. Jane knows this because she, too, SMELLED THE WOLF, while being thrown from the horse. She is now alone in the dark, except for the wolf and her extremely powerful nose.

Dragon watches Lavinia walk away from him and reflects on how much like Jane she is, except that unlike Jane Lavinia doesn’t have an ounce of self-doubt.

Gunther tries to get Lavinia’s attention from his bedroom window, to wave her away and warn her off, by throwing a button down at her. She sees him, but Magnus opens the door. Gunther turns back into his room and finds himself face-to-face with Pincher Bates, a debt collector who works for Magnus and enjoys pulling teeth. He calls Gunther “boy”.

Thoughts:

*WHAT

**THE FUCK

I feel like everyone in this novel, including the author himself, has forgotten that Gunther is a knight. Why does he still live at home when he could live at the castle with the other knights? Why does he need to stash money and make plans to run away and live in fear when he should be a valued and protected part of the castle staff? Why does his word mean nothing to anyone when he is a sworn knight of the King? Where are his brothers (and sister) in arms? Where are his protective mentors, his understanding friends, his COMRADES, HIS KING?! Gunther is clearly acting like a victim of abuse, he FEARS FOR HIS LIFE, and everyone, EVERYONE in his life is failing him on a spectacular scale.

All of that without even taking into consideration that there is no way in a small village like Kippernium that all of the adults don’t know that Gunther turned up one day as a three-year-old and wasn’t actually a born son of Magnus. And then his mother vanished shortly after. And then those same adults all sat back and watched this child be abused, and blamed him for his “father’s” and “grandfather’s” sins and used that to justify their own mistreatment of him too.

If you’re going to blatantly re-write a character’s entire history and backstory in such a nonsensical way, at least take a moment to consider how badly it will reflect on your other, favoured characters.

Theodore sat there in his office and looked at Gunther and reviled his “hesitation” as a character flaw instead of the survival mechanism it so clearly is, and TOLD HIM he was a chip off his father’s block, the man who abuses him, who ISN’T EVEN HIS FATHER, which he absolutely would know. And Theodore is supposed to be a good person? I’m afraid that doesn’t line up.

The usual blatant character abuse and re-writing aside, very little actually happened in this chapter, apart from Ivon telling Jester that Jane will be exiled over Lavinia’s actions and Jester accepting that as perfectly logical (um. what.) and the Royals “boiling in their anger” at Jane (note they never seem to blame themselves for their parenting failures. Also, Lavinia is clearly 100% on board with marrying and leaving the kingdom to become a queen elsewhere, so WHAT EVEN IS THE PROBLEM??!) and Jane developing super-scent all of a sudden. Roughly a 5-10 minute window of time elapses after Jester starts moping at the fountain. Dragon and Lavinia land in the marketplace, Gunther sees them and tries to divert Lavinia, and Jane is thrown from her horse. The rest is just re-caps and reflecting.

Dragon seems less like an independent character and more like a mouthpiece for the author. He’s gone from total disinterest in Lavinia and everything she has to say and failing to give her advice, to comparing her to Jane and trying to give her advice, in the brief amount of time it took to fly from his cave to the village.

Time passed since the start of the novel: Day Two –early night

Time Jester has spent crying: 1 hour, plus time in the catacombs, plus time in the castle/at the fountain

[keylimecliche]

                      “I swear to you that those who would harm you will die screaming.”

- 

Targaryen House symbolism 

-

Watching JATD again made me realize that Lavinia is a complete Targaryen. She has a strong sense of justice and is ready to stand up for those who’ve been wrong, even if it means turning her back against those who are closest to her. Lavinia doesn’t hide from her noble blood and commands without fear; however, that doesn’t mean she’s afraid to get her hands dirty. She expects others to follow through on their promises just like she does (though sometimes her end of the deal comes with a twist). She also has a quote that is incredibly close to Dany’s and also my favorite Lavinia line overall. :)

-

Gunther

Smithy 

[whowatchesjaneandthedragon]

Princess Lavinia

[incorrectjane-andthedragon]

Gunther: *Rolls his eyes*

Jane: Your face will freeze like that, you know.

Gunther: Maybe I should rearrange your face.

Jane: My face is fine, although I should like smaller ears.

Princess Lavinia, not looking up from the dolls she's playing with nearby: Jane has nice, handsome ears. As will her children.

Princess Lavinia, more sternly: Your children will have no ears at all, Gunther.

*There is a beat of uncomfortable silence* *Gunther and Jane look at each other and shrug*

[incorrectjane-andthedragon]

*Lavinia and Cuthbert when they're older*

Cuthbert: Lavinia once got locked in one of the tumble dryers.

Jester: Did she almost die?

Cuthbert: She wanted me to start it, but I chickened out.

Jester: Good, she definitely could have died!

Cuthbert: Tell her that! She's still mad at me!

[incorrectjane-andthedragon]

Lavinia: Just go over to Jane and tell her how you feel. Mother says that-

Gunther: It is not...it is not that easy. *Pause* Also, you are six. You are not old enough to be giving me advice.

[incorrectjane-andthedragon]

Gunther, about the princess: She stole my food and asked me to spy on people with her. Is this what familial love feels like?

[incorrectjane-andthedragon]

I’m pretty sure every woman in JATD has an n in their name: Jane, Verbena (Pepper’s birth name), Lavinia, Gwendoline, Adeline

[incorrectjane-andthedragon]

Sir Theodore: Princess, as a knight, I cannot formally command you, but I must tell you that there is one rule you must follow. Do not, under any circumstances, go into my study.

Princess Lavinia: So there are no rules against going into the caves alone? Or making bacon in the toaster?

Sir Theodore: There are three rules.

[incorrectjane-andthedragon]

Jester: Who wants to go somewhere not boring?

Prince Cuthebert: I do! I do!

Princess Lavinia: Let's go to the morgue!

[incorrectjane-andthedragon]

Princess Lavinia: *gasps* Look! There's a message in my cereal! It says-it says "OOOOOO". What could it mean?

Pepper: Those are Cheerios, Your Majesty.

Princess Lavinia: oh.

Pepper: It still could be a message, though. Maybe it means "oooooo, you'll enjoy this delicious breakfast!"

Princess Lavinia: *eats a spoonful of cereal*

Princess Lavinia: you're right!

[incorrectjane-andthedragon]

*modern au*

*Lavinia walks into the Chamberlain's office*

Lavinia: Can I use your office chair?

Milton: I'm using it.

Lavinia: But you're not spinning in it.

Milton: I don't want to spin right now.

Lavinia: You're using it wrong.

[incorrectjane-andthedragon]

Queen Gwendoline: All right, what are you two fighting about now?

Prince Cuthbert: She keeps saying phrases incorrectly and other weird, stupid things!

Princess Lavinia: Oh, cry me a table, Cuthbert!