#shes true royalty btw

[catalyst-collective]

its international cat day?

Katya Drusilla is ready to be showered in gifts, affection, and treats!

[internalmyth]

Hannelore, one of the countries in Wind and Roses, is led by a group of siblings who are intent on conquering the continent. The Federation is headed by three siblings, each one different yet each one the same. They are a hivemind so as to reduce the fight for power between them. They all rule as one. Normally, the first wife has a large brood (quadruplets and upwards) of children, and no more, which is one hive. Afterwards, the ruler will have only singular children, or if another hive is born, they are trained as warriors to lead the army or as spies to be placed in other kingdoms.

[seattlesellie]

what if i said that abby would mock ur begging after she quite literally told u to beg? abby being mean while fucking u is canon to me (btw she basically treats u like royalty after by cleaning up up, spoiling u, ordering ur fav takeout, and she 100000% does whatever u ask. its true!! she told me herself!!!!!)

especially mad abby. abby who had to deal with shit for an entire week with no release. abby who takes her anger out on you.

grabbing, smushing your cheeks with her huge palms and muttering “nuh uh, say please” as she forces your mouth open… then you actually mumble a pathetic little “please?” and she chuckles and taps/slaps you across your cheek. “t’aw, sound so desperate sweetheart, almost makes me feel sorry for you”

and her stern, cold look as she grunts “beg for it” whilst deliciously filling just your leaky entrance. once you actually do? “oh yeah? pathetic, filthy little slut,” her pupils grow double in size, flaxen hairs spurting out of her not so neat, untucked braid. “needy little pussy needs more? bet she does” — she coos and feigns concern, mocking you with every spit of her words. then you let go of such a breathy mewl of a “pleaseeeee”, that dumb brain of yours thinking it might just finally convince her to fuck you properly, but no.

“louder, n’add my name in the mix or i’ll make sure you’ll stay fuckin’ empty forever”, you shake your head in dismay with a purely shocked, confused expression on your face. “no? awh, you’re scared?”

“terrifying threat, huh?” — hell, she even rolls her eyes.

and she’s so fucking mean. because instead of giving up and surrendering to your pleas (and trust her, it’s hard not to), she shifts her body backwards, crosses her arms and stares down at you. “who the hell, gets scared of not getting fucked?,” she actually grins. “m’so close to just letting you hump this little pillow on your own” — she speaks with the calmest, most serene voice in the universe, as if your soaking wet, quivering body isn’t spasming beneath her. as a result of her words, you cross your thighs together in frantic search of that friction. she furrows her eyebrows.

“no…” then she chuckles, flexing that tricep of hers so casually, “wouldn’t dare to do that” — a sigh of relief airs out of your mouth.

she moves closer, her breath fanning over your face. “you’d like it too much” :((

[kyokutsu-sama]

Hello! I would like to request a headcanon with Yami. S/o is the captain of a squad too, but she is royalty just like Nozel and Fuegoleon, Yami has a crush on her but has never tried to get closer to her because of her status and because he thinks she will never give him a chance. How does Yami act when she's around and how would he try to get closer to her?

Hello!!

This is really giving me Asta and Noelle relationship vibes😅 It was an interesting request btw.

I hope you like☺️

_____________________________

He had learned of a new squad captain through his good friend Jack when they both went out drinking. No one had seen her yet but there were already a lot of rumors everywhere.

Days after that conversation, he was called to the captains' meeting and that was when he found her sitting at the table next to Julius who would introduce her to the rest.

He noticed the very presentable way she seemed to be dressed and even her face screamed royalty.

Yami never liked royalty and insisted on being exactly the opposite just to irritate them but that one caught his fragile little heart.

The captain noticed a large amount of mana and strength coming from her through the ki reading, this made him give a little smile before he approached the table and sat down next to her. (Charlotte was screaming and kicking her feet in the corner of the room)

"So, I heard that you are the new captain, you seem to be quite young. Welcome!" He said with a confident and relaxed air as he sat next to her, who just looked at him from head to toe

"Oh, you must be the captain of the black bulls, the squad of troublemakers, Yami Sukehiro. Nice to meet you!" She smiled at him and he frowned at the way she spoke about his squad

"Troublemakers?! No, we're not! We are very organized." He defended

"Really? From what I heard you didn't even get a gold star." She said and he went blank for a moment, knowing it was true

"Okay, who was the asshole who said that ?" He drew his sword

Since then, Yami started to feel like getting closer to her and finding out more about her but at the same time he was afraid that she wouldn't give her a chance because she was royalty. She spoke to him whenever she met him at meetings or by chance.

At meetings, he always wanted to arrive early to have the seat next to her (He once got into a fight with Nozel because he "stole" his seat).

He will also be more likely to make jokes or comments to see if she looks at him or says something.

He also met her by chance, on a night out, and bought her a drink just so he could spend a moment with her.

He did everything to get her attention and be with her, even if it was just to see her once a day.

Finral began to find this all very strange, especially the fact that the captain was spending more time in the capital than usual and decided to confront him. He also suspected that Yami was having a crush on the new captain and that was why he was doing this.

"Captain, is everything ok? You've been away in the capital city for so long and haven't given any news." The boy said while scratching his head, a little nervous

"It's work, that's all." Yami said, turning the page of the newspaper and taking a drag on his cigarette

"Are you sure? It's because I've noticed that you seem to have a crush on the new captain."Finral joked but saw that it had gone wrong when the captain got up from the armchair with his sword in his hand and a threatening face

"Are you going to stop this conversation and get out of my way or am I going to have to kill you?" Yami threatened, extending his sword towards him and the boy, shaking in his boots, ran away. "Yeah, that's what I thought. "The captain sat down again and went back to reading

[brykp]

THEORY: Lucifer Morningstar in Hazbin Hotel... Might Actually Be a Star

I was thinking of what Sera said to Charlie when she was first welcomed into Heaven... "Greetings, Daughter of the Morningstar"... or, did she enunciate morning-star? This is a real thing in the world that exists for us people on earth, in fact you can walk outside and see it very early every morning --- it is the last star shining in the sky. Tangent oncoming, but it gets back to the main point ----- Lucifer means "light-bearer", or, "light-bringer", because it calls forth the rising sun. In symbology, this has been interpreted as a man holding a torch. In Hazbin Hotel, we not only see Lucifer literally can produce fire from his hand, but this has been passed down to his daughter as well. They're light-bearers --- literally. Also, that is precisely what stars do... they produce light! Now let me advance to next bulletpoint of this post... Vivienne Medrano ALREADY used a "living" object, that can terraform into a more active form, in this web show. And that is none other than Kiki, the literal key to the hotel. She turns into a cat-semblant body.

On the same note, Vivienne Medrano is no stranger to humanoids or beings naturally being another thing. This was a primary feature of her extinct webcomic, Zoophobia, where every animal naturally has a humanesque form they can convert to whenever necessary. For example, Jackie is a great macaw (this isn't the parrot's true appearance, this is a format she takes alternatively):

Now, I know Lucifer is snake-coded, but I couldn't help but acknowledge how well-versed Vivienne Medrano seems to be in demonology and religion, to an extent, based on some videos from YouTuber cartoon analysis channels. And (I'm going to repeat, excuse my drawling), it is a common fact that the morning star.... in the sky... can be seen every morning. Hence, Sera uttered; "Greetings, daughter of the morning star". So, here's the next bulletpoint --- the acknowledgment of celestial bodies as sources of worship (astrology) is a key point in this universe. Stolas, a major character in the same world, studies and is a sort of regulator of the celestial bodies.

That's his whole schtick. Plus, he is royalty in Hell, so astrology is probably a no-shit presence of fact among the general population in Hell. On the the next bulletpoint: YouTube theorists and fans of both these web shows in general have expressed how they think Hazbin Hotel + Helluva Boss take place somewhere in 'outer space'. From the Pride Ring alone, we can see other celestial bodies IN the sky, like Heaven and a weird moon with a copy of Pride Ring's Pentagram on it. While I don't think the Hellaverse is in outer space exactly, I really think it's code for 'the heavenly realms'. Now on to the next and probably most important fact... now, what might the Pride Ring be? What does its parameter resemble? (Btw, follow this person on Tumblr and X, they are a great Lucy fan artist):

Not to mention the pentagram (which is also, coincidentally, and non-coincidentally a star-shape) floating right above it. What is a meteorite? A falling star. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What is my final say on this? I might say Lucifer is... well, a fallen star. He may or may not be a literal star in the show, but this is a huge probability in the Hellaverse considering it IS Vivienne Medrano's brainchild. This is my headcannon now... that because these are the heavenly realms, the most powerful beings/ characters can and do exist likely in alternate/ first forms in the same existential plane. Charlie is half human and half angel... or further, half star. Also, this means Lilith fucked a star. (And Eve too, oop.)

[coffeetheactualjellii]

"Diluc x Male Bodyguard Reader"

Content: Smut, aftercare, and enemies to eventual lovers. 

Smut Content: Anal, Oral (reader receiving), Use of Aloe Vera as Lube. 

A/n: Hello Guys! It's finally time that i uploaded this lol, but the thing i promoted this as is true it is co-written by me and my ex-girlfriend/situationship lol. Btw this might be a oneshot or a three part series depending on how well this does and if she still wants to co-write with me.

A/N update: [[ Me and my ex are no longer in talking terms as of now, because she got a new partner and its weird that Me (her ex) is asking her to write smut with me lol. I might write the following ones by myself. ]]

{{A/N Update}} Hi this is several months after the update up above and me and ny ex are in talking terms again and am here to day that part 2 will come eventually once the both of us are not that busy.

!!MDN!!

Word count: 2.2k 

____________________________________

Kingdoms Fall

The three Kingdoms in Monstatd live in harmony in the Continent of Teyvat.

You work for the Ragvindr family as the personal guard of their son Diluc. The Reign-ing Monarch of the kingdom of Krasi as one of their soldiers. 

The family has always been very traditional, royalty must marry royalty, Future king gets the throne regardless of the eldest daughter or not. Y’know, the basics. Now as a soldier you’re never close to any of the royals, the closest you’ve gotten to any of them is a simple “yes, sir,” or “Yes, ma’am.” Now you were assigned to guard their oldest son, Diluc Ragvindr. Keep in mind, this man hates you, he doesn’t like the thought of having a personal guard let alone a guard at all. Your duty as his personal guard is to follow and take note of his every single move, where he goes, what he does, even what he says.

Today the prince is training with some of the guards. You watch closely as he takes down the soldiers one by one slightly impressed by his skills. He takes the soldiers down one by one, leaving bruises and even some dislocated limbs on a few of the soldiers.

You see Diluc, a tall young man with crimson hair and autumn eyes. He’s a strong young man and it shows through his body shape and tight leather clothes. Diluc turns to face you, pointing his index finger directly at you. “You’re next.” He says with heavy breath and a raspy baritone voice as if he’s talking to a rival, a nemesis, an enemy.

As you stepped out onto the battlefield you and Diluc began to circle around each other, threatening each other death stares, gradually walking around each other, round, and round, and round you go. 

When the call was made Diluc ran at you giving you a good hit in the chest. You returned the gesture by kicking him in the leg sending him down on one knee. This battle went back and forth, over, and over, and over again. One minute you would have the upperhand, the next he would have the upper hand. About what felt like hours (which was actually just 15 minutes) you won the battle pinning Diluc to the ground with your leg against his back holding his hands bound behind his back.

“Okay! I yield! I yield! You win!” He yells from underneath you with heavy breath and an annoyed tone.

You stood up walking away from the man and standing with the rest of the soldiers. Diluc is surprised by you being able to defeat him, you could clearly tell that he’s pissed about it and that thought brings you joy.

An hour later; The prince is currently taking a nice bath as he washes off the residue from training, you are standing outside the curtain, listening in on him washing, scrubbing, wiping, whatever a prince does in a shower.

You continue to listen in on him scrubbing away until it stops…

Nothing…

Absolute silence as you wait for the prince to say something, you begin to get worried. Even if it’s the prince you couldn’t help but take a peek just to make sure that the prince is okay, but then you see him, naked, and standing there… staring.

“Ah, so the personal guard has interests?~” He says in a teasing manner as you quickly close the curtain, a crimson hue appears on your face as he walks towards you, he opens the curtain, widely  to show the prince standing there… Naked

“My apologies prince, you had me worried for a second there.” You try to explain but it seems that Diluc doesn’t believe you, you can hear him chuckle a little bit with the same teasing tone.

“Are you sure, cause… your cheeks sure do say otherwise.” He says in a teasing manner, suddenly you feel an arm wrap around your waist, pulling you closer and through the curtain into the bathroom as you feel another hand on your face forcing you to gently look behind to, seeing Diluc with wet hair forces more blush into your cheeks basically turning you into a tomato of sorts.

You notice a sly smirk on his face as he pulls you closer, even through the thick leather you’re wearing you can feel his wet skin against you. As you stare deeply into his eyes you notice something there, not the usual spark of hate you had been used to, not the hint of boredom he usually had when you two were alone. It’s something new, something you thought you would never see, not when he’s looking at you anyways, the longer you stared, the more you noticed. It was, Lust?  

Yes, it is, lust in the eyes of a prince? That couldn’t be, he hates you, despises you, how could a prince like Diluc have lust for a soldier? It’s against the royal code, against all rules, against the whole royal family line… But it’s there, and you know it.

As Diluc begins to lead you backwards still holding you by the waist, without warning he turns your face back kissing you passionately. You had no time to react, not time to stop him, but then you noticed it… *Are you enjoying this? No, no, you can’t, this is against all moral code, against what being a soldier is about*. Half way through contemplating your life choices you feel Diluc slip his tongue into your mouth tasting yours, you couldn’t help but let out a low groan at the taste and the feeling.

Diluc pulls you back by the waist slowly bringing you closer to him as you feel his naked, et chest press against your back. His every touch on you sends a chill down your spine. Without warning he turns your head back to face him as he kisses you passionately before trailing down from your lips to your neck and so on to your collarbone. You can feel his lips on your skin as he begins to leave hickeys every here and there.

As Diluc breaks the kiss looking at you with a chuckle, you can see the need in his eyes, the want he has. “I see you enjoyed that.~” He says with another tease before kissing you, slipping his tongue in your mouth, tasting every inch of your mouth earning another low groan from you.

Half way through the kiss you feel something running up your thigh, something warm, something soft. The kiss is interrupted by a sharp breath in as you feel something on your crotch, holding it, rubbing it through your pants as you moan deeply into Diluc’s mouth. Diluc breaks the kiss letting out a low chuckle as he looks at you deeply in the eyes. As the feeling of his hand continues to massage your crotch rubbing up and down forcing a few low moans out of your mouth.

“I see you like it.” Diluc whispers into your ear in a low seductive tone as he continues to rub against your crotch.

Out of nowhere you feel his hand slip into your pants slowly pulling them down as you watch with heavy breath, the red returns to your cheeks as you feel his hand make their way to your skin. You can feel Diluc’s breath against your ear, your heart beating faster with each stroke of his hand.

“Ah!~♡♡” You let out a sudden moan as you notice his hand wrap around your dick moving up and down slowly.

You can still feel his breath against your ear as he lets out a low chuckle, then moving his hand slightly faster earning more and more moans from you. Half way through the ‘session’ he pulls your face to look at him as he kisses you passionately still rubbing your crotch and making your knees shaky. Your moans muffled into his mouth as hand continues to move faster and faster on your cock. Soon you eventually came all over the floor and his hand as you pulled away from the kiss throwing your head back onto his shoulder letting out a final goran. Diluc looks down at his hand covered in hot cum and sweat before he looks back up at you with a low chuckle.

“You took that so well.” He whispers into your ear leaving a slight kiss, you begin to take this chance to catch your breath and your heart.

You are then forced to turn over facing him as he pulls you closer for a kiss teasing your dick in the process. You begin to feel him removing your shirt now undoing it button by button and peeling it off, pulling one arm out of each sleeve at a time eventually completely taking your shirt off. Diluc then begins to kiss your neck and leaves a few love bites going down to your shoulder, getting elicit whimpers from your mouth, trying so hard not to moan loudly.

Diluc begins to lead you out of the bathroom he drags you to the bed pushing you down and laying you out now completely undressed, as he trails his kisses back upwards meeting your lips.

As Diluc continues to kiss you passionately he brings you legs up still rubbing lightly against your dick, halfway through this process you notice another feeling, despite him rubbing against you in such a way bringing you close to ecstasy. You notice his hands travel towards your ass until he circles it with his thumb “ahh look at your pretty little ass” he says You get a hard shock on your ass as you realise he just slapped your ass leaving a red hand mark on it. “♡A-ahh♡♡!!~” A loud moan escapes your lips as you feel the sharp feeling of pain mixed with pleasure. “hmm i didn't know that my little knight was a slut.” Diluc whispers into your ear as he gives you another hard slap on the ass, probably now leaving a bruise.

Diluc walks to his Vanity and gets a jar of Aloe vera (that he uses for his hair Normally) he walks back to the bed putting the aloe vera in his night stand. His dick was 5 inches, he started to rub his cock and now it's rising  it's about 6 inches fully hard. 

Diluc leaned down to rub your dick with one of his hands and his other and started to circle around your small virgin hole “♡A-ah♡♡!~” You let out a whimper as you feel his fingers enter your hole, stretching it out just a bit. After he takes out his finger and puts some Aloe vera and uses it as a Lube, he continues to push his fingers in and out as you moan. Feeling his fingers begin to go deeper into you, reaching as far as his finger can go.Then he adds a Second You can feel his fingers pushing in and pulling out causing you to bend forward arching your back allowing Diluc more access to your asshole. 

He adds a Third finger and he slides his fingers up and down Over, and over, and over again pushing into your asshole and pulling out forcing moans out of you as you are forced to cover your mouth in order to stay quiet.

You let out a low groan at the feeling of Diluc removing his fingers from your ass. You then notice that his dick is hard and it’s obvious. Suddenly you feel a sharp pain as Diluc slips his dick inside you stretching your tiny hole.

You can hear a few low groans from him as he lets you adjust to his size for a couple of seconds. Soon he begins to thrust into you slowly, he gradually fastens his pace, he begins to build up his speed and over and over earning a few moans along the way. As he continues to thrust into you, you begin to moan louder and louder with every thrust eventually forcing the prince to cover your mouth.

“Shh. We don’t want anyone to find out now do we.” Diluc whispers into your ear as he continues to thrust into you faster, and faster, stretching out your hole to its limits as he lets out a few low groans. A few tears fall down your cheeks, as he continues to thrust into you faster and faster eliciting multiple gasps and whines out of you. High pitch squeals and heavy breaths escape your mouth at the feeling of his massive cock inside you.You then feel something warm and slimy enter your hole as Diluc cums into you leaving his cum and some of your blood all over your now stretched hole. As he begins to catch his own breath, he lets out a satisfied grunt as he falls beside you lying on the bed heaving and satisfied before reaching over to you for a warm kiss as he pulls you closer 

. ”Hmm, is my little knight satisfied?” Diluc said pulling out of your ass, your legs were kinda sore so you stayed lying down ;Diluc went back to the bathroom. When he came out he has a  towel wrapped around his waist to cover his complexion and a damp towel that was put into some warm water to clean you up. 

[prettysweet02]

PLEASE HELP ME FIND THIS FIC 🥺🥺

Basically it’s a Loki fic where the reader is part of many girls who have come to Asgard to stay so Thor can choose a wife (the details are a bit iffy because I had read this years ago)

The reader is royalty btw and basically while meeting everyone Loki and her notice each other and she finds him more interesting than Thor.

They start talking to each other and she has a book where she sketches and writes poetry.

Even though she claims that she likes Loki he suspects that she’s pretending so to get close to Thor. He even shapeshifts as Thor and confesses his love to her and she runs away because she likes Loki not Thor.

Then she finally leaves Asgard and accidentally leaves her book behind in which she has sketched Loki and written poetry about him and he finds it and realises her true feelings.

Then he goes to her home and reunites with her and all.

This is the basic gist. If anyone knows this please help me find this 🥹🥹

[colourstreakgryffin]

Hii there hope ur booked busy blessed and beautiful rn ‼️‼️ can a get aaaaaaaaa yan! sanemi, shinobu, and senjuro (seperate btw) with a male!reader who has a personality like the coolest dude ever that is Monkey D Luffy?!? pretty please with a cherry on top with rainbow sprinkles on it and some chocolate syrup??

Oml! I love Luffy. The loveable doofus I wanna give a big hug! Our stretch babey boiii and his unbeatable iconic squad! Okay, no more Luffy stanning, let’s go!

Shinazugawa Sanemi

Sanemi is naturally attracted to optimism and with how much you laugh and smile, despite facing your worst enemies. He absolutely adores you, even from the beginning, he doesn’t want to let you go and that’s where his obsession grows

Sanemi is quite overprotective over you with your carefree nature and very bad sense of direction. You can easily get lost and never be found again, that’s why he clings into you intensely and never lets you out of his sight

Sanemi has paranoia over the fact you want to explore the grand world, concur the seas and is so deadset on becoming the royalty of adventurers. He pulls you away from the ocean and even ties your wrist to his, just so you can’t leave him and escape him. He won’t let you run away

Kocho Shinobu

Shinobu loves to feed in her delusions over you, as her obsession over your constant positive and hyper demeanour develops each day, she loves to imagine going out on boats with you and doing everything to help make your dream come true so you’ll fall in love with her

Shinobu cannot stand how simple-minded you come out as. You don’t acknowledge her maddening love for you and you just ignore her concerns, she doesn’t really blame you for this but she gets so annoyed that she knows she needs to watch you as often as she can

Shinobu simply adores your fearlessness, though you being in a bad situation scares her, she would never want you to lose your optimism and she will always do her best to protect you from everybody in this world, you will be with just her where she can make sure you’re okay and still smiling

Rengoku Senjuro

Senjuro struggles to keep up kindness and affection, ever since he lost Kyojuro, but when you come in. Happily chiming your full name and tipping your strawhat politely, he falls in love with you in a instant and he grows obsessed with you and your incredible personality. You’re just perfect to him and he doesn’t want you to go

Senjuro is very possessive over you that it’s insane, you have natural charisma and anybody could fall for you too in and try win you over. No, he won’t let that happen so he follows you around everywhere and he holds your hand firmly, pulling you away from each person. You don’t really notice it but it’s all going to plan in his mind

Senjuro idolises your compassion and the way you sympathise with him. You worry about him and the fantasy that you love him back, cooking up in his mind like he cooks massive meat legs for you at your wish, is coming to light. You must love him too! After all the time he takes to make all that food to satisfy your gluttony, you love his cooking? Right?

[gay-jesus-probably]

I feel like Zelda does not recognize that her actions have consequences, which is. A very bad attitude for a leader to have, and seems to extend VERY far back in the Hyrulian royal family. You're also very right about them seeming to think that Ganondorf was too far beneath them to do any real harm. They thought they were being clever, but they failed to recognize that he can be very dangerous if he wants to be. This is entirely in a "good for her" way towards Ganondorf btw. So basically I am shaking Zelda by the shoulders and screaming "WHEN WILL YOU LEARN!!! WHEN WILL YOU LEARN THAT YOUR ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES!!!!"

Oh my god, right??? I mean, I'm not surprised, that kind of shit is just par for the course with royalty. They're literally born into a position of absolute power and authority, and told that they deserve it because they are fundamentally better people than literally everyone else, and all these lesser people exist only to serve them. That is the philosophical bedrock that a monarchy is built on. And in the LoZ universe it's a thousand times worse, because now we're also talking the divine right of kings (divine right of princesses in this case i guess), except it is canonically true. The literal canon says that the Hylian royal family has actually descended from a goddess, and that means they get to rule the world forever, and anyone who disagrees with them is pure evil to be crushed.

I mean, don't get me wrong aesthetically I love a good fantasy monarchy, that's just an inherent guilty pleasure of the genre. But I like them being done well. I don't want my fantasy royalty to just be the beautiful well mannered people that wear fancy clothes and sit on thrones. I like them being written as a person in a mandatory lifelong political position, and taking their duty as head of state really fucking seriously. Yeah, they're rich and powerful and live in a cool castle, but the trade off is that literally their entire life is dedicated to the betterment of the kingdom, regardless of what they actually want to do. That's the deal. You get anything you want, but you don't get to be your own person. If you don't want to do the job, then you don't get to have the privilege that comes with it. Honestly, one of the best examples I can think of off the top of my head is Riju; she's the unelected leader of the Gerudo and took the throne as a child... and took her responsibility really fucking seriously. She's been an exemplary leader in all her apperances, and she's clearly dedicated to the idea that being the head of state means serving your people above all else. She's dedicated her life to the wellbeing of the Gerudo, and that makes her an incredibly good person; she's more than earned her position and the benefits that come with it.

...And then we have Zelda, who isn't so good at this. Honestly, I'd say her main problem is just straight up entitlement; not really surprising given her environment. I mean for fucks sake, just look at how the civillians in TOTK treat her; I'm still absolutely horrified by that one sidequest where a research team misheard her instructions, thought she told them to go exploring in their underpants, and instead of refusing or even questioning the situation, they actually fucking did it. Every single one of them stripped naked, and set off to do their job in the manner the Princess had asked them to. A job that included going into monster dens. Now of course this is all silly, because naked people are funny, but if you actually think about it for five seconds, it's actually not funny at all. A group of civilians believed that their ruler ordered them to throw away their weapons, remove all their armour, strip naked, and walk into a monster den. This is outright said to be suicide. And they were actually going to fucking do it, without a single complaint or word of question. And the game's actual response to this is just "wow, it's so great to see how everyone's so devoted to our princess! this is a really heartwarming story". No game, I do not consider it heartwarming that a group of civillians were immediately willing to throw themselves to a pointless, agonizing death for no benefit other than Zelda's amusement. Not that she actually told them to do it, but the misunderstanding spiralling that far says so much about the state of Hyrule, and how much accountability Zelda is being held to. Which is to say, literally none whatsoever. Even when the fake Zelda is raising hell across the country and actively ruining lives, the only response from her apparent victims is to get worried that they haven't been showing Zelda enough devotion which is why they must have deserved this torment, so the only response is to dedicate even more of their lives to her service! Nobody questions her, nobody even gets angry or scared that she's seemingly hurt them. They just grovel at her feet.

The point I'm making here is that Zelda has spent years in an environment where literally everyone tells her that she is the most important person in the world, she deserves all the power, respect and riches, and she could never do anything wrong. That would go to anyone's head, and let's be real here... the game never even suggests that Zelda's tried to get people to take it down a few notches. She isn't worried about the mindless worship, she's perfectly okay with her country being a goddamn suicide cult. And you can see the entitlement coming across in her actions during the game - she has the four sages swear that their entire races will dedicate themselves to serving the Hylian royal family, and specifically their still-unborn descendants will take up the role to do her dirty work. She thinks it's perfectly reasonable to ask people to sell their unborn children into her service, and there's nothing ethically dubious about making demands of people who haven't been born yet, with two of them still being children when they're ordered to take up arms. And I realize it's a serious situation, but the game doesn't acknowledge this as being a morally grey action; the new sages are swearing to dedicate their lives to the glory of their god-ruler, how could anyone find that alarming?

And her treatment of LInk is particularly infuriating, because let's remember her, the last time she sees Link is immediately after he's been gloom-fucked by Ganon. His entire left arm is dead, and his beloved weapon is destroyed. She saw it happen. He absolutely could have just died right after she was yeeted back in time, because again, he was mortally wounded and in an extreme amount of danger. And even if he did live, he's just had his entire arm ripped off; after everything he's gone through, it would make perfect sense for him to finally hit a breaking point and decide he can't stand to fight anymore. My man's literally died before, and now he's lost his dominant limb, how could anyone be expected to keep going after that? But Zelda never even considers that Link might not be able or willing to fight for her. She treats it as a given that he's perfectly fine, and will do exactly what she wants even if she isn't there to order him around. It's not like he can think for himself, that would be ridiculous. Link is denied any and all agency; he can't even form his own opinions about the main plot or influence it in any way; everything was decided several thousand years ago. He's just here to do as he's told.

It just... all makes me think of that one memory in BOTW where Zelda runs away from Link, and when he catches up to do his fucking job, she greets him by angrily declaring that obviously she's the only one with a mind of her own. That was supposed to be her being way the fuck out of line, and abusing Link to deal with her own frustrations. But apparently TOTK... decided that she was right. Zelda is the only one with a mind of her own. Link's just here to follow her around and swing the sword when she tells him to.

It's just so fucking bleak, I hate this story so much. I love the gameplay, but I'm having a miserable time with the plot, every new development just makes me more frustrated and upset. I'm working on the fifth sage thing right now, and gotta say, absolutely fucking hate how Mineru refers to Link as just Zelda's Human Weapon. Like thank you furry goat lady, I realize that Zelda chose me to be her personal bootlicker, but I sure as hell didn't consent to any of this, and nobody has asked me if I'm actually willing to put my life on the line for this woman yet again.

At least BOTW fucking asked me if I was willing to risk my life to stop the Calamity.

[elendsessor]

nocturne is definitely known for having weak characters which is honestly true. given what the game is going for (with the best way i’ve seen it described being a modern parable) it really had to focus hard on the artistic aspects as opposed to character development. that being said, something i’ve come to appreciate is how it depicts relationships via music and visuals, and i think it’s not given enough credit.

most of the cutscenes has pov shots particularly with the demifiend since he’s who you play as, and i think that adds a lot of context to what’s being shown.

chiaki especially is the best example and i really want to talk about it.

her theme is really soft and nostalgic, and her infamous jean dress is a lot more stand out than the large amount of monochrome fits the cast has. in some ways, that blue can represent sophistication and comfort, and maybe a tiny bit of melancholy.

when she talks about her reason, the models are all pink. that can be chocked up to her being a girl and pink being “girly” but this isn’t entirely the case. first, did you know pink was originally the color associated with men? there seems to be some debate as to why the colors changed around the 1900s, but for the longest time, pink being a symbol of masculinity came from the fact that it was deemed a stronger color while blue is weaker and fragile (here’s a good article breaking it down btw it’s an interesting read). as such, and given her reason is ultimately might makes right, you can definitely see this choice being to show power. you can even go further by saying her outfit is a red herring, making her seem delicate when in reality she’s a bit of a mean girl, to put it lightly. if you want to look at it in a more recent color association way, this is where the pov stuff shines. pink is seen as an innocent or romantic color, further adding to that not everything is as it seems label. the demifiend sees her as innocent, or someone he loves. the latter might also be possible in general since, though it can be deemed non canonical, he does have a crush on her in the drama cd. the blue could be representing the more masculine depiction it has now but also stands out in its own way. the reason of yosuga is a lot like the stereotypical chaos depiction mainline smt became a bit infamous for, but it’s interesting that no chaos route has a female representative. the closest you can argue is nuwa in 5, but the destroy the throne stuff comes from her side chick that isn’t a chick (which is the closest ending to any typical chaos route), and she actually pushes for the worst ending- i mean the true neutral ending. every chaos rep is a man, and the neutral alignment tends to be where the leading lady resides in.

what interests me the most is her ring. it’s best shown in the concept art that this was something that must’ve been important to the symbolism if it never got left out.

roses have many different meanings based on color and general appearance. the saying “every rose has its thorns” rings true for chiaki, but red roses in particular are associated with love and passion. it could be a gift or could be to represent her passionate nature when it came to expressing her reason. not entirely sure, but it’s interesting.

something i also noticed is that her outfit slightly changed once she goes genocide mode. it’s a bit more purple, which can represent royalty and luxury, but the juxtaposition offered by the rose ring which she just so happens to hold onto could have this loop back around to rose symbolism. lavender roses symbolize mystical love and enchantment.

baal avatar is also interesting in her own right, as white is sparingly used.

takao is shown wearing white throughout the entire game which, while it can represent purity, seems to better represent one of its other meanings—vulnerability. she’s not at all innocent, being the one who knowingly helped start the conception and admits to hating the old world to a degree, and she’s the only human in the game that never truly gains power. her sponsor can’t save her, she can’t fight, hikawa always ends up harming her… she’s pretty much the damsel in distress who can’t ever truly be saved. old man luci wears white, though this may be to juxtapose his former status as an angel before being cast out of heaven or the fact that he thinks waging war against god can lead to a better universe, thus seeing his intentions as “pure.”

baal isn’t like this. chiaki gets her after murdering nearly every manikin, yes, but she’s strangely beautiful. all the other demonic sponsors are pretty grotesque. noah is a mistake and ahriman is a giant tentacle monster that’s literally an evil spirit. in fact, the baal in nocturne isn’t like how we usually see them in the series, as not only is he usually a man but is often power hungry. you can say this is the same for baal avatar, however, not only is baal an important god responsible for many important parts of nature and is highly respected, but the “avatar” label attached has special meaning in the series, with the race usually meaning “holy beast,” being aligned with law, and most importantly being the physical avatar of a god. unlike other smt games, the angels actually are for the reason of yosuga, and given how one of yosuga’s selling points is flushing out “impurities” and “wasted space,” it makes sense. that’s what the angels are trying to do in most of the games, that’s what law normally is, and chiaki vouches for it heavily.

to her, this baal is what fits best. she has become a beautiful, pure being.

and how you encounter her in the tower of kagutsuchi is the most unique. she’s not tucked away in some cramped room in a massive form—baal’s still pretty big but is more like a much taller person than a huge ol’ god—she’s out in the open. she doesn’t fully antagonize you especially not when you side with her reason. she’s also the one demonic sponsor you always fight. become an agent of yosuga? you fight her for dominance. go for the ending where kagutsuchi kicks you out? this is the final boss. she doesn’t get the same rocking boss theme all the others have—hers starts with the reason battle theme. her encounter is not normal. in some ways, it’s framed as tragic. some doomed fate where she’ll always end up dying by the demifiend’s hands.

she’s also the “nicest” out of all of hitoshura’s friends. takao is responsible for the end of the world, isamu’s a narcissistic dick, and yet when she first sees you and even when you disagree with her, she’s respectful. relieved you’re at least alive.

and if we’re going for the pov angle, she’s still seen in bright, serene places. she’s meant to be beautiful despite all the killing and the messed up philosophy talk.

she was his friend. she did care for him. despite it all, he thought of her to be pure and beautiful. despite how much he cared, he was the one to kill her, and i think that’s wonderfully depicted.

[peaky-shelby]

Define Me | Neymar x OC [6]

Summary: Famous Singer and Actress, Gabriella Hamill, travels to Qatar after being invited on live television by her favorite player, Lionel Messi. Despite the invitation, Ella tries to avoid the cameras and hide in plain side, wanting to enjoy the games without the chaos that comes with being in Public places and it all seems to be going well until she meets Neymar Jr. in this bad boy meets good girl story, the definition of good and bad is lost between the lines and redefined by the past and future.

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Chapter 6: regretful by definition

Chapter summary: I'll let this one be a surprise 👀

Writer's note: as always please reblog and most importantly comment so i know y'all are still reading and i can write most chapters. There are probably only four left in the series btw.

Taglist: @xngelsau @sirensanction @reneyahh @thegrinch101 @geekwritersworld @chaotic-taco-collector-blog @blondedjoys @maneaterss @inthemoonlightblue @iluvneyney @woozarts @missamericana69 @bjoriis @marialikescherries @measimp @morganadpl @neymarloverxxx

Ask anyone in the business and they’d tell you that Peter Evans and Gabriella Hamill were the IT Couple of Hollywood. Long time friends before they were actually a thing and when they became a thing the internet went wild. Both at their high of their careers, with Peter taking over Marvel Studios and Lily with her own TV show and a fresh Oscar win. America’s sweetheart was dating Captain America himself and they seemed more in love than anyone and It was true they were. Paradise lasted for a year before it turned to the typical one-sided relationship in which both partners go on and on about their wants and their needs but neither of them seems to listen meanwhile the pressure of the media was always there, pressuring them to get married, to start a family to become a Hollywood royalty. Peter wanted that, she didn’t.

“Peter, I’ve told you before- I can’t do this!” she yelled, while making her way to the kitchen, trying to avoid him but he followed behind her like an angry dog.

“There’s difference between can’t and wont Ella!”

She turned aggressively back at him, pointing with her finger “I was honest with you from the start! I told you I didn’t want kids, not for a long time-“

“That was two fucking years ago, relationships evolve!”

“There has not been a day in this fucking relationship that you haven’t pressured me about it!” she said louder. “All your fucking jokes on interviews, talking about how much you want to be a dad, throwing shots at me whenever- it is in fact exhausting-“

Their fights would usually end nowhere good but at least most of them were at home, where no one else could hear them or record, meanwhile they’d play the happy couple on the carpet. Until it exploded in their face.

January 7, 2020 – One Day Before A Concert, Greece

“I’m tired of you pretending that we are fine, we are not fine Peter!” she screamed in between her sobs.

“Maybe it’s because you were fucking your fucking guitarist a moment ago-“ he mumbled, standing in front of the wide window from were he could see Acropolis. The hotel room was small, so small that it could easily turn into a war zone in just a few seconds. Gabriella watched him with her eyes wide open.

“You think I’d do that to you?” she asked, her voice cracking. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand. “no” she shook her head “You’re just looking for a reason to blame this on me, so you won’t blame yourself- its what you’ve always done!”

He turned to face her, his expression blank, his t shirt wrinkled. “It’s not my fault you can’t have any kids, it’s yours, isn’t it?”

To that she didn’t respond but if there was a sound to describe her heart breaking it would be the cold sigh that escaped her lips. She had never felt this pain in her chest before, the man she loved most in the world stabbing her with words she had only ever trusted him with. A part of her wanted to find an excuse, to blame it on the drinks he had before he came to her hotel room but another was sick of the gas lighting and the manipulation and being distracted like that.

“How dare you?” she whispered. He avoided her eyes, looked anywhere but her. He rubbed his face while she got closer. She hit him on the chest, slapped him repeatedly until he grabbed both of her hands and dropped them. He walked away from her, grabbed his jacket from the bed and put it on. Gabriella watched him leave and when he opened the door, she grabbed the nearest glass she could find and threw it at him on the hall, yelling every curse word she could think of. Everything else from that night was a blur, she knew people had seen her in the hallway in the hotel. She locked herself in her room, drank every bottle of alcohol she could find and woke up in the shower, while Maggie was throwing water in her face. Broken glasses and broken bottles covered the floors, which she must have stepped on and fallen on repeatedly because she had was bleeding from multiple scars. Next time she opened her eyes, she was in a hospital room, everyone wondering what the hell had happened to America’s sweetheart.

It wasn’t long before she fell back in her old habits, painkillers and sometimes heavy drugs. That addiction had started when she was 20. Only Maggie and Chris knew why, only Maggie kept the secret because on November 1st, just a few days before the election the whole world found out about the “Abortion of the America’s sweetheart”. She never thought she could be used as a political weapon, until she watched republicans yelling on TV about how the “democratic” actress and rolemodel would ruin their daughter’s future. She didn’t think she could ever love anyone after that until now.

But he didn’t kiss him. Although his lips hovered over hers for what felt like hours, she didn’t kiss him. She walked out of the car and walked back home, keeping her head down as she thought about kissing him and what it would mean. Ask her why she didn’t and she wouldn’t give you a straight answer because the truth is she didn’t know. She didn’t even wait for him to come after her like they did in movies and grab her in the most romantic way before putting his lips on hers. She was a lonely, scared, defensive idiot that couldn’t allow herself to fall in love with anyone and she really thought she had succeeded for the last 2 years in doing that. She really hadn’t fallen in love with anyone, anyone she’d kiss would be a fling, burnt out by noon and yet Neymar was a fire, and she hadn’t even kissed him yet.

She laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling. At some point she fell asleep and her mind started wandering in her darkest memories, reminding her of all the reasons she didn’t kiss him, all the reasons of her disappearance. When she woke up in the morning she had her coffee alone on the balcony, she didn’t even open her phone to see how the game with France ended. Maggie didn’t even try to begin a conversation; she knew better than that. And the whole day seemed to be going as silent and as that until she heard the doorbell and it was weird because every inch of her body wanted to be Neymar. She opened the door hopeful and was met by the kind smile of Antonella. Holding a bowl of Ice Cream on her hands. “Mama said it can freeze away any worry.” Gabriella couldn’t help but smile and let her in, leading her outside on the balcony where they both sat, eating from the same bowl.

“Did you see the game?” asked Antonella, taking a full bite of ice cream.

“No, I was too busy regretting all my life choices” she said, swallowing the ice cream.

“It’s fine the English seemed to be doing the same thing-“

Gabriella left down her spoon, surprised “England lost?”

“Hmm” nodded Antonella “France is on the semi finals.”

“France against Portugal then?”

“Oh no!” Antonella said quickly raising her finger “Morocco”

Now she was in real shock, she laughed, covering her mouth “Are you kidding?”

“Nope.” She smiled “Hakimi showed Ronaldo how it’s done.”

Gabriella shook her hand and reached for the phone on her pocket, finally opening it. All the texts that had been sent overnight while she had it shut down, reached her, beep after beep and she ignored them all until he name popped on her screen. Her expression fell, her eyes closing.

“Estas Bien?” Asked Antonella. Gabriella left her phone on the table and leaned back on her chair, letting out a deep huff “No, no I am not.” She said quickly “Think I’ll spent today regretting all my life choices as well.”

“You could do that.” Antonella reached for bowl, digging in her spoon until she was satisfied “or you could make some new choices.” She added, eating from her spoon.

Gabriella glanced up, raising her eyebrows “What is that a Spanish saying or something?”

“I mean I could say it in Spanish if it makes you feel better.”

Gabriella sat better on her chair, looking at Antonella like a kid. She hesitated but then- “Can you please?” she asked. She wanted to hear the language, she wanted to pretend it was her mother across from her for a while. Gabriella smiled and pulled the chair closer to Gabriella, reaching for her cheek. “puedes pensar en las elecciones pasadas o puedes ir y hacer nuevas y buenas elecciones.” She leaned closer as she said it and perhaps it was an automatic response but Gabriella threw herself on her and hugged her as tight as she could, hiding her face in her hair. “está bien chiquitín! ¡no te preocupes” whispered Antonella, rubbing her back while she sobbed in her arms. “Hey- hey, ¡Oye! Mírame.” She asked, and Gabriella obeyed, looking up to her. Antonella wiped her tears away quickly “Fue él quien me dijo que viniera a verte. Estaba muy preocupado.” Gabriella knew she was referring to Neymar. He's the one that called her to come, something along those lines. Antonella was quick to translate it to English “He called me and told me he was worried because you weren’t answering” Gabriella felt immediately bad, she sniffed back her sobs. “Leo had an advice too.”

“Leo knows about this?” she asked, feeling embarrassed.

“Of course, he does. He wanted to come but he had training.”

“What’s his advice then?”

“cuando tienes el balón, marcas. Sólo pasan unos segundos antes de que llegue alguien, te lo robe y te placen mientras lo haces.”

Gabriella smiled. She got a few words, something about scoring when you have the ball otherwise you will get tackled and broken before you even know it. “It’s always about football with him, isn’t?” she laughed in between her sobs. Antonella nodded, smiling.

“You learn to get used to it.” She said and hugged her again, holding her close to her chest.

NEYMAR’S APARTMENT – NIGHT

Outside it was raining. Inside Kylian Mbappe was making most of the noise, yelling at the screen whenever he’d miss a chance while playing fifa. “Hey! Wake up!” he yelled looking at Neymar, who was barely playing. Kylian paused the game, throwing the control on the couch and then grabbing a pillow and throwing it on his friend’s face.

“HEY!” Neymar yelled back at him “what the fuck?” he asked, holding on the pillow.

“You wanna focus on the game?”

“What does it matter, it’s just a game isn’t it?” he mumbled, throwing his controller on the table.

“Is this about brazil loosing?”

“What else would it be about?”

“I don’t know mystery girl aka Gabriella Hamill possibly.”

“No.” Neymar answered quickly, leaning back at the couch. He could feel Kylian staring and it was in fact getting annoying “Maybe it’s both.”

“Maybe.” Kylian mocked, laughing. Neymar got up and headed straight for the table with the drinks.

“I think I’ll leave tomorrow. Head back to brazil-“he said while pouring a drink for himself. Kylian watched him from over the couch, shifting his body to look at him.

“You just rented this apartment.”

“They’ll get their money. It’s fine. I wanna go back home…”

“Or get away” mumbled Kylian under his breath, sifting his body to look back at the screen.

“What does that mean?”

“Come on Ney. You always run away when things are hard, it’s your thing, either that or you get it out on the referees.” He laughed, Neymar got an ice cube from the bowl and threw it at him.

“HEY!” He yelled rubbing his head and looking back at Neymar who sat back to where he was sitting before, taking a sip from his fresh drink. “Didn’t even make me one?”

“Shut up.” Mumbled Neymar as a thunder sounded from outside the house. Just a few seconds later, the door bell rang, startling both of them. If someone had recorded their reaction it would have gone viral, Neymar jumped so abruptly he spilled his drink on the floor and Kylian cuddled himself on the corner of the couch. Kylian kicked Neymar.

“Don’t open the goddamn door. I’ve seen horror movies starting like that-“

Neymar took a few breaths to relax and completely ignored his friend. He got up and walked to the door. Looking at the camera screen, first. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He opened the door quickly, her small figure standing in front of him. Covered just by her hoodie which was completely wet by now, he stared down at her, now knowing how to act or what to do.

“hey.” She whispered, coughing.

“Hi.” He responded. The tension between them raising until-

“Bonjour!” jumped in Kylian, getting Gabriella’s attention who let out a small laugh when she saw him. She covered her mouth quickly.

“Bonjour Kylian.” She said from behind her hand. Neymar smiled at the way she was blushing.

“Are you going to invite her in dude?” he asked, reminding Neymar his manners. Neymar motioned for Ella to get in and closed the door. “Ms. Hamill, enchante” he said sitting up on the couch.

“Comment ca va Kylian?” she asked, while Neymar unzipped and took of her wet hoodie leaving her with just her t-shirt.

“Tu parle francais?” he asked surpised and got up to walk closer to her.

“I’ll get you another one.” Said Neymar quickly, running to his bedroom to get another hoodie. Meanwhile Kylian seemed to be enjoying the awkwardness.

“En peu.” She answered his question, narrowing her eyes “felicitations pour la victoire!” she added, smiling up at him. Neymar sprinted back to her with one of his hoodies, helping her wear it. After that he just kept staring at her and she at him, while Kylian was staring at both of them.

“Kylian.” Neymar addressed him without even looking at him.

“Hm?”

“Get the fuck out.”

“it’s raining.” He smiled, looking at Gabriella now.

“thankfully you’re not made out of sugar.” He answered quickly.

“What if I get hit by a thunder.”

“Kylian.” Repeated Neymar, this time more as a warning.

“Yes of course.” He nodded and ran to get his shoes, putting them on quickly and returning to where his was before. He took hold of Gabriella’s hand and kissed it, smirking at her. “You be good kids.” He added before leaving them alone.

When he shut the door both of them seemed to relax.

“You want a drink?” asked Neymar, moving to the table with the drinks.

“Yes please.” She asnwered, following behind him, slowly. All while he was pouring the drinks, she was staring at his hands, tracing the tattoos on his skin, the ones she could see, with her eyes. She was still staring when he turned back to her to hand her drink and she made sure to touch skin as he took the glass in her own hands. Her gaze slowly lifted to land on him. There was something about her eyes, he hadn’t noticed before, lust. The way she looked at him like she was promising a future, like she was begging for one. She got closer and Neymar actually felt his heard beating faster, he was anxious. He was never anxious. She let her glass down on the table, there was so much silence he heard the glass settling on the silver, like a warning. He took another sip while he watched her and he would have taken another one if she hadn’t reached for his glass, taking it away from him, leaving it next to hers while her eyes remained on his. Then she held on his shit, pulling him down to her.

“I stopped you last night.” She said in a whisper. He was stepped closer, his confidence returning, he gently rubbed his nose against hers. “Would you accept my apology?” she asked, their lips inches apart. He smirked.

“Depends. What do I get in return?”

She looked back and forth between his eyes and his lips, her face serious, sexy, her expression hypnotizing. “Me.”

He crashed his lips on hers without sparing even a second. Taking in her taste, her smell, everything she could give him in that moment and if you asked her, she’d tell you that she would give him anything, anything he wanted as long as he asked her for it. He lifted her up in his arms, almost like he wanted to make sure she was real and not just a fantasy. His kisses trailed down to her chin and then her neck as she leaned her head back, she he’d have better access, a soft moan escaping along with her breath. That was enough to give him all the confidence he needed for the whole night. “me” she said to him and he would take all of her as if her life depended on it. He carried her to his room, laid her on his bed as he took of his shirt, showing her every single tattoo all over his body. He hovered above her, balancing his arms on the bed. He started from her neck, leaving a mark on her skin as a reminder in the morning and then her ear, biting it slightly.

She grabbed his face in her hands, pulling him down to kiss her lips instead because that’s what she wanted most, to taste him, to keep kissing him until her lips were dry and she had no air left in her lungs. He pulled of his hoodie from her and just a second later, he took off her t-shirt, kissed her breast while she let fingers get lost in his curls. She reached under his chin, to make him look up at her. He smirked again, leaning his head down to her ear.

“Apology accepted.” He whispered and made sure that night he’d take exactly what she promised him… her.

dw the steamy part is not over, just wanted to let you look forward for the next chapter. As always please please comment, it's very important to keep my going. I love you all xx comment what you like so far. How do you think this will end? Will they just be happy for the next 4 chapters? Or is there another storm coming 👀👀

[centrally-unplanned]

Rings of Power episode 6 absolutely eviscerated some of the tepid goodwill the show had slowly been building in 4 and 5, the chickens of the show’s slapdash worldbuilding have come home to roost.

The cavalry charge is the worst of it - poor townsfolk of the southlands losing to the orc army, All Hope Is Lost, and then at the last minute Galadriel & Numenorians ride in to save the day! Its just like the Rohirrim in ROTK, right? But none of the work has been put in to have it make a lick of sense. The townsfolk *never communicated with any outside party* about the orc raids. Galadriel has never been to the Southlands, has never met any of these people. She knows, and convinces the Numenorians, that ~something~ involving Sauron is happening down there. They know orcs are there and killed people in the past, but not, like, actively, right now. Where they would be? Who knows? What are they up to now? Who knows!

Yet the Numenorean expeditionary force of only 300-500 men lands in the Southlands somewhere (which btw is Gondor & Mordor combined, to get how large it is), and immediately hard ride, stampede tempo, off to save this town they have never heard of and have no contact with.  Absolutely ludicrous, there is never even an attempt to justify this. 

Its just one of many baffling decisions too - Halbrand, the exiled Southlands royalty, arrives as part of that army and everyone in the town goes All Hail Our Lost King and...they have literally never mentioned a king before. No “ah in the old days the kings would have stopped this” or “if only we had a true leader”, no nothing, they are an anarcho-syndicalist commune and always have been until discount Aragorn shows up and suddenly they are fookin kneelers. 

The show is obviously unconcerned with the idea of things making sense, but i’ll take a stab at why its so bad on this front. Certainly the “surprise” factor plays in here - the show is obsessed with the idea of ‘twists’, thinking that if you know something is coming its not exciting. Its ironic that they tried to play that card for a cavalry charge, because their predecessor LOTR is the shining example of the opposite being true. The Ride of the Rohirrim is painstakingly built to, the mustering, the tactical planning, the personal emotional stakes, pre-battle speech, all of that builds up impact. They have learned every lesson wrong here.

But it does go deeper, to the ‘structure’ of a fantasy epic Rings of Power believes it has to align to, in particular having a “common folk” perspective. One of the really shoddy worldbuilding choices was for the Southlands to have no political organization whatsoever - no lord mayor, no council, no standing army, nothing. It makes no sense, until you realize the rules: the show must have some working-class folk who rise to power. Bronwyn the human villager and her guard elf lover Arondir serve that role, nobodies who lead peasants against the orcs. But them leading the peasants never made any sense; why didn’t they have existing leaders? Bronwyn in particular has absolutely no qualifications for the role whatsoever, besides inexplicably being the only townsperson to own dyed fabric and a dress with spaghetti straps, but she double-plus has to lead because Girlbosses Slay and her and Miriel needed to fistbump over their diversity wins. However, if the Southlands had an existing political structure, that would be hard to swing in six episodes...so it just doesn’t. Bronwyn leads by sheer inertia.

Which means the Southlands has no political org, which means it has no political ties, no connections, no infrastructure, no ambassadors. It can’t send out word to neighboring kingdoms requesting aid, Bronwyn doesn’t even know what those are. It can’t have a real strategy as its borders and assets don’t exist. Its an extremely foolish decision, its writing a political story (war is politics) without any political actors, to hit a storytelling quota, and it really really shows.

...also the black sword artifact, which Adar and everyone is fighting over due to its mystical properties, turns out to be a key for a dam lock that refloods a river leading to a volcano. Writers of this show, I don’t know how to tell you this, but dams? Are not magic? If you wanted to unlock a dam, you can just *do that with the dam unlocking mechanism*, you don’t need a magic black sword that sucks the blood of its wielder. Its completely useless, a total non sequitur, I cannot believe they wasted our time with that. Such a dropped ball. 

[izzy246girl]

nevermore royalty au

so the basic premise of this is that princess annabel is engaged to prince theo (he's alive!!!) and goes to their kingdom for the wedding. theo and annabel aren't attracted to each other at ALL, obviously, and annabel takes one look at princess lenore (who doesn't have it as bad as canon, but is still definitely not her father's favorite) and is absolutely SMITTEN at once. she finds excuses to hang out with lenore, and there's like, chapters of denial for agesssss but eventually they start secretly dating and theo acts as wingman/"haha yep my sister is definitely not dating my fiance, why would you think thattttt? btw LOOK OVER THERE" guy. ada is annabel's maid, who is pining hopelessly after prince prospsero (he's an ambassador from another kingdom and attending the wedding) and convinced that he can make her fairytale dreams come true; prospero is... disinterested, to say the least. morella is lenore's lady-in-waiting, and the rest of the misfits live outside the palace - duke is a magician/thief, berenice works as a jazz singer at a bar (she still has her 1920s vibes despite being in period drama kingdom) and is roommates with eulalie, and pluto and eulalie do,,, something, i don't know what their jobs are. lenore sneaks out at night to go hang out with them. climax is theo and annabel's wedding, lenore objects and the parents FREAK but lenore and annabel end up getting engaged.

[tirkdi]

In R&R, we find out that the Darkling's father was a powerful heartrender. It's not much, but it says a lot that Baghra actually told Alina this when I'm sure she didn't even say this much to the Darkling. How do you think the Darkling would react if he were to find out about this? Love your stories btw <3

Oh man what a good question anon!

The full quote is "I wanted a child, so I sought out the most powerful Grisha I could find. He was a Heartrender. I don't even remember his name." There are a few possibilities here:

As your ask suggests: this is all true, and Baghra never told Aleks but tells Alina, which is cruel even by book!Baghra standards (it's fully inline with show!Baghra standards imo). If he somehow found out that Baghra had told Alina more than she had ever told him, it would have explained some of his more unhinged behavior at the end of R&R. I can actually see him taking that out on people close to Alina in a way that I never completely bought him taking out his anger & grief on them before.

Another option: This is all true, and Baghra at some point told him the same thing. I feel like we see him curious enough about his father that Baghra might have told him this just to shut him up, with the little that she did remember since it wasn't enough for him to do anything with anyway.

Third option: Some – or none – of this is true. This is, honestly, my assumption, because the one thing we seem to know about Baghra for certain is that she is a lying liar who lies. Names are a big enough deal to her that I don't think she'd forget the name of someone that important. There's the additional complication of her being an amplifier and what that means when she sought out a Grisha to have a child with ... if you read my stories (and thank you for letting me know you're enjoying them!! 💜) you know some of what I think that implies but whatever the specifics it's for sure complicated. I don't think finding someone to father her child is something she could have done casually due to being an amplifier. In this case, if the Darkling and Alina had a conversation sometime in or post-R&R and Alina mentioned that Baghra had said his father was a Heartrender, I imagine him responding: "She told me that too – once. Once she said that he was an Inferni. Once Shu royalty. Once she told me he was a merman."

(Because there's also the really interesting fact that he seems to have gotten basically nothing from his father other than pale skin. He got his power from Baghra, he is an amplifier like Baghra, he has the same hair color as she does. Was his father even Grisha?????)

(was his father another shadow summoner?????)

[captain-of-misery]

Baneath the Silent Stars

Chapter 1: Mystery Knight

Summary: A mystery knight won the tourney, only to reveal himself as the most unexpected visitor. Prince Aenar Targaryen, youngest brother of King Viserys and Prince Daemon. And the man who crowned Alicent Hightower the Queen of Love and Beauty.

Warnings: violence, mentions of sex, Aenar being a bad dancer

Aemma lives, btw.

Words: 6.1k

Tourneys were never Alicent’s favorite. In fact, she found them quite boring and also disturbing at times. The men behaved like brutes, hungry for a fight and she wanted to run away and hide whenever there was as much as one drop of blood being shed. But she had to be there. As a member of King Viserys’ court and Princess Rhaenyra’s closest confidant, she didn’t just have to be there, but she got a front row seat in the royal box. A blessing and a curse. 

But this time, there was one man who stood out. He sat on a dark stallion, wore a grim, black armor decorated with red. And the cape on his right shoulder, like a cloth dipped in blood, was carried by the wind whenever he lunged forward and clashed with his fellow knights. He was as silent as the night and as unyielding as its darkest hour. 

“A mystery knight?” Rhaenyra asked. Unlike Alicent, the Princess quite enjoyed watching all those brave men fight. 

“It appears so,” Lady Alicent answered. “He calls himself the ‘Knight of Silent Stars,’ but you would know that if you weren’t late. Again.” 

“Not like I care. You sound just like my mother when she scolds me,” The Princess Rhaenyra said and as she spoke, the mystery knight unhorsed his opponent. “Seems like he has quite a talent.”

“That’s the fourth knight he has unhorsed so far.” 

“I wonder who he might be. Maybe he is rather handsome under all that armor,” Rhaenyra giggled, causing Alicent to release a sigh in response. And there was the reason Rhaenyra enjoyed tourneys far more than her friend.

“That armor has the colors of House Targaryen,” The Lady Alicent stated her observation. “Do you know him? Could that be Prince Daemon?” 

“Targaryen?” Rhaenyra leaned forward in her seat, taking a good look at the knight. “He does not look like Daemon, his armor is different too. I have no idea who else that might be.” 

“I suppose we shall see then.” 

The tourney went on. The crowd cheered as the knights continued to compete against each other. By the commands of King Viserys, First of His Name, it was a grand affair with many great houses and noteworthy representatives present. Still, an event that Alicent would have much preferred to avoid.

But despite her lack of enthusiasm for such unnecessary violence, Alicent watched one man with growing interest. The Knight of Silent Stars. What a curious name. Somehow, Alicent always found mystery knights a bit intriguing. She couldn’t help the wonder that washed over about who he might be. The son of a lord, maybe? Or maybe he is a commoner, that’s why he didn’t dare show his face. 

The Knight of Silent Stars unhorsed opponent after opponent and Alicent found herself more and more in awe. He really was silent, true to his name. He never said a word, just kept fighting with grace and honor. No, he was certainly not a commoner. There was something to him, he held himself almost like royalty. 

At some point, Alicent began to hope he would win. Finally, there was a knight who fought with honor and respect, truly a rare sight. But there was one more opponent left: Prince Daemon himself. Well, at least now it was certain that the mystery knight and Daemon were not the same person. 

Alicent felt a sense of worry. Daemon was never known for playing fair. As the Prince and the knight readied themselves for the clash of horses and lances, Rhaenyra reached for Alicent’s hand, reminding her to stop picking the skin around her fingernails. She hadn’t even noticed that she was doing it. 

“The Knight of Silent Stars?” Prince Daemon scoffed, trying to intimidate the mystery knight. “That’s the stupidest name I’ve ever heard.” 

But there was no answer from the other side and before Daemon could have said more insults, the joust began. Alicent held her breath, her fingers trembling as she watched. 

The two men lowered their lances, aiming them at each other before they clashed and Alicent had to close her eyes. She heard the sound of metal slamming against the ground and hundreds, possibly thousands of gasps. 

When Alicent finally dared to look, she saw Prince Daemon lying on the ground, cursing to himself in High Valyrian, and the Knight of Silent Stars still seated on his horse. Alicent expected a more violent reaction from Daemon, but it didn’t happen. Perhaps the Prince knew something.

The crowd cheered, congratulating the mystery knight on his victory. Yet, he remained quiet. His first action was to gallop to the royal box on his horse and give the King, his family, and the important lords and ladies a bow. How honorable of him. 

And then a wreath of beautiful flowers was placed on the tip of the knight’s lance. He won and now he was to choose his Queen of Love and Beauty, it was within his right as the tourney champion. From behind his helmet, Alicent could barely make out a pair of eyes. First, his gaze landed on Queen Aemma. She would have been a fine and polite choice, but then he looked at Rhaenyra, another respectable choice. He stared for a moment, his gaze shifting for a moment and Alicent could swear she saw his eyes widen. 

Oh no. Not me. Please, not me. Choose Rhaenyra or anyone else, but not me. 

He raised his lance almost agonizingly slowly, as if he was purposefully torturing all the ladies present, and dropped the wreath on the lap of Lady Alicent Hightower. 

Alicent stared at the flowers on her thighs, her mouth and eyes open in shock. It was flattering, really, no one had ever chosen her as their Queen of Love and Beauty. The mystery knight’s attention was a welcomed one and Alicent almost wanted to giggle. However, she knew that everyone else was looking too, her own father included and Alicent didn’t like that. 

“Seems like someone has a fan,” Rhaenyra giggled, grasping her friend’s arm affectionately and Alicent’s blush only deepened. She could hear someone from behind saying that the knight made a fine choice. Hopefully, her father wouldn’t be too bothered by it. 

Alicent reached for the wreath on her lap, her quivering and bloody fingertips brushing against the flower petals. She finally looked at her mystery knight who was staring right up at her. She opened her mouth to speak, but her lips were trembling. “Thank you,” She mumbled under her breath and it was a miracle if the knight could hear her at all. Still, he offered her a deep bow. 

Finally, King Viserys stood from his seat, addressing the mystery knight.  “You have fought bravely and earned your victory, Ser. Might we know who you are?” 

For a moment, the knight stayed silent, remaining true to his fashion. “I am no Ser,” He said, his smooth, raspy voice certainly causing a shiver to run down every lady’s spine. Alicent’s included. She watched with keen interest, eager to learn the identity of this knight. He crowned her his Queen of Love and Beauty, so of course she wished to know who he was. 

The Knight of Silent stars reached for his helmet, his armored fingers attempting to take it off. Thick locks of silver hair poured down to his shoulders and his gaze went immediately to the royal box. He glanced at a beautiful lady of auburn hair and sparkling brown eyes for a moment longer than he should have before finally gracing the King with his attention. “I am a prince.” 

The King stared at the knight with his mouth hanging open, his expression quickly turning from shock to joy as he recognized the young dashing man. “Aenar! Brother!”

-

The King’s brother. The youngest one, not Daemon. Alicent had heard of Prince Aenar before. A few years ago, when the King and Rhaenyra had an argument, the Princess went to the Dragonpit and flew to Dragonstone on Syrax’s back. There her youngest uncle welcomed her with open arms and he made sure she returned shortly and safely, for which Alicent was very grateful. After that, Rhaenyra spent all day talking about him and Alicent almost believed that her friend had a crush on her uncle. Other than that, not much else was known about the young Targaryen prince. No scandals, no rumors, and no nothing. Sometimes Alicent wondered if he existed at all or Rhaenyra made him up to mess with her friend. 

It was said that they grew up together, Rhaenyra and Aenar. Of course, Aenar was a few years older than her, but wherever little Rhaenyra went, Prince Aenar followed to make sure she wouldn’t get into too much trouble. The Princess often described her youngest uncle as the sweetest man in the Realm with a slight twist of Targaryen cheekiness. 

But how could Alicent know that? 

Certainly, she was intrigued by the mysterious Prince, especially after he made her his Queen of Love and Beauty. It didn’t help that he looked into her eyes earlier at the tourney. Gods, even recalling the memory caused her heart to skip a beat. Even from the field, his gaze was as piercing as a dragon’s fire.

Naturally, as it was common during King Viserys’ reign, a feast followed the jousting. A wave of nervousness washed over the young Hightower when she glanced at the empty seat next to her. On her other side was Rhaenyra, who was sitting next to Queen Aemma, followed by the King in the middle, then her father, the Lord Hand, and the other members of the small council. 

Perhaps Prince Aenar wouldn't come at all. Maybe he left. Maybe he was currently somewhere else, doing whatever men do after a day of jousting. Men liked to do their own thing and Targaryen men were even worse, Alicent knew that. Prince Aenar was probably roaming the Street of Silk, doing only the Gods know what men are up to there. Alicent didn’t know what that was exactly, only that it was no place for a delicate young maiden like her. She had asked her father about it once, but was met with only a cold, disapproving stare, like the ones he gives her whenever she spends too much time around Rhaenyra or mentions Prince Daemon by accident. Alicent knew better than to ask again. 

“My favorite niece!” Alicent heard an unfamiliar voice from behind and her heart was suddenly beating three times faster than it normally would. She watched as Rhaenyra turned to take a look toward the source.

“Uncle Aenar!” The Princess stood from her seat to greet her uncle. “I am your only niece.” 

In the meantime, Alicent also stood up, but she kept her gaze off of the Prince. A man with such fighting prowess must be intimidating and fearsome, not someone Alicent would want to anger. But why didn’t he enter through the main doors? Maybe he just didn’t like attention, Alicent would understand that. She didn’t like using the main doors either. Too many eyes, too much attention.

“Well, that is exactly why you are my favorite,” The Prince continued and Alicent could hear the cheerfulness in his tone, still not having the courage to actually look at him. “If I had another niece, I fear your position as my favorite would be under great threat.” He pulled Rhaenyra into an embrace and pressed a kiss against her forehead. “I only jest, dear. The world wouldn’t survive another girl like you.” This time, his voice was softer, lighter, filled with a strange warmth that made Alicent’s stomach flutter. 

“And who is this lovely lady?” Aenar asked as he turned to Alicent. Despite what the Prince did at the end of the tourney, this was their first time speaking to each other. Alicent couldn’t recall ever meeting him before.

“My name is Alicent Hightower, Your Grace.” There was a deep blush on her face as she answered, a clear indication of her nervousness around him. She bowed to him, her gaze still fixed on the floor. 

“Lady Alicent,” The Prince said and when Alicent dared to look at his face, she saw that he was smiling at her. And oh, his eyes were mesmerizing. Like jade, green with a hint of brown. Alicent almost didn’t notice when he reached for her hand, his touch almost as delicate as a feather. He brought her hand to his lips and pressed a small kiss against it while looking into her eyes. By this point, Alicent thought she would faint. Her heart hammered in her chest and her face was redder than the wine they served at the feast. 

“It is a pleasure to meet you, my Lady. I hope I didn’t disrespect you today,” He continued with a sweet, charming smile on his face and gently let go of her hand. Alicent wanted to answer, but never in her wildest dreams did she expect to be in a situation like this. First, a handsome young prince wins the tourney and crowns her Queen of Love and Beauty. And if that wasn’t already something out of a fairy tale, he was now talking to her. Gods . He even kissed her hand. She really hoped that her father wasn’t watching. She would certainly receive a lecture after the feast about the importance of resisting the charms of handsome men. 

And Prince Aenar was certainly charming.

However, he must have noticed Alicent’s unease. His smile disappeared for a moment, almost as if he was desperately trying to come up with something before he continued. “I am pleased to know that Rhaenyra had someone to look after her in my absence. Tell me, has she given you much trouble? I’m quite sure she has.” In the meantime, they all took their seats with Rhaenyra and Aenar on each side of the young and frightened Alicent Hightower.

“She is a troublemaker indeed,” Alicent said with a polite smile, doing her best to not create an unpleasant atmosphere. But, Gods, she hoped he would not attempt anything dishonorable with her. Targaryen princes are not exactly known for being honorable.

“Did you two form an alliance against me or something?” Rhaenyra whined from Alicent’s other side. 

The Prince chuckled in response. “We don’t need to. You brought this upon herself. I remember when Viserys was still a prince and we all lived on Dragonstone. If it wasn’t for me, the dragons would have eaten you.” 

“Imagine explaining that to my father. But then he became king, you went to Driftmark, and I needed someone else to drag into trouble. That’s when Alicent came and took over your job.” 

“She gets into a lot of trouble, my prince. Some days I can’t keep her out of it. The other day, she was late from a small council meeting because she much prefers to ride her dragon.” Alicent giggled and then she turned to Aenar. She gazed into his eyes and for a moment, she found herself breathless by the sight of those two jade orbs. Again. The smile he gave her was like honey. Sweet enough to charm any lady and Alicent had a feeling that Aenar’s presence would become the cause of much trouble in the future.

“Then thank the Gods for giving us Lady Alicent,” The Prince chuckled again and Alicent could feel her cheeks heat up. “What would my little niece do without you?” 

Alicent had no time to answer, not like she knew what to say, but they were approached by the son of some distant lord. “Princess Rhaenyra, might I have this dance?” 

The Princess turned to Alicent, giving her an annoyed look before she looked at the man asking her to dance again. “Of course.” And with that, Rhaenyra rose from her seat and made her way to the dance floor. 

Anxiety rose in Alicent’s stomach as she was left alone with Prince Aenar. For a minute, neither of them spoke and the awkwardness in the air was so thick they could have cut it with a knife. The silence between them was deafening.

Both Alicent and Aenar returned to their plates, taking a few bites and sipping wine before the Prince cleared his throat and took a deep breath, addressing the young woman next to him. “Do you like to dance, Lady Alicent?” 

Alicent’s eyes widened slightly at the Aenar’s question, a part of her hoping that he wouldn’t ask her and another that he would. Her eyes were still fixed on her plate as she answered his question. “I do, my prince.”

“I don’t,” Aenar said and then raised his cup to take a sip of his wine. If he doesn’t like to dance, then why did he bother to ask? “I wouldn’t ask a lady to dance with me unless I was really interested in her. Sadly, I can already sense some eagerness from a few ladies at this dreadful feast.” 

“Dreadful? You dislike feasts?” Alicent couldn’t say that she had a liking for feasts either. At least Rhaenyra made them feel tolerable. Well, when she wasn’t busy dancing with some lord. 

“Never was much interested in them. While I quite like music, it is too loud. And there are far too many people for my liking. I only came for the food,” Aenar admitted, causing Alicent to chuckle. Maybe he wasn’t so bad, after all. 

“The food certainly makes it more tolerable, Your Grace. And it is quite honorable that you would not dance with a lady unless you had a genuine interest in her. Not everyone shares the same sentiment.” 

“It is unfortunate, really,” The Prince turned his gaze from Alicent and his eyes searched the room. There were many lords, ladies, and knights present. He took a good look at each of them, taking note of how some of the guests present were staring back at him. He knew why. A Targaryen prince, a man grown. He won a joust and he was handsome. The lords of the Realm are eager to wed their daughters and granddaughters to him for the sake of political advantage. “People in King’s Landing can be so…shallow. I have forgotten what it’s like.” 

“When was the last time you were here?” Alicent asked him. “I don’t remember ever seeing you.” 

He smiled at her, but there was a hint of sadness in his expression. “Well, I was here when my brother got crowned and before that, when my father died and yours became Hand.” 

Alicent immediately regretted her question. And speaking of Hands, Otto Hightower suddenly appeared in front of them, looking quite displeased. “Your Grace,” He greeted the Prince in his usual stern, gloomy voice. “I see you and my daughter have become acquainted.” 

“Oh, yes, Lord Otto. I was just telling your lovely daughter about how a follower of the Seven would remain true to their faith in and outside of the Sept,” Aenar said with a broad smile and Alicent couldn’t help the blush that deepened her already red cheeks. Well, this Aenar Targaryen seemed like quite a bold man. She didn’t even pay much attention to what he was saying because only the word ‘lovely’ kept repeating itself in her mind. Right in front of her father. 

“You see, my lady,” Aenar turned his attention back to Alicent with newfound interest while Otto Hightower watched and listened. What was the Prince trying to achieve with this? “Many go to the Sept often, some every day, but as soon as they come outside, they go back to sin and dishonor. If they actually believed in the Gods, they would not need to spend half of their lives praying on their knees, begging for forgiveness because of whatever they committed. They would simply live by the teachings of the Seven and behave with honor and diligence.” 

Alicent felt something beneath her feet. She quickly glanced under the table and saw that it was Prince Aenor bouncing his leg up and down. By the Gods, the Prince was nervous! Alicent almost chuckled. This was quite endearing and Alicent felt a sense of understanding wash over her. She had her own nervous habit and seeing that such a strong, brave, and handsome prince was trembling beneath the table made her feel a little less alone and a little more normal. But what was making him so nervous? 

Otto raised an eyebrow and Alicent couldn’t yet tell if her father was amused or currently trying to make Aenar stay away from her. “I must say, Prince Aenar, you are quite right. However, do you go to the Sept often?”

“Sometimes,” Aenar answered. “As I said, I don’t need to spend my entire day praying.” 

“And why is that, my prince?” 

“I often see people asking the Gods for help. Instead of working for what they want, they think that the Gods will give it to them if they pray often enough. The only times I go to the Sept are when I want to show gratitude.” 

“So you would rather work than beg the Seven for a blessing?” The Hand asked and the Prince only nodded in response. Lord Otto maintained a neutral expression, but Alicent could tell he was impressed by what Aenar said. He was simply too proud to admit it. “We go to the Grand Sept quite often. Perhaps Prince Aenar would like to join us?” 

The Prince remained silent, quite obviously uninterested in joining Otto, for which Alicent really couldn’t blame him. But perhaps he would like to join Alicent. The lady was sweet, perhaps a little nervous, but Aenar didn’t mind that. The other ladies stared at him as if he was a prey during a hunt, so Alicent’s more reserved nature was like a cooling breeze during summer. And she was quite comely as well. He was yet to take a good look at her, but Alicent’s doe eyes made his heart beat a little faster whenever she gathered enough courage to stare directly into his. 

So it was either both or neither. 

Gods damn it, Aenar. You brought this upon yourself.

Aenar smiled, most likely out of politeness and finally gave the Hand the answer he desired. “Of course, Lord Otto. I would be delighted to join you.” 

“You honor me, Your Grace. Well, then I’ll leave you two. Enjoy the feast.”

Alicent released a sigh of relief as soon as her father was at a far enough distance. However, she couldn’t help but ask Aenar a small question. “How did you know he is religious? My father, I mean.” 

“From my brother,” He admitted. “Daemon has told me much about him.” 

Alicent couldn’t say she was delighted to hear that, but then, from the corner of her eye, she saw Princess Rhaenyra motioning for her. “F-forgive me, I think Rhaenyra wants something.” 

Prince Aenar gave her a nod and Alicent left to join her friend. While the Prince remained in his seat and was about to happily indulge himself in the contents of his place, he felt a hand touch his shoulder. 

“Little brother,” King Viserys said, a warm smile gracing his features. He sat down on Alicent’s chair, giving Aenar his full attention. Being called little brother brought a strange warmth to Aenar’s heart. He missed his family dearly. “You fill my chest with pride. Good job at the tourney today.”

Aenar would be lying if he said he didn’t like his brother’s praise. “Thank you, brother. I was hoping to make you proud.” 

“Your return to King’s Landing has been well-received,” Viserys informed his youngest brother. “If you wish to stay, we would be more than happy to have you.” 

Aenar nodded, pleased by the idea of remaining in King’s Landing, at least for a while. “I would like that. We have been apart for too long. I wish to stay by your side, brother, and aid you in any way I can.” 

“Good,” Viserys said with a smile, delighted by Aenar’s response. He didn’t expect anything less from the prince, knowing he was more dutiful than Daemon ever was. “I could always use more people I can trust. You should accompany me to the small council meetings and then we’ll see if there are any tasks for you.” 

“That sounds wonderful, thank you.” 

Then there were some giggles, catching the attention of both the Prince and the King. Aenar was met with several pairs of eyes gazing at him, all of them belonging to a group of gossipping women. Aenar couldn’t help but feel uneasy from the attention, but then Viserys turned back to his brother, now with something cheeky in his expression. “It seems like you have caught the ladies’ attention.” 

Aenar rolled his eyes, visibly unhappy by the attention. “Yeah, I certainly have.” 

Viserys laughed in return, leaning closer to his brother. “Aenar, this is every man’s dream!” It was almost every man’s dream, Aenar thought to himself. Certainly not his. 

Aenar never liked whores. Daemon brought him to a pleasure house as soon as he was old enough and he already decided that he would avoid the Street of Silk for the rest of his life. Of course, he was no saint, he had his conquests. Not as many as some people thought he had, but still, Aenar had known a few women in his life, as was expected of a prince.

He liked to work for the ladies and had little respect for those who simply threw themselves at his feet. Of course, he understood why they did it. But the harder he worked for a lady, the sweeter she was. 

And Aenar loved sweet women. He’s just never met any worthy of his affections.

“Yours, perhaps. Quite honestly, brother, I would much prefer to take a lady wife,” The young prince admitted and he could see the shock and then the joy on his brother’s face. 

“You do? Well, that is a pleasant surprise! Finally, a brother who wishes to do his duty. If you’d like, I could arrange a potential match for you. Or is there anyone who has caught your eye, little brother?” 

Aenor’s eyes widened in horror. His brother made it sound like he would wed Aenar to the first suitable lady in a fortnight. “Hold your horses, Viserys, I’ve only just returned. I will keep my eyes open and let you know if there is anyone. I am not in a rush.” 

Pursing his lips, Viserys nodded. “Of course. But do let me know if you have found yourself a bride and remember that you are a prince of the Seven Kingdoms. Your lady wife must be of high birth. A maiden befitting your station.” 

“I understand. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” 

“Good,” Viserys stood and patted his brother on the back. “Now enjoy yourself, Aenar. You deserve it.” The King returned to his seat and Aenar was left alone once again.

The Prince went back to his plate with the hopes of no one disturbing him. He really was just here for the food and, so far, he barely managed to get a few bites. After a minute or two, he reached for his cup and raised it to his lips, taking a sip of his wine. 

As Aenar drank, he saw two figures from the corner of his eye. When he put the cup down and looked, he noticed that Lord Jason Lannister was talking to Lady Alicent Hightower, the very woman he crowned as his Queen of Love and Beauty. 

Well, shit. 

Now Aenar really had a chance to look at her and what a beauty she was. Had he known that Viserys had such beautiful ladies at his court, he would have returned to King’s Landing sooner. 

From what Aenar could tell, Alicent was undeniably the most comely girl at court. She had a sweet smile and eyes with a light in them that could melt even the coldest hearts. When he first saw her during the tourney, he almost called the Maesters because his knees started bending on their own.

With or without Aenar crowning her, Alicent was desirable. She was a highborn lady with looks unmatched and as the Prince watched Jason Lannister talk to her, he couldn’t help but feel jealous.

Perhaps he shouldn’t have crowned her. He didn’t think of it when it happened, but now Aenar realized that it would only attract more suitors for Alicent. If a prince of House Targaryen thought she was good enough, then she was good enough for every other man as well. 

Of course, it all made sense now. The young maiden seemed visibly uncomfortable by Lord Lannister’s presence and Aenar saw that she was fidgeting with her fingers. 

Aenar did like her. Of course, she didn’t know her well yet. But, so far, she was the most promising lady in all of King’s Landing. He couldn’t deny that he was pretty and her nervousness around him was quite endearing. Aenar could also sense some playfulness from her, which only made her more appealing to him.

Tonight, if Aenar had to dance with anyone, it would be Alicent. 

He glanced down at his food with a twinge of sadness, then he sighed and stood from the table. He might regret this later.

Aenar walked past the long table and he could swear he saw Viserys and Aemma giving each other a knowing look as he walked to where Alicent and the Lannister man were standing. 

The lady was certainly trying to be polite, but Lord Jason had her cornered. Aenar had the displeasure of knowing him, so he really couldn’t blame Alicent for not wanting to be anywhere near him, but the man had a habit of bothering the fair maidens. 

Aenar smiled to himself. Now he would become her knight in shining armor, her Prince Charming. For some odd reason, he quite liked the idea. 

“And then there was this diamond necklace I had made for my mother-” As he approached, Aenar cleared his throat, cutting off the Lannister Lord mid-sentence. 

“Lady Alicent,” Aenar said with a smile and nodded to the young lady. 

“Yes, my prince?” Alicent sounded almost relieved to see him. If she had to choose between Prince Aenar and Lord Jason, he wouldn’t hesitate to run to Aenar’s arms. Maybe the Prince was a little grumpy and he was…unique, to say the least, but at least he was respectful and definitely more pleasant than Jason Lannister. 

Aenar cleared his throat again. In fact, he cleared his throat so well that he ended up having to cough. 

“Your Grace, are you unwell?” Jason Lannister turned to Aenar and asked, his voice having a slight mocking tone to it. 

“No, no, Lord Jason. I assure you, I am alright.” Aenar gave the Lannister lord a small, forced smile before finally turning to Alicent, completely ignoring the man standing beside him. “Lady Alicent. Would you honor me with a dance?” 

Alicent’s eyes widened in surprise. But…didn’t the Prince say that he disliked dancing? That he would only dance with a woman if he was really interested in her? “I-” She tried to find the right words, but she was too stunned. Did this mean that he had some interest in her? Or was he just trying to help her escape from the grasps of Jason Lannister? Either way, Aenar was her way out. “Yes!” Alicent said with more enthusiasm than she intended and she quickly regained her composure, giving the Prince a proper answer. “Of course, my Prince. I would be honored to dance with you.” 

With a smile, Aenar extended a strong hand for her and Alicent gladly took it, leaving Jason Lannister all by himself. Prince Aenar led her to the dance floor and Alicent couldn’t help but once again feel surprised by the tenderness of his touch. As they came to a stop and turned toward each other, Alicent noticed how tall and strong Aenar was for the first time. A man like him could protect her from any harm. The thought was giving her butterflies in the stomach.

Aenar gulped as he put one hand on Alicent’s waist and held hers with the other. Gods, he wasn’t exactly the most graceful dancer. He was tense and nervous, and he did take dance lessons when he was younger, but he found it difficult to feel at ease and truly enjoy himself. 

He looked down and saw that Alicent was smiling at him. Strangely, it made him feel a little less tense. The song began and so did their dance. Aenar was clumsy at first, while Alicent moved swiftly and lightly, each of her movements confirming that she was, indeed, a true lady. He tried to match her elegance and, to his surprise, quickly got the hang of it. He silently thanked the Seven for making him a fast learner. 

However, the silence between them was slightly unpleasant and Aenar never liked awkward silences, so he began to talk. “I apologize, my Lady. I couldn’t allow Lord Lannister to bore you with…well, himself. The man can be quite egoistical.” 

Alicent smiled at his comment, finding it quite amusing. If there was one thing certain about life, it was that Jason Lannister bragged about anything and everything regarding himself. “He certainly is. I don’t know what I would have done if I had to listen to a story about another one of his grand purchases.”

“Pay him no mind. He is not worthy of your attention.” Oh? But perhaps the Prince was?

Her cheeks flushed and she suddenly felt herself becoming a little nervous too upon noticing how close they were to each other. Prince Aenar’s body radiated warmth and strength and even Alicent couldn’t stay immune to it. She wondered how many of the other ladies were watching them, envious of her current position. “Thank you for coming to my rescue, Your Grace. You really didn’t have to do it, I know you don’t like to dance.” She felt grateful for what he had done for her and she felt touched by the gesture. 

“Well, you were in trouble. I would be a terrible knight if I ignored a lady in distress.” 

“Was I? Lord Jason and I were just talking. I would hardly call that trouble or distress.” 

“You mean, he was talking and you were listening and smiling along.” His comment made both of them laugh and Aenar felt his breath get caught in his throat. It was as if he listened to the sound of all seven heavens at once. “Your laugh…and your smile...” 

She looked at him, with that same, beautiful smile. Aenar had never seen such light, such magic in his life. “What of them, Your Grace?”

He instantly regretted it. He wanted to say something nice, to compliment her, to make her feel good, but he simply couldn’t bring himself to say it. “Nothing.” As Aenar spoke, the song and the dance came to an end. He could see the slight disappointment in Alicent’s eyes. He knew that he had made some awkward mistakes tonight and he didn’t know why, but he wanted to make up for them. “My Lady.” His cheeks were already flushed and he found it difficult to maintain eye contact with Alicent, partly because he was anxious, but mainly because he felt captivated by her. 

“Yes, my Prince?” My Prince . Now that he thought of it, Aenar quite liked hearing it from her lips. 

“I just wanted you to know that,” He paused for a moment, looked away and then back to Alicent. “I did see that you were uncomfortable in Lord Lannister’s presence, for which I cannot blame you, but…I-I wanted to dance with you.” 

“Oh,” Alicent made a small sound. It was…surprising, to say the least. While Alicent knew she was fortunate enough to come from a good family, she didn’t feel like she was worthy enough of the attention of a prince. “I…Thank you. I am flattered, Your Grace.” 

“Perhaps, you would honor me with another dance?” He offered his hand to her again, his smile warm and charming. “I promise I won’t step on your toes.”

She laughed and reached for his hand once more. “I would like that very much.” 

[crestfallercanyon]

✨Tag Game Wednesday Thursday✨

Thanks for tagging me!! @jrooc — we’re talking music this week!

Name: crest

What is the most listened to artist in your music app of choice this month? Bombay Bicycle Club just dethroned Remi Wolf because I keep listening to the same song on repeat lmao

What song do you know all the lyrics to? Several — but the songs I sing to loudest in the car are Street You Live On (Live Version) by Remi Wolf and Other Side of Paradise by Glass Animals

What song do you pretend to know all the lyrics to and sing along to even though you don’t? Anything by NSYNC

If you were to be crowned Queen/King/Royalty of listening to a band or artist, who would that be? The Japanese House or Glass Animals

What band/artist surprises you the most on your frequently listened to artists? I’m not surprised by any.

Favourite line from a song (or one you have been thinking about lately? I love music and this was genuinely me narrowing it down lol —

“I was thinking about who you are, Your delicate point of view, I was thinking about you — I’m not worried about where you are, Or who you will go home to, I’m just thinking about you.” Little Freak by Harry Styles (Honestly, Matilda by Harry Styles is also incredible too)

“While you were sleeping I turned up the dials, and I walled up your kingdom with radio wires…” This Empty Northern Hemisphere by Gregory Alan Isakov

“I know I shouldn’t need it but I want affection, know I shouldn’t want it but I need attention, Know I shouldn’t say it but I had to mention —“ Touching Yourself by Japanese Waterhouse

“I am the driver, I am the shadow, and I am the hearse.” Mr. Rattlebone by Matt Maeson

Guilty pleasure band or song? Look, the Glee version of Smooth Criminal was fucking incredible and still holds up. Fight me.

Okay let’s talk fandom music:

Fave band or song you’ve discovered from a Fan Fic? This December (Slow) by Ricky Montgomery and @hamartian-cathexis showed me for Thomally: Take it Out on Me by White Lies

Fave Fanfic Playlist? I’ve only seen broken links to playlists I’ve read actually, so I don’t have one — But it sounds fun!

Fave Gallavich song? I’m going to be honest, I was going to say Basic Instinct but because of jrooc I listened to Thunder or Lightning and that IS a bop so I have the same answer:

Basic Instinct - The Acid OR It’s Thunder or Lightning by We Were Promised Jetpacks

Do you listen to music recommended by the writer or an included playlist? Usually! Unless it’s an artist I know I don’t like, I love finding new music.

What song do you think is Gallavich coded? I’m sorry I’m gonna be annoying and suggest a few

I Summon You — Spoon (which I feel like is actually in Shameless but I honestly can’t remember if my brain is tricking me on that or if that’s true)

Run My Mouth by Ra Ra Riot (more just Ian coded but I see it fitting Mickey too)

Also, for something that’s just kind of Shameless/Gallagher coded, I recommend Happy Family by Sundara Karma

(And Thank you for I need a forest fire - Bon Iver/James Blake because now it’s on my playlists btw)

What’s a bop you want to share with your mutuals today? Was gonna suggest Chappell Roan but I think she’s covered —

Talk it Up by Sammy Rae & the Friends is a jazzy bop, so there’s my rec to you ❤️

Now some tags!!!

@michellemisfit , @callivich , @mmmichyyy , @sam-loves-seb , @gallawitchxx , @mybrainismelted , and anyone else who wants to do this!