#hope this all kinda makes sense and flows aight haha

[a-libra-writes]

I read your post about Tyrion's trial and Tywin's second wife's reaction towards it. I really enjoyed reading the part about Tyrion's feelings towards Tywin's second wife and her children and I was wondering if you could do a separate post including Cersei and Jaime and their thoughts and feelings on the second wife and the children she has with Tywin? If you wanted you could also include Tyrion again if you have anything you want to expand on about his feelings.

me whenever yall ask me for my long-winded opinions

so!! no surprise I have many thoughts on this dynamic and I rlly wanted to explore it in that fic, or some other one, but agh I was having hard time putting it together. So Im glad I can just dump my thoughts here. Let’s do Jaime first because Cersei’s opinions are exactly what you’d expect lol.

Initially, Jaime just goes with what people want of him. Doing it for love, and all that. He gave up being the heir to Casterly Rock because his sister - his love - asked it of him. He believed that was worth it. And by the time he’s an adult, when he’s well into the Kingsguard, after his roadtrip from hell and opening his eyes to what his sister truly is ... He still doesn’t want it. 

Jaime was raised to be the Perfect Heir. The Lannister Son, Tywin Lannister’s oldest. Handsome, excellent with the sword, amiable, a powerful family. Still... it wasn’t what he truly wanted. Jaime said it himself; he’s only truly alive when he’s “holding a sword or making love”. And let’s be real, he’s pretty aloof to things that aren’t immediately important to him. By the time the second wife comes on the scene, he’s the Kingslayer, he’s a Kingsguard, and he’s sleeping with his sister. As far as he’s concerned, she’s not his business.

However, he’s very curious about his father remarrying in the first place. The news is everywhere in the Red Keep. Tywin Lannister remarrying - presumably for an heir, because why else - and that means ... Jaime immediately thinks of Tyrion when he hears the news. He thinks of how hurt his brother must feel, how angry. Jaime spends several days in a dark mood, wondering what things would have been like if... maybe if Tyrion had been born differently. Maybe if their mother lived. But he realizes that’s pointless thinking.

He doesn’t attend the wedding, because Cersei refuses to. It’s a mild scandal, the Queen not attending her father’s second marriage, but Robert doesn’t go either and the drama is blown over through Tywin’s sheer force of intimidation + I HC that "second wives" and any wife after that aren't treated the best, especially after the husband has already had grown children. Jaime doesn’t see her for a long while. It’s when she comes to the Red Keep, when he and Cersei are forced to meet her. And...

He’s not sure what he expected. Jaime is underwhelmed. She’s pretty, naturally. That was expected. She’s dressed in Lannister colors, she’s amiable and charms most people she meets. She’s clearly intelligent. She’s so ... so good. And she isn't afraid of his father. It’s strange, Jaime thinks. What a strange choice his father made, but he doesn’t want to think of it. He doesn’t want to care, but Cersei does, and he anticipates she’ll only become more irate.

I feel like Jaime purposefully makes distance between himself and his stepmother for many reasons - His own tendency to keep others away because he assumes they’re assuming the worst of him, Cersei’s hatred of the woman, guilt toward Tyrion, apprehension to his father’s intentions, and so on. There’s something almost disturbing about the way his father listens to her, especially later in their relationship - the way he takes her counsel, sits close to her, touches her hand in front of everyone, and so on. Jaime doesn’t remember much of his mother; he knew his father loved her, but... seeing his cold, ruthless father being so careful and considerate is just unsettling. He doesn’t want to linger for too long. 

The second wife would no doubt try to speak to him, try to be friendly. It’s difficult. Jaime feels like something is off with her.

When she shows what she’s capable of, when he sees that iron hand under the silk glove, it clicks into place. That’s why his father chose her. 

I think she and Jaime wouldn’t truly connect until well after he’s lost his hand, when he’s still somewhat doing Cersei’s bidding, when he and his sister against his stepmother, Ser Kevan and his half-brother. Jaime can’t even call the boy that, or any other children the second wife might have. When he looks into them, he sees his father, but also his step-mother. 

He thinks the boy will make a good Lord of Casterly Rock. Like Tyrion, he hopes the boy will have more of his mother than this father, but he doesn’t get his hopes up.

Time for Cersei. Oh, Cersei.

It’s easy to write that she’s jealous and angry, because, yes. Duh. But it’s a lot deeper than that. Like her brothers, she’s suffered under Tywin’s “parenting”. And unlike her brothers, she remembers her mother. She’s been through trauma guys, especially in the books where you can clearly read her thoughts, memories and delusions. Joffrey got that cruelty from somewhere. Cersei got it from somewhere.

When she hears the news, she nearly cuts the tongue of the messenger. Her father, remarrying? To who? What woman could possibly measure up to her mother, who they said was just as capable as her father, if not moreso? She’s disgusted by it. She blames Jaime, even though she’s the one who convinced him to take the white cloak. She curses Tyrion, as if he could have stopped it by being “better”. And most of all, she curses her father, for not considering her as the rightful heir. Because this is the only reason this marriage is taking place - Casterly Rock needs a “proper” heir.

She’s right about that, of course. That was Tywin’s reason for remarrying. The first time she meets her “stepmother” (oh gods does she refuse to use that word) it’s months after the wedding. Maybe almost a year. Honestly, Tywin doesn’t care about her absence; it makes things easier. By then the second wife might even be pregnant, though not visibly so, and that’s a minefield in and of itself.

Cersei hates the second wife immediately. There’s no way that wouldn’t happen. Everything about her is a fault, no matter what she does. It wouldn’t matter if she was the only daughter of the wealthiest or oldest house in Westeros, it wouldn’t matter if she was a Targaryen with a dragon. When speaking to Jaime and Tyrion, Cersei uses “that whore” to refer to the second wife.

Listen, Cersei has a lot of internal misogyny. I mean, Westerosi culture just does that. What makes it worse is the genuine hurt of her father “moving on”. The fact her brothers don’t seem to remember as much of Joanna as she does. Then there’s the jealousy - she should be the one her father is consulting with. Is she not just as cunning as a man, just as ruthless, as capable of getting done what needs to be done? Is her husband not a useless oaf who couldn’t politic his way out of anything, besides maybe a brothel?

 Cersei is convinced her father looks down on her because she’s a woman. Tywin doesn’t take her seriously because she’s rash, temperamental, prideful, cruel... ... ... I wonder how she ended up that way 🙄

Her anger, jealousy and hurt only worsens when the stepmother gives birth to a son. Oh, it would have been so good for the bitch to die in childbed, to give birth to a daughter - better, an ugly, deformed daughter that would kill her on the way out. No, it just had to be a healthy son. It’s a son she watches her father hold - even if it’s briefly - when he still refused to hold Joffrey. A son her father looks at approvingly, a son who will soon learn swords and politics so he can take what’s her’s.

It makes her physically sick.

It’s no secret to Jaime and Tyrion that she wants the boy dead. The second wife doesn’t trust her worth a damn, but she doesn’t voice her concerns to Tywin. He doesn’t think Cersei is stupid or rash enough to do such a thing. And in a way, he’s almost right - one evening when she’s visiting Casterly Rock, she angrily storms into his office, telling him he’s ruining the family. The boy is too young, he’s probably not even a Lannister, he must be a bastard - even Tyrion would be better -

Tywin gives her such a fearsome response, she feels herself turning small and powerless in an instant. She leaves his office, fighting her tears, feeling like a helpless girl again. She hates it. It takes all of her willpower not to go to the boy’s room and smother him right there. If her stepmother crossed her path then, Cersei truly believes she’d do something drastic.

It’s difficult for Cersei to think of the second wife with any objective thought. Doubly so for the son, who she can’t even call brother without acid coming up in her throat. In her greatest delusions, she dreams of killing the boy and taking the Rock from him. It isn't his birthright, it's her's, she's the oldest... Westerosi inheritance laws be damned.

I’ve discussed Tyrion’s feelings in that previous ask and in this fic. Gods, it would be such a whirlwind of emotions for the poor guy - his self-destruction and bitterness might be accelerated, but there might be something freeing in his father just outright finally disowning him and moving on. ... ....  Yeah, nevermind. It just turns to more hatred. He and his stepmother have a really ... complex relationship where they both know what makes it difficult and unfair, they both know Tywin is the cause of this hurt, yet they continue to be good to each other. Sometimes it hurts Tyrion to be that way, so he has to distance himself from her for a while.

It’s the same way when he deals with his half-brother. Tyrion isn’t sure if his younger brother’s affection and admiration makes him want to smile or cry.

I imagine the son as intelligent, capable, a good swordsman in spite of his young age and well on his way to becoming a knight. I feel he’s more observant of adults than people think, he’s more on the quiet side, he has those eyes that are so eerily similar to Tywin’s, and that same nose. I think by a certain age, he’s very, very aware of what his half-siblings think of him. And as he gets older, he becomes increasingly aware of what sort of man his father is. 

I think he really, really misses Tyrion. Missing his father, after how Tywin died, well ... it’s complicated. At least he has his mother and Uncle Kevan, and maybe Jaime. 

#libra headcanons #libra says #hope this all kinda makes sense and flows aight haha #god damn these lannisters dude #the only family with worse family dynamics is the greyjoys and thats debatable #sidenote i HC any other kids Tywin+SecondWife might have arent as emotionally strong as the oldest son so he protects them a lot #both from tywin and cersei and anyone else #tywin lannister x reader

[gryffindorkxdraws]

Want to start off by saying that I love your mind! I was hoping to get your opinion on: what is it in jackunzel that makes it feel so right?

EDIT: changed a few things ehe

ngl i found this challenging cus it made me think of how the answer would vary per person (yeah i went there idk why sdjkknds) so lemme get logical for a sec here haha

what exactly is the definition of “feel right”? 

to make someone feel relaxed and comfortable, as merriam-webster states

simple as that, right? but wait there’s more

what makes something/someone go under that category? 

now from there it expands because there are so many ways of answering that with everyone having different opinions and mindsets.

fair warning before we push on, this is going to get messy (like a word vomit) with how i’m just going to pour out everything i can think off, but just know i really like this question hence the, uh, mess? lmao

so back to your question, what is it in jackunzel that makes it feel so right?

in one POV, it could be because of how rapunzel and jack represent the sun and the moon respectively, making them two contrasting sides who shouldn’t collide and yet, against all odds and opposing forces that would come between them, they did. 

and we can bet on the fact that they fought hard/struggled for it, depending on how fanfic writers play with it (reminds of this sun/moon au that sold me to this trope lmao).

just because others said it’s impossible or it’s against whatever, why should they listen to the “norm?” what even is considered “normal,” when the two can explore so much more of what they could be missing from life after stepping out of others’ shadows?

i just love sun/moon dynamics. i’m obsessed lmao i read the ones below somewhere and idk where but it’s been living in my head rent free and i can’t escape it tho feel free to correct me about any of these symbol topic!

like the Sun, thoughtful and full of energy to share with everyone, is connected with one’s self and known to, yeah, radiate warmth or light. it also symbolizes firmness, strength and power. oh and life too i guess?

while the Moon, subtle but full of mysteries and wonders, can also get emotional and sway others to be more nurturing. cus like it also symbolizes calmness, beauty, and nurture. plus eternity and enlightenment?

the list goes on if we head into more of what it both symbolize, but when these two celestial bodies get together, masculine and feminine energies unite. the Sun gives out life, while the Moon cultivates it.

i have no idea where i’m going but moving on

maybe it’s that taste of rebellion with going against the authorities/society/rules/of what has always been set to find out who they’re meant to be or, y’know, finding their identity without the shackles of others (like jack learning he has the potential to be a guardian and embracing it in his own time, and rapunzel realizing she’s the lost princess and works hard to be a good one), 

or there’s something about the mystery that follows the other because they’ve never met anyone quite like them (like exploring a world they’ve never set foot on), 

or finding all the good and bad in each other and in their differences, but still loving the other for who they are, 

or what one lacks the other makes up for it and vice versa. with or without them realizing they can help each other grow to be a better version of themselves.

opposites attract who are bound to be full of surprises.

but on the contrary, they could also be two peas of a pod. aight this definitely goes against what i said above with all the opposites and stuff, but hear me out.

while they grew up and learned how to cope with life differently, they somehow still share the same sentiments when it comes to, for example, reaching their goals. 

they have their own way to go about it, sure, but my point is they can reach a common ground better together compared when they’re with others.

like rapunzel with the lanterns, and jack with his memories. at first, one hesitated and wavered, while the other disagreed and pulled away. it was only after they saw a chance/realized this was it that they agreed in a heartbeat

they ultimately made the choice of diving in head first regardless of their initial thoughts in the first place. kinda like the moment they realized they can be a step closer to what they’ve been yearning for their whole life 

bam, out of the way, they’re coming through lmao

not only that, but they can also be soft, gentle, understanding despite rapunzel’s spontaneuosness and jack’s mischievousness. we’ve seen them interacting with children and they’re so good at lifting their spirits up to have some fun and that there will always be a tomorrow.

and with their peers too. rapunzel lights up even the darkest of rooms, may it be like fireworks to bring joy or a campfire to warm one’s heart. jack meanwhile keeps things light when everyone else feels tense, easing others to relax and remember there’s always a way out

don’t forget the way they both sacrifice themselves for who they care for. like, they just do that, putting others first before them. that scene of saving eugene and baby tooth aaahhhhdjhdskdjkbkfjdkjf

and when everything comes crashing down and the world feels heavy on their shoulders, they both know they’re not alone with the other there for them.

maybe it’s the mutual understanding they have for each other after opening up, and finding a friend/partner/home through the connection they made together,

or they could be a push and pull that leads them to showing an unexpected side of the other, but in reality they always had it in them and all they needed was someone to show the way,

or how they complement each other, but they’re not two halves of a whole, no, rather they’re already whole themselves and they only reminded each other that they are,

or it’s simply because they don’t feel the need to put up walls or anything of the likes, because they know that no matter what they’ll be accepted for who they are.

opposites who have so much more in common than they originally thought

in another POV it could be because of how they give such partners in crime vibe. lowkey or highkey, take your pick. nothing would stop them from moving forward to a new tomorrow, or honestly whatever it is they put their minds to. 

and i am here for that

like i said in one of my posts, “They were a magnet for trouble, with the Sun being a free-spirited and vivacious fellow, and with the Moon’s knack for mischief and being a rebel without cause.” 

while both are adventurous, ready to explore whatever is out there, all the while just wanting to have some fun, they still balance each other out.

with jack usually ready to do what he needs/wants to do (which helps rapunzel to trust her gut and take the risk. that he’ll be there for her whenever she’s ready to step out of her comfort zone and jump away from her tower)

and with rapunzel knowing how to handle sticky situations properly (which reminds jack that not everything has to be done harshly and abruptly. that while freezing someone could be fun, it won’t solve things in the long run)

am i making sense? idek but you’re stuck with me lol but before i forget and i can’t believe i just remembered now. the way they can help fill in on what the other is missing 

rapunzel wants to see the world, what goes out there, with the people, society, and history i feel. and jack can take her to wherever she wants to go. hell, he’ll even surprise her and bring her to places he’d think she’ll like.

with his experiences, he’s bound to have an endless list of plans for them to go through and it’s no surprise that she’ll love it, and (him) his gesture, nonetheless

jack wants to be noticed by others, to be seen and heard for who he is. and rapunzel is such a welcoming person that she accepts him wholeheartedly. give him the love he was deprived of for years. 

reassure him that even he has a place to call home because why would he be excluded from that? he deserves it just as much as she and everyone else does

also i like to think they brainstorm ideas together

maybe it’s how they’re both game for an adventure, sudden or not, and this makes it easy for them to team up together and take on the world

or the feeling of familiarity as they click and everything flows naturally to them, where nothing is forced or uncomfortable between them

or how it’s like they can hold on to each other, knowing the other won’t let go no matter what because they’ll always have each other through the ups and downs

or it’s in their shared smiles, mischievous sparks in their eyes, moving together to the music of their synchronized heartbeats, as they step forward to the vast unknown

finding the ‘one’ who understands them inside out that they feel at home with them

i’ve said so many things and threw out so many brain rot, but what exactly is my final answer? 

it’s simple: who knows? now before you toss me aside, and i hope not lmao, lemme just say even with that kind of final verdict, you can still find beauty in it. 

you see, there’s so much more to explore and delve into with jackunzel because of their potential, that i don’t want to make a set answer for your question. i’d rather much help you, and anyone else wondering, to come to an answer yourself and maybe even share/discuss it with others.

i’m running out of brain juice, but i at least hope this helped satisfy your curiosity behind your question since this is all i can give… for now, maybe? who knows lmao 

tho i’ll be honest and admit i based these on how i feel about jackunzel. so if ever someone else out there wants to add more points they thought of, feel free to add on this

#rotbtd #jackunzel #rise of the brave tangled dragon #the big four #jack frost and rapunzel #jack frost #rapunzel corona #holy hell what possessed me to type a damn essay lmao #my writing