#because we have such a rich history of literature

[zalia]

Destiny Architecture

I went on a whole ramble about the architecture of the various factions in Destiny and thought I'd share it here. I'm not an architect, so my knowledge is basic when it comes to technical things, but hopefully it is interesting!

They did a fantastic job with the architecture of the different factions and what it says about them.

The Red Legion and Caiatl's Ascendency are all pragmatic, organised military designs - fortifications, the round buildings with windows on each side linked by trenches. Watchtowers. In the Arms Dealer strike, you have areas where there are loads of vehicles meticulously organised. They are prepared for the long haul, dug into the planets they land on, and they are proud of their machinery, both literal and metaphorica - it's all on display, the pistons and furnaces and engines. There are service shafts and hangars! It's all very practical (and makes the Glykon even more unnerving because the passages and service shafts don't make any practical sense in the way that they connect!).

Calus on the other hand... the Leviathan has the same base in terms of doors and the like, you can recognise some of the same basics - like the shapes of the doors etc. but the pragmatic things are hidden away - they're reminiscent of the servant quarters in old British stately homes - you need them for the place to function! But the people in charge don't want to see them. Calus wants to be surrounded by gold and riches and luxury and not think about the things and people that make it possible. It's always been something that I've thought of when it comes to his empire – he acts like all of it was a place of luxury and hedonism and art, but like the Roman Empire that inspired the culture, that luxury is truly only available to a few people, and is only possible because a much greater number of people are working to provide the materials and labour. We don't really hear or see much about the people the Empire conquered beyond the Psions, but were they living in such luxury? Probably not.

The Eliskni architecture all feels very cobbled together and makeshift - there are visible seams and bolts, spots where colours don't match. It's makeshift, which suits their history as a people who have been forced to flee and exist on scavenging for a long time. And there's always a lot of nautical theming going on too - rigging and nets and hoisted awnings like sails. They feel like places made by people who are expecting to need to pack up and leave at any minute. Everything tends to be rounded, which is particularly obvious when you see the Devils in Rise of Iron - everything is more angular because of SIVA and the Rasputin influence, even the shanks. I'd love it if we could get a look at the original Riis architecture.

The Hive are very gothic architecture with a dash of Gaudi (take a look at the Sagrada Família for what I'm thinking). High chambered ceilings, flying buttresses, all the carved figures and motifs - except when you get closer you realise that it's also uncomfortably organic. And it's also decaying – once you get inside the dreadnaught especially you find it full of piles of festering debris, wormspore growing from the corpses of thralls. There are spaces where anything could jump out at you. It's like a civilisation mocking the grand architecture of other species by warping it into something rotten (and also very gothic literature as well - the grand imposing gothic mansion with the dark secret and unpleasant history). The names of the locations in the Dreadnaught often tie-in with the architecture since a lot of them are religious: the portico, basillica, the crypts, the Cathedral of Dusk. They are a species worshipping Oryx, the very real and tangible god.

The Moon under Crota has a similar style, but where the Dradnaught is organic, the areas under the surface of the moon (outside the Red Keep) are more technological - there are still the flying buttresses and supports, the spikes and and pillars around the Hellmouth, but they're blockier, less rounded, stone and metal rather than chitin.

Savathun's Throne World has similar architecture, and returns to the organic feel of the Dradnaught, but in blinding white and red rather than browns. It's similar to the Leviathan in a way – the public areas are much cleaner feeling, regal and filled with Light, but when you dig down you can find the same rot and debris as the Dreadnaught (thinking especially of the 2nd mission of the Witch Queen campaign). Where the Dreadnaught was a mockery of other species, the Throne World feels like it's trying to copy them – this is what Savathun thinks the Light is, look she's changed, really! But in the end, it's more like a coat of paint slapped over a wall with a bad mold problem. The names also switch from kind of Catholic, to more magical and alchemical - Apothacary, altars, temples etc.

The Awoken are really doing the whole fantasy elf thing in a lot of ways, but more with stone than woodland than in Tolkien when we see the Dreaming City. Everything fits in seamlessly with the landscape (which makes sense since it was essentially created with wish magic to be exactly what Mara wanted!). The buildings follow the lines of mountains, pathways carved into crystal caves, the bridge which has supports like the branches of trees like they've grown up from the ground. And there's nature everywhere! But it's not a natural environment. Even when it seems like you're in nature, it's very cultivated - like the garden of a stately home which wants 'wilderness' so has landscaped it. It's also deceptive in the way you go from the 'wilderness' to these very high fantasy buildings, and then as you walk you see these technological marvels like the Oracle Engine, just integrated into it. The Dreaming City is very much portraying an image and is a very finely tuned machine in itself. I kind of wonder what the other Awoken settlements beyond the Dreaming City and the Vestian outpost look like.

Clovis Bray facilities are very minimalist and very obviously designed to make you think 'lab' and 'high technology'. He really wants you to see his stuff and have you think 'this is the future' in a way that draws 70s sci-fi ideas of the future - the way all the sharp edges are rounded off, the bright blocks of colour, the way all of the technology is very conspicuously on display, the massive windows that make all the conveyors and machinery visible. He wants to show off his stuff, and also make everyone who works there know that they're being watched. There's also the huge open spaces and massive drops like Eternity and Creation, which are utterly impractical but also feel infinite and are designed to make you go wow.

You see similar architecture on Neomuna (since Clovis was involved with the colonisation efforts) but on a much more human scale. They have a lot of the same components – the pillars and display screens, the curved bases of the walls – but they're softened with plants and murals, places to sit and socialise. It's not a lab, it's a city where people live. And also it's Neptune, they are a long way from the sun, so everything is bright and vibrant to make up for that. I think you can also see a lot of influence from the Ishtar Collective locations on Venus in Neomuna - they also tend to have a lot of display screens and neon and lots of spots for plants to grow. And then you get outside of the City and see the Veil Containment bunker and see the concrete and metal pragmatism that underpins the city.

The Iron Temple/Vostok is a place that is trying very hard to be a medieval castle with all of the statues and bonfires and the whole aesthetic of the Iron Lords. The statues of the Iron Lords all bear axes and swords. But when you look at it, you can see the very Soviet brutalist foundation of the place. So much of it is blocky concrete - the walls are squared off and unornamented, the observatory is concrete and metal. Every time I go in to where Tyra stands, I'm surprised that the pillar she's standing by is not round, because it's very easy to buy into the illusion they're projecting. There's also the concrete pillar that serves as vault and lights up when you approach - it has the technology, but like the Dreaming City, it's integrated into the landscape. Unlike the dreaming City, they really don't want to show you it.

Raputin's bunkers are just fantastic design in so many ways. They have a very clear shape (you can see the shape of a door and know immediately that this is something Warmind related), everything tends to be at right-angles. It's all very pragmatic and logically laid out. There is definitely technology there, and it's not really trying to hide, but it isn't showing off like Clovis does. Where Clovis is 70's aspirational sci-fi design, Rasputin architecture has a very Cold War vibe to it - none of the technology is flashy - it's chunky terminals running the most basic looking command line UI. It's thick cables and pipes and probably a million redundancies. The kind of tech which is designed to be found in a few centuries and still be reasonably functional. Also unhackable unless you are physically present. Rasputin is an AI so advanced that he can out-think the Vex, but his facilities are built to have the resilience of a Nokia 3310 phone, and are inspired by bunkers designed to survive nuclear war.

(I also think it's not accidental that the Warsats are made up of many angular shapes, especially triangles, trying to be a sphere, considering the whole motif of the pyramids vs the Traveller)

Pyramid Architecture is really really trying to pull off the sword logic 'pared down to remove anything extraneous' and present the idea of a universe united as one in its final shape... and is failing miserably at that. At first glance it's all straight clean lines, black stone, leaning towards brutalist, but they just can't keep it up – they're full of pillars serving no purpose, statues, coloured stone insets. Rhulk's pyramid is full of artwork painted onto the walls. There's so much symbolism built into them. They're incredibly ornate! Because as much as the Witness wants everyone to believe that it is one united force with one specific goal, it kind of isn't. It's made up of many many individuals. Even if those individuals that made it up all agreed on the final shape, it's nearly impossible to get one person to have a 100% consistent view of the universe, let alone hundreds! And especially in the Witness' pyramid ship in Root of Nightmares, you get the impression it's something of a mausoleum for its species and the other species its destroyed. There's lots of coffin-shaped and sized objects in there, and relics hidden away. It isn't as clean and focused as it would like the universe to think.

#destiny the game #destiny 2 #savathun #rasputin #destiny meta #oryx the taken king #the red legion #the witness #iron lords #meta #architecture #video games #video game meta #gaming

[tinydeskwriter]

Cosmopolitan:Behold, Y/n and Harry Styles’s Relationship Timeline

A/N: I wanted to try my hand in a Harry Styles/Royal Family Member situation. I ended it in the year 2020 because it was getting to much. There is no faceclaim, I just choose the pictures that fitted better into the narrative. Please, If you enjoyed, comment, I would love to hear your thoughts and I am always open for new ideas.

word count: 4807

Much like a rich old man and a dusty bottle of port on a yacht, Princess Y/n and Harry Styles are a match made in heaven. There was drama, a lifetime of rumors, sweet reunions and, of course, that Cartier engagement ring. 

This couple’s love story was one for the ages. From meeting on the backstage of a One Direction concert to getting married, leaving royal duty, having a cute baby, and becoming the power couple the whole world has been obsessed with, they’ve being through it all. And after a whole decade of on and off, facing tons of unfair scrutiny, they only seem stronger.  On that note, let’s walk down memory lane through a timeline of their romance—including it’s ups and downs.

Circa 2012

Harry and Y/n met for the first time in early 2012, a the backstage of a One Direction’s concert in London, according to one of Harry’s close friends from Holmes Chapel, ‘Harry must have been mind-blown to meet Y/n, he always had a crush on her’.

The first photo we can find of Harry and Y/n ever being in the same place is from November that same year at the Royal Variety Performance, where the princess attended alongside her grandmother, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth. 

In December 1, the One Direction boys shared on their personal Twitter accounts about Princess Y/n’s cookbook, with the aim of raising funds for the Red Cross and for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. The book sold out on pre-order. Two days later, Y/n was spotted on the band’s Madison Square Garden Concert.

The two of them reportedly exchanged phone numbers to ‘keep tabs on each other’ ~ even though Styles was already rumored to be dating TS at the time~. 

Arabella Ferrer, Y/n’s roommate at the time, said later to a tabloid ‘they are both dating other people, but you could see that there was a mutual crush’.

 In 2012, Y/n was rumored to be dating on and off  ‘for a couple of years already’, billionaire Hugh Grosvenor, son of the Duke of Westminster and godfather to her nephew Prince George.

2013

By January Harry and Taylor were already old history, and Y/n was no longer with her billionaire boyfriend.  

Y/n was photographed by paparazzi attending Harry’s 19th birthday at the private members club Groucho. 

On Valentine’s Day, Y/n shared a picture of Richmond Park on Instagram with her thousands of followers, with the caption ‘LOVE’. 

Princess Y/n became a Oxford University graduated with a dual degree in Business and English Literature. And it was reported that the singer attended the private party throw by her older brothers in Highgrove, the Prince of Wales private residence in Gloucestershire. A guest was quoted ‘from the moment he arrived Y/n glowed, she introduced him to everyone at the party as her ‘special friend’ which is the royal family code for ‘boyfriend|girlfriend’, they gravitated around each other, nailed at a few karaoke duets, but I don’t believe it’s that serious’.

Days later, on June 1st , Y/n reportedly attended Harry’s mom’s wedding.

By July they’re in the first of many ‘off-time’ in their relationship. Harry’s busy touring with his boyband, and Y/n’s juggling her professional career and royal duty. 

2014

The couple was pictured with friends on the 24th  of January in Verbier—only a few weeks after it was reported that Styles were dating Kendall Jenner—.

Though  paparazzi weren’t able to capture the couple in any major PDA—apart from a few hugs on the slopes—. Y/n’s cousin, Princess Eugenie, and her boyfriend, Jack Brooksbank, were among the group, as well as the princess older brother, ~another~ Harry, with his then girlfriend, Cressida Bonas. 

The Daily Mail  reported that according to one source, “Y/n and Harry are pretty serious about each other, she knows his entire family and is close to his mother and sister, Harry already met both her brothers and cousins Eugenie and Beatrice”.

Y/n was spotted at the One Direction concert in Amsterdam, the particular date coincided with the state visit of the princess to the country.

The same month Y/n visited Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and Luxembourg, rubbing shoulders with the other Royal Families of Europe—their are kinda of all related we’re sure… in some way— ‘Doing a Social: Royal Edition’ .

Due to Harry band commitments and touring, the couple didn’t see each other until October, when Y/n visited Styles in Los Angeles, the mood between the couple seemed to cool off after pictures surfaced of Harry out in a pumpkin patch with Erin Foster.

The couple was pictured—in two separated occasions— in heated arguments around LA ~in public~ and we can only guess why…

When asked about his ‘royal romance’ by interviewers Styles standard answer was ‘We are just really good friends’ but that cheeky grin in his face didn’t fool anyone. 

Later in November Styles is pictured by paparazzi going out with Victoria Secret’s model Nadine Leopold in LA, while Y/n is tagged on a Instagram post attending a friend’s wedding in San Francisco… on the same night, and is safe to say that they aren’t ‘on’.

2015

Early January, Y/n is living to the fullest, enjoying single life around the globe with her inner circle of friends~and her ex, no, not Harry, Hugh!~.

She started in the Mediterranean and went on to …Verbier.

On February 01, Styles 21st birthday, Y/n went to her instagram to share a heartfelt message… about Maritime Life and the Health of the Ocean,  illustrating her love for the sea and all it’s creatures with personal photos ~or thirsty trap~.

Which Harry liked, as fans noted. 

And all this just a day after the princess being seen attending Styles birthday bash in LA.

A source told The Sun: “The moment she arrived, red lipstick, high heels and a little black dress, all eyes were on her, including his, poor Nadine, his rumored girlfriend, was completely forgotten on the side, Harry was all over Y/n”

“There’s nobody else he’d rather be on his birthday.”

That was the last time we saw Harry alongside Nadine: ‘they claimed schedule conflicts, due to tour, but Harry made it work once before, dating and touring, the truth, pure and simple is: Harry saw Y/n, and he saw what was missing in his life. He’s blowing up her message box with texts, but she’s keeping her foot on the breaks, Harry’s in the doghouse for now”. 

Around the same time Y/n was spotted out and about in London, partying around with her inner set—which includes her ex, and a few rumored flings—, dressing what we’re calling ‘the revenge wardrobe’.

‘It’s a punishment, she’s showing him what he’s going o lose if he can’t keep his wandering hands to himself’, the source claimed.

They are off again by the end of the year, not long after Y/n was spotted attending One Direction’s last concert before hiatus 

2016

Harry, his family and the Azzof’s were spending the first days of the year in St’Barts, and Kendall Jenner  was there. Khloe Kardashian declared  that Jenner and Styles were hanging out and quote: ‘Do I think they’re dating? Yes.’

Rumors about Jenner and Styles are put to rest later that month, when Y/n was spotted celebrating Styles’s 22nd birthday earlier in London. The ‘on-again’ couple  traveled together to Los Angeles—With sources claiming the couple is serious and happier than ever—.

March was definitely a month for rumors surrounding this couple.

There was the rumor that Harry had been casted in the new Christopher Nolan blockbuster —which turnout to be true—, that he was writing a new album. British tabloids started to run a story that either they are secretly engaged or almost there.

Rumors that they’re buying a house together. All this fueled by the fact that Harry and Y/n are no longer hiding their relationship or shying away from PDA.

May came with ~ goodbye long hair~.

The Palace announced on the 20th  that Princess Y/n would undergo a FOUR month long tour in the name of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. Y/n was to represent her grandmother in engagements around Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Jamaica from 4th June to 14th October. 

After months apart, the couple were spotted at Heathrow in a ‘warm embrace’ and the singer turned actor welcomed his lady with flowers, ‘it was definitely two lovers reunited after a very long time, it was like watching one of those post-war reunion: They are very much in love, they spent far two much time apart, and they don’t car for who is witnessing.

Later that year it was announced by the Palace that Y/n would be moving to New York for professional reasons, but would continue her work in the name of Queen Elizabeth II.

2017

Y/n and Harry are spotted around New York, Los Angeles and London on the early months of the year, after vacationing together in Jamaica in the end of 2016. 

It was one his ‘secret gig at The Troubadour that the twenty-three years old singer, alluded to his relationship with Y/n for the first time since they have first being linked back in 2012. Before performing the soft ballad ‘Sweet Creature’ the singer addressed the crowd ‘I would like to dedicate next song to the girl that has been my muse since before she can even imagine’, Y/n, according to fans who attended the show, was in front of the stage singing along with her ~should we call him her boyfriend?~.

He is her boyfriend! Styles avoided answering questions about their rumored on and off relationship, but didn’t shy away from calling Y/n ‘his girlfriend’.

During his July movie premiere, Prince Harry and Princess Y/n were the VIP guest in the event, bringing with them three Dunkirk Veterans. Prince Harry greeted Tom Hardy and Harry Styles with the familiarity of someone greeting a old acquaintance. According to The Sun  when it was his time to be greeted by the princess the singer bowed his head after the couple shared a smile and reportedly cheekily said ‘you look very beautiful today, ma’am’.

This couple reportedly took another step in their relationship when Styles was introduced to the Prince of Wales in August.

During tour, the rockstar’s fans seemed to have started a new game: Spot Y/n. 

 2018

During Harry’s tour break the couple once again was spotted out and about around London and Los Angeles.

We know Y/n and Harry spend Valentine’s Day together thanks to the Daily Mail publishing photos of them in the Caribbean.

In March Y/n was spotted around LA with A-listers Dakota Johnson and Kate Hudson, and rumor has it that the royal and her rockstar boyfriend bought a property in town.

In May Harry attends Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding in Windsor. The couple didn’t arrive together, as Y/n, in a break of tradition, was one of her brother’s ‘best men’. 

The children of the late Princess Diana cut quite the image while walking to the Chapel in military uniform. Princess Y/n has been appointed a Regimental Colonel by the Queen in 2017, and our girl slayed in that uniform.

That same month, GQ Australia  drops an interview with Harry where he’s asked about Y/n and dodges the question with “I don’t think there’s anything I want to share about that. But thank you for providing the space.” Lol, but fair.

On the 29th  it was announced that Princess Y/n had resigned from her finance job, but before engagement rumors between Y/n and Harry  started to fly around, Buckingham Palace stated that the princess would be embarking in a four months long Royal Tour visiting Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand, with official visits to Japan and China. 

Media outlets were quick to point out that the couple would be separated till October, with rumors of a possible break due to ‘conflict of schedules’

In October  Harry and Y/n attend a event together ~a royal wedding at that~ and they looked super coupled up. Styles reportedly was introduced to the Queen and Prince Philip, as well as other members of he royal family.  

November 14, 2018

But nothing in the world prepared us for the announcement released by Clarence Palace on the 14th: ‘The Prince of Waled is delighted to announce the engagement of Princess Y/n to Mr. Harry Styles. The wedding will take place in the Spring or Summer of 2019, in London. Further details about the wedding day will be announced in due course. Her Royal Highness and Mr. Styles became engaged on February during a private holiday in St.Lucia. Following the marriage, the couple will continue to live in their private residence in London.’ Her Majesty is said to ‘be absolutely delighted for the couple’, a the time of the engagement announcement, Princess Y/n was seventh in line of succession after the birth of Prince Louis a few months earlier, and no longer required the Queen’s formal consent to the marriage.

According to reports a formal engagement dinner party was held in Highgrove days before the formal announcement so the couple would be able to share their happy news with their nearest and dearest, ‘they didn’t want for those really close to them to find out through the media’.

November 15, 2018

Following the announcement, the couple gave an exclusive interview to Emma Barnett from  BBC, Y/n  revealed that the surprise proposal happened on Valentine’s Day, in St.Lucia, ‘It happened after dinner, there was a orchestra in a smaller boat besides ours playing ‘Young and Beautiful’ which I love, when I urn back o him, he’s smiling, he tells me about his feelings, and to this point  I wasn’t sure of  what was happening, then the exact moment the orchestra is playing ‘Can’Help Falling in Love’  he got down to one knee and asked me to be his wife’ the couple shared a sweet look, and then Barnett asked how she responded:  ‘Yes, please’.

When asked if he’d seek permission before proposing, Harry said: ‘I asked her for her hand, but after we announced to her family I privately asked the Prince of Wales for his blessing, as I know they’re very close, and it was important for her.’

This might have been the most shared Royal Announcement on social media and by the end of the day #harryandy/n were trending on Twitter.

Harry shared the news on his Instagram, posting three exclusive pictures to celebrate the occasion, one from the beginning of their relationship~with a tooth rotting sweet~, a peak of the gorges engagement ring he gifted his~fiancé~, and the third one: the precise moment Y/n said ‘Yes, please’. 

Rumor has it that the long wait for the formal announcement was due to the Royal Family disapproval, but Y/n stood her ground and won them over:’He comes from a working class background, he’s a rockstar, has all those tattoos, dated a fleet of lingerie  models, and dress quirky, while Y/n is the royal family ‘golden child’, she attended Oxford, balanced a professional career and royal duty, she’s a bit of a ‘rebel’ in some standards and she’s their most popular member, some years ranking even above the Queen,’ one royal correspondent said, ‘every time they need good press, they send her, she has that bit of ‘Diana-factor’, now she wants to marry his guy, who is a huge star on his own, and it is most likely that she will be withdrawing from royal duty to be by her husband’s side, as Mr. Styles is mostly based in Los Angeles.’

A source told the Daily Mail, ‘They used the same strategy in 1947, when the then young Princess Elizabeth wanted to marry the dashing Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, they sent her on a long royal tour, keeping them apart, and hoping that the distance will make her reconsider, it didn’t work then and it didn’t work now, (…)another factor here is that Princess Y/n is a very smart young woman, if she had announced her engagement earlier this year, at the time that she was proposed,  she would have needed royal consent, so she waited the birth of her third nephew by William and Kate, which pushed to seventh in line, and she’s no longer required to ask for formal consent per Succession to the Crown Act 2013”.

December, 2018

The couple was invited to the Queen’s traditional Christmas luncheon at Buckingham Palace on the 10th. 

On the 19th, the official engagement photographs were taken at the couple’s private residence in Hampstead, and were issued by the Palace on 19th, alongside the information that the wedding would be happening on 26 April 2019 in St.Paul Cathedral, the statement also clarified that the wedding would be privately paid by the couple, the Prince of Wales and the Queen.

About the couples choice a insider said, ‘they visited a couple of royal venues, but there was no doubt that it would be St.Pauls, it’s Y/n’s dream venue, she has put a claim in the Cathedral a long time ago, going as far a forbid her brothers to marry there’.

In a break with tradition the couple choose to celebrate Christmas with Styles’s family in Holmes Chapel instead of Sandringham.

January 2, 2019

The couple traveled abroad to reportedly escape the media circus surrounding their wedding, with rumors of a royal rift between siblings.

A source said to The Sun: ‘There is some discontentment over the date of the nuptials coming from the Sussexes, the date is very close to Meghan’s due date, and not only she won’t be able to attend the ‘Wedding of the Century’, it also it takes the shine out of the birth of their first child’.

January 6, 2018

Princess Y/n, labeled ‘the Rebel Princess’ and ‘the rioting English rose’, was cover of the January issue of Vanity Fair. In the interview the Princess discusses her upcoming nuptials with rockstar Harry Styles, her late mother, her place in the monarchy, climate change, and her (un)ordinary life. She also reveled that her wedding dress is in works.   

February 16, 2018

After celebrating the one year anniversary of their engagement on the 14th in the English countryside, the couple took their nearest and dearest friends for a combined ‘hen’ and ‘stag’ party. 

A party of forty made their way to Byron  Bay, Australia, a boutique hotel were closed for the occasion,  James Corden, Jeff Azzof, Adele and Dakota Johnson acted as the hosts of the week long celebration with Johnson reportedly welcoming guests with  a cheeky speech ‘If you need help to find your designated rooms, please go to Jeff, for our parting itinerary redirect to James or Adele, if you want to find the closest bar, I am your girl.’

‘The whole trip was pretty much organized by those four, who have been close to the couple for years, Blake Lively helped them, but was unable to attend, Y/n have been close for two years now, as Blake and Ryan are Harry’s New York neighbors.’ A source claim.

From Harry’s One Direction days, only Horan was in attendance. 

March 5, 2018

To mark the wedding of HRH Princess Y/n of Wales to Mr.Harry Styles, the Royal Mint produced an official UK £5 coin, showing the couple in profile. In May, a set of commemorative postage stamps, featuring the couple's official engagement photographs, was issued by Royal Mail.

Princess Y/n accepted the position of UN Women Ambassador in a private ceremony. 

Harry and Y/n also paid a private visit to the Great Ormond Street Hospital.

March 7, 2018

Y/n had her debut Vogue Paris cover, labeled ‘a Modern Princess’ , the royal talked about becoming a aunt for the fourth time ‘I’m so happy for Haz and Meg, I can’t wait to met my future new cuddle-buddy’; her choice of wedding date and venue:‘it’s a special date, my great-grandparents are married on the 26th of April, I was very close with my great-grandmother before her passing, I think she would have liked the sentiment behind, and the Cathedral is such a luminous place, and of course it’s where my parents got married, it’s a way to keep two very special ladies, that I loved very much, with me on that date’, about her wedding preparations: ‘I salute the brides that do it on their own, I have a wonderful wedding planner, Harry is being very present in the whole process, he can be worse than me sometimes, Anne, my soon-to-be mother in law is always with us’; and about being called a rebel: ‘Why a rebel? I am doing what many woman did and do, even in my family, it’s not really original, I’m not a trailblazer, Princess Margaret was the original rebel, auntie Anne too, I am just the 21st century version.’

April 21, 2019

It was reported that the couple attended a private luncheon to celebrate HM Queen Elizabeth II birthday.

Broadcast channels started o exhibit specials about the couple, including documentaries and two biopics: ‘A Modern Royal Romance’, and ‘How Harry met Y/n’. BBC reported that there already was people camping along the royal route.

April 25, 2019

The day before. The Cathedral is being prepared for the ceremony, the public and the press were able o get a glimpse of the floral arrangements already coming in and the stand in rehearsing the ceremony and testing the cameras for tomorrow morning. 

The Duchess of Cornwall, the bride’s stepmother, hosted a Rehearsal Dinner & Welcome Party for around 150 guests at The Savoy Hotel. For the occasion the bride wore Valentino and the groom wore Gucci. 

Camilla hosting the night raised some eyebrows from the public—specially among those that still blame her for Charles and Diana’s divorce— but according to one royal correspondent ‘Y/n is perhaps the child of Charles who is the closest to Camilla, she was six years old when Charles introduced the two of them, and she lived with her father full time while her brothers were in Eton so she was the one that had more contact with ‘Pa’s new girlfriend’ she was only thirteen when they married’.

April 26, 2019

Princess Y/n married her long time love on 26 April 2019 at St.Paul Cathedral. It was a star-studded affair, with guests including he likes of the Beckhams, Stevie Nicks, Elton John, Kate Moss, Ronnie Wood, and Paul McCartney. It’s estimated that the wedding itself costed around £32million. With the palace later confirming that the couple and the royal family had paid for he core aspects of the wedding, including church service, associated music, flowers, decorations and the two receptions that followed.

Y/n stunned the crowds in her  silk and cotton organdy Vivianne Westwood gown, which featured a nine-foot-long train and cost an estimated £250,000, she was lent a sapphire tiara by her grandmother, and wore her late mother diamond wedding earrings and sapphire oval brooch. She also wore a 5 meters long silk veil, among the hand-embroidered flowers, were  guitars and pieces from Harry’s songs and the constellation of their ~very~ compatible zodiac signs.

The bride made her entrance in her father’s arm to the sound of Elvis orchestra arrangement of ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’, one of the many break in tradition in he couple’s wedding.

The wedding reportedly attracted a estimated 1.2 million people on the streets and broke records of broadcast. The couple shared a kiss at a balcony appearance.

Elton John performed at the garden reception hosted by the Queen and Ed Sheeran performed ‘Perfect’ and ‘Hearts Don’t Break Around Here’, at the evening reception the couple once again took to the dance floor, this time at the sound of ‘One Woman Man’ by John Legend. 

Princess Y/n, in a break of tradition, made a speech calling Harry ‘my Sun and my water, my stay and my strength, the absolute love of my life’, after Harry confessed that he wasn’t good at speeches but was a ‘okay singer’ the newly wedded husband sang a slow ‘jazz like’ cover of Jonas Brothers’ ‘Sucker’ for his bride.

Oh, did we forget to mention that HM made Y/n a Duchess? Our favorite princess new style is HRH Princess Y/n, Duchess of Albany, Mrs. Harry Styles ––AND SHE ACTUALLY PUT IT IN HER IG BIO—. Her title is suo jure, which means ‘in her own right’, so no, Harry isn’t a Duke.

The newly weds left for their honeymoon on the 27th, after a wedding breakfast for 150 guests at Buckingham Palace, Y/n wore a The Vampire’s Wife going-away outfit, they departed in Styles’s convertible vintage red Jaguar. The couple set for their six-week honeymoon on a private yacht.

May 6, 2019

The couple took a brief pause from their honeymoon to attend the Met Gala, where Styles was on of the co-chairs for the night. The couple wore Gucci, Harry looked dreamy in a black sheer shirt and his wife looked gorgeous in a diamond tiara and a Plymouth-pink feathered gown. 

The couple exchanged a kiss on the ‘pink’ carpet to the delight of photographers and fans on site.  Another Iconic moment of the night was Anna Wintour and Lady Gaga curtsying to Y/n.

Alessandro Michele described he young couple as ‘his muses’.

July 12, 2019

The world was shocked when Buckingham and Kensington Palaces released a joint statement in the name of the Queen and the Duchess of Albany announcing that Y/n has giving up her place in the line of succession in her name and that of her future offspring, but would keep her title, and would continue to privately serve the HM the Queen and carrying out charity engagements. 

In her Instagram the Princess shared the pictures of herself and Harry, in the caption she asked for respect of heir privacy and said that she was: ‘following her heart, and taking the steps (she) thought are better for herself and the future family she hoped to build with Harry’.

The announcement come ahead of claims that ‘senior members of  the palace staff’ had been critical of Harry’s Met Gala outfits and his ‘quirky and queer style’ and are trying to ‘re-brand’ him and ‘control’ what he could and couldn’t do in his professional career as ‘his image reflected on the family’.

Honestly, good for them.

September, 2019

Harry is the cover of The Face, and boy, he looks gorgeous, he talks about his new album, his relationship with LA and move back to London ‘I am not over LA (…) but the relationship changed’; his status as a sex symbol, and ~of course~ his wife of almost five month ‘I have never been happier, life looks beautiful’.

And no, there is still no plans for a baby Styles, ‘We’re young, there’s no rush, we just got married’. 

For the first time in… forever, Y/n took to the Instagram to jus share with the world how proud she’s of her hubby.

Caption: I am just so proud of being able to call this beautiful, amazing human being my husband.

December, 2019

Fine Line is released. And everyone in the world is losing their minds.

AND, V.L Roche published another bestselling novel, that everyone is recommending, from The Michelle Obama to Reese Witherspoon. And it wouldn’t be relevant if it didn’t turn out that V.L Roche has been Y/n pseudonymous since 2010, in a interview this month the royal admitted that she was afraid os public opinion but Harry convinced her to come out withe the publishing of her TENTH novel. ‘Pictures of Us’ and ‘With the Band’ published in 2013 and 2015 respectively, had it’s adaptation rights bought by Netflix and Amazon in 2017.

It’s mind blowing that she was able to keep it private for so long, and…Was any of those amazing characters she wrote inspired by Harry? Her answer? ‘Perhaps’

April 3, 2020

We are shocked when almost a year after getting married, Harry and Y/n announce that they welcomed their first child. The couple are able to keep their entire pregnancy private, their families were informed and Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Kensington Palace public stated their delight with the new family addition and look forward to meet them.

We are honestly shocked, I mean, they did a better job than Kylie Jenner in hiding their pregnancy.

We wish the new parents the best of luck and can’t wait for the next chapters of what is definitely a modern fairy tale.

#harry styles imagines #harry styles imagine #harry styles one shot #harry styles x you #harry styles x y/n #harry styles reader insert #harry styles reader #harry stylersxroyal!reader #harry styles fluff #harry styles

[hadesoftheladies]

i've been on radblr for a while, and maybe it's because of the specific users i follow being woc or disabled, but recently i've been seeing more ableist and racist radblr users crawl from whatever hole they've been molting in

in light of a recent conversation thread between @menalez and two whitefems, i've come to see the issue other radblr users have been talking about

radblr lacks a culture of intersectionality. there are many white/straight/abled women here who think solidarity means we only cater to their liberation, and they can ditch us whenever they please. it is one-sided support, and isn't solidarity at all. they are used to being centered, used to seeing themselves as default woman, used to seeing themselves as the standard of feminism and womanhood. their problems as more deserving.

i'm not going to use this post to diagnose radblr, but to say why these women are insanely stupid

racist and imperial radfems have been bold in their assertion that their empires are somehow benevolent, neutral, helpful to outsiders. they have endorsed their militaries, asserted that they are genetically and intellectually superior, and that they're oh so tired of stupid, backward women from stupid, backward countries whining about how colonization improved their society. (and some western black users have agreed).

and it's so STUPID because . . . how do you not see you're approving of the structure of your own oppression while complaining about the injustice of it?

you can acknowledge that men have misattributed women's achievements to men, that they have destroyed, twisted, and erased their history. you can acknowledge that the reason there weren't as many women geniuses as men was because of the brutal subjugation and social, economic barriers women faced, or some just had their ideas stolen and died unnamed and unattached to their invention. you understand how women's language, spaces, and philosophy have been hijacked by the male perspective in everything, from religion, to education, to literature. in marxist or materialist analysis, you understand that economy creates culture.

but you can't understand any of that when it comes to majority world countries? you mysteriously lose your capacity to analyze culture when you're at the top? your countries are rich because they're just so gosh darn good at being rich, aren't they? stolen wealth and labor doesn't give you a head start at all! and if money is power, and you have the money, you can get away with stealing even more, but that only applies to men, see? not our nice, lovely, governments! colonization and war aren't actually that bad or brutal and don't have any lasting negative effects! neocolonial systems don't exist! it's not like our beloved empires have anything to do with killing the cultures of billions because they can, they have, and it is in their best political and economic interest to. black people never did anything significant! this is a fact, and has nothing to do with deliberate propaganda from imperial countries! imperialist propaganda, ha! imagine that? african and asian people can't be smarter than white people, because . . . . genetics! whitefems on radblr care so much about science when it comes to transwomen, but their brains turn to mush when it comes to thinking whiteness somehow genetically increases intelligence. biology, everybody!

it's honestly funny. like you're trading one regime for another, congrats! you're anti-revolution! you can get off our backs and stop using our plight as examples of your oppression.

and to the british storm trooper that claimed her intelligence was genetic--if you truly believe that, you've got two options:

consider that this statement is unscientific, racist, and false, or

take an ancestry DNA test and find out if you're adopted :)

#radfem #radblr #racism #colonialism

[mask131]

The myth of Dionysos (1)

What’s better to complete this Christmas season, alongside some Arthuriana and some ghost stories, than some Greek mythology?

There is a great book in France that serves as a key research reference, and that is called the Dictionary of Literary Myths, composed under the direction of Pierre Brunel. Within this bookthere are several articles covering the complexity and evolution of the Greek gods, both within their own mythology and within European literature as a whole (with a strong focus on French literature, of course, being a French book). Given I do not know if the book was ever translated or not, I thought I’d share some of the text within it. And to begin, I will focus on one of the several articles dedicated to Dionysos – the god you English speakers known as “Dionysus” (even though the whole -us thing stays completely weird for me who grew up with all the Greek names ending in -os). This first article, written by Alain Moreau, is titled “The Antique Dionysos: The Elusive One”, and as the title says, it is a study of the figure of Dionysos within Antiquity.

I will offer here a vaguely-faithful translation of the text – and given it is a longarticle, I will break it down over several parts.

THE ANTIQUE DIONYSOS: THE ELUSIVE ONE

Of all the gods of Olympus, Dionysos is the one whose character is the hardest to define. Despite his many historical uses and the numerous interpretations of mythologists, we cannot fully understand the god. His origins, his childhood, his physical appearance, his behavior, his role in the city, his symbolism… It is all rich, all complex, all fleeting. Dionysos is the god of metamorphosis: the elusive one.

I) The origins: Old god, new god

The impossibility to confine Dionysos within a specific setting already manifests in the beginning of this investigation: the research of the god’s origins is puzzling. There is no doubt that Dionysos is a very ancient god. He was called “Dendrites”, “god of the tree” – and he was even depicted with branches growing out of his chest – which links him to the oldest deities of vegetation and fecundity, the ancient mother-goddesses. For example, the Greek Demeter: Callimachus’ Hymn to Demeter says “Everything that huts Demeter also hurts Dionysos”, and Pindar names him “the consort of Demeter” in his Isthmics. Dionysos is also linked to Cybele, and though her to the Syrian goddess Kubaba – the Dionysos-Cybele link is made clear in Euripides’ Bacchants. There is also the Phrygian mother-goddess Zemelo, whose name sounds strangely like Dionysos’ mother’s, Semele. And all these deities were worshiped in Asia Minor, in Thrace, in Crete, and in the Aegean world. In Athens, very ancient festivals partially celebrate him; Anthesteria, Apaturia, Oschophoria… It explains why Tiresias, in the Bacchants, speaks of “traditions that come from our fathers, and whose age is as old as time itself”. All points out to the Dionysian cult having pre-Hellenic roots. During the Mycenaean era in the middle of the second millennium BCE, his presence was attested by two tablets found at Pylos written in linear B. The name of Dionysos is found in its genitive form: “diwonusoyo”. Bacchants gives us another clue about the ancient nature of the god: beyond the tragedy-of-impiety that is the death-punishment of Pentheus, one can sense a second level of comprehension, maybe hidden to the play’s creator, but that mythologists and ethnologists all perceived. That is to say, a ritual of human sacrifice – the tragedy takes its root in a primitive rite.

And yet, the historian Herodotus claims in his Histories that the name of Dionysos is the last one that the inhabitants of Greece learned when discovering their gods, while Pentheus and Tiresias in Bacchants both call Dionysos a “new god”. A new god, because he is foreign, supposedly coming from Thrace or Asia Minor. Ancient Greeks analyzed his name as coming from a fabulous land, whose exact location kept changing from person to person, but that was always outside of the Greek world: Caucasus, Ethiopia, India, Arabia, Egypt, Libya… Numerous myths tell of the strong difficulties that the cult of Dionysos had to face when implanting itself in Greece – especially in Boeotia, the land of Dionysos’ mother, Semele (who herself was the daughter of Cadmos, the founder of Thebes). Mythologists themselves were fooled and, up until a recent date, most of them believed that Dionysos was a latecomer to the pantheon, an imported god.

Where does this contradiction comes from? It is probably because of how unique the worship of Dionysos was: religious possession, orgiastic rituals, running races throughout the mountains… It always made him an eccentric, isolated god, a god of the people rather than a god of the aristocracy (he plays almost no role within the works of Homer), and as such a much less prestigious deity than the other Olympians. But Dionysos had his revenge: starting from the 8th century BCE onward, it seems that the god “woke up” and was brought back under the spotlight, thanks to women, who spread his cult. Various religious movements coming from Phrygia, Lydia, Thrace and the Greek islands also helped this renewal by revitalizing the old forms of the cult and accentuating its orgiastic aspect. The rise of Oriental cults in Athens at the end of the 5th century made everything go even faster. All these outside additions explain why the Greeks themselves felt that Dionysos was a foreigner and a “new” god. All in all, this look at the god’s origins accentuates one of his most fundamental characteristics: the impossibility to clearly define his personality.

II) A very complicated childhood: births and rebirths

The childhoods of Dionysos all bear the same strangeness. He is a god that is constantly born and that constantly dies, before escaping those that hunt him down, and finally imposing himself definitively. Let’s take a look.

1) Semele, beloved by Zeus, follows the wicked advice of the jealous Hera, and asks the king of the gods to appear before her in his full, shining glory. Zeus, who had made the solemn promise to grant any wish Semele would make, has no other choice but to obey. He appears to her wrapped and surrounded by thunder and lightning, and the poor Semele dies because of it. She was in her sixth month of pregnancy – and Zeus saved Dionysos from death, by ripping the fetus away from his mother’s belly, and placing it in his own thigh. There, Dionysos finished his growth during three more months, before finally being “born” out of Zeus’ leg. This is why one of the etymologies of “Dionysos” means “the god born twice”. In France, it also led to the common expression “se croire sorti de la cuisse du Jupiter” ; “to believe one’s got out of Jupiter’s thigh”.

2) The god Hermes, by order of Zeus, gives the child to king Athamas and queen Ino, rulers of Orchomenos. They raise the little Dionysos by forcing him to wear feminine clothes, in hope that Hera will not recognize him disguised as a girl. Unfortunately Zeus’ wife is not fooled, and she turns Dionysos’ foster parents insane. Zeus then transports his child towards Nysa, and entrusts him to the nymphs of the region. This time, it is said that he was turned into a kid (as in a baby goat). In the Homeric version of the story (found in Iliad, VI), Nysa is replaced by “the divine Nyseion”, a Thracian mountain where rules king Lycurgus. Lycurgus ended up hunting down the nurses of the child and wounding them – the terrified Dionysos jumped into the sea to flee the attack, and ended up protected by the goddess Thetis. [Note: Jeanmaire offered an alternative reading of the Homeric tale, proposing that maybe the Nyseion was actually the name of the "country of the Nysai", aka the land of the Nymphs, which would make it an Ancient Greece version of Elfland or Fairyland]

3) Finally, there is the Cretan legend of Dionysos-Zagreus. While the legend was only recorded by very late text, in truth it seems to be a very ancient story: the name Zagreus first appears in the 6th century BCE in the Alcmeonis, and then came back in the first half of the 5th century within Aeschylus’ Sisyphus the Runaway. In the Zagreus story, Dionysos is given a new group of nursing parents: the Kouretes. As they dance with their weapons around the child and do not pay attention, the Titans discreetly reach Dionysos-Zageus and lure him away using toys (a ball, a spinning top, a mirror, a fleece, jackstones, apples, a bullroarer…). Once they had him, the Titans killed him, dismembered him and cooked the pieces of his body within a cauldron before roasting them and eating them. Zeus struck the Titans with his lightning, but hopefully could resurrect the young god, using his still-beating heart that had been saved by Athena from the Titans’ gruesome feast.

Next time: The Shapeshifting God, and A Complex Personality

#greek mythology #greek gods #dionysos #dionysus

[rans-baby]

bonten as high school staff

teehee just bonten as your local high school staff members :3 thank you to my love @megumi-divine for bouncing ideas back and forth with me it's so fun ♡

MIKEY

home ec teacher who will only teach his students how to make desserts because "you can never have enough desserts!"

students got sick of it so he invited emma to guest lecture (read: teach) them how to make real food

will call the students with nut allergies and lactose intolerance "the weakest link" and shame them publicly

HARUCHIYO

CHAOTIC CHEM TEACHER WHO’S REALLY UNQUALIFIED TO TEACH

will "accidentally" teach his students how to make drugs

takes students phones because he wants all the tea

"your boyfriend is ass, and i saw him holding hands with another girl the other day, want me to beat his ass?♡"

one time accidentally created carbon monoxide and knocked all of his students out

"we could have DIED!" "yeah well I COULD HAVE DIED TOO YOU SELFISH FUCK"

RAN

that random coach that subs for other classes and is not qualified for any of the jobs he's given

races his students just to prove that he's faster than them

blows the whistle at random times just to scare his students and will sometimes do it to a beat of a song when he's bored

"you guys would never survive the streets smh"

RINDOU

the history teacher who couldn't care less

"idk they're all dead anyways what's the point?"

talks about politics all the time and has the best intentions but the way it comes across is so misguided

"BITCHES DESERVE ABORTIONS. I DON'T WANT THAT SHIT"

he's trying

KAKUCHO

the beloved literature teacher that everyone comes to with their problems

makes spotify playlists and will both teach and learn about his students on a personal level

"how's your dog? he was having stomach aches the other day right?"

literally no one pays attention in class bc he's TOO fine

TAKEOMI

the trash academic advisor who does not help with college apps AT ALL

"it's not my fault you're a fucking idiot jesus"

definitely smokes in his office, but literally who is going to stop him

"i have asthma" "did i ask?"

has almost gotten fired multiple times but somehow still works there

“back in my day” headass

KOKONOI

that econ teacher that tells all of his students to get into stocks and nfts and does not elaborate on how to actually do it

"just... buy it"

will come to school in designer shit and gives money to the lower income students and is so kind about it, would never make them repay him

but will scam the rich students "you need money for weed? just pay me back with 30% interest and you got a deal"

thoughts on writing hc's about high school staff bonten and milf!reader?

#tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers x reader #bonten x reader #mikey x reader #kakucho x reader #kokonoi x reader #ran haitani x reader #sanzu x reader #takeomi x reader #rindou x reader #rindou haitani x reader #ran x reader

[thecalendarwomen]

Viking historian Nancy Marie Brown’s new book, The Real Valkyrie: The Hidden History of Viking Warrior Women, explores what life might have been like for the warrior woman of Bj 581. Using more evidence from the recent tests conducted on the remains, Brown traces her journey from Norway to the British Isles to Kiev then, finally, to Birka. Brown imagines the unnamed warrior meeting other prominent Viking women, such as Gunnhild, Mother of Kings, or Queen Olga, ruler of the Rus Vikings in Kiev. She also explores the Viking sagas and contemporary sources with a new lens.

Atlas Obscura spoke with Brown about her new book, valkyries, and the assumptions that underlie the history we think we know.

How did you initially get interested in Vikings—and female Vikings in particular?

When I went to college, I actually wanted to study fantasy writing and, you know, learn to write like Tolkien. I learned very quickly that that was not appropriate for an English major in the 1970s, so I decided to study what Tolkien studied, and he was a professor at Oxford University, teaching Old English and Old Norse. So I started reading all of the Icelandic sagas that I could find in translation. And when I ran out of the English versions, I learned Old Norse so that I could read the rest of them.

One of the things I liked about [the sagas] the most was that they had really interesting women characters. There’s a queen in Norway who appears in about 11 sagas, Queen Gunnhild, Mother of Kings. She led armies. She devised war strategy. And then I was looking at the valkyries and the shieldmaids and thinking, you know, these are really interesting people that have always been considered to be mythological.

So when I learned in 2017 that one of the most famous Viking warrior burials turned out to be the burial of a woman, that just absolutely dazzled my imagination.

Is this the first confirmed grave of a female warrior that we have?

This is the one that has the best proof. There are one or two others that have since been DNA tested and proven to be female. But in each of these cases, it’s hard to say if the person in the grave, whether male or female, actually was a warrior, or if the object that we are interpreting as a weapon was used for hunting or for some other purpose.

What do we know about the life of the Viking warrior woman in Bj 581?

In 2017, by testing her bones and her teeth, [scholars] could say she was between 30 and 40 years old when she died. They could also tell that she ate well all of her life. So she came from a rich family or maybe even a royal one. She was also quite tall, about 5’7”. By the minerals in her inner teeth, [scholars can determine] she may have come from southern Sweden or Norway, and also that she went west maybe as far as the British Isles before her molars finished forming. She didn’t arrive in Birka until she was 16.

We also have her weapons and a little bit of clothing that were found in the grave. And these link her to what is known as the Vikings’ East Way, which was the trade route from Sweden to the Silk Road.

We can link, through the artifacts and through the bones, that she could have traveled from as far west as Dublin to as far east as at least Kiev in the 30 to 40 years of her life.

How do we know that there were Viking warrior women?

They are mentioned many, many, many times in the literature. In most cases, they have been dismissed as mythological because, of course, we know warriors were men. But we don’t know that. That is an assumption that is based on traditional Victorian ideas that because women are mothers, they’re nurturing, they’re peacemakers, and they don’t fight.

That’s not historically true. Women have always fought. And they appear in most cultures until the 1800s, when Viking studies and archaeology pretty much started. So we sort of have this problem of bias in our earliest textbooks.

There’s this assumption that the warrior men of myth must have been based on real people, but it’s not the same for the mythical warrior women. Why is that?

It’s just an assumption based on what people think women are like. Most of the material we have from the Middle Ages was written by men, and most of the material we have until the 1950s was written by men, and women are slowly making their way into the field of Viking scholarship. But many of them are still working under the assumptions that they were taught.

I noticed when I went back and reread some of the sagas in Icelandic that there wasn’t this clear distinction between the warrior women being mythological and the warrior men being human. When you actually look at the old Norse text, there’s a lot of words that have been translated as “men” that actually mean “people,” but it’s always been translated as “men” because it’s a warrior situation.

Is it possible for historians to remove all of those biases?

No, I don’t think it is. I think we all are looking through our own lenses. But we have to revisit those sources every generation to see past biases. So when you have layer after layer after layer of removing biases, you may get closer to the truth.

What most surprised you in the course of researching your book?

One of the controversies right now in Viking studies is should we really be talking about men and women at all? Maybe there were all kinds of different genders. We don’t know if there were more than two genders in the Viking age. Maybe it was a spectrum.

If you look at this one group of sagas called the Sagas of Ancient Times that are often overlooked because they have all these fabulous creatures in them, like dragons and warrior women. It’s really interesting [because] these girls grow up wanting to be warriors. They’re constantly disobeying and trying to run off and join Viking bands. But when they do run off and join the Viking band, or, in another case, become the king of a town, they insist on being called by a male name and use male pronouns.

So it was very shocking to me to go back and read it in the original and say, “Wow, all this richness was lost in the translation.”

#Nancy Marie Brown #vikings #history #women in history #archaeology #women warriors #warfare #warrior women #norse history #atlas obscura

[kcrabb88]

Before illness interfered, we were up in NYC this past weekend and saw this really cool exhibit on queer spaces during the AIDS crisis at the Museum of Sex, and I saw this in one of the cases, which proceeded to put a whole fic idea in my head because it kind of made me teary, if I'm honest.

I started thinking about how well Obi-Wan and Quinlan would fit into a late 80s/early 90s AIDS/Queer activism era, which then spooled out into a whole two-shot fic I'd like to write one day? I picture Obi-Wan getting an HIV diagnosis (picked up from an ex most likely) and Quin, his best friend, moves in to take care of him. They've been best friends for ages, have had little flings but have been scared to properly date, but end up doing so in the midst of all this (kind of a reverse Angels in America when Prior's partner leaves him after his diagnosis). Obi-Wan would live, as some people did back then, but he would be badly ill for quite a while. He and Quin are both professors at NYU (or similar)--Obi-Wan teaches literature, Quin does music and is in a punk band on the weekends. They're both in activist circles. Shmi and Anakin live down the hall, and Shmi kind of adopts them when she runs into a sad Obi-Wan one day. I was thinking an East Village kind of setting. They all become this little family.

Shmi eventually dies, and Obi-Wan and Quin are Anakin's legal guardians (though this is complicated because queer and one of them is HIV positive, so, prob some extra legal things going on). Palpatine would possibly be Anakin's shitty rich grandfather who doesn't like that two queer men have custody of his grandson and Shmi made it her business to try and keep him away as much as possible (Anakin's dad was never really in the picture much). Padme goes to Anakin’s magnet school and her dad is a city council member who supports the queer community in New York.

I dunno! I can't do it right now with book edits, and Kill the Lights (which will be a long fic), and my Obi-Wan whump minibang fic, but I might toodle with it alongside my other projects when I can because I feel very compelled by it? This era of queer history has always impacted me (and I like a lot of media set during it) so I'd be interested to try my hand at a fic set during this time, and I think Obi-Wan and Quin would just? Fit? Anyhow, dumping my thoughts here since I've been thinking of it.

#KCrabb rambles #Star Wars tag #QuinObi

[slaviclore]

Chopin biographies from 2010+

keeping track of my chopinology resources, and I figured someone might find it useful -- this is not an exhaustive list of available literature, just stuff I've personally read, and I will be adding to it over time.

Chasing Chopin: A Musical Journey Across Three Centuries, Four Countries, and a Half-Dozen Revolutions (2020)

by Annik LaFarge

English language, audiobook available

Summary: This is a partial biography of Chopin from the perspective of his composition of the funeral march. This book is written in a super engaging, conversational style, and it comes with a fun multimedia web site with music and videos for context.

Major pro: What sets this book apart from the other biographies in the field is LaFarge's exceptional empathy for her subjects. This may not seem like a big deal, but it is for a field that has been at times unnecessarily cruel to some of the humans in the story. That's partly why this book is my top recommendation for anyone wanting to understand Chopin's contentious relationship with his famous life partner of 9-ish years, George Sand (a woman using a man's name).

Major con: Using the composition of Chopin's arguably most famous work as the blueprint of his life story works well organizationally, but it doesn't actually add much to our understanding of the funeral march itself, beyond its personal impact on the author or, perhaps more broadly, the modern music lover.

Best for: anyone just wanting to read something engaging about music and history. If you don't know anything about Chopin, the history of Poland, or the funeral march, this is perfect.

Chopin. Miłość i pasja (2020)

by Iwona Kienzler

Polish language, no translation available as far as I know, audiobook (in Polish) available

Summary: This is a full biography with emphasis on the various romances that have been linked to Chopin over the last 200 years or so, real or not, even the ones we're not talking about anymore.

Major pro: There has been so much flowery language dedicated to the many and varied romances that Chopin did -- or maybe did or definitely didn't but we still talked about it a lot -- engage in, this book is refreshing for its sober tone and healthy skepticism on the subject. The author tells us what we know, what we don't know, and gives a historical perspective of the shifting notions the field has entertained over time.

Major con: The biography is fairly standard and doesn't expand the field much.

Best for: the casual reader of history, or the serious reader of the history of shipping.

Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times (2018)

by Alan Walker

English language, audiobook available

Summary: This is a full biography meant to encompass not only the entire course of Chopin's life but also the relevant social, political and cultural environment, the fates of people important to the story, and the musical context.

Major pro: Walker's effort to recreate the rich historical and social background of Chopin's life is unique in the field for its scope and detail, i.e., he gives a lot of information where most biographers stick only to summaries of critical events. This fact, as well as Walker's efforts to introduce or emphasize unknown or marginalized resources and documents, make his book an important blueprint for anyone studying Chopin, or even the early 19th century overall.

Major con: Walker's interpretations of Chopin's correspondence are dated and dense, which is a problem because the correspondence is the most important primary source we have (the musical compositions cannot be directly analyzed for concrete meaning). Most of Walker's takes on the content of the letters can be traced to interpretations made by previous biographers (whether or not he cites these is a toss-up), so it's not like anyone has ever done better per se -- however, the field now has the resources to do this work more perceptively. Walker had the opportunity (and I believe the responsibility) to step up to do that, but because he didn't, his biography was outdated the day it came off the press.

Best for: the reader already somewhat familiar with Chopin's biography, who is interested in developing a more complete image of the story, but who is also able to make critical judgments on the historical analysis, or at least recognize where such were made by the author. Also good for historians.

Chopin's Piano: In Search of the Instrument that Transformed Music (2018)

by Paul Kildea

English language, audiobook available

Summary: This is a partial biography of Chopin from the perspective of his composition of the Preludes and one of the pianos on which he composed them. The history picks up long after his death with a partial biography of Wanda Landowska, the famous pianist who eventually came to own the piano, through WWII.

Major pro: This approach is unique in Chopin biography for addressing his impact on the difficult history of the 20th century, with Nazis stealing the piano and Landowska's efforts to get it back. This creates depth of perspective where Chopin biography usually ends shortly after his death. It's a different type of story than the field is used to.

Major con: Because the scope is so broad, this book gives less of Chopin's own story overall, and sometimes the thread feels disjointed.

Best for: casual readers looking for an interesting, well-written story, or a historian interested in WWII-time chopinology.

Chopin: Prince of the Romantics (2010)

by Adam Zamoyski

English language, no audiobook

Summary: This is an updated edition of Zamoyski's 1979 Chopin biography (which I did not read, so I can't compare). This is my personal recommendation for a casual reader looking for a full biography, Chopin birth to Chopin death, and a good read.

Major pro: engagingly written, hits all the important points, and contains ample citations to direct the reader to major resources in the field.

Major con: contains some mythology that historians wouldn't take seriously today.

Best for: the casual reader, no previous Chopin knowledge required.

#chopin #history #music #my chopin list #book recommendations #fryderyk chopin #frédéric chopin

[fantomette22]

Sleepover time part two, tell me your headcanons about Gehrman and Maria

Alright so like we talk about, I will mostly concentrate on a list of headcanons about their relationships. Because if I try to talk about the entirety of *check notes* the 15y? they know each other in my main headcanon/interpretation it’s never going to be over. (ok this is really long help)

So that we're clear their relationship is kinda mostly platonic especially when Maria is a student at Byrgenwerth. Gehrman’s view & feelings on her as well as maybe her view on him, began to change some times after she graduate and become a hunter so they already knew each other for a few years already. After well they were kinda too oblivious to figure things out 😅 (their poor friends were becoming crazy). But they did talk and well if the huge problems around hamlet & afterwards didn't happen… they could have built and planned seriously something together eventually…

So basically, he saw Maria at first and was like omg she’s just like me fr. She really reminded him of himself a few years back when he was kinda lost in his life and mostly alone so yeah must protect.

Maria didn’t get many friends at Byrgenwerth at first. She couldn’t stand most of the rich/noble kids and the ones who were not were not very kind to her + she didn’t really know the others. Laurence noticed it and asked Gehrman to check on his students sometimes (on Caryll & Rom too). SO yeah, they ended up talking. A LOT

They can talk about so many subjects for hours! History, culture, art, weapons, fighting technique, literature, freaking flowers, sewing etc and they both like to be able to talk with someone who will listen and engage in those convos as well. But sometimes just being in other other silence & presence is really great as well.

During springtime and planting plants season he asked her opinion on which flowers to plant where. And by knowing when each variety bloom & their colors it really helped him to organize beautiful flower beds.

Speaking of flowers & plants: Gehrman helped her cultivated the first lumen flowers in Yharnam, (that I headcanon they bring back from Loran). + they planted together most of the flowers and trees at the workshop. The trees seem to have a few decades, I guess? Well they planted little / young trees that grow up ;-; (sorry that wasn't supposed to be sad).

Gehrman teach her how to cook several basic meals and make tea. She did teach him how to make Asian noodles too. But yeah, trust only Gehrman to cook in the old Byrgenwerth squad. Also, he taught her a few homemade remedies! (you except him to go to the pharmacy and bring you back medicine? No, he just takes a few dry plants (like raspberry branches or smt!) from a drawer and make the most useful infusion against chronic/stomach or period pain boom! What a gentleman!)

They like to go on walk in the forest together. Either just walk or for training or to found cool rocks I mean iron ore & meteorite

They love stargazing and looking at the moon ^^

He made her an old hunter badge out of siderite of course! (haven't figure out exactly when but hm not too important)

While at Byrgenwerth he made her a lil white wolf figure out of wood for one of her birthdays 🥺 (yeah he made those types of figures for all his friends XD)

He taught her many hunting techniques then fighting/ fencing techniques etc it did really help her and she made him learn a few things as well! (Like proper fencing and Cainhurst semi fencing/dance choreography they have). They trained together a lot.

One of the reasons, he made the mercy blade (beside to have a smaller secondary weapon) was to be able to train properly with her when she got the Rakuyo, so they could both dual wield.

He made her learned how to sew basic things and in exchange she taught him how to do refined embroidery.

I'm still unsure but either she made his red scarf alone or with the help of others, but anyway they gave it to him as a present. He might have done her red neckerchief and a few of her clothes as well (basically a beta of the doll clothes). 

He also sews back her clothes when she damaged them (he did that for many people too XD). They also sew back each other skins when needed…

Gehrman realized he was in love with her at quite a weird timing. You see he was kinda in denied since a few months of his feelings already (poor guy is not sure he had that intense crush before in his life so he was quite confused) and then they went on a dangerous mission. They're both covered in blood at the end, she just overcome a big trauma and "oh ok I think I love her for real actually 😳. Ok I accepted and acknowledge to myself the fact! I'm going to try to be sure she's happy and safe! But I'm not gonna do anything else about it because I value our friendship first!" jkdjùldjnjknnndq bro! JUST TALK TOGETHER!!! I swear it would have go well you guys are dumbasses! 

Also poor Laurence who had to support Gehrman ranting to him about how his dreams are sinful because "oh no I I held her hand 😭" yeah that was just that, at first. And Laurence was already tired of it: « bro that's just a dream🙄calm down it's 8am what are you talking about?! »

Ok so maria maybe was a bit too oblivious to his feelings like "nah that can't be that I'm dumb" but it wasn't oblivious for lots of other people 😅 their friends tried to do smt about it but oh boy…

I mean they did dance with each other a few times! :3 but everyone danced with each other too so.. ok maybe they did once or twice while completely alone..

Ah yeah Gehrman got vibe check by a part of Maria's family too XD at the Queen's wedding 🤣 poor guy. But well he did pass the vibe check!!! (Maria didn't knew. Laurence, Caryll & maybe Ludwig knew "omg he's getting vibe check?" " he's getting vibe check…"

Actually, they did talk a bit about their relationship (finally it just took what 5-10 years!) just before the fishing hamlet 💀 But it was mostly like "hey after our next big mission could we perhaps hm talk about or future life projects? Maybe we could hm… perhaps think of smt to envision together? If that's alright of course…👉👈" "Oh ok sure 😳 yeah we'll talk about it later!" WELL i let guess how that ended up! ( ;-; the mood was kinda ruined yeah).

Anyway, Maria only trusts Ludwig and Gehrman with her horses + Maria's crows like him enough.

Ok there's maybe ONCE when they passed time together that could be consider as a "date". They were supposed to go to the theater. Just the two of them. Day ruined when some old hunters show up by pure coincidence and didn't leave them alone XD

They practice violin & cello together a bit! They learned a few lullabies from each others as well.

They are both quite good with kids normally (more Maria too) but one day they both had to babysit 1 kid and they panicked because they lost the toddler for like 2 mins💀worst babysitter together pffff (that was baby crow lmao)

They are either the biggest idiots together, balance each other perfectly or are super serious (in mission/fight). Yeah i know x)

Also, if they could, this 2 would be the kind of idiots to go visits far cities, museum, famous places, and all sorts of locations. Like the top 10 of the most haunted castles, frightening forests & weird creepy places! oh you can be sure they would go XD (old hunters vlog when?? Yes of course they would take a daguerreotype with them to take pictures!)

If the 2 are send on mission together at the exterior of Yharnam (for exemple). You know it's really serious a really big deal. Usually, they go alone or with a few hunters but separated. In Yharnam+ labyrinth they either hunt together/ alone or with others. But this two are super powerful and really complementary together.

They fight well alone and they can very well fenced against each other, even better fighting side by side but against a common foe? They are at their best!

They already save each other's life a few times.

The day they did arm wrestling together in front of the old hunters was quite the event! Match of the decade ladies and gentlemen! Sadly, someone interrupt because "euh guys beasts are attacking people…😓" "O_O" so they stop and got ready. So, no one won 😅 they were like 5mins in…

You know tv don’t exist so sometimes they read books together at the workshop. Like the how to pick up fair maiden book (still not sure what type of book it's… could be just a series of super action oriented & dramatic novels who knows lol)

Those two are also the champions to have nap at the workshop. On mission they either don’t sleep a lot or have light sleep and always have a 6th sense (they often sleep next to each other too in those case) but at the workshop on day off? Oh dear good luck if you need smt and the 2 are asleep at the SAME TIME! (you can have Maria having a lil nap at the exterior and Gehrman in the interior)

One of them either found/buy or repaired the chairs they have. You know Maria's chair and before it turned into a wheelchair, I imagined it was really Gehrman's chair too. (So yeah, they have both their own fancy chair XD)

He completely trusts Maria to take back the workshop & trained hunters if smt was to happen to him.

She helped him with his chronic/phantom pains in his right leg/foot 😢 (yes besides giving him a few meds holding his hand kinda help a bit)

Even if they tried to be strong and without weakness to show each other and to others, they did share their insecurities and cheer the other up at times. Just a couple of months/years into their friendship they were comfortable enough to share their story, past, fears, "trauma" and insecurities with each other. Especially recent ones… so yeah that was really emotional…. But it's what create such a strong and powerful bound between them for the years to come. And explain how they become so close too.

Ok many books at the workshop belongs to Gehrman but the majority are from Laurence & Maria.

I imagined the picture Maria have (found in the astral clocktower) is well this one I drew. They took It after coming back to the church expedition at Loran. (Alternatively it had Laurence too). For the pics at the workshop Maria is still in a couple of them.

Years after the fishing hamlet, Gehrman gifted her the small hair ornament to cheer her when she wasn't feeling well. (Even if originally, it was supposed to be a proposal gift but hm… things got complicate… he also was looking at designs to do it just before going to the hamlet). She did gift him a pocket watch in return who look like the astral clocktower.

During those hm complicated and gray times (when they were both a mess and didn't tell each other everything!) they were still a source of comfort to each other. Just seeing, talking, and passed time together when they could did help a bit… before well…you know…

He made a mini doll before well... the Doll.

Few years after Maria passed away, he adopted one of the first irish/wolfhound of Yharnam. (Yeah he helped a young Paarl trained them and he got the opportunity to adopted a young pup.) He took the lighter fur one of the litter. Maria would have love her ;-;

(in one of my AU they got a little dog with their cottage house before the wolf hound hehe)

In the end they just both wanted a companion to stick out with and live their life and go on adventures! Similar to some couple of birds like well crows or other animals like wolves… etc

Ok I think that's a good list I will stop here 😅 I probably forgot a few things and there's a few things I didn't talk about but I tried to stay focus on just the most positive part. Thanks for the asks I hope you like it! (I really like it! Even if iit was longer than expected).

#my asks #bloodborne #bloodborne headcanons #lady maria of the astral clocktower #lady maria #gehrman the first hunter #maria & gehrman #gehrmaria #my art #fantomette22art #it’s 2k words…oops

[isys777]

@aerishey just made a post about this but I wanted to reiterate it because it's so true. Jughead and Veronica in the 50s is really cute and the chemistry is as great as I knew it would be as early as season 1 but it feels so empty at the same time. What made them interesting was the history and how their similarities and differences paralleled each other, this history that they share and the commonality between them that they didn't want to acknowledge because their surface personas were so different. We all knew that they were nerdy little movie buffs that would bond over their large knowledge of movies and literature but the draw was the tension and the push and pull.

I was really into 50s jeronica in the beginning of the season when I thought they'd eventually go back to the reality we knew and all their memories come back and have a lot of complicated feelings about how easily they fit together when all the biases dropped. I wondered how they'd react cause I thought it would really add to a dynamic that was already rich. But they broke them up for episodes and shoved them together at the end.

50s jeronica is fun, but I'm holding out hope that there's some shift to reality in the last episode or two where we can get a taste of them WITH the history of oh you know, the entire show. Even if there won't be time to really get into it, I feel like that's where the meat will be/would have been with this storyline...

#jeronica #I'm kinda rambling

[walrus150915]

Why the kingdom in "Nimona" doesn't have a name: a possible explanation from a literature nerd student

Hey! So, I know nobody has probably thought about why the kingdom in which "Nimona" plot takes place in doesn't have a name, but I, as a person who likes to overanalyze stuff, was wondering about it. Like, it's the name of THE REALM. Why is it nameless? Was this information left out on purpose? Were the creators just lazy?

What if I told you that there's meaning behind it, and it's much deeper than you can imagine? Let's unpack that!

FYI, I'm a literature student who likes to nerd out about things I've studied. Also I'm from russia, so the examples I'm gonna talk about are from my curriculum.

(Have to warn you tho - there will be a mention of Mikola Gogol, who was Ukrainian yet lived in russian empire, don't assume he's russian)

Towns without names are a common trope in the satirical genre of literature. Examples: "The Government Inspector", "Dead souls" by Gogol, "The history of one town" by Saltykov-Shedrin and uhhh literally any short story by Chekhov. Instead of placing the story in a one specific town, writers use "Gorod 'N' " (which literally translates to "Town 'N' ") or don't name it at all.

The reason?

Comedy and satire were often used to mock the government, rich privileged people, people's conservative mindset or all of the above.

Example: in the comedy "The Government Inspector" by Mikola Gogol, the main character Khlestakov is confused to be a, well, government inspector. Mayor and other people in the government try to pander to him and show that honest people rule the town. Shenanigans ensue

It wasn't given a specific name because "The Government Inspector" is a commentary on the government in general. Something something people in power always end up corrupted something something capitalism bad something something Mikola was a real baddie for writing this in the times of tsar russia.

Now. What does a story written by an asexual author like 200 years ago has to do with a queer masterpiece that "Nimona" is?

The whole story is about how prejudice is taught, how people fear something they don't immediately understand.

The kingdom doesn't have a name because it doesn't need one; it's a commentary on the system in general.

It's nameless because everyone all across the world can recognize the issues "Nimona" brings up, bc uhhh we live in the world where everything considered abnormal is considered dangerous and how we need to question everything we've been taught, because, in Ambrosius's words, "What if we're wrong? What if we've always been wrong?"

(Also maybe because kingdoms in fairytales don't have names ("Far far away" typa stuff), but what do I know)

It took longer than it should have but ermmmmm yeah!!! I hope you liked this analysis of something not many people think about!!!!!!

Remember: fight the system, break stuff, live your truth and respect "Nimona" for being a queer household classic :D

#nimona #nimona movie #nimona 2023 #analysis #im probably overthinking this #its not that deep #but im a nerd #so #yeah #btw do you like to read me trying to analyze stuff in broken english??? #should i write more stuff like that #bc i can #yayyyyy #uhhh what else #ballister is so babygirl

[ijustreadthisbook]

Top Five Books I've Read (so far) In 2023:

5. Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr (Audiobook): One of the more unique novels I've read in a while, this book bounces around in time and place slowly weaving each dispirate story together around the fictitious ancient greek story of Cloud Cuckoo Land. Each character is so well created, and the slow thrill of putting the pieces together was so satisfying. The ending made me stare at the wall for a few moments before I could come back to earth.

Read if you like: Ted Chiang short stories, The Birds by Aristophanes, Margaret Atwood sci-fi

4. Truth of the Divine by Lindsay Ellis (Physical book): The sequel to her debut novel, Axiom's End, this book takes the monster fucking story to a whole new level exploring the concepts of attraction, loyalty, love, and humanity. The world building is incredible, the main character doesn't have that awful trait that a lot of sci-fi audience inserts have where they cannot possibly make logical connections and answer questions themselves. Cora is smart, and Ellis assumes you are smart too. Plus the recreation of 2007 era America is fucking perfect.

Read if you like: Early 2000's nostalgia, Jeff VanderMeer books, Axiom's End, 90s alien movies like Contact, Independence Day, Aliens

3. The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegmund-Broka (Physical book): I've read a bunch of romance this year, and this was one of my absolute favorites. Certainly not the spiciest I've read, but the interplay between the two points of view creates a romantic, sexual, and professional tension that is so palpable and delicious. I loved the meta narrative of two people writing a book together about two people writing a book together, and the exploration of what making art together means and the intimacy required to do it. It's a little predictable, but that's what you want from a romance novel. This was a fun book with just enough stakes and just enough stress to make the payoff so worth it.

Read if you like: Emily Henry books, movies like You've Got Mail, Something's Gotta Give, Always Be My Maybe

2. The It Girl by Ruth Ware (audiobook): I love Ruth ware. I love her. I have read everything she has written so far and will read anything she puts out. I selected this one for my list because I love the setting of a close knit school campus, a shining bright young woman with a dark secret, and the real time unravelling of a murder mystery through the eyes of someone on the ground. This book explores the idea of how little we can know about the people we are closest to, and how easy it is to blind ourselves to the truth because of what we want to be true. It's a captivating read, easily finished in a day or two.

Read if you like: One by One by Ruth Ware, Gossip Girl, Jennifer's Body

1. The Secret History by Donna Tart (physical book): I cannot believe how long it took me to read this book. It was one of those books that kept getting recommended to me, but I was worried it was over hyped and would be awful. I tried to read it about two years ago and couldn't even get through the first chapter. And yet, somehow, I picked this book up and did not put it down for a week and a half. It's incredible. An absolute masterclass on Dark Academia, tension building, atmospheric storytelling, all the things I love the most about literature with all the modern trappings of an aesthetic I have also come to love. Rich kids in a private school testing the boundaries of privilege through the POV of an outsider desperate to be accepted is one of my favorite tropes and this book is the definition of how to do it right. It's dark, its academic, it's murdery, it's the 90s, it's excellent. I'll be reading this one again.

Read if you like: A Separate Peace, Brideshead Revisited, Gentlemen and Players, The Talented Mr Ripley

#books and reading #my favorite books so far #the secret history #the it girl #truth of the divine #the roughest draft #cloud cuckoo land #anthony doerr #donna tart #lindsay ellis #ruth ware #emily wibberley #austin siegmund-broka #book recommendations #book review #book reviews #i just read this book

[themorguepoet]

it is appalling how underrepresented awadhi is as a language despite it being such a dominant force in indic literature. Hello? The Tulsidas ramayan sung across this country is in awadhi. Kabir ke dohe? Ras Khan ke poems? Awadhi!

Awadhi literature is being taught in hindi books as hindi literature? Children don't even know of this language. A lot many people instantly assume it to be bhojpuri or bihari when they hear it- but it is distinct from both of those.

No it is not a dialect (boli) of hindi. Awadhi is much older than not just hindi but also Khadiboli- the precursor language of hindi.

Parents in the Awadh region no longer teach their kids this language. Why? Because bollywood has done an awesome job of identifying awadhi with illiteracy, poverty or both in the media space.

Hindi is not the natural language of uttar pradesh. "Hindi belt" sounds like a slur at this point. We have 7 distinct languages here which are dying out. Hindi is not the mother tongue of UP- it is the mother tongue of Delhi and its sub regions.

Awadhi is the language of Awadh- land of Ram.

We have Brajbhasa of Braja, Kannauji, Kauravi in Northern UP, Bagheli and Bundeli in the western borders and Bhojpuri in the south Eastern parts. All of these are older than hindi and its precursor. None of these are dialects of the delhi language so stop treating them as inferior sub languages. They have linguistic history and literature spanning far back in time.

If you are from southern India please be educated. Stop calling us hindi belt ffs- northern region is just as diverse and linguistically rich as your states if not more. UP is not a "bimaru" state either. Also we have no interest in imposing hindi on any state. We are possibly one of the biggest victims of hindi domination ourselves. Our scripts and language is systematically wiped off- not just in the last 75 years though-we have been struggling for a millennium. So please read, read and read more before you fall into stereotypes.

#बिचलित मनवा बिसाद करई #rant #from the drafts

[greenerteacups]

JKR cannot be serious when she says she doesn't understand the appeal of draco.

draco is rich, famous, stylish, toxic, intelligent and physically attractive. he is in with the villains and is given a storyline that frames him as a morally grey/wounded character. these are some of the most popular romantic chatacter traits in literature history.

but i think it's indicative of a broader problem in JKR's writing: too many of her themes are either totally black or totally white. too many of her characters are either completely good or completely evil. and it leaves her with her finger well off the pulse. the vast majority of successful authors wouldn't write a character like draco malfoy and wonder why so many people think he's a smoke show.

JKR believes that the girlies find draco hot because there's a desperation to unearth a heart of gold beneath his dark glmour when, in fact, his intrinsically dubious morals are what's often so appealing and interesting about him as both a character and as a love interest.

broadly agree with you here. the original books are kind of a classic children's book conflict that then gets mapped onto the "morally grey" plot of a war, where people are demanded to make hard calls and bad choices, which results in a huge difference in complexity between the protagonists and the antagonists. draco's one of the few characters who straddles that line in any capacity, and i don't even really think it's intentional; i think, just as snape disappears in book 4, draco disappears after book 6 and becomes somewhat irrelevant because the plot doesn't have space for his role anymore. so he ends becoming complicated... kind of on accident.

small caveats: the stylish part seems to be mostly drawn from the films (furry hat wearing KING) and the intelligence part is sort of inferred from the amount of work it must have taken to finagle his bullying plots/the Vanishing Cabinet. we don't ever learn how malfoy does in school! it's not something that harry seems to be aware of — he's in N.E.W.T. level classes and seems to do fine on his O.W.L.s, but his level of intellect is indicated from other things.

this video essay I think does a great job picking out what's canon and what's fanon about draco's character, and I think the author hits a really good balance between not being a fan/shipper/rose-colored lenses type and also not unnecessarily going after people who are. it's a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it gets the general principles right.

#draco malfoy #greenteacup asks

[nyaerysfics]

The King’s Heartstring - I

Being the King’s niece came with benefits.

Rhaenyra got what she wanted, when she wanted it, and she always got the best of the best. She was gifted the finest silks, jewels and wines from lords and their sons vying for her hand.

None touched gifts from the King, however.

He’d gifted her rare Valyrian steel and fancy cut jewels only Valyrian jewelry makers could have produced (Westerosi jewels were so… underwhelming. Thank the gods his family brought over a lot of jewels before the Doom). He gave her spools and spools, varying in color of pure Myrish lace to be used in dresses made by the seamstress he paid.

He gave her multiple dragonbone corsets, ones that made her figure look the best at court. He imported rich oils for her hair and skin and fragrant ones that lingered in the air as she walked by.

He’d built Rhaenyra her own personal library, full of books solely in High Valyrian. She’d complained once that she hated reading books in common, the language was so bland and ugly. His Grace sent far and wide for all kinds of books in their mother tongue.

From poetry, to literature, to science, to history, to battle strategy, she read every single book, seventy-four of them by the time she was five and ten. She hadn’t wanted her kepa to think her unappreciative.

Rhaenyra’s father never liked it, the nature of their close relationship and when Aemma died and he married Otto’s whelp of a daughter, she didn’t either. She complained that it was unseemly, ungodly to lavish the girl in such treasures.

“It is as if he means to court her! This is far too much, Viserys! She must return this, this instance,” she cried looking at the large diamond and pearl ring that once belonged to Queen Rhaenys. “He does not even gift his own wife such things! Not once have I seen her with jewels she did not get from her father’s house!”

Alicent had been right of course, Laena had never received a single gift from the King, not even so much as a freshly picked flower. He’d figured Queenship was gift enough.

Plus, her father had openly bragged time and time again of his great wealth. If she wanted something, she’d better ask him.

Rhaenyra had refused to give the ring back, and out of defiance, had placed the ring on the fourth digit of her hand, the one meant to house her wedding ring.

No harm or punishment would ever come to her though, not with the King there. Or so she thought.

As it turns out, there are things even Daemon could not protect her from.

Her stunt with the ring inspired her stepmother, and she quickly began looking for a husband for the girl. Alicent consulted Otto, of course, to figure out what would be best for them, and ultimately decided on Lord Jason Lannister.

“Her dowry will pay the way for this family for years if the insolent girl can play her part correctly,” Otto had spat. “It is time she starts contributing to the family instead of complaining all the time. Perhaps with her out of the way we can advance our plan to have Aegon named as heir.”

Alicent had wholeheartedly agreed.

“No way! Father, tell her no! I am not marrying that Lannister fuck!”

“Watch your mouth, Rhaenyra! My father and I have worked hard to find you a match worthy of your station. He has a good seat and his family is very wealthy. Wealthy enough to spoil you with gifts like your dear uncle has, mind you. You will be happy there.”

Rhaenyra didn’t want to hear that, though.

“Father! Will you let her do this? She means to send me away because she’s jealous! She always has been. She and her ambitious fool of a father want to pawn me off to some lord they’re in cahoots with to be bred like some mare. I won’t have it!”

“Rhaenyra, please,” her father pleaded, his voice tired. “Alicent wants only what is best for you, my dear girl. You are just too young to see that. You are five and ten and due to be wed. Jason Lannister is a good match, and your sons will inherit a great seat. In time you will see the beauty of the match. You will love your husband and children. I’ve always thought you would be a great mother.”

That did nothing to appease his daughter.

“The King will not allow this,” Rhaenyra seethed, disgusted with her weak dunce of a father. “Jason Lannister is a pompous ass, one undeserving to lick the sole of my foot! And you’d have me marry him? Why? How much dowry did the Lannister’s offer you, huh?! How much does your father get off the top?!” She was full on screaming at her stepmother, so much so that her Kingsguard, Ser Erryk, popped his head in to assure the safety of his charge.

“Stop this at once! You will marry Jason Lannister and it will be in less than eight moons time. He has even commenced the building of a Dragonpit at Casterly Rock. Isn’t that sweet, Rhaenyra? Most men would not go to such measures for their betrothed. I think you could love him, stepdaughter, if you wanted to. With age you will learn that love is worked for and earned, not made upon first sight like some poetry book.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?! I am not some mere lady of the realm, someone like you! I am a Targaryen Princess and I have been since the moment I was born. That is what makes me different from you, from your half-blood daughter. You had to marry into power. I was born with it. I don’t care what you think, I will not marry him. The King will not let it be so. You know you will have to bring this to him? Right? Have you forgotten I am a Princess and my marriage is a matter of the crown?”

Viserys and his wife shared a dark look. Rhaenyra just cackled.

“You had forgotten, hadn’t you?” She smirked at the two idiots.

“It matters not, Rhaenyra.” She could tell even he didn’t believe that. “My brother, the King is a reasonable man and he too shall see that Lord Lannister is a fine match, the best one available.”

The Princess huffed, “We shall see.”

•

Jason Lannister tried and tried to connect with the Princess, to no avail.

She declined audiences with him and returned the gifts he sent her. Why would she want Lannister gold when she had Valyrian steel, gifted to her by the King himself? She had no need for any of his tacky shit, she would not be his wife.

So she publicly rebuffed his advances. She declined one walk in the garden, three invitations to supper and one dance at a feast her uncle had thrown in honor of his late parents wedding anniversary.

He’d seen, the King did. Rhaenyra had looked so disgusted with the Lord of Casterly Rock, and she hadn’t even voiced her dismissal, just simply waved her elegant hand and turned him away.

She’d quickly retired after that (after a sweet peck on the King’s cheek and bow to His Grace) and readied for bed. She couldn’t stand being in the same room as Alicent and Otto and their stupid glances. Fuck!

So the King summoned her, to break her fast the next morn. He’d had the kitchen prepare all of his nieces favorite foods and sat at his dining table waiting for her to arrive. It took less time than he thought it would, Rhaenyra loved to take her time. “The Valyrian Freehold wasn’t built in a day, my King,” she’d oft say.

She was announced and walked in wearing a gorgeous red silk gown, littered with rubies her uncle had provided. Her hair was flowing down her back, full and with a beautiful sheen. On her ears, neck, and fingers were all gifts the King had bestowed upon her. She looked like wealth.

“Good morrow, Your Grace. I was told you wished to speak to me? Hopefully I haven’t done anything to cause to be cross with me.”

He nods, a smile only she could pull out of him dancing on his lips. “Of course I’m not cross with you. I never need an excuse to want to see you, my love. Now sit.”

He went and grabbed her plate and began piling all of her favorites onto it. He served her fried eggs, slices of bacon, roasted potatoes, mushrooms, and scones. He had a selection of jams there for her as well. She loved her sweets, he knew.

“Thank you, kepa. You didn’t have to,” she said as she watched him make his own plate, the same things, just bigger portions.

“Nonsense, Princess. Eat,” he said before filling her chalice with sweet raspberry wine. “I haven't had much time to speak to you lately. It seems like the realm falls apart the moment I take some time for myself. I am so sorry for that. Perhaps we can start breaking our fasts together?”

She broke apart her eggs, the yokes spilling out onto her potatoes. With a mouth full of smashed bacon, she smiled. “I would love that, my King. I have missed you, greatly. Caraxes as well. How is he? Syrax always calls for him when we go on a flight.”

This is why he loved her, his sweet girl. “He is swell, Rhaenyra. I took him for a ride not two days ago. Tomorrow, mayhaps, we can go for a ride to Dragonstone and back.”

She nodded enthusiastically, her knife swiping her scone full of jam.

“How have you been?” Her King asked.

“I am alright, kepa. Father and Alicent are insufferable, as always. But other than that, I am okay.”

Daemon just frowned, “Do not pay any mind to Alicent, she is jealous of you, my girl. She is still cross I will not give those Andal shits she pushed out her worthless cunt titles or named that disgrace she birthed heir. The bitch is delusional.” He rolled his eyes. “You are my niece, the Princess and you should be more than fine. Tell me what bothers you and I will make it disappear.”

But Rhaenyra just shook her head. “Alicent and my father have arranged a match for me. They plan to sell me off to Jason Lannister for fifty golden dragons! Is that all I’m worth?”

”You know you aren’t.”

“They mean to ask for an audience with you in a few days to speak about it.”

“And this match doesn’t please you?”

Rhaenyra almost wanted to scream. “No! He is creepy and unfit for a woman of my station. Father and his wife keep telling me he is the best match I will get. If that is true, send me to the Silent Sisters, I beg you.”

“Hush now, no need for all of that. Why haven’t you come to me?”

“Father forbade me to speak on it!”

“You can always speak to me, no matter the topic. I will take care of this problem for you. Don’t worry.”

This time her eyes watered, “That is the problem. Eventually I will have to marry and I will be sent away, sent from you! The childbed is an unavoidable fate and some fat Andal lord will send me there, I will be made to squeeze out heirs, with no regard for my health. It is the burden of being a woman.”

The King shakes his head.

“You are no mere woman, Rhaenyra. You are a Targaryen. Remember that.”

-

Three days later Viserys and Alicent came to him.

“Brother, thank you for receiving Alicent and I. We come with good news, Your Grace. As you well know, Rhaenyra has been old enough to wed for quite some time.”

The elder quirks a brow, “Has she been? She is but five and ten. Some would say she is still too young.”

“She flowered at one and ten. She has ripened for four years! That is time enough. It’s time she does her duty to this house. Alicent was kind enough to arrange a match with Jason Lannister, with a dowry of fifty thousand gold dragons. Quite a match, huh?”

“Quite the match indeed. And how does Rhaenyra feel about the match?”

The look the two swapped would have told him all he needed to know, if he hadn't already.

“She is resistant, but so is the exuberance of youth. I’m sure in time she would love her husband and children,” Alicent spoke for the first time. “The marriage would provide her wealth, security and a seat for her son to inherit. It is a fine match, Your Grace.”

Gods, he thought. Her voice is fucking annoying.

“Wealth, security, and a great seat. What of love? Or my niece’s happiness? Has no thought of that? Viserys?”

“Us women are-,” she tried.

“Do not think to compare yourself to my niece, Alicent. You two are in no way the same. She doesn’t have to marry some man for wealth, she has that. Abundantly. She doesn’t need to marry for security, she is the most cherished maid in all of the known world, she is secure. And a seat? As you know, I have no children of my own. Her son could very well be my heir,” His Grace growled. “So again, why has no one thought of her happiness? I demand an answer.”

“Daemon. You know as well as I do, Princesses are not oft granted matches for love. It is usually a political match. She has not shown interest in looking for a husband so it has to be done for her. She will be well taken care of by Lord Lannister.”

“She is not just any Princess,” he told his younger brother.

After that, he’d dismissed the two and told him he’d inform them of his decision when he came to one.

-

King Daemon I Targaryen, in truth, was a simple man. He liked good, well aged Dornish strongwine and wouldn’t say no to a hot, wet mouth on his cock, either.

He was a good king, fair and just, exactly as Baelon the Brave and his mother, Alyssa, had raised him.

He was a conqueror, the first to add to their new empire since the original three-headed dragon, after winning the Stepstones in the first decade after his ascension. It took him six years (and 40,000 men) but he’d done it, and been named King of the Narrow Sea.

Almost immediately he’d broken ground on Bloodstone, to build Bloodstone. A gorgeous keep to pass down to his future son. He’d hoped.

Men thought him alike to Aegon, but he felt more like Visenya, and not just because he wielded her sword. Daemon was the elder and could also could be described as harsh, unforgiving or austere. There was nothing wrong with that. That is how you stay alive.

There was a reason Visenya outlived her siblings.

Daemon was comfortable in luxury, or in the trenches of war. He knew Visenya was too. If only her bloodline had survived, he thought. I’d be unstoppable.

And so, he felt like he related to her.

Visenya, like Aegon, married once for duty and once for love. Why couldn’t Daemon? Was he not King of the Seven Kingdoms as much as they were? He did not answer to the likes of men, he was a Targaryen, for gods sake.

Was he truly destined to be stuck in a dull marriage to Laena for the rest of his days? That couldn’t be so. Flames have mercy, he wouldn’t let it be so.

He deserved to spread his seed, to watch his sons grow in their mother. It was his birthright, but of course he was burdened with a barren wife.

Whispers followed him, “He is Maegor come again, even unable to get his seed to quicken. The gods speak, the gods know.”

It was bullshit.

It was definitely Laena’s fault, two dead (pregnant) whores can attest to that.

He was sick of bedding her. She was dull and meek, nothing like a true dragon. She had no fire, only still water.

After nine and ten years of marriage, and no heirs, he was done. Done with the ridicule and whispers of the lickspittles that populated his court. He had two seats to pass down, and no one to pass them to! He refused to give them to Viserys' sons, Aegon and Aemond. Absolutely no way.

He would marry for love too. He had made up his mind about that when Rhaenyra was ten. He knew if he made the right investments, the return would be astronomical. So he waited, and patiently watered his precious flower until she was ready to be plucked.

He lavished her with gifts, of all kinds. Anything to get her to smile.

She was the picture of Valyrian beauty, the youngest dragonlord of their family history, she was destined to be his. He was patient.

When her mother died, and Viserys was too caught up in grief, he, the King himself, cared for his dear niece. That brought the two together even more.

When Viserys decided to knock up her serving girl and asked to marry her, Daemon was overjoyed. He couldn’t agree fast enough.

Not even the existence of a Targaryen bastard in that whores belly couldn’t dampen the elation he felt. Viserys would push her straight into his arms with his haphazard treatment of the girl.

It worked too. She’d downright hated Alicent. It had been amusing to watch Viserys try and hold his household together. Rhaenyra was not going along with the happy family narrative Viserys tried to create.

It got even worse after their first child, Aegon, was born. Viserys didn’t see Rhaenyra for moons at a time, at that point. She much preferred to spend time Daemon, and he welcomed her with open arms. Viserys moved back to the Red Keep just to see his daughter, even though Alicent and Rhaenyra objected.

Dragonstone was damp and dull, but Daemon wasn’t there, and that was something to Alicent.

Alicent spit out two more children, Helaena and Aemond in quick succession after that. Daemon truly appreciated their efforts to push Rhaenyra into his arms.

He wasn’t stupid, the King. He knew that Alicent would start offering his sweet girl up to the lords of the realm at one point, but he didn’t think it would be so soon. Don’t get him wrong, his niece was beautiful and got his cock harder faster than anyone, ever had. Her figure was slim, but Daemon would spread her out in time. She had what looked like perfect handfuls for breasts and he just couldn’t wait.

But he’d been prepared to wait, for at least one more turn of the sun. Six and ten was not too young to be full of life, not when some girls were wed at one and ten.

Honestly, the anticipation was killing him. He would still have to wait, after the announcement. A wedding would need to be planned and had before he could bed his wife, and get her fat with his babe. He bristled at the thought. She was his already, he didn’t want to wait.

But he cared for her reputation, and would give no one reason to belittle her so she’d remain a maiden until the bedding.

As he came upon the small council room, he tried to shake the thoughts of lust from his brain. He needed a clear mind.

In the room Rhaenyra, Laena, Viserys, Alicent, Otto and Jason were all sitting at the table waiting for him. They all rose and gave gracious bows.

His wife was first to speak, “Good afternoon, husband.” He afforded her nothing but a nod.

“Princess, you look breathtaking. Come with me.” He held his hand out for hers and led her to the head of the table, where Otto had taken the seat to his left. “Switch seats with Otto, my pet. Thank you.”

After the switch was begrudgingly, on one side, made Daemon continued.

“I called you all here to speak of Rhaenyra’s impending betrothal. I understand that Alicent and Otto have come to an agreement, as well as a dowry price for my niece's hand. Fifty thousand gold dragons is no small dowry.” Jason looked quite pleased with himself.

“There are things my niece must be afforded, in any match that is made for her. She will have final say on the man she marries and bears children for,” that effectively wiped the smirk of Jason’s pretentious face. “Her happiness is of the utmost importance to me, and it will be considered.”

The girl in question was beaming at him, her lavender eyes bright and wide. Thank you, they scream.

You’re welcome, my love, he answers.

“We tried that Your Grace, but she has shown no interest in finding a husband. She skirts her duties! So unfortunately, a husband must be found for her,” his brother countered.

“I would treat the Princess well, my King, if you were to grant me her hand. She and any children she would give me would be well taken care of. I swear it. I have even started construction of a dragon pit. I would treat her with the respect she deserves.���

“Ha!” The Princess exclaimed. “Is that why you are going around court telling people that ‘my defiance won’t last long?’ Have you been saying that? Surely no man that respects me would tell anyone that I would soften promptly after the bedding. Right?”

The Lord of Casterly Rock paled, “Princess, I do not know what you have misheard but-,” he tried to wiggle his way out.

“No need for your feeble excuses, Jason. Rhaenyra will not be marrying you.” Rhaenyra reached out and grabbed his hand. The King took a deep breath and turned fully to her.

“Sweetling, I pray to the Fourteen daily for your good health and happiness. There is nothing I want more in life. I hope you find it in your husband.”

She smiled at him, wide and full of teeth. “Thank you, my King. There aren’t words to describe how much I appreciate you.”

“Like I said, you have final say, even in what I am about to propose to you. Understand?” She nodded. “Good.”

He straightened his back and looked to the rest of the room. Laena’s narrowed eyes didn’t escape him, she hated when he spoke in High Valyrian because she had never taken the time to try and learn it.

“If the Princess Rhaenyra will have me, I intend to take her as my wife, as soon as she turns six and ten.” He turned to look at the young girl. “You would be my Queen, Rhaenyra.”

The room erupted, with Laena and Alicent crying out the loudest.

“How dare you? I will not be set aside for the likes of a child. Nearly two decades of marriage and this is how you repay me?!”

“This is ungodly! You have a lawful wife already! This is an abomination!”

Viserys had yet to say anything, he was too stuck on the look gracing his daughter's face. She looked happy, ecstatic even. She launches herself out of her seat and at the King. Thankfully, the King was a warrior and could easily handle her mass. Her shriek cut through all the noise.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you! Of course I will have you, Your Grace!” She threw her arms around his broad shoulders. “It would be an honor to become your wife, kepa. Thank you so much.” She looked at Daemon with such love, such adoration.

“This is wrong! You have a wife already, you cannot set her aside!”

His eyes snapped to Alicent, “I know damn well what I have. You needn’t remind me, good-sister.” He turned to Laena. “I will not be setting you aside, relax. I will be taking Rhaenyra as a second wife. You are right, Laena, two decades and countless trips to your rooms and for what?! Not a single pregnancy. I’ve given you space and respect but I do not have endless patience! I need heirs. I needed them eight and ten years ago.” He reached for Rhaenyra’s hand and pressed a lingering kiss into it. “My niece is young, ripe and fertile. She will give me many sons and daughters, won’t you, my dear?”

She nodded so enthusiastically he thought she might knock a braid loose.

“As many as you want, kepa, I swear it. I won’t disappoint you.”

The King smiled. None in the room knew the long road he’d traveled to get here, to this level of undying loyalty. It didn’t happen without hard work, and it didn’t happen overnight. But anything worth something, would take a little time. And she was definitely worth it.

She would be so good for him, the King knew. He doubted it would even take her long to conceive. She did everything she put her mind to well, and Daemon knew this would be no different.

“Of course you won’t, my love.”

Laena had enough. It was bad enough she’d to get reports of his whore mongering down at Flea Bottom, to hear his exploits screams as she laid in her chambers beside his. Now this?! A second wife? Is he serious? She allowed him so much freedom to do what he wanted and this is what he does? Humiliate her in front of the Seven Kingdoms?

My love? Daemon had never addressed her as anything more than a cold Laena. She was sick already. And she knew he needed heirs, but that’s why she allowed him to fuck whores, she assumed one would get pregnant, maybe they could even pass the babe off as hers if they controlled the narrative well enough. But no. No, Daemon had to continuously disrespect her in front of the masses. What a dutiful husband he was.

“Visenya and Aegon married twice, once for duty and once for love. I shall too.” He grabbed both of Rhaenyra’s hands and stroked the soft skin on the top of it. “I would treat you well, Princess, with adoration and devotion. I swear it on the Flames. You and your children would be loved and taken care of. I will fill your days with laughter, your belly with children and your nights with love. I promise.”

Viserys had since snapped out of his trance.

“She is a child herself! You can’t Daemon. You are twenty years her senior! It isn’t right, and you know it.” He looked at Jason Lannister who still looked dumbfounded. When he looked over to Alicent and Otto, they were fuming. “Jason is the best match she could possibly hope to get! Don’t ruin that with your possessiveness, my King, please,” he pleaded.

It was Rhaenyra who responded to him, though.

“Better than His Grace? No, no. He isn’t. And I wasn’t a child when you were planning to send me off to some fucking rock with a man you haven’t spoken more than three words to!”

“Alicent vetted him! She wouldn’t arrange a bad match for you, Rhaenyra! She is your friend.”

“She’s a whore! One who used me to marry well, and now you’re mad I refuse to be handed off to some lion? Is it so crazy to think I might have ambitions too? Your head is far up Alicent’s ass you can't tell that all she feeds you is shit! You’re pathetic. I can’t wait to be rid of you and your halfbreed family. I don’t want you living here after the wedding. Go back to the Hightower, the lot of you.”

“You ungrateful brat! How dare you speak of me, of your siblings like that? I have only ever tried to guide you, but you resist me! You would rather be in a concubine than the lawful wife of Lord Lannister! How much more foolish could you be?!”

But Rhaenyra had always been self-assured and if anything, Alicent’s disapproval told her this was what was best for her. She was convinced the wench was hell bent on ruining her life.

“You would do well to remember I am your future Queen, and you will not be speaking to me in such a manner anymore. Do you understand me, stepmother?”

Alicent sneered, “And what of the dowry?”

“I will waive it, Alicent, as a gesture of goodwill. No need for you to pay me for my hand. The crown is not lacking for money.” When her eyes popped out of her head he smiled. “Surely you didn’t think I would be paying you?”

“Those fifty thousand gold dragons were going to support our family! How are we to survive with no income if we are to leave here?” She turned to her husband for help. He was none.

Daemon just shrugged. It wasn’t his fucking problem. The only person he cared about was Viserys, but he had chosen the Hightowers. The King had long accepted that truth. He’d tried to show him reason, but you can only lead a horse to water. You can’t make the fool drink.

“You are the daughter of a second son, you must come from hardworking people. Maybe go home and start working hard? Perhaps your uncle might have some work for you. You’re quite good at dressing people,” Rhaenyra chuckled. It delighted her to no end to see the flush of red that swept over Alicent. “Honestly, you should have thought about that before calling your future Queen an ungrateful brat. Now all of you, out. I want a moment alone with my betrothed.”

When Laena lingered Daemon barked out at her, “Did you not hear her command? You’ve been dismissed.” She subsequently left, albeit not without a huff of air and the stomping of her feet. Daemon even dismissed his Kingsguard outside the door.

“Tell me the truth, Rhaenyra. Are you truly happy with my proposal? A sennight ago you were so against marriage and having children. Even if you wish to never marry, you won’t have to,” he faked a grimace.

He knew she was happy and excited to wed him, it was written all over her gorgeous face.

“Of course I am. There is no man more deserving of my hand than you. I know I will find happiness and love with you, that my worth extends beyond the silver hair on my hair or the hue of my eyes. So no, I don’t mind being married or having babes if it’s with you, kepa. I just didn’t want to be sent away, to be parted from you. Alicent had power over me, over my future and she knew it. She was trying to separate us! It wasn’t fair, you’re my best friend. My only friend. We can’t be parted, I wouldn’t be able to bear it, my King,” she’d frowned, her eyes welling with tears.

Relief flooded his body. He worked so hard, for so long for this. It was surreal that it was finally time.

The King took her face into his palms, felt her tears slip past his fingers and pressed his lips to hers in a deep, passionate kiss. “No one shall ever part us, sweet girl.”

#daemon x rhaenyra #rhaenyra and daemon #nyaerysfics #nyaerys on ao3 #daemon targaryen #rhaenyra targaryen #daemyra

[marauderivy]

I grew up in China, and there, America and Russia are perceived and portrayed vastly different, but they both got fair share of coverage in daily life, at least that was what I experienced as a child.

At that time, America seemed like a mysterious paradise that has the most advanced technology, military and economy. We grew up watching American movies and cartoons. We admire America like we do to a successful businessman, or a Hollywood star. But I'd say although we hear a lot of it in news, America seemed very distant and far away (which is indeed if we look at the map).

Russia is less mysterious to Chinese than it to westerners, probably because we share a border, of our past ties during Soviet time, and I was born in a northern city in China which has heavy Russian influence (it has Orthodox churches, a street resembling Arbat Street and literally a park named after Stalin). We learned Pushkin and Sholokhov's works in middle school and, considerably, the role that Russia played during WW2. We feel Russia more, emotionally, spiritually, although our cultures are completely different in terms of origins and traditions.

And - actually at this point I already forgot why I start writing this post - it's probably just ramblings, but I see fascinating things in both countries. Different, but equally fascinating. I appreciate America's optimism, their can-do attitude, their naiveté and their pursuit of freedom. I also respect Russia, hugely, for the unthinkable sacrifice they made in WW2, them sticking around and living their lives despite everything that has happened, their soulfulness, their rich history, art and literature that peered into human nature like no one else.

I know where my roots lie, but I feel fortunate to be able to absorb and bask in other cultures in my adolescent years, to experience the unique narratives and mentalities that have tangible impact on the way I perceive this world.

World is a shitty place, but there is something universal that exists in us all that should not, and would not be robbed of by any conflicts or grudges. It's funny that in other parts of internet people point fingers at me whenever I expressed something similar. But, just want to say, I still believe in humanity and if there's anyone who don't get it, it's your loss then.

#ramblings