#love a light dose of misogyny

[asa-do-your-thing]

The Shadows of The Lost Court

Dark!Aemond x F!OC - 18+ MINORS DNI Word Count: 8.6k TW: dubcon, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon-Typical Behavior, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Shameless Smut, Angst, Fellatio, Misogyny, Internalized Misogyny, Non-Consensual Drug use, Religious Imagery, Symbolism and guilt

Art made by the lovely @nyctophilic0vitnir - thank you so much sweetheart! <3 And thank you so so much @ewanmitchellcrumbs for organizing this @hotd-bigbang , you are amazing!

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Elisabeth shuddered and stopped, turning around, coughing to try and relieve her dry mouth. 

She knew. She knew… She knew something. Something was following her. 

Leaning against a grubby, crumbling wall, Elisabeth tried catching her breath. There was nothing there, neither on the left, nor on the right. Only cobwebs; cobwebs, moss and the smell of decay.

 ‘Is The Stranger a something or a someone?’

Tonight was different. The milk came sooner than usual.

Elisabeth struggled - where some people love the rush and the calmness afterward, she hated it. Hated the way it made her sick. Hated the way it lamed her tongue; hated the way it hid her. She knew better than anyone that her doses were calculated. Maester Rithyr must have gotten the order for her to be silenced, not addicted. That wouldn’t look good. 

Elisabeth peered out of a window, only to see thick tendrils of fog curling up from the ground like ghostly fingers. The dim light filtering through the mist gave everything a spectral, otherworldly hue. She took notice of how broken everything looked: shattered windows, splintered doors and debris scattered across the dusty floor. She sighed heavily as she rearranged her long, dark brown hair under its veil, trying to keep it in place amidst all the chaos. And then, she heard him again - his footsteps echoing through the ruins.

The sound made her feel uneasy; it was too quiet, too lonely. For a moment she wondered if she was in trouble or hurt. But then a chill ran down her spine and she realized that perhaps it wasn't just the desolate ruin around her making her feel so cold and scared.

“You swore to obey me. You swore before the gods, you brutish whore. After all I’ve done for you…”, the voice echoed around her.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

He was closing in on her. The staircase seemed to be miles away, yet still, she pushed herself away from the moss-covered stones and cautiously started walking. Elisabeth grunted, her legs burning. It was as if she was walking against a current of water, one that swept her slowly closer to him. She stepped over a rotting tapestry and tightly clung onto the handrail of the staircase. 

‘Why would The Stranger think of me like that? Is it time for me to… die?’

Carefully descending down, she peered up the stairs. The window let in cold, humid gusts of air and Elisabeth was sure that she could see his dark robe in the shadow. Knowing that the Queen’s Ballroom had no other exit, she trudged past it, stopping to catch her breath along the way.

Out. Out of Maegor’s Holdfast, her mind urged her. But where would she go? As soon as the Kingsguardmen saw her, they would gently escort her back into her chamber. That’s the way it has been for a long time. Biting her lamed tongue, she quietly walked down to the entrance and glanced out. No one was there. No one, except for the occasional rat that scurried through the lower bailey. 

“I saw the way that the Strong bastard looked at you. You were with him, weren’t you? Was it not enough to tell him about our political strategies, but to also give him your useless cunny? Do you even know the shame you bring onto this realm?”

Her breath hitched as she saw him closing in on her, his dark cape billowing in the light wind. Glancing up at the serpentine steps, she felt a thick raindrop splashing down onto her. That was just what she needed - collapsing on the slick stairs, The Stranger close behind her. No, risking embarrassment by climbing over the ledge into the Godswood was far more appealing to her. 

“Leave me be! I beg of you!”, she whined, her lungs on fire.

'I cannot do this anymore, not long, anyhow, my feet... my lungs... The Stranger... Death...', she thought, unable to focus on anything else than him.

The Godswood was an ancient and sinister place, a twisted forest lurking within the heart of Maegor's Holdfast. Towering weirwood trees with their deathly white trunks and faint streaks of crimson formed a menacing roof above, and the loamy earth seemed to swallow her every step. Elisabeth took a raspy breath, feeling the icy, dank air fill her lungs. The stench of decay surrounded her, the smell of putrefaction and rot. Rain drops pelted down onto her skin, the soil beneath her feet sodden.

Elisabeth moved with a sense of urgency, her feet burning as she weaved through the dense trees. The pattering of rain on the leaves above offered her some concealment as she made her way between the shelter of one tree to another, hoping to avoid detection by her pursuer. Suddenly, a twig snapped behind her and she whirled around, only to hear the sound of footsteps growing louder and louder.

Her heart in her throat, she ducked behind a gnarled oak tree, taking cover from the ominous presence that was closing in on her. She could feel every drop of cold rain as it streamed down her face and hair, running down her back and soaking through to her skin. Each breath was ragged and tumultuous as beads of perspiration bubbled up on her forehead. Elisabeth shuddered uncontrollably in the frigid air before finally forcing herself to keep moving forward through the relentless downpour.

Elisabeth could hear the sound of her own heart pounding in her chest as she tried to make her way through the Godswood. She was shaking with fear, her breaths coming in short, shallow gasps. She knew that The Stranger was close behind her; she could feel his presence like a dark cloud looming over her.

She stumbled over a tree root, nearly falling to the ground, before weakly righting herself and continuing on. Her hair was plastered to her face and neck,  her clothes were soaked through. However, insignificant concerns like the dampness penetrating her to the core were overshadowed by her urgent need to elude her relentless pursuer.

Abruptly, a chilling sound pierced the silence, causing her blood to freeze in her veins. It was the eerie scrape of something sharp grating against the gnarled bark of a tree, almost like the sound of a blade being sharpened before an execution. Her heart raced as she whirled around, and there, amidst the gusty winds, stood The Stranger, his ominous dark robe unfurling like a spectre from the shadows.

"You can't escape me."

Elisabeth recoiled in terror, her wide-eyed gaze darting around frantically, searching for a possible escape route. However, the Godswood resembled an inescapable labyrinth of winding trees and dense underbrush, leaving her utterly trapped.

The Stranger took a step forward, his eyes fixed on her. Elisabeth saw the hunger in his gaze, the hunger for her soul. She knew that she was doomed. With a cry of despair, she turned and ran, darting between the trees as fast as she could. The Stranger was right behind her, his footsteps pounding on the wet ground.

She could feel his breath on the back of her neck, cold and ...familiar? Shaking her head quickly and looking up into the sky, she saw the towers again. She probably ran around in circles, her dazed mind tricking her into thinking she had been trapped in a forest.

Frantically sprinting out of the oppressive Godswood, she sucked in a deep breath of fresh air as her gaze fell upon the dilapidated Outer Bailey. The once-glorious stone walls loomed ominously over her, crumbling inward from age and neglect. Threadbare tapestries hung limply in the breeze, swaying like ghosts in an abandoned graveyard. Gaping holes in the walls revealed chipped statues that had been carved centuries ago, still standing guard despite their years of neglect. In the far distance, the towers soared into the sky, dark voids against a backdrop of gray clouds.

Elisabeth inhaled deeply as a thick, unsettling aroma engulfed her. The scent of lavender and jasmine combined with the decaying smell of rotting fruit and mildew. In the distance, Elisabeth could hear the faint sound of buzzing from unseen insects lurking beyond the shadows. She stumbled forward, mesmerized by the air that was heavy with an ominous foreboding.

At last she reached the entrance to The Sept - an imposing structure made entirely out of pale stone blocks that glowed in the fading light. Stone steps rose up to meet two large wooden doors while several small windows peeked out like watchful eyes looking down on her every move.

Elisabeth, feeling the stinging of her lungs, ran into the Sept and fell down on her knees. She laid atop the golden seven-pointed star on the floor and looked up at the statue of the Mother, trying her hardest not to look at the Stranger. To calm her head, she closed her eyes and took deep breaths, running her dry, cracked hands over her burning calves. The tears continued flowing over her pallid face, running down into her dirty gown. 

‘What is happening to me? Why on earth would the Seven punish me so?’

She remembered her wedding. It was magnificent, aye. But then again, it had to be. After Joffrey’s death at Princess Rhaenyra’s wedding tourney, she was quietly whisked away from the Stormlands and settled into the Red Keep as a way of keeping the Lonmouth’s - and to a greater extent the Baratheon’s - good graces, so as not to let them favour Princess Rhaenyra’s claim in the case of King Viserys’ death.

The time until the courtship was quiet, that much Elisabeth still remembered. She grew up alongside Princess Helaena - Helaena being three years older than her. Endless hours of handiwork, study and prayer had shrouded her in relative solitude, so when she turned four and ten, she was shocked to be invited to the Royal Table more often and to be invited for strolls with Prince Aemond. Back then she had still been Lady Elisabeth, not 'Princess Bess'.

Later she understood why the engagement happened. Prince Aemond had to marry to secure the crown’s security and to show the green faction that they had gotten the Stormlands support.

She often asked herself why they had chosen her over the Baratheon girls. They were more comely - Elisabeth's stature was short and plump, giving her the appearance of a child much younger than her age. Her brow was rounded, her cheeks plump and her eyes large with dark, scared pupils. Her Monmouth blood - the one that made her relation Joffrey so beautiful - must have passed her by. Her long, dark hair was thick but formless, hanging in her face without curls or ringlets. It was clear to her that Aemond was not interested in her, not in the romantic sense at least. 

As days turned into weeks, Elisabeth discovered that Prince Aemond was the first man with whom she could engage in conversations almost as equals. His cold, yet encouraging words had ignited a spark within her, urging her to delve deeper into her thoughts and ideas. Over time, an unexpected fondness began to blossom in Elisabeth's heart for him. In his unique manner, he exuded a charming gloomy aura that drew her in. Many hours passed in their quiet companionship, their noses buried in books, immersed in shared moments of silent contemplation. Their intellectual pursuits were often overseen by the watchful presence of Princess Helaena, serving as a discreet but ever-vigilant chaperone.

But now, as she lay on the floor of the Sept, she wondered if she had made a grave mistake somewhere along the line in her life. Should she have taken her vows? Life as a septa would’ve suited her far more than whatever tragedy her current situation had turned into.

Aemond had changed since they were wed. Princess Helaena said that that was the case for most men, yet somehow, a small glimmer of hope still arose that it might have been different. He had become more... mean. It was as though he was a different person entirely.

Although... he had always been the quiet sort. The kind of man that you could hear exhaling slowly whenever he heard a foolish remark, the kind of man that judged everyone for everything, the kind of man that doesn't even think himself superior - he believes it.

Elisabeth couldn't help but think of the Stranger. It was a foolish thought, she knew. But in some ways, Aemond reminded her of the mysterious figure. Both were dark, brooding, and unpredictable. 

Elisabeth had always been on edge when Queen Alicent was around; her hawk-like gaze followed her every move and her scornful words cut deeper than any blade. Every time Elisabeth tried to be independent or think for herself, the Queen would chastise her that those were qualities meant just for Husbands.

After months of having to constantly please the Queen and ignore her own wants and needs, Elisabeth felt like a teetering ball ready to burst with the slightest push. She was too afraid to say anything, though, in fear of making things worse.

Then arrived the fateful day of her wedding, a lavish spectacle replete with tournaments, sumptuous feasts, and exhilarating hunts—a grand display of House Targaryen's power and influence. The exuberance of the festivities infected all who attended, making it effortless for others to revel in the celebrations.

However, beneath the surface of the revelry, Elisabeth harboured a mixture of anxiety and excitement, uncertain of what her future held in store. In the midst of it all, Prince Aemond had become a steadfast presence in her life, forging a deep connection with her. He seemed to grasp the essence of her being, affording her the precious gift of solitude for introspection, or so she believed. He made sure to squash her hopes.

For most, that had been a grande and joyous event. For Elisabeth, it was the start of her misery, though she did not yet know the full extent. As the Queen had instructed her, she treated everyone courteously, demurely.

That she did, or at least she thought that she did. Her husband disagreed, though. As soon as they were escorted into his chamber (he had wished for the doors to be closed), he spun around and pushed her against a wall. Aemond asked with a steely voice, towering over her, if she had been cavorting with the Velaryons, the way she had smiled at them, the way Jacaerys’ lips lingered on her hand as he greeted her.

Aemond questioned if she thought him to be blind. Elisabeth whimpered and gulped, trying her hardest not to hold Aemond's hard gaze, when she explained that she was told to be courteous to everyone, only to be cut off, when Aemond had pushed her even harder, making her yelp in pain, her shoulders burning from his strong grip. He ordered her to hush and questioned her why she would associate herself with usurpers, bastards and sodomites. 

What followed was of no particular interest to her, not anymore, anyways. Someone outside of the chamber, presumably Maester Myntheon, cleared their throat and told them to settle any disputes after the ceremony. Aemond had quickly slipped off his breeches - the fact that he didn’t even care enough to fully undress stung her after it had happened - and made sure to get her naked as soon as possible. 

She laid there, freezing, looking up at the tapestries next to their bed as he quickly stroked himself. ‘Do not do anything, lest he should think you a whore’ ran through her mind so often, that she almost thought that a small version of Alicent sat in her brain, spewing her nonsensical rules over and over so she could drive herself insane. 

“Open up.”

When Aemond saw her puzzled expression, he sighed, shook his head and gently pried her legs open, pulling her down the bed so that she was close to the ledge, closer to him and his half-hard member.

“I need to get to your cunt. Don’t make this more difficult for us than it has to be.”

Elisabeth felt her face heat up, and even though the room was dark, she could feel a heavy blush take over her neck and cheeks. She opened her legs wider and tried to steel herself for what was to come, but all too soon Aemond was pushing himself inside of her. She gasped as he entered her roughly, not giving her time to adjust. He kept thrusting into her with more force than necessary, making it hurt even more than it should have. Did he know it hurt? Did it hurt him?

She tried to cry out but he put a hand on her mouth and told her he was almost done. Tears started streaming down Elisabeth's face as Aemond kept going for what seemed like an eternity until finally his body went limp on top of hers. He rolled off of the bed without saying a word and left the room without so much as glancing at Elisabeth again.

Elisabeth lay there in shock, touching herself gingerly where Aemond had just been. For the first time ever she felt ashamed of herself; despite all that had just happened she still felt pleasure deep within herself that made her feel worse than before - something no one had prepared her for or warned about prior to this momentous night.

Was she a wanton whore? Was.. was Alicent right?

That was that. After that, he visited her fortnightly, stated his needs and left again. Although, Elisabeth noted quickly to herself, he had gotten gentler after seeing her bruised cunny. Proving she was a virgin had been no great feat. Her fear had made her so stiff and dry that there were multiple splotches of blood on the bed sheet, so many that even Alicent deemed to congratulate her. That was also the time where Alicent had started giving her milk of the poppy and after that, Elisabeth could not remember anything reliably. 

Even if she could, she noticed it was not the time to reminisce anymore. His eyes were dark and bright at the same time, void of feeling even while raging with anger. The candles flickered nervously on the altars as he stalked into the room and slammed the door shut behind him. Slowly turning around, she tried looking up at him despite her shaky vision. He was tall, wearing a cape with a large hood that covered his face.

If he wouldn’t … glide and give off a sense of dread, one could almost think it was Aemond himself. Yet, the way she knew him, he would not have spent such a long time chasing her and taunting her. He made it clear enough to her, she didn’t matter. 

“Have you come to confess? To repent?”

The Stranger offered her a hand, which she eyed cautiously. 

“Have you come to take me? Or are.. You taunting me?”

He laughed ominously. “You know me, I could never taunt you in a sept. But… taking you? That is a very bold request, Lady Wife.” 

Lady Wife? Elisabeth shivered and groaned, taking his cold hand. She was not instantly taken away to the realm of the dead, which made her glad and worried at the same time. 

“Wh… why..? And… why Lady Wife? I’m Elisabeth, don’t you know?” 

The Stranger helped her up and held her for a while until she gained complete function over her legs again. Letting her go, he stepped away again and looked around the Sept. 

“You're quite perplexing. You've yet to respond to my allegations, and instead, you've led me on a convoluted journey through the Red Keep, Bess.”

Calmly folding his arms behind his back, he strolled through the small hall, making sure his eyes were firmly on her shaking form.

“You even took me here, just to ask me to be with you, despite your previous reluctance. Has something changed, perhaps due to a newfound perspective from The Maiden?”

Elisabeth cocked her head to the side, trying her hardest to identify the figure in front of her. Why would… why would The Stranger care for her relations with Princess Rhaenyra and her sons? 

Why would… why would he want to engage in an amorous congress with her? Was that a cruel way the gods were testing her? 

“Well… You chased me… I thought you meant harm to me…” 

The figure hummed and it almost looked like his face turned into a doleful expression. 

“I could mean you harm depending on the answers you shall give me. We are in a sept - if you lie, you are damned. Do you know that?”

Elisabeth took a few steps back and lowered her eyes again. So it was the Stranger. He was asking about her sins so that she might repent before he took her away. That realisation hit her gut like a punch. Tears started welling up in her eyes. 

“I… yes, I do, but believe me, I-”

“I shall decide for myself if you are innocent, Lady Wife. Spare me your tales of woe.”

Closing the distance to her again, the figure gently took her chin into his hand and forced her to look up into his eyes. He quickly smoothed her hair and wiped the tears from her face.

“Before I ask you though, I need to take you. I need to take what is mine; you have ignored me long enough and now that you’ve asked me, I would be a fool not to take you up on your offer.” 

Elisabeth whimpered and stood rooted on the spot. If it weren’t for the weird pull in her stomach, she would have pleaded, would have fled. But something… Something about the way the figure touched her so gently, so caringly, made her heart leap in ways that have seldom happened. Nothing made sense anymore. 

On one hand, she wondered why on earth the Stranger wanted to take her, yet on the other, she knew that what the Gods willed was destined to happen. And if that wasn’t the Stranger? Well, but who would it be? A dream figure? But why would she dream of such things? Was she so depraved and craven? Maybe she was. In that moment, delirious and flush with adrenaline, she threw all concern out of the tiny window of propriety that she still had in her foggy mind. 

Placing a trembling hand around the Stranger’s waist, Elisabeth nodded lightly. 

“Take me then, if you must,” she whispered. The Stranger smiled in response and embraced her tightly, pulling her close to his chest as he kissed the top of her head.

They stayed like that for what felt like eternity and Elisabeth swam in a sea of emotions like never before. She could feel his heart beating against her own, slowly but surely drawing them closer together. 

He smelled familiar. Something in her mind told her she knew him; the smell of leather, dragons and sweat. Could it be...?

At long last, the figure pressed his cold lips onto hers, almost possessively. Even though it had been one of her first kisses, he guided her strongly, making sure that she couldn’t doubt him or his intentions.

Bess tried her hardest to banish the thought of Aemond in her head. No, it couldn’t be - Aemond never kissed her. It had to be the Stranger. Was that the metaphorical kiss of death? 

Answering her doubts, the Stranger slowly started to undress her, as if he was uncovering a precious gem. His hands moved with a slow and patient rhythm, almost like a ritual or dance as they explored every inch of her body. He caressed her curves and memorised every quirk on her figure until Bess had no more will left in her to resist.

For a moment it felt like time had stopped. As if the entire world was focused on them and their lovemaking; their own little bubble of pleasure and passion that nothing could penetrate. Aemond let out a low moan of pleasure as he drew his lips down Bess’s neck, relishing in the taste of her skin against his tongue. She shuddered beneath him as his fingers slowly moved ever lower, exploring each inch of her body without an ounce of inhibition or shame. She gasped when she felt his tongue swirl around one sensitive spot near the base of her spine before finally coming to rest between her legs, ready for exploration…

Elisabeth found herself melting beneath Aemond’s touch as wave after wave of pleasure coursed through her body in response to his ministrations. His fingers seemed to know exactly where to go and what buttons to press – it was almost like he was born again.

It was almost like Elisabeth had been born again. The grogginess in her mind had subsided almost as soon as she had felt the pleasure; so had the illusion of the Stranger. But then again, her Aemond had never been kind, gently, loving in bed. He had always been rough with her, pulling her hair if he got too excited. And this man…Her Aemond had never touched her the way he did right now. Was she still dreaming?

Aemond stepped back, the space between them electric with passion and anticipation. His smouldering gaze locked with hers, and she felt a rush of heat that paralyzed her body and mind. Even though he had desired her since the day they were married, he thought she despised him, yet now in a sept the intensity of his longing was palpable. The air around them was thick with desire.

"I need you to taste me. I need to see you naked, on your knees, here, in front of the gods. Elisabeth, I finally want to claim you as my own, as my wife, and not as a piece of meat I spill my seed into every fortnight."

Despite all of her hesitance and apprehension, Elisabeth obeyed without any objection; he was still her lord husband and adhering to her spouse was the utmost important action she could take as a dutiful wife.

With trembling, cold hands she took his long, hard member and guided it towards her mouth. Was that her punishment? But for what? She had done nothing to warrant this perverse humiliation, but as he placed a hot, determined hand on the back of her head, she knew that she hadn't had much of a choice.

Gently, Elisabeth opened her mouth and engulfed Aemond’s cock. She could feel him shudder at her touch, and the heat that emanated from his body caused her pulse to race. His breathing was ragged as he gasped her name again and again, urging her on.

With a gentle hand, she guided Aemond’s hips closer to hers before taking him deeper into her mouth. The sensation of his velvety smooth skin against hers was electrifying. Her tongue gently danced around him, exploring every inch of his manhood until he could no longer hold back the intensity of his pleasure.

Elisabeth felt embarrassed and exposed; this seemed like something she should never be allowed to do in front of the gods. But the sheer pleasure that it evoked in both herself and Aemond kept her going. Gods, it felt so wrong yet so right at the same time.

"Fuck. Yes, Bess... You belong to me... Not to The Strong bastards, not to Aegon, not to anyone else... You're... fuck... mine..."

Aemond's hands tightened around her head, making sure she was as deep as her mouth allowed her to be as he released a long moan before spilling himself inside her mouth. It was hot, salty and Elisabeth tried her hardest swallowing it without looking up at him.

With a throbbing head, she released him and covered her face in shame. She knew the milk was dangerous - yet making her dream of death and running through the Red Keep? Taking Aemond's cock like a... a dirty Harlot?

That was more than she could take. Now he knew that she was a weak person, that there was only a weak will buzzing around inside her. The last thing she needed now was the usual gloating expression on his face - his unbearable questioning. 

“I’ve done all you wanted. Ask me your questions, so that you might finally understand that none of this was ever my will,” she said as she wiped her mouth, her voice brittle.

Aemond gave her a cold look of confusion and cocked his head to the side, closing his breeches and slipping his doublet on again, after he had caught his breath. 

“What wasn’t your will? Giving yourself to me here?” 

Elisabeth sighed. "You're my husband. Your wish is my command."

Aemond, in his usual fashion, looked away from her in shame, flaring his nostrils.

"Alright then. If it is your wish again to make me feel like the worst human being in the world, then I shall do so too. I thought I could take you to your chambers again, get you a hot bath... Alas, my Lady Wife, you asked for the interrogation yourself."

He walked over to the Statue of the Mother and gave her a cold look, his tousled white hair gently floating down his back. His eyepatch made him look even scarier than it usually did.

"I've heard rumours that you've taken moon tea. Do you want to avoid giving me an heir? Swear on the Mother."

Elisabeth shivered and slowly dressed herself again, making sure not to break eye contact with Aemond. The milk made it's presence - or rather, abscence known again - it made her desperately queasy. The aftertaste of Aemond's spunk in her mouth certainly did not help.

"I swear on the Mother I haven't been taking Moon... Tea."

Aemond raised his eyebrow in a quizzical manner.

"Then what is that concoction that Maester Rithyr brings you? I can't imagine it being a skin cream."

If looks could kill, Aemond would've joined the Stranger's embrace right then and there.

"Do not mock me, Lord Husband. You and your filthy snake of a mother know exactly what it is he brings me," she seethed, her voice thick with venom. "It is exactly the thing that made me think you were the Stranger chasing me through..."

Anger was not the only thing that bubbled up inside her. Retching, she emptied her stomach onto the marble floor, the large marble hall making the splattering sound of her vomit uncomfortably loud.

Aemond's eyes blazed with fury, one hand pulled back in a fist ready to strike. But before he had the chance, Aemond's gaze fell on her frail, sweaty body next to a pool of her own bloody vomit and his arm fell limp. He was held in place by the sight, unable to move or even blink as his anger turned into fear.

"Bess, gods, tell me what it is he gives you! Come clean to me, you foolish girl!"

Elisabeth flinched and wiped her lips, groaning weakly. Aemond had not seemed like someone who would lead her into danger or punish her for being honest - if he wanted to be so cruel, he could've hit her when she cursed his mother. She took in a deep breath and tried to rid herself of the sour taste in her mouth, then nervously patted her clammy palms on the stained fabric of her dress. Leaning against the statue of the Father, she felt a little bit safer.

"From the moment we were wed, your mother has given me milk of the poppy. Told me you'd stop trying to give me an heir if I continued to act the way I did."

Coughing, she shook her head and gave Aemond a cold look. His face was unreadable - no reaction was a reaction, Elisabeth noted and took a deep breath before continuing.

"The people in front of our door at our bedding ceremony told her of your indignant attitude to me and my inability to give you an heir after that. She... She thought I was denying you and that you were too courteous to take what was yours."

Elisabeth heaved once more, so Aemond propped her up and held her hair back. As she vomited, a worrying amount of blood appeared - it was nearly just that. Frowning, Aemond used a piece of fabric from her dress to clean up her lips afterwards.

"Please continue," he whispered into her ear, his breath hot on her skin. She felt a tear roll down her cheek and wished she were in bed with a warm blanket instead of being forced to confess. But the more she said, the better chance she had of avoiding drinking that awful milk again.

"She was always displeased with me and she did not hesitate to tell me so. She told me the Daeron's future wife - a certain Clara Lannister," she gave him a sharp look putting a finger to her lips, signaling to him that it was a secret and that he didn't hear it from her, "would have made a much better wife to you than I have. She's even more pious, meeker, prettier..."

Aemond huffed. "Clara's a feeble twelve year old hussy and she has wrapped the court around her pretty little fingers. I still cannot quite comprehend why my mother would try... try to drug and shut you up."

Elisabeth raised her eyebrow and gave her husband a sorrowful look. “You remember why, don’t you my Lord Husband? You were displeased that I was fraternizing with the Strong bastards. You said to her that I wasn't serious about state affairs. You told her you couldn't go through with our marriage vows and that I was too...” A tear slid down her cheek as she shook her head. She wanted to avoid any more tears rolling down, so she looked up in an effort to stop them. "You called me Bess just as the others did to show how much of a simpleton I was and you continue doing so! You would've beat me senseless if I'd have called you Monny!"

Aemond let out an exasperated sigh before taking a seat next to Elisabeth on the cold marble floor, gently wrapping an arm around her shoulders in comfort and pulling out a handkerchief from underneath his cloak which he tenderly offered for for her to clean herself off with.

“It’s fine,” he said gruffly. “We all make mistakes.” He put a finger under her chin and lifted it towards him so she had to look him in the eye. “I thought you hated me after our marriage ceremony, and I foolishly told my mother about it in a fit of anger.” Despite his words, there was something uncomfortable in the way his gaze held hers.

Elisabeth erupted into desperate sobs, pounding her fists against his chest with each cry. The dried blood that stained her hands flaked off like dust as she grabbed him in despair. "How could you do this to me? We should have talked it through, together! Instead of understanding why I had changed after our marriage, all you ever did was lash out at me and let your mother drive me to the brink of madness - treating me like a stranger and I can barely recognise myself anymore! If I didn't love you so much, I would hate you right now. But even then, my heart still aches for you... Oh gods, Aemond..."

The strain of her confession was too much for her. Elisabeth tipped forward, still gripping onto Aemond’s tunic with her bloody hands, as she lost consciousness in his arms.

Aemond caught her, gently placing her down onto the floor, then stood up and looked around the sept. He felt torn; part of him wanted to believe what his mother said but the other part of him knew it couldn’t be true. He had made a horrible mistake by allowing his pride and anger to drive him to such lengths, and he now he had to face the consequences alone. With a heavy heart, he summoned some guards who helped move Elisabeth’s lifeless body to his chambers where she could rest peacefully and recover from her ordeal.

Aemond was left with an overwhelming feeling that something fundamental in his life had shifted during that conversation in the Sept — not just between himself and Elisabeth but also between himself and his mother — an unspoken understanding that things would never be the same between them ever again. As he walked off in a daze towards his chamber, thoughts of revenge raced through his mind as he planned how best to confront her about it all — but for now, all he could do was hope that Elisabeth would recover quickly enough so they could make sense of everything together.

He was determined to take care of Elisabeth and as he watched her sleeping in his chambers, the rage that had been building up inside him slowly melted away. He brushed a strand of hair off her forehead and sighed resignedly — he had no control over what happened next, all he could do now was to care for her. As best as he could, Aemond pulled the blankets over her body to keep her warm and placed a pillow underneath her head for extra comfort. He sat by her side all night, silently willing for herto open her eyes so they could talk this out together, but it seemed like she wouldn’t wake up anytime soon.

The hours dragged on and his frustration only heightened with every minute that passed until finally Aemond couldn’t take it anymore. He ordered one of the guards to stay with Elisabeth before storming off in an attempt to clear his head. As he walked through the corridors of the castle, images of their conversation in the Sept replayed in his mind but try as he might, Aemond still couldn’t make sense of it all – what did this all mean? Could they ever go back to the way things were before?

Aemond was prepared to take matters into his own hands, he always was. He thought that this evening would end in him seeking a divorce or a mistress at court, arguing with his senseless simpleton of a wife, yet nothing could have prepared him for the confrontation he would have with her. 

Storming up the steps up to her apartments, he quickly shooed away Ser Criston Cole and opened the doors. He followed the light through the Entrance Hall up to her solar, where Alicent sat quietly on a settee, getting her feet rubbed by a lady in waiting. She raised a questioning eyebrow. 

"Whatever's the matter, Aemond? Is Helaena all right? Did Aegon do something?" 

Aemond's nostrils flared with fury as he fought himself to remain silent. How dare no one tell him - Elisabeth's husband - that his own wife had become a shadow of her former self, her mind so clouded with drugs she was practically a ghost? He could feel the rage building in his chest, threatening to escape and take over.

"Milk of the Poppy. Have you lost your damned senses?"

Alicent flinched a bit at his dangerously low, cool tone and sent her lady out. He could not make out her facial expression - it could have been anything from boredom to indifference - which angered him even more. Trying not to act too rashly, he tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword. 

"Say something! And don't you dare deny it, I know it was you! Maester Rithyr told me everything", he lied effortlessly. He knew he had to - everything else would put Elisabeth in great danger.

Alicent lowered her eyebrow again, donned her slippers and stood up. Her face changed into a caring and hurt one, leaving Aemond a bitter taste in his mouth. 

"Wasn't it you who told me she was cavorting with Jacaerys? Didn't you complain of her disobedience, my dear?"

'So it is my fault now', he thought and took a deep breath, stepping closer to her and grabbing her tightly by the shoulders.

"What I wanted was for you to give her spiritual guidance and help in transitioning into her role as a princess. Why-"

"You cannot turn Mice into dragons, Son. Everyone knows that Bess doesn't fulfil your needs and our doubt will only be confirmed if she continues to be barren."

Alicent interrupted him icily and tore herself from his grip, sitting back down. 

"I have received a raven from Boros Baratheon, he said his daughters had only just flowered. What do you think? Or would you rather prefer Clara Lannister? I could..."

Aemond was taken aback, this conversation had gone way beyond his expectations. How could his own mother suggest such a thing? He knew he had to put an end to it before it was too late.

"Stop right there, Mother", he said sharply interrupting her mid-sentence. "Contrary to popular belief I like Elisabeth a lot and do not wish to take another wife."

He glanced coolly around the chamber and smiled unsettlingly.

"You must forget yourself, dear Mother. Helaena is Queen Consort now so it should be in her responsibility to judge on these issues and you know how much she likes Elisabeth. And besides, if the court would know of your... hysterics, who would continue to take you seriously? You know how your dear father, the Hand, dislikes your moody tendencies."

His words must have struck a chord - Alicent paled significantly and shrunk in her seat, clasping her hands on her lap.

Aemond continued with a calm, yet terrifying tone:"I don't wish for you to continue giving her the drug. I think the milk of poppy may be causing her infertility and I won't let that happen. You barred me from having heirs - who knows what you did with Helaena or you will do with that Lannister girl? It's almost treasonous, you know."

Alicent was desperate and scared, she picked at the skin around her nails to distract herself from what she knew would be a losing battle.

"My son-", her voice was small and trembling. She wanted to argue with him but his implacable gaze made it difficult for her to even look him in the eye. He had always been so strong willed, just like her own father. She had never been able to get through his hard shell of pride and arrogance, no matter how hard she tried.

"I only wish the best for you and our kingdom," she said softly trying to reason with him but he merely scoffed in response.

"Then how can you suggest me taking another wife? It would do more damage than good." His words were cold and final - this conversation was over before it began. Aemond stepped away from her and towards the door, pausing momentarily as he grabbed the handle."Remember our discussion mother", he said sternly before leaving the room without another word.

Aemond stepped out of the chamber, feeling a mix of anger and disappointment. He had hoped that his mother would be able to understand his point of view, but it seemed she was too entrenched in her own ideas about Elisabeth's faults to do so.

He walked down the corridor that led to the castle courtyard, trying to clear his mind of all thoughts. But as he walked, he couldn't help but think about how much he had changed since he had been married with Elisabeth. He had never imagined himself being such a cold and vengeful man, no.

The thought brought a sharp pang of guilt - what if word got out that the heir presumptive to the Iron Throne was considering taking another wife? It could cause widespread scandal and potentially put him at odds with some powerful houses. He shook his head in dismay, knowing that this wasn't an option for him - not now, not ever.

Aemond made his way to the training yard to clear his mind. He picked up a sword and began to practice with it, swinging it in powerful arcs and thrusts as if he were fighting some invisible enemy. His body moved in sync with the blade, becoming increasingly faster until sweat was dripping down his face from the exertion. The familiar movements soothed him - they allowed him to forget about the pressures of court life for a time, giving him respite from all of its trifling problems.

Once he felt sufficiently calm, Aemond returned back to his chambers and changed into some clothes more suited for the upcoming feast. As he finished dressing, he noticed something odd - there was a faint light coming from his bedroom. He rushed over to see what she was doing, hoping that she had woken up again, which she had, indeed.

Elisabeth looked up at Aemond with an anxious expression on her face before hastily turning away from him. "I don't wish to cause trouble," she muttered quietly before standing up and making her way toward the door without another word. "I shall just... retire to my chambers, Lord Husband."

Aemond watched as she stood up, feeling confused and slightly hurt by her actions - why was she so distant? What had happened happened to her?

"Elisabeth?"

He said her name softly, stepping closer to her and taking a gentler tone. He had meant to apologize for his earlier words, but something else came out instead.

"I wanted to thank you, for telling me the truth yesterday. I know it must have been difficult for you. I spoke with my mother and she will never give you milk of the poppy again if she values her life and social standing."

Elisabeth's dark eyes widened as she stared at him in shock. She had completely forgotten the events of the previous day and that Aemond had cared for her after her hallucination - another one of the side effects of the milk. His kind words made the feelings of guilt and confusion wash over her anew, and it was hard not to be taken aback by his unexpected familiarity with her. If she wouldn't have felt that painful yearning in her soul for more of the drug, she would've believed that she was still dreaming.

"L-lord Husband? How...? Why...?"

He smiled, realizing that she must'nt have remembered what had happened yesterday.

"It doesn't matter now," he said kindly. "What matters is that I would like for you to join me at the feast this evening, so people can see how beautiful and intelligent my wife truly is."

Elisabeth gave him a weary look before returning his small smile. She quickly glanced at her reflection in the mirror, before blushing self consciously.

"I give thanks to the Father for leading you to discover the truth... Before we go, can I take a moment to change my clothes?", she questioned quietly, gazing up into his eyes. Once they had filled her with unease but now caused her heart to flutter with a hint of love.

Gently laying a kiss on her forehead, Aemond motioned for one of his loyal servants to come forth. He commanded them to fill the grand bath with steaming hot water and to bring a most exquisite dress for her. "Let me be the one to tend to you my darling. I must have you look as though you are mine," he uttered in a commanding yet affectionate voice.

The servants quickly scurried to do his bidding, bringing forth everything Aemond would need to make Elisabeth beautiful. They filled the bath with fragrant herbs and oils, as well as a variety of soaps and lotions for her to use. They also brought forth an exquisite gown of rich green silk and delicate lace, complete with matching slippers.

Elisabeth silently slipped into the soothing hot bath while Aemond knelt down beside her and began to lovingly bathe her body. He took great care not to scrub too harshly on her bruises and scrapes, something that she had not expected from him. The heat and his gentle touch made her trust him more with every second. "Lord Hus- um, I mean, Aemond, might I ask you soething?"

Aemond squeezed out the sponge in his hand and gently caressed her body. He truly missed out on all of this due to his anger against the Blackss, he noted grimly in his mind and gently started brushing her long, dark hair.

"You may speak freely, Elisabeth."

Elisabeth flushed and hastily sought to conceal the exposed parts of her body, aghast at being presented thus before her husband. "I had been given milk of Poppy yesterday, which has stripped my memory," she ventured nervously, attempting to tread carefully knowing full well his notorious temper. She hoped that whatever grievances between them had subsided in his mind and uttered in an almost meek voice, "Could you tell me what happened? I..."

"Elisabeth, you do not need to be so shy and meek around me," Aemond said soothingly. "I know that is not your true temperament. I will try to reign in my anger more if it makes you feel better." Reaching for a cloth, he dried her body before helping her out of the tub and into the dress they had brought for her. As he arranged it around her frame, Aemond thought about what he should tell herknowing that avoiding certain topics would not help them move forward any better. He gathered his thoughts before finally speaking gently yet firmly.

"I do think it's best for us both if I... do not recapitulate everything, my darling." He tied the ribbons at the back of her dress and gently guided her to a seat, giving her a few pins and such so that she could arrange her hair. His member twitched slightly as he thought back to her, naked on the marble floor, her lips flush against his skin. "You hallucinated something about The Stranger, ran around the Red Keep and then you confessed to being drugged by my mother. We then reached an understanding and I carried you here," he said matter-of-factly, trying his hardest to banish the thought of her full, naked figure from his mind.

Feeling a little flustered, Elisabeth swiftly pulled her hair into a loose bun on her head, letting one or two strands flutter down onto her chest. “Oh, I'm sorry to hear I subjected you through this, I thank you for listening to me and for forgiving me," she said softly. After finishing her hairdo, she stood up and bowed towards Aemond. “Thank you, my Prince, for everything. Shall we go and have dinner?”

When the doors to the Hall opened, a hush fell over the crowd and all that remained was an eerie stillness. With an air of grandeur, Prince Aemond Targaryen strode in, his purple eye sweeping the room like a hawk, the other hidden behind his leather eyepatch. But what shocked the court even more was who he had with him. Princess Elisabeth Lonmouth walked tall and proud beside her husband, having not been seen much since their marriage six months ago. She appeared almost otherworldly with her petite stature and unusual looks, her dark hair waving languidly as a gentle breeze wafted into the Hall. Her chin was raised high and there was no hint of submission or fear in her presence.

The star of Aemond Targaryen had risen again - ready to face the Dance of the Dragons with Elisabeth by his side.

#hotd big bang #house of the dragon #asas fics #hotd #aemond targaryen #prince aemond #aemond one eye #aemond x oc #aemond fanfiction #aemond smut #fanfiction #i love my mutuals #aemond fic #dark aemond #dark aemond smut #hotd fanfic #hotd fanfiction #alicent hightower

[ejunkiet]

ej's adventures in romance: the good, the bad, the ugly

i've had kindle unlimited for the few months, and have been on a deep deep dive into all the recs from the romance genre that i can get my grubby little paws on. I've read.... many, many books. so many.

I've made a rec list of my new fave authors in the genre before, and this is not that. I'm just gonna list what I've read, by tropes, with ratings, and you can read my full reviews on goodreads. I've gone there. there are quite a few of the booktok hits here, because they came up on rec lists, and I'm gonna give my honest opinions on them okay. my goodreads!

Before we get down and dirty, have my actual recs from the last month: Heather Guerre remains a diamond in the rough, although she can now be joined by a further two authors: Kathyrn Moon (smutty RH queen) and Zoey Draven, a surprise last minute entry that doesn't shy away from darker themes, but handles them maturely.

other recs are the obvious: Talia Hibbert, Katee Roberts, and our very own @dominimoonbeam (whose book Doors I've been reccing a LOT lately, as I love it so much, and the sequel will be out soon >:3)

Okay. lets do this. this gets long, be warned. >:3

the "grovel" trope

books where the MMC fucks up and tries to make up for their mistakes. a good read where you get a healthy dose of angst and then a lot of making up for it. can be a great cathartic read.

Cate C. Wells has a whole series dedicated to this, "the five packs", one of which I already recommended as a guilty pleasure: the lone wolf's rejected mate". Now look, these books are ridiculous, the worldstate is terrible, each pack is a dude fest that reeks of misogyny, but they're pretty fun. I've read book 1 and book 3. I want to stab the MMC of book 1 with a rusty spork. you can skip it.

the lone wolf's rejected mate however is a ride, with a broken MMC who rejects his soulmate because he thinks he's too broken (literally, his wolf tries to kill her), and then they get captured, save each other, and he builds her a treehouse, yada yada. mind the content warnings, but if you want to read something OTT that basically epitomises the craziness that is the PNR and "grovel" romance genre, read this, and hold onto your butts.

the paranormal romance genre: shifters, vampires and more

Heather Guerre's books. okay, so actual recs. She focuses on characters from working class backgrounds with a sprinkle of the paranormal thrown in, everyone is over the age of 25 (thank god, most are in their 30s), and she can really write. I won't tag Eeshley again, but the "Tooth and Claw" series was their rec and *chefs kiss*. this is still the self-published romance genre, so these books could use an editor/polish, but honestly, I'm a big fan of her writing, and have picked up all her books. (her contemporary romance is also excellent.)

post-apocalyptic trope

Claire Kent's books. Imagine Joel from the last of us as a book series. I've only read Last Light so far, which is the prequel to a longer series that explores life in america 5+ years after an asteroid collides with western europe, causing global environmental catastrophes. I'm not 100% sold on her world building, but this is a romance novel, and the way she writes the characters and their relationships are human and organic, and the most realistic I've come across so far. the world state is the walking dead, with evil biker gangs that rape and pillage. i'm assuming this is an american thing, but can't comment on what it'd be like in the UK considering we no longer exist, due to aforementioned asteroid collision. probably for the best.

omegaverse and reverse harem tropes

yeah, I thought omegaverse was just a fanfic thing too. it's not, and it is super prevalent in het romance. it was never really my thing in fanfic, and the fact it is not a shifter thing was very surprising to me, as knots/packs/heat/rut still exist, but it's just humans with animalistic traits. I kept on waiting for the motorcycle gang in 'baby and the late night howlers' to turn into wolves, and they never did.

So Kathryn Moon writes some delicious reverse harem books. I read the first of monsterfucker series 'a lady of rooksgrave manor' years ago, and liked it, although there wasn't enough plot for me to continue. she writes excellent smut. Seriously, just really, really good smut. BIG FAN. I've been making my way through her 'Sweetverse' series, which has more connections and actual relationships between the characters, and polymances, and I recommend starting with Lola + the millionaires, if you can handle a little omegaverse. mind the content warnings, this is a book about recovering from trauma, which happened in the first book (baby's book, although offscreen. Lola has a lot of flashbacks in italics.)

Otherwise, you can stick with the monsterfucker books! I bought her latest monster series off of regular kindle, instead of KU, and I'm really excited to read it hehehe

"mars need more women" and "fated mate" tropes

hehehe okay HERE WE GO. these books are all about women ending up on planets where due to some sort of cataclysmic event - disease, mostly - 80% of the female population of the planet has died. now as we're not here for angst, the arrival of these women are usually due to some other species abducting them, and they are then "rescued" or recovered after a crash on metaphorical mars, which needs a better sex ratio to ensure the survival of the species.

this trope is coupled with "fated mate" tropes, where basically the rescued/recovered women end up with a devoted alien husband, who yearns until he can win her over (we're all about consent here folks)

the ice planet barbarians series by ruby dixon. this is basically na'vi aliens that crashlanded on an ice planet 250 odd years ago, and have made it their home, living in tribal colonies. to survive in this planet's toxic atmosphere, they've taken in a native parasite called a 'khui' which helps their bodies adapt to the climate and atmosphere. the women in the books also receive the same parasite to survive (they're given the choice), and this is the basis of the "mate bonds" formed throughout the series.

now book 1 is a rocky start, and the weakest of the series. I nearly put it down because of the first 20 pages. you can skip the first 20 pages. it basically recounts the abduction of the women from their home planet, and mistreatment by their captors (tw for sexual assault of a side character, not explicit). the ship malfunctions, and the women "cargo" are dropped onto the ice planet, where they are found by the not-na'vi, who are called sa-khui, because of the parasite.

now the rest of the series is about adapting to life on an alien planet, understanding the culture of the sa-khui, and gaining a devoted alien hubby. look, I read four books in a week. they're fun, they're exciting, the smut is good, and it's an easy read. it's also written by an experienced and practiced author, as the topics are handled maturely, it doesn't take itself too seriously, and it has great representation.

(one of my favourite books in the series, book 7, is centred around Lilah, who was born deaf and had a cochlear implant that was surgically removed during the abduction. the book focuses on her struggling to adapt to life on the planet, aided by a sa-khui that rescues her and learns ASL to communicate, and it's an excellent read okay)

I'd say read book 1 (maybe skipping first 20 pages, or even to part 2) for context, read book 2 (my favourite of the series omg), and then pick and choose from there!! I've read 1,2,4,7, and I'm gonna end up coming back for more hehehe.

"choosing theo" is another in this genre, but it didn't quite vibe with me. it leans into the 'rescued human ends up on a planet that needs women for propagation', with a matriarchal society where the men go to husbandry school to learn how to please women, and all residents of the planet are required to participate in three month long marriages to try to find potential mates to propagate the species. the premise is a fun one, but the first book is not the strongest, and I didn't continue from there. (another rusty spork for the MMC...)

dothraki in space trope

we're at the end of my trope list! I liked the ice planet barbarian series a lot, and I'd kept on seeing the Horde Kings of Dakkar by Zoey Draven recommended, and they are good. (thank you woofs >:3) think dothraki from GoT in space; humans live in small, poorly maintained colonies on the Dakkar planet, where they aren't allowed to hunt or damage the earth. offenses are punishable by death. these books lean into the captive trope, and handle the issues of the worldstate and navigating cultural differences super well, with a heavy dose of consent and BAMF heroines that rise up to their situation and make a place for themselves in their new (objectively better) lives.

i'm on book two now, and I love the maturity in the characters and the writing (which I did not find in 'choosing theo'), and they're an excellent romp. fantastic rec, really glad I picked this up >:3

am I finally going to take a break from my reading binge now? I keep on saying I will, and then not doing that ahahahaha. my kindle library is still stuffed full, mainly with other books from my fave authors above, but also some nice space horror to round it off.

next on my list is gonna be either 'Haunt, Heart, Havoc', a horror romance that I've been meaning to read forever, or 'Dead silence', which is aliens meets titanic in space. >:3 if you read all of this, KUDOS TO YOU, have a lovely sunday ahahaha!

#ej adventures in romance #so nobody asked for this but I've been keeping track hehehe and honestly it's been super interesting diving into romance land #you can still find better writing - especially with actual smut - on ao3. #in general romance authors go for volume and tropey plots that don't do the subjects justice! major romance pitfall #which I blame on the need to churn out full books for consumption. commercialisation ruins quality #tmi

[naksushadows]

My favorite dramas of 2023

Honorable mention: Death Games which is still in release, so I won't include it here yet.

Alchemy of Souls Light and Shadow: As it ended this year I will include one of the biggest obsessions for me in recent years, it was a sublime experience following this drama and despite some unnecessary complaints regarding Go Younjung (who was not to blame for anything and that the hate and misogyny towards a new actress was very unfair) part 2 was a good conclusion to the story, perhaps if there had been more episodes and less insistence on the memory loss plot, and more screen time for the main couple who were the more charismatic characters that supported the plot alone, could have been even better.

Moving: The best drama released this year.

Moving is a story that is not just about the power of a superhero saving the homeland, but about family ties, friendship and companionship.

The story manages to make you relate to the characters with all their anguish, joys and despite them having unusual powers, they are believable and identifiable characters.

Everything in this drama was perfect, from the script, cast, photography, CGI, soundtrack, etc.

Twinkling Watermelon: I love watching stories that focus on family relationships, and one where we have a son going back to the past and meeting his own parents in his youth would definitely be a hit.

I liked how they approached music, art and sign language in this story and how relationships built from these shared experiences between people can change someone's destiny to live life better and enjoy it even with difficulties along the way.

Some things bothered me but nothing that took away the shine of the story for me.  It was exciting to follow the journey of such charismatic characters.

Daily Dose of Sunshine: This drama deserved more recognition.  The way he portrayed mental health was very sensitive and human.  The actors were incredible, especially Park Bo Young who delivered a believable and emotional character.

My Journey to You: The most anticipated drama for me this year did not disappoint despite the open ending.

I believe that the entire story was so incredible and well executed that the ending didn't interfere with the watching experience.

The highlight of this cdrama was the female characters, I thought that even though most of them were spies/assassins they were very diverse, each one with a motivation and past that made them neither good or bad but rather human and complex.

Till The End Of The Moon: I confess that I expected to love this one more.  I don't know if I created many expectations that were broken by the dream part, which I found exhausting and broke the rhythm of the drama for me.  But it was still very striking, an iconic and well-executed enemies to lovers.  The main couple had a lot of chemistry and both as solo characters supported the story itself.  Tantai Jin was incredible and complex👉🏻 simply the most suffering demon I've ever seen

The Glory: I had high expectations regarding this drama, which were met and I believe that waiting to watch it after releasing all the episodes was the best option, because this way it didn't end up breaking the rhythm of the story and I could appreciate the way it was conducted revenge unlike some.

It's the first time I've watched something by Song Hye Kyo and I was positively surprised, she's a great actress.

The Good Bad Mother: I love stories focused on the relationship between mother and child, because even though it is different from my reality because I live on another continent, I can still relate to some issues that are universal.

The highlight of this drama was the performances and the cast's great rapport.  If the ending hadn't been so rushed and there had been about 2 more episodes, it would have closed the story perfectly.

King the Land: This was the best romcom of the year for me.  I looked forward to the weekends so I could be graced by the smiling couple.  It was the cliché and comfort I needed after a stressful week of work.

I loved the vibe and lightness of old dramas that King the Land brought back.

And thankfully they avoided the murder plot in the middle of the story haha

I loved seeing Yoona doing an unpretentious romcom after a heavier drama like her previous one.

Doona: I confess that I was very involved in this drama, I don't think it was perfect but there was a lot of dedication and envolviment from the main couple, they had a lot of chemistry and the melancholy and uncertainty that the story brought really impacted me.

#alchemy of souls light and shadow #alchemy of souls #king the land #the good bad mother #my journey to you #daily dose of sunshine #moving #doona! #Till the End of the Moon #tteom #twinkling watermelon #the glory #enemies to lovers #romcom #킹더랜드 #반짝이는 워터멜론 #长月烬明 #나쁜엄마 #정신병동에도 아침이 와요 #환혼 : 빛과 그림자 #云之羽 #이두나! #무빙 #wuxia #family relationships #time travel #Xianxia #kdrama #cdrama #netflix drama

[raointean]

"Hellfire" is way too relatable to young, queer Christians (or former Christians)

I'll elaborate

Fair warning, I'll be discussing the relationship between queerness (specifically sexuality), religion, and faith, homophobia, internalized homophobia, and misdirected blame.

I'll start this off by saying I was raised in a fairly conservative church from the age of 2 onward. I learned that homosexuality was a horrible sin, but that queer people needed love and support without acceptance. Basically, hate the sin, love the sinner.

And then I figured out I liked girls and proceeded to have a months-long crisis of faith that I couldn't talk to anyone about. "Hellfire" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame was actually a super helpful song in that time because, at its core, it is a song about sexuality and religion coming into conflict. (There's also a solid dose of racism and misogyny in that song, but that's a different post)

Beata Maria

You know I am a righteous man

Of my virtue I am justly proud

As a protestant, I prayed to God instead of Mary, but here, he's talking about the pride he takes in his status within the church. He's ashamed of his feelings, so he's puffing himself up defensively. He may also be trying to show Mary, "Hey, look at all I've done for you! I've done everything you asked! Why are you cursing me with this horrid disease?"

What he doesn't understand is that it's not a disease. He's just experiencing normal, human attraction and panicking because he's been taught that those feelings absolutely cannot co-exist with his position/faith.

Beata Maria

You know I'm so much purer than

The common, vulgar, weak, licentious crowd

Again, beefing himself up here. Also revealing his pridefulness.

Then tell me, Maria

Why I see her dancing there

Why her smold'ring eyes still scorch my soul

I feel her, I see her

The sun caught in her raven hair

Is blazing in me out of all control

Women, dude. Women are gorgeous. Here, he's expressing his frustration at his own inability to control his "bad" feelings. He also seems to be asking Mary why God is punishing him with a temptation he's ill-equipped to handle. (God generally allows Christians to be tempted by such things so that we recognize how much we need Him, for anyone who's curious about the theology there).

Like fire

Hellfire

This fire in my skin

This burning

Desire

Is turning me to sin

Jesus says in Matthew 5 that thinking about sin (lust/adultery in this particular case) is just as bad as committing the sin itself in God's eyes. As I said above, God is probably trying to show Frollo that he's a sinful person just like everyone else, and shouldn't hold himself above everyone else. Unfortunately, Frollo didn't learn that lesson and, well, the rest of the movie happened.

In relation to queerness, since homosexuality is taught to be a sin, thinking about someone of the same sex as you in a romantic light is seen as just as bad as actually dating them. I use the romantic example instead of the attraction example because lust is a sin, but loving and wanting a relationship with someone is not! Young, queer people may have been taught that it is, however, which makes that last line particularly devastating.

It's not my fault

I'm not to blame

It is the g*psy girl

The witch who sent this flame

Now, he's trying to blame the person he's attracted to for his own feelings and absolve himself of blame. Unfortunately, for Christians who are discovering their attraction to fellow men or women, the guilt can be crushing! We're often taught about non-heterosexuality as one of the most taboo of sins! When you find out that you are "one of those heathen, godless gays" a lot of people will do everything in their power to get out from under the blame. Surely, it can't be their own fault! It must be the fault of the person they're attracted to, or that episode of glee they saw, or even God Himself for tempting them!

Obviously, this blame is misplaced. Queerness isn't caused. It just is. And like all of the other diversities God created, it has a place and a purpose.

It's not my fault

If in God's plan

He made the devil so much

Stronger than a man

Mood. Frollo has switched from blaming Esmeralda for his attraction to blaming God. (Also, if this were sung by a woman, that "made the devil so much stronger than a man" line takes on an entirely different meaning)

Protect me, Maria

Don't let the siren cast her spell

Don't let her fire sear my flesh and bone

Here, he's begging for protection and relief. He wants things to go back to the way they were. He wants to be free of the moral conflict instead of walking through it. It's a very relatable sentiment! Finding out that you're The Other your community has warned you about your whole life flips your world on its head!

In order to reconcile your sexuality and your faith, you cannot shy away from the conflict, no matter how painful it is! You have to do your own research. You have to think your own thoughts. You have to question everything you've been taught. But I promise, you will come out better for it.

Destroy Esmeralda

And let her taste the fires of Hell!

Or else let her be mine and mine alone

This goes deeper into the "free me from this moral conflict" point. There are really only a few ways that can be done. You can abandon your faith, repress your sexuality, or force the two to get along. Abandoning one's faith is the most common reaction in the queer community because faith, unlike sexuality, is a lifestyle you can choose. However, for a lot of people, their faith is too important to lose.

That only leaves two options. Repressing one's sexuality is usually very damaging to one's mental health. Bottling up all the guilt and shame however, is sometimes easier than doing the research and reevaluating one's worldview.

The "or else let her be mine and mine alone" is Frollo pleading with Mary to give him a way to express his sexuality in a religiously acceptable way. Luckily, that's pretty easy for queer Christians! The Bible gives a lot of tips and expectations for marriages. They are generally framed for hetero couples (because they're the most common), but they apply to homosexual couples as well. You just need to read between the lines.

Paul says in Corinthians 7 that some people should not be married at all (and I think he also implies that he's ace?). That means that ace/aro people and those in queerplatonic relationships are also still in line with the Bible! No conflict there.

Hellfire

Dark fire

Now gypsy, it's your turn

Choose me or

Your pyre

Be mine or you will burn

This is 100% Frollo making Esmeralda responsible for his feelings and not taking accountability for his actions. For the record, that is something you should definitely not do!

God have mercy on her

God have mercy on me

But she will be mine

Or she will burn!

Okay, the first two lines are nice. He's asking for clemency on Esmeralda's behalf for her (imagined) sin of seduction. Then, he asks for clemency for his own (not imagined) sin of lust (but alas, not his pride). The last two lines are a false dichotomy he's created by believing his lust is Esmeralda's fault.

In summary, this song was way too relatable to little 14-year-old me. If you are going through the same thing, don't abandon your faith and don't ignore your feelings. There's a middle ground, I promise. You just need to do your own research and think your own thoughts, as hard as that may be in practice.

Also, be careful who you ask questions to. Remember that your pastors at your conservative church, well-meaning as they may be, have a vested interest in keeping you ignorant of the queer community. Try to find both sides of the story and, if you can do so safely, talk to other queer Christians.

#hellfire #the hunchback of notre dame #claude frollo #lgbtq #gay #lesbian #bisexual #queer #asexual #aromantic #queerplatonic #religion #christianity #faith #homophobia #internalized homophobia #media analysis #lyric analysis #lgbt friendly #christian friendly #mental health

[lemonhemlock]

I think a lot of folks are genuinely afraid of helaemond becoming good/fluffy/Romantic (with a capital R) canon incest with a dose of angst.

They can ship helaegon (and aegond) because they're in a way unsalvagable drab incest on first sight that deals with the heavier/unpleasant themes of incest in a more direct fashion and the other is... Yaoi aha. Like aegond is never going to be canonTM, partially due to homophobia, like folks just ain't ready for the nasty bro on bro action on an HBO show quiet yet, and even if it was portrayed, it would be two brothers committing sexual violence on each other and not making love, which passes the "is this Incest Problematized enough for my taste?" test. Folks know Helaegon is perceived Bad, and both, but especially Aegond, will remain silly fandom activities, while Helaemond has a pretty good shot at becoming canon and Romantic - like there is a reason a lot of helaemond shippers are into the naerys/aemon of it all. For a lot of folks it's not that they can't stand incest explored in fiction at all, they just have a limit to the tone and the way it's explored, which is very fair but why not admit to it and mute/block instead of getting into these silly fights. Hell, as a helaemond shipper I've muted and blocked plenty of other helaemond shippers myself bcs I found their takes/portrayals unpleasant or just tiring/lame. But like helaemond has 500 fics, of course, there's going to be shit I don't care for.

I'm very sympathetic to those folks bcs a lot of them seem open about being survivors of incest, and as one myself I went through a phase of finding Romantic/Erotic incest unacceptable to write/portray/consume, but I got over it because I simply can't control what others will create, only what I chose to see, and actually Romantic/Erotic incest is fun! and it's all much more complicated than just this portrayal bad this portrayal good.

But I do think its also just a lot of simple "my ship is better than ur ship" in a veneer of Calvinistic pseudo-critical fictional incest-aversed internet beef where folks are trolls and snivelling assholes to each other.

The funny bit is I really got into helaegon chuz seeing their portrayal on hotd was harrowing and the first thing my mind went to wasn't "OHHH this is 100% unsalvagable I guess let's just skip very fast over it to when Aegon gets set on fire and Helaena kills herself because incest BAD" it was "well there HAD to be nice moments between them, a little windows of a pleasant conversation or a touch that didn't make both recoil and want to vomit 🤔" and to some even this line of thoughts will be read as dangerous Romanticizing/Fetishising/Deproblematicizing of Incest but honestly it mostly comes from a place of hopefulness, but also I'm a sucker for the eroticized aesthetic of hetro gothicstwinnage where both are the same height. "We have nothing in common" yes you do sit your shortass down.

My final take is learn to mute/block/curate your space, fuck shit all and let Aegon ON SCREEN fuck his entire family in varying degrees of Romanticized and Deconstructed but now I'm going to get accusations of misogyny and rape apologism bcs I'm centring the experience of the fictional anti-christ in the Incest Chronicles🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️ gotta blast!

This is such an interesting insight into what might actually be going on in people's minds, thank you for sending this. I'm sure my visitors will enjoy reading your thoughts.

People being afraid of helaemond because it's the one ship presented in a positive light is something that never really crossed my mind before. To me it's more like having a small reprieve from all the darkness before the hard-hitting horror really takes over the story. It's true that helaemond can be depicted as really fluffly, but, as a counter-argument, it's still impossible to escape the fact that it's shrouded in angst. For those "fearing" it because they're against the romanticisation, there's really no true way these two can get an ending that's not tinged with some kind of sadness.

But, in any case, like you said, I don't really find that line of thought necessarily helpful - more that it tends to lead to policing and moralisation and finger-wagging that inevitably will end up looking silly.

I can't really speak on this topic with authority, because my experience is limited to fandom discourse, but I've seen survivors of incest and other kinds of sexual abuse willing to explore these topics in the safe confines of fiction in a variety of tones. So, as far as my approach to these sensitive topics, I wouldn't feel comfortable to regulate the way they choose to express and process their obviously very complex thoughts on the matter. It would feel very hypocritical and out of place for me to do that, hence why I don't resonate with the frequent moral dogpilling. It's important to keep in mind that no real life people are harmed by someone writing fiction.

I think that, as long as we remain respectful and enforce our boundaries when necessary, there's a very clear divide between what's acceptable in fiction and what's desirable in reality. Personally, I never found those lines blurring as a result of my fiction consumption, even though my tastes tend to run darker. Not to say this means one should be comfortable with everything all of the time, but being mindful of one's own triggers also means acknowledging that others' thresholds may vary. And having an honest conversation with yourself on whether or not those are actual triggers or you're just really enjoying some kind of power trip here and the fandom social currency it might earn you. Paradoxically speaking, the people crossing the fiction-reality divide are the ones choosing to engage in harassment and bullying and hypocritical exclusion behaviour on behalf of fictional characters' honours, not the ones making two fake people kiss in la la land.

That being said, us freaks will not rest until we'll make brocest a thing! Slowly but surely, they'll run out of ways to shock the public eventually and will have to give in to us. 😅

#ask #anon #helaemond

[bamf-jaskier]

RE: Your post. Here's my two pence as a WOC who grew up outside of western media culture and is engaging with it only now as an adult. I feel like a big part of it is

a) that there are POC in more visible and important roles. Most POC tend to get sidelined ALOT and dont tend to get enough screen time and promenence to challenge racists perception of what's 'right' according to their little self-absorbed bubble. You see this most visibly in MCU etc. With the reaction to black panther, Sam Wilson and the like. Even in a diverse film or show the main character is always white and their love interest (if not white) is always an acceptably light skinned person (colourism is A BIG problem even in non western media)

2) alot of these characters are WOC who pretty much ALWAYS get the short end of the stick and get basically a double dose of racism and misogyny. Especially if they aren't light skinned enough or suitably white looking. (Tangen but related is the way that Disney cast a half white-half Indian actress as an Arab princess even though there are so many talented middle eastern actresses for the position and the use/exploitation of actors with mixed white heritage as basically [insert race] lite [tm] which is unfair to everybody involved except for the system the profits from this whole thing). WOC are more vulnerable to harrassment, racism and criticism because we arent protected and supported the way white women facing misogyny tend to be black women especially bear the brunt of this. Companies especially wont bother to protect their POC actors look at all the star wars sequel trilogy actors who were harrased and threatened off of social media and had their characters and work ruined by white fans using shipping as an excuse for their internalised racism.

Personally I've left the fandom after season one and tend to move on from fandoms pretty quickly because I just don't have the energy to deal with all the casual racism anymore. Sorry for the long rant! I've just been bottling this up for a long time. Thank you so much for doing all you do and bringing up and challenging racism in fandom! I really appreciate it and follow you even after having left the fandom behind! Sorry if some of my explanations don't make much sense. I've tried my best to explain things in English but it isn't my first language and it's hard to verbalise these concepts without making it seem like I'm hating on people or being stupid. Much love x

First, thank you SO MUCH for sharing your thoughts. I read every word and you are right on every count.

I’ve loved fantasy since I was a kid and The Witcher was the first time I saw woc being centered in the story. And it was the first time I saw so many woc in a fantasy show, and the fact that they keep adding more woc to the cast is amazing!!

And we absolutely see backlash when any characters of color get starring roles. The abuse that Anthony Mackie had faced as Captain America is disgusting.

And you are SO right. The fact that there are so many woc in prominent roles puts a target on their back.

I am so disappointed in the executives and media team behind The Witcher and even outlets like Redanian Intelligence because they do NOTHING to protect their cast who constantly get shit on. Lauren tried to make a point about diversity but she ended up falling into the tolerance paradox and engaging with racists. And she did apologize and learn from it…but one half-assed attempt from a show runner is not nearly enough.

And the colorism point. SAY IT LOUDER. Because the show itself has some serious colorism and texturize problems when it comes to characters like Triss and Francesca. And to be honest, some of that problem comes from the fans demanding actresses of color conform to a white standard of beauty.

I totally understand you leaving the fandom. I’ve had so many fandom friends leave one by one because they couldn’t handle the racism anymore. Almost all of them were woc or poc and it fucking sucks and it’s sad but completely understandable. Honestly I feel really humbled and grateful that ur still following me despite leaving the fandom —- so thank you 💛

Also this was INCREDIBLY well verbalized and written!! You know exactly what to say and how to say it in a concise and knowledgeable way.

#I just know there would be so many more people in this fandom if racism wasn’t so rampant and so common :( #asks #anon #if u have my discord feel free to message if u want to talk more or send another anon :)

[thekatebridgerton]

Eloise wasn't good friend for Penelope, but Pen was much worse , she BETRAYED El, she told it was for protection, but El wouldn't need a protection, if LW didn't piss off queen, Pen CHOSE to write about El, knowing that such information could totally destroy reputation. And i can't see how show give Pen a redemption arc, as I remember in book people applauded her, but in reality ton will be pissed off, Bridgerton will be pissed off. Pen was friend for their family, and i can't see how Anthony, Benedict or Violet can be ok with that. Pen is not feminist, she has a huge internalized misogyny, cause she CHOSE to put other women down in her gossip, two of them were destroyed because of her. Maybe Colin would leave his family for love, but I don't see how they will do that because that is not how this show works

Okay guys get ready for a mild dose of my tirades on why I like show Penelope and why I think she was right. And Eloise not so much. Right in the read more button

First of all lady Whistledown is totally okay with making men like Anthony and Nigel Berbroke miserable too. She's nothing if not consistent in her disdain for both genders. If feminism is to want equal rights for all, I think Lady Whistledown is a feminist because she does try to damage the reputation of people from both genders equally.

1) up until Lady Whistledown is revealed. The columnist could have been ANYONE, from Cressida Cowper to lady Danbury. And Eloise knew that.

And sorry if I can't agree with your take on the Peneloise feud anon. Because I don't think what Penelope did was as wrong as you painted it out out to be.

Simply on account that

Say we separate lady Whistledown from Penelope for a second. Just pretend Lady Whistledown is really Honoria Smythe-Smith and Penelope is exactly who she says she is. A wallflower and Eloise best friend.

2) Penelope lies to everyone, her keeping the LW secret, isn’t personal, or intended to be some sort of insult to her friendship to Eloise.

So, lets unpack this for a bit shall we?

Eloise didn't know who was watching her trapsize around the red light district of London wearing her family diamonds on her neck! And using the Bridgerton carriage. That's why the queen thought she was sus. I mean what kind of strange girl, leaves the queen's castle on the day of her brother's wedding…to go to the dirtiest part of London in her family's very richly decorated carriage and meet a printer assistant?

You know how many people in that venue saw Eloise pull that move? A LOT. One of them could have been Lady Whistledown. Heck all our fictional Honoria Smythe-Smith needed to do to get good gossip on Eloise was ask a well meaning servant why Eloise seemed so obsessed with Lady Whistledown and boom, there's gossip ripe for publishing.

So let's move on, in the scenario that Penelope ISN'T lady Whistledown, but rather she's just a concerned young lady who has just had her best friend trash her room, maybe Eloise finds Colin's letters in the process, or other things Penelope would rather just keep private. All in pursuit of a goal that is evidently damaging life choices. Eloise is still left with no lady Whistledown and one friendship ruined anyway.

How exactly could Penelope have protected Eloise from making obviously bad choices. Considering her friend has been telling her about her escapades that in Penelope's eyes have now escalated to the point Eloise has put her life and that of her family in danger, not just by going to a dangerous neighborhood alone and wearing clothes that flaunt her nobility. But also by attracting the attention of the Queen.

And #2

Honoria Smythe-Smith would feel sympathetic sure. But she'd have thrown Eloise under the bus with a worse scandal than just political radical talk to get properly recognized as a columnist of means.

If Eloise had been anybody else, Penelope wouldn't have bat an eyelash at insinuating she'd lost her virtue. Because that's what everyone else would have been saying behind Eloise back once the words 'used the family carriage to go to the commoner district ' and 'met up with a boy' escaped an indiscreet servant mouth.

I guess the reason I don't think Penelope was a bad friend is because her lie wasn't personal? Penelope as a rule is lying to everybody. Lady Whistledown identity is a universal commodity she keeps to herself. And it doesn't feel like a betrayal if she doesn't share this life changing secret with her best friend because like her crush on Colin, Penelope isn't planning on sharing it at all, with nobody period.

What she does and the danger she puts herself in, from all the people she's outed and treated badly. She takes metaphorical responsibility for it. Both the perks and the problems of her part time job as Lady Whistledown. Aren't for anybody else to poke at.

So maybe im biased in this, because while I do recognize that towards Marina and Daphne, Penelope's writing was terribly damaging and the plot did make her suffer through the death of her father and the leaving of Colin as karma. But When it comes to her fight with Eloise I'm team Penelope.

Penelope doesn't involve anyone else in the enemy making stuff she's doing. If the Queen catches her, she's going down on her own, maybe with the odd footmen or maid who helped her sneak out. But Eloise was putting her family crest out there. The Queen catching her would have spelled the death of the Viscounty.

On a scale of big. The consequences of Penelope's mistakes will come for her alone. But Eloise consequences would have come for her whole family. And that's something that Penelope very well knew!

Have you ever tried to stop a best friend from making a bad decision? You know how hard it is?. Short of publishing her version of cease and desist in Lady Whistledown, Eloise would have continued to be reckless.

But I’m not breaking down the reasons I think Penelope doesn't need a redemption arc, that’s a conversation for another day

And lastly I reserve my opinion on the subject of Penelope’s redeption arc, because I honestly don’t think she needs one.

Realistically, the consequences for her being LW wouldn’t be that big, I mean yes she did take a shot at the queen to her face, but when it comes to the Bridgertons and the subject of forgiveness, they all like Penelope enough to hear her reasons out before outright getting as furious as people seem to think they will be.

And that’s the tea

#my take on the peneloise feud #penelope featherington #eloise bridgerton #personal thoughts

[kcyars189]

FASHION

BEAUTY

VESPA VERSE

Here’s Why HBO’s The Idol Deserves All The Hate It Got From The Internet

- Alexa! Please delete all The Weeknd songs from my playlist.

profile pic

Ekta Sinha

EKTA SINHA

JULY 3, 2023

The Idol

We watch shows to escape our boring realities, at times to find solace and mostly for a dose of entertainment. We all have a preferred genre, from romance and slice-of-life to a lot of us oddly enjoy crime documentaries and thrillers. But let’s face it, the content we consume online does impact us. Now imagine coming from work and binge-watching HBO’s The Idol, directed by Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, the show with layers of misogyny and an uncomfortable depiction of the ‘male gaze’. Well, I may have a different opinion (though, I hope not), but if you missed watching this show, believe me, you’re doing fine.

The Idol was released with a comprehensive storyline to shed light on the toxic work environment in the music industry. While one may expect it to move forward to show how pop stars are actually ‘created’ and promoted by sought-after music labels for their benefit, the show turns into a compilation of sleazy videos, all this in the first 15 minutes. The hype around the show is mostly contributed by the fact that it stars The Weeknd, a Canadian singer who goes by the name Abel Tesfaye, whose fans were thrilled to see him act in his first-ever show. However, it didn’t work well for the singer-turned-actor as fans took to the internet and called the show ‘cringe’ and criticised its unimpressive and poorly written plot.

The Plot And Its Plight

The protagonist, the ‘Idol’, is Jocelyn, played by Lily-Rose Depp, a teenage pop star who is about to make a comeback after a public mental meltdown. However, after a personal image of Jocelyn gets leaked online, the sales of her show’s tickets get impacted, and this happens before the release of her new single. While experiencing a hard time personally and professionally, Jocelyn seeks out Tedros, played by The Weeknd, a DJ and club owner who wins her heart (eye rolls).

The Idol Lily Rose Depp GIF - The Idol Lily Rose Depp Jennie Kim - Discover & Share GIFs

While Tedros as a character is problematic, which comes through loose dialogue-writing, Jocelyn, in a typical plot, falls for the wrong guy. What seems like abuse to the audience was portrayed as love for Jocelyn. At one point, I thought Sam Levinson had taken the plot from ChatGTP!

Sexy or Sexist

If reports are to be believed, the shooting for the show began with director Amy Seimetz who was later replaced by Sam Levinson. Seimetz abruptly left the six-episode series after completing almost 80% of it, according to a shocking undercover revelation by a publication that claims that The Idol’s co-creator, The Weeknd, disapproved of the feminist eye of Seimetz.

Apart from the storyline and dialogues, the costumes given to Jocelyn further add to the sexist portrayal of the character. Mostly dressed strings and scraps of fabric, it was pushed beyond the actual necessity of the plot. We all know sex sells, but The Idol’s sex scenes are painful, sleazy, gross, and borderline abusive to watch.

A few fans also called the show ’50 Shades of Tesfaye’ because of the extreme objectification of women especially in the sex scenes of the second episode. If that grossed you out, you’d not even want to watch the fourth episode where the torture scene of Troye Sivan’s character Xander with a dog collar is haunting, to say the least. When Depp was quizzed about these scenes in particular during the promotions, she shut the discussion calling it an ‘artistic vision’.

The Acting Ache

When the cast was first announced, the internet found it was a dreamy one. But as the episodes were released, the fans and audience were proved wrong. Naturally, in a show where outrageous visuals took centre stage, performance was the least of concern for the actors. However, the audience was quick to judge, and rightly so. Depp, who comes with some acting experience, failed to impress with her acting skills, let alone The Weekend who was doing it for the first time. Let us not get started on hideous erotic dance moves and expressions.

The Idol also marks K-Pop royalty, BLACKPINK’s member Jennie’s acting debut, which we pray never should have happened. Jennie’s barely-there dialogue delivery is awkward, with no facial expression. Even her fandom couldn’t save her from this catastrophe where the makers just roped her to cash in on her popularity.

The case in point here is that it’s not the sex scenes that may make you uncomfortable, it’s the treatment. The characters are not just misogynistic and sleazy, they will make you rethink the definition of artistic vision and value. Whether or not the scenes and dialogues support the character’s journey and progression or the story or vice-versa is food for thought. For now, the show ending an episode early with no traces of renewal is the only consolation we are happy with.

Also, read Food Thirst Trap Videos Are All Over My Social Media And I Don’t Have The Slightest Clue Why

RELATED STORIES

#the idol hbo #sam levinson #The idol #tedros #jocelyn #jennie ruby jane #The Weeknd #Justice for Amy seimetz #amy seimetz

[dahliamerckii]

props to rick for being hella progressive but... idk i saw a tiktok thread about this kinda thing and it got be thinking about all the misogyny disguised as feminism and forward thinking or whatever so imma go off - please add the ones i forgot because there’s so many [spoilers!] ⚠️tw-mention of r*pe⚠️

annabeth was literally homeless as a child and her biggest struggle was the blonde stereotype??? okay 🤠🤠

aphrodite kids vs tomboy heroines - piper and silena are the two we properly get to know and silena is a hero ‘despite’ her excesssive-feminine-presentedness and even then it seems to make her ‘easier to manipulate’ because she’s just obsessed with pleasing a guy

what were the mothers aside from being mothers? may castellan was distressed, sally jackson made sacrifices, marie levesque was greedy, emily zhang was a fighter, esperanza valdez was a mechanic. they get an occupation - if that. everything else happens to them because of their child. sally was the most fleshed out and although we love her for it, her life revolves around her son.

PIPER WAS SEXUALISED WHEN SHE WAS CLAIMED BECAUSE SHE WAS FROM THE PRETTY CABIN EVEN THOUGH HER ENTIRE ARC IS THAT SHES NOT LIKE THE REST OF THEM AND BEAUTY IS FROM WITHIN AND NOT BASED UPON APPEARANCE WHAT

athena was villainised for making medusa a monster and rick romanticised poseidon and medusa’s relationship instead of telling it how it was - poseidon r*ped medusa in athena’s temple and athena made medusa a symbol of safety and a protector of women with the ability to frighten and deter men (why else would her image be on aegis!)

all girls without a love interest joined the hunters! i say girls because for the most part they are children! i’m all for empowering girls and having the hunters there is a good symbol of that but why isn’t it enough to be single? of course, they don’t need a partner at all but they certainly don’t need one before they even reach adulthood

hera being a catty wife isnt exactly a hot take and features in the mythology but once again a goddess is villainised for things in a way none of the gods are

with the exception of jason, the boys in the seven all had loving and healthy relationships with their mortal parent whereas the girls were distant and ‘unloved’, therefore learning to be more independent and to grow up faster. it’s likely just coincidence but i can’t think of a major female character that displays a healthy relationship with their mortal parent

empousa! demon cheerleaders!

calypso being literally helpless until a guy comes to her island to save her! her cursing annabeth - a 14 year old girl she had never met - for percy leaving her and the gods putting her in the situation to begin with

luke literally having a crush on a child!! annabeth was seven years younger than him and silena is a similar age. he manipulated children because they had a crush on him. he asked if annabeth ever ‘liked’ him with his dying breath and no one besides percy thinks anything of it??? percy only gets annoyed because he’s jealous and protecting annabeth from a villain though, not because luke is a literal pedophile

the whole rachel / annabeth thing being entirely about percy. yes, they’re the representation of percys decision between his preference of his mortal life or his demigod life but that can’t be the only reason they disliked each other please there’s so much more. neither of them were close with their parents but rachel was never replaced like annabeth feels like she was by the twins. annabeth has worked so hard to get a quest and to prove herself and rachel can show up and lead them through the maze without years of training? please believe it’s not all about percy - percy’s pov doesn’t even realise it’s about him but it doesn’t justify the other reasons enough

bianca being blamed for abandoning nico the first chance she got when no twelve year old should ever be held responsible for their siblings. maybe she was hasty, sure, but she’d been playing mother to him for how long in the lotus casino? and now she can adventure and doesn’t have to worry about him? he’s safe at camp? why is a child blamed for wanting to be free of responsibities

this is just what i thought of this morning. there’s more. there’s so many more.

#i’m mad about it #there was potential #nevermind #he tried #it was a solid attempt but #love a light dose of misogyny #they deserve better

[hoediaz]

who is agn? i've seen loads of posts about 'her' but idk who she is or what's going on

sorry to be an absolute bitch but she is the worst blog on this website for real. putting this under a read more so people who don’t suffer rage black outs don’t have to deal with this.

chelsea mentioned some of her highlights before which include some overt racism and homophobia but last night she really decided to up her game. first, she spent weeks pulling the word retcon out of her ass and slapping it on every plot point she doesn’t like or understand instead of rubbing together two brain cells to even attempt to comprehend how narratives might work (including eddie ana’s break up since, according to her, eddie was Clearly in love with ana in 4x13 during the follow your heart scene and yet at the same time he was a misogynist and treated her terribly :/ did you know panic attacks are misogynistic? shame all those panic attacks i’ve had have been out of misogyny and not mental illness if only i had known id be able to attend agn’s school of feminism and cure myself). but then with the end of bt (aka the departure of her most beloved girl boss who can do no wrong, since i don’t think she cares about bt at all past taylor since she actively hates buck) (and yet. while she hates buck she never treats him with the same vitriol she gives eddie. now i’d say that’s racism but according to her eddie’s white so! guess it’s texas phobic or something :/) she went completely off the rails.

part of this was of course! saying it was a retcon despite the multiple references to dosed but what can we expect from someone who learned the word retcon last week and never bothered to dig up the meaning. it’s ok i get it i did the same in the ninth grade with words like pathetic fallacy and i don’t think you need anything higher than a ninth grade education to work at fox news. anyway! that led to saying anyone celebrating the bt break up is a misogynist! bc idk if you knew this but apparently 911 is the taylor kelly show and everything should be about HER development, not buck’s, and if you celebrate buck’s development you’re a woman hater just like eddie ❤️ now EYE am actually a woman hater because i think taylor kelly and owen strand should move to ohio together to start a bed and breakfast, the bt bones celebration was just a bonus.

and when that wasn’t enough absolute bullshit stupidity for one night, she decided to use her time to type out a post onto oliver stark’s internet in which she called buck a “dirty firefighter” for not wanting his gf to report on an incident that involved his family, equating him to dirty cops that protect other corrupt cops. because that’s a totally fucking proportional reaction to having your fictional ship break up, because police corruption is not a genuine thing that happens in real life and impacts real people who aren’t taylor fucking kelly. i fr even hours later don’t even have the words to put together to express how fucking stupid and insensitive and offensive that is. it is genuinely beyond me how you could ever in your life see a FICTIONAL couple break up and become so fucking unhinged you think it’s ok to make light of real issues to force a fictional character into some make believe villain role just so you can avenge a side character on a ryan murphy production. get some fucking help for real.

anyway last night when she posted i reblogged it calling her an idiot and she immediately blocked me, just like she blocked every other person who tried to reblog it to point out how offensive that was which is always a good sign that you’re being rational.

oh also she said taylor and lucy should be together which was just personally offensive to me, a lucy understander, and then also, since miss agn can’t go three seconds without being generally offensive, she has to say taylor/lucy would be better than buddie bc buck and eddie are [checks notes] white men and taylor and lucy are oh dear…. yeah :/

in conclusion agn is racist, homophobic, terminally fucking stupid, and also cowardly to boot and i hope she has an absolutely terrible day. i hope fox news fires her. i hope megan west never has a job again just to spite agn. bt is finally bones and the fact that that makes agn feral is all i need, get fucked agn.

#asks #anon #fandom discourse #kinda i guess #sorry to reveal the real bitch that lives inside of me #but agn. makes me rage black out i don’t even remember rbing that post last night #i literally never call people out directly not even twitter people but agn…absolutely rancid #seriously don't open the read more if you don't want to see me in a different light #i'm so sorry beloved mutuals and followers

[samwilsonshandsandass]

Surprise

Pairing: sub!Bucky Barnes x dom!reader Summary: Bucky surprises you with a new outfit Warnings: Smut, malesub, femdom, oral (f receiving), handjob (M receiving) Word count: 1849 A/N: This is my entry for @navegandoaciegas Maneater Writing Challenge to celebrate 2.6K followers. Congrats on reaching that milestone! I chose the prompts House Husband kink, Mistress Kink and character surprises the reader with a maid costume. So here it is: “Surprise”!

It had been a normal day. Long, yes, but that was normal. Several meetings and calls, also with people who didn’t understand what they were supposed to do. Still, they insisted they knew more than you and as a consequence furiously denying to let themselves be referred to someone else. Oh, the joys of being one of the few higher up women in the company. Your network of the company’s female leaders helped you but the implicit misogyny still stung.

At home, you heard the sounds of a piano recording coming from the kitchen. You smiled to yourself. Bucky must be in the kitchen just listening to it. Taking a step further and after putting your coat and heels away, you were closer to the kitchen door and smelled something. It smelled like it could be your favorite food.

You quietly opened the door and either Bucky with his heightened senses actually didn’t hear anything or he chose not to move towards you. That actually was against the rules you two had laid out together. Normally he was to greet his Mistress by kissing her hand as soon as he noticed her arrival home, unless he was seriously indisposed. Even if he was doing the laundry and he didn’t hear her, that just meant he’d kiss her hand when he heard her on the upper floor and so on.

But this time, you forgave him in the moment you saw him.

He wore something you hadn’t really talked about together but you couldn’t complain about it at all.

The ends of the big white ribbon on the back laid on his butt cheeks. The seams of the neckline, the short sleeves, the skirt were trimmed with white ruffles and you could see part of the white apron. The rest of the maid outfit was traditional black. It fit him, maybe it was a little tight but that made his muscles stand out, even in his relaxed stance while he stirred something in one of the pots.

“Oh” A moan left your mouth.

“Mistress! I did hear you come in, but I…” He trailed off and bent down to kiss your hand.

You cradled his cheek and felt him lean into your hand. “Everything’s okay, darling. This is an incredible surprise, thank you for this.”

“Thank you” He mumbled and you pecked his cheek. Then you felt something poke you above your hip.

“What has you this hard, hm? Just the cooking doing that for you or did you think of something?”

“I thought of something, Mistress.”

“Wanna tell me? Or show me?”

“I could show you, but only after the food’s done. It just needs to simmer with the residual heat.”

“That’s good, because I don’t wanna wait anymore.”

Bucky nodded eagerly, shut the stove off and put the lids on the pots.

“Undress me and do what you do best” You ordered.

He did, and when you were fully naked, stepping out of your stockings, Bucky went up again and kissed you. His tongue played with yours and he stroked your back. Each kiss he placed on your body, from your neck, to your collarbones, over your breasts and tummy to your core.

On his knees, Bucky kissed your thighs and slowly worked his way up, paying attention to every dip of your skin, the small scar on the middle of your thigh. Short of your core, he stopped and repeated the same thing on your other thigh.

Bucky put his hands on your butt and squeezed. “Love this ass, Mistress.”

“And you get to squeeze it” You moaned, because he sucked above your vulva.

He kissed around your outer lips and nibbled on them. He soothed them and licked. His tongue slipped into you and he grabbed your hands. You knew what that meant. You twisted your fingers in his hair and felt his left hand pulling the hood from over your clit.

“Mistress? Got a good grip?” Bucky asked smugly. He deserved to be that smug. He may have once eaten you out in a similar position and made your legs buckle and you both had tumbled to the floor.

“Yes, darling.”

With that, Bucky wet his lips and slowly closed them around your clit. He started off with light sucking and each time you rocked your hips, he intensified his sucking. Your moans got louder and you pulled on Bucky’s hair. That made him purr and the subsequent vibrations immediately traveled to your clit.

You moved in a way that didn’t even have you be sure if you wanted to be closer to it or get away from him. No matter what it was, Bucky didn’t let you go. He pulled you closer and sucked on your outer lips. You whimpered. Bucky switched to your clit again and inserted two fingers into you.

With one come hither motion and the sucking, you came. You spasmed around his fingers and the quelching sounds as he pumped them in and out through it, rang through the kitchen. He drank everything of you up, licking you dry. You stroked his hair until he straightened up and kissed him.

“Wow. Thanks, darling” You took his hand and pulled him in the direction of your bedroom. “Let’s take a bath and cuddle for the rest of the evening, okay?”

“Wait, no! This isn’t even the main part of the evening I planned!”

“What did you plan?” You tilted your head.

“Could you wait here at the kitchen table?”

You nodded and with a soft kiss to your lips, Bucky put the food on a plate and vanished into the living room. A minute later, he came back, took two glasses and a bottle of wine. Another minute later, he took your hand.

“Now, Mistress” He smiled and lead you to your spot on the couch.

Sitting down you saw the plate and a set of cutlery on the coffee table. Bucky knelt between couch and table. He pulled the table closer to himself and carefully scooped up some of the food. With a hand under the fork, he fed you. Over the last years, you had often cooked your favorite meal when you felt down, sometimes just because you felt like it and because Bucky had asked you to show him, wanting to be the prefect househusband.

“Darling, this tastes incredible! Did you change something up in the recipe?”

Bucky leaned his head against the inside of your knee, a position that still allowed him to reach the plate comfortably. “I upped the dose of the usual spices and added some for extra tanginess. Do you like it, Mistress?”

“Yeah! You gotta remember what other spices you used for next time!”

He beamed at the praise. “More?”

“Don’t stop until everything’s in me” You grinned.

Bucky continued feeding you, then quickly put everything away and came back to you, who hadn’t moved an inch.

“C’mere, let me thank my perfect husband!”

Bucky basically skipped over to lay down between your outstretched arms as quickly as possible. “I’m glad you liked it.” He rolled over so he laid chest to chest to you. He rubbed his head on your neck, softly kissing it. Bucky moved a little higher and rubbed himself against you.

“Now, what’s this?” You smiled.

Bucky blushed a little.

“You know how it goes, baby. Talk to me and I’ll do something.”

“I’m hard, Mistress. Been hard since I heard you enter the apartment.”

“Since I entered the apartment? What did you think about in that moment?”

“About pleasuring you, serving you the food, making you come, being a good husband” He whined and rutted once against your calf.

You raked your fingers through his hair and pulled. “I felt that rutting. It’s starting to hurt a little, right?”

“Yes, Mistress! Please, may I-?” Bucky whimpered.

“Lay back and I’ll get my dick nice and wet, and I’ll cum around you. I want that dick to be entirely covered in white. What do you say to that?”

“Yes, Mistress!”

You sank down on his dick slowly, moaning, until Bucky was fully in you. You started a slow and languid pace and Bucky moved his left thumb to your clit to rub it how you taught him you liked it. His right hand went around you to hold onto your lower back. But instead, he scratched along it. You grinned down at your boy. There was the pent up sexual tension and energy he had been holding back so well until you gave him permission to let loose.

And let loose, he did. He angled himself to hit your sweet spot each time. It seemed like Bucky wanted to work thrice as hard. On one hand there was the simple energy that needed to be let out but then there was also the fact of Bucky’s outfit, especially the apron, hindering him from watching his, or your, cock disappear in you. That never failed at making his subby pride soar, to be the one to make you feel pleasure, and the only one.

With each thrust, he brought you closer to your second release of the evening and in what felt like no time at all, Bucky made you clench around him. He fucked up into you to carry you through it as best he could. With a scream and an additional thrust of Bucky, the aftershocks became their own orgasm and you scratched along the fabric on his chest.

When everything ceased you climbed off and scooted back to sit on his thighs. You bunched up skirt and apron, took his dick in your hand and angled it to point at his chest. Normally you liked to tease him with your hands, especially since the one time he had admired your hands after a manicure. But this time, you started a quick pace with short strokes. Every so often you swiped your thumb over his slit and in no time at all, Bucky spurted all over his chest and dirtying his outfit. You didn’t stop until he whimpered and tried to move away from you.

“That’s my good boy, even with that mess you made. So what do you do with messes? Hm?”

“Y- you clean them up, Mistress.”

“Smart boy. Then, clean it up.” After he calmed down from the overstimulation, he contorted himself to reach his cum with his tongue, because he knew you wanted him to use his mouth if possible. “M- Mistress…”

“Aww, it’s not working? You were so good, I’ll help you.” You scooped up the cum that landed on his uniform and pushed your fingers into his mouth. Bucky cleaned them diligently and then waited patiently for the next portion. When everything was gone, you pulled him up to a sitting position. You quickly got him out of the outfit and enveloped him in your arms.

“Five minutes cuddling, then I’ll get you water and snacks, okay?” You whispered in his hair.

“Okay. I’ll wash everything in the morning” Sleep already laced Bucky’s voice.

“That has time, darling don’t worry about it.”

#my things #my writing #bucky x you #bucky x reader #bucky x y/n #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x y/n #sub!bucky x you #sub!bucky x reader #sub!bucky x y/n #sub!bucky barnes x you #sub!bucky barnes x reader #sub! bucky barnes x y/n #sub!bucky barnes x dom!you #sub!bucky barnes x dom!reader #sub!bucky barnes x dom!y/n

[scaip]

When villainesses take the lead

We are the generation that grew up watching shows such as Digimon, Inuyasha and The Vision of Escaflowne. There is something attractive about works that involve journeys to other worlds with fantastical settings and exciting adventures. Let’s say, you have your normal fantastical plot: a common person falls into another world. There, they may develop or discover the possession of magical powers, live lots of magical occurrences and even may end up finding love! Magic Knight Rayearth, SAO and Zero no Tsukaima come to my mind, among others.

What’s so interesting about this type of fictional works? We receive the chance to explore themes of our interest, fulfil personal fantasies and escape from our common lives (the real world is already complicated on its own). This article shows how Escapism has its value.

There is a very interesting paradigm going on on Asiatic media concerning travels to other worlds. In fact, according to TV Tropes, this type of fictional work is called Isekai in Japanese media and it’s treated as a genre of its own. And yet, nowadays I find a very interesting twist in this type of media, a twist that makes things very entertaining.

The names of the works I’m talking about sound cliché and melodramatic: ‘My Next Live as a Villainess’, ‘Death is the Only Ending for the Villainess’, ‘The Villainess Lives Twice’, ‘The Villainess reverses the hourglass’. Others are more indirect, such as ‘The Abandoned Empress’ and ‘Your Throne’. Most are told from the point of view of females who have a traditional antagonist role.

I’ve always enjoyed ironic consumption, and these titles worked as magnets to me. What I ended up finding was a refreshing surprise: common women who fell into fantastical worlds made from the plots of novels and games they consumed in their free time, or more traditional ‘villainesses’ who travelled back in time to fix what was wrong in their first lives. In the first case, we would see normal girls who found themselves inside the bodies of ‘villainous’ characters and desperately trying to avoid their bad endings by the use of their knowledge of the plots while commenting on clichés and traditional tropes. In the second case, we see female characters who more or less identify with their ‘villainous’ role and try to change their bad outcomes while learning about themselves and what drove them to make their bad choices.

What do these types of works have in common? They are genre deconstructions. According to TV Tropes, deconstructions happen when a fictional work takes its elements apart and shows how certain elements would work in real life, by contrasting them to ‘real situations’ or parodying them. Sarcastic main characters help, too.

There is a very interesting trend among Asian Media (mainly works made by Korean authors, but there are Japanese too) concerning the deconstruction of traditional stories directed to the female public.

Why is this expression of the isekai genre so interesting?

First, because most stories deal with settings of historical fantasy, where we can indulge ourselves with beautiful Period dresses, gorgeous mansions and attractive love interests. One can’t help but remember the works of Jane Austen or the Brontë Sisters.

Second, because the twists of these works feel refreshing. We consider other points of view. We see why villains become what they become. We get to learn new plot points. Deconstructions give an interesting dose of realism and pragmatism to stories. They are refreshing because they give new angles to an old genre and we can identify with the situations.

But let’s not forget: the focus of this essay is villainesses. We get to see the story from the point of view of female characters who don’t portray themselves as good people and some even feel content with their roles.

Raised in a world where women receive lots of double standards, being pressured from young ages to be proper and good and yet receiving worse punishments than guys for doing the same things like them as a result of unrealistic expectations, along with some unhealthy extremes of social justice culture, where we are oddly pressured to change ourselves and learn from our mistakes yet we are not allowed to fully grow from them, it isn’t hard to identify with villainesses. After all, it is unavoidable to find ourselves as the villains of someone else’s life events. We are not perfect people and we fuck up sometimes. Especially when we are young.

So, why are villainesses so interesting? Because they fuck up, too. These characters don’t try to be saintly good girls and they acknowledge their situations. There is an interesting dose of cynicism underlying these works, in some, it’s more open than in others, such as ‘Your Throne’. Some female leads are noble demons who try to not drag third parties into their schemes, like Medea Belial in the work I previously mentioned. Others define themselves as villainess yet behave as anti-heroines are their worst, such as Aria Roscente in ‘The Villaines Reverses the Hourglass’. And others are heroes who still place themselves in the roles of villains, like Catarina Claes in ‘My Next Life as a Villainess!’’.

What do these three have in common? The leads also have internalized in themselves some moral standards about good and evil.

I don’t think it is surprising to find these types of works during the current fourth wave of Feminism we are living in. Terms such as internalized misogyny, double standards and deconstruction are concepts I learned these past years thanks to social media. So, why do I believe these types of Isekai novels that focus on villainesses are so relevant? Because we see other females’ points of view, we understand their positions and sometimes get to see that the true villains are other characters. Most of the villainesses of these works are, in fact, women with terrible social reputations who behave as anti-heroines at their worst.

There is a reason why the social settings of these stories are during past times. The authors of these works are deconstructing tropes from both old and new media. They are giving voices to Other Characters and show them in a realistic light, they write about flawed women who try to survive in a world full of unrealistic expectations, and that is true for both past and actual times.

It isn't hard for me to recall works such as Northanger Abbey or Jane Eyre. There are reasons why Period novels are still relevant these days, but that it’s not the topic I want to address in this essay. Here is this interesting article that analyses the success of Jane Austen works, while this note from the Guardian does the same for the Brontë sisters. Of course, experts and critics would get annoyed at me for putting Jane Austen and the Brontë Sisters on the same page, but please, bear with me: I’m talking about fictional works that deal with abuse, machismo, dysfunctional families and difficult childhoods, subjects still relevant to today. So, what’s so interesting about recalling these themes? It’s the way some Asian authors knew how to retake these stories, added some fantastical elements and still deconstructed others, providing us with a refreshing result.

Most of the isekai works I mentioned above are told from the point of view of young girls who are isolated for their social positions, because they come from other worlds and know that their ‘new bodies’ are doomed to die and more.

Imagine being reincarnated as the pretty daughter of a noble family and yet... you find yourself hated and isolated from others, in a situation you cannot control. And you can be murdered in cold blood if you don’t make the right choices. These works make it very clear some situations are ugly and dangerous. They are not painted in a romantic light. And the main characters acknowledge it.

Naturally, there are aspects we could criticize of these works. For example, the main leads usually are white thin ladies in gorgeous period dresses, who despite their issues still benefit from privileged backgrounds. And few of these works address LGTBQ+ representation, as most of the endgames are attractive male leads.

But then, this is not about pitting people against each other. It’s about acknowledging a new paradigm in story-telling, one that subverts and parodies plots.

Change is brought over by small steps. And I think we are going on a good path.

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Update (July 22nd): I see this post is reaching some people. If you feel like it, what about buying me a coffee?

#I sent this as a pitch to some magazines and fanzines but no one wanted it #so i might as well post it here #isekai manhwa #reencarnation manhwa #reencarnation novel #isekai novel #fantasy #period novels #period manga #your throne #if I just could be you for a day #medea belial #catharina claes #katarina claes #my next life as a villianess all routes lead to doom #aria roscente #the villainess reverses the hourglass #villainess #feminism #jane austen #charlotte bronte #fourth wave of feminist #media consumption #manhwa #manga #light novels #fantasy manga #historical fantasy #death is the only ending for a villainess #penelope eckart

[ducavalentinos]

Thoughts on Ancient Rome historians Tom Holland, Emma Southon and Anthony Barrett? BTW, being as you are a Barrett fan do you think there is any historian who can top/reach Barrett's level?

Hm, Holland is cool, I've read some of his stuff, his latest work (which I have to finish btw) Dominion, is very interesting. I just feel like his writing, or better saying, his methodology follows the traditional history of things, and his perspective is mainly focused on our present and our modern standards looking back into the past and the actions of those in the past, I understand that is a common way for historians to write history, I get why, but it's not my thing, it's not how I approach or like to read history, you know. Also, he is one of those writers where you have to be extra careful, because he likes mixing his personal opinions/assumptions and claim it as a "truth", even though it lacks evidence. You can't take everything he says at face value, you need to check the sources and see if it matches with what he says and so on, but overall his work is ok, as far as I've read it. Southon is...complicated. I don't want to sound too harsh, and I will give it to her that she was honest enough to say at the preface of her Agrippina, that the history contained there is her own personal interpretation of the primary sources about Agrippina, iirc she does basically admit it's not the truth, it's her truth, which you know, earns a few points from me, given I come from the Borgia historical literature circle, and that kind of honesty is not to be found (to see them doing a similar preface as Southon did would surprise me, for sure), so at least we go into the book knowing this is Agrippina’s life through the lens of Southon and how she interpreted it was like, which it’s valid and I respect her right in doing so, but I don’t agree with it. Her bias in favour of Agrippina is evident in every single page, which makes her work incredibly messy, and for me, it went right next to Elizabeth Lev's book about Caterina Sforza, on how NOT to write a historical biography. It was kind of impossible for me not to see the parallels in their approach, actually. Starting with the book titles, which already tells you you're not getting a bio, you're getting a love letter of these authors towards their fave. And then, of course there's a huge effort to always make their fave look good and everyone else around them, bad. And because the subjects are women, you have the additional emotions, or protectiveness that comes with that, they are not alone in this, but they do take things to an extreme. They use and abuse of the feminist narrative/pov of patriarchy, of the relations between men and women ( men are evil, women are always oppressed and victims by the men around them, etc), so under this light, the only reason their faves fell from power was because of misogny, the only reason they were badmouthed (or acquired a bad reputation in history) is also because of misogyny, that’s the go-to answer to everything in these women’s lives. They never did anything wrong, they didn’t had any flaws. Their ambition which it’s presented as a terrible flaw in men, in them it’s an admirable quality. The means which they may have taken to hold on to power, or achieve power, is not worthy of any negative assessments. The documented ruthlessness (which equalled or surpassed many of their male comtemporaries) either also lacks any judgement, or it gets a completely different one, where suddenly the killing of rivals, of innocent girls who posed no threat to them, nor had anything to do with their father’ actions, is not presented as cruel, as sadistic, it’s not tyranny. It’s presented as necessary and justified according to their rationale. It receives all the proper contextualization of the times mixed with a high dose of whitewashing. But when these actions come from men they don't care for and/or who were the opponents of these women, well, then it is a testament of their cruelty, their tyranny, their misogyny.  The double standards, the blindspots, the molding information to fit personal narratives, is always present when it comes these authors. There's a lot of unrestrained passion going on wherever you have a female author and a female historical figure, I have noticed over time, sometimes it happens with male authors, too, esp. with their male faves, and it's equally embarrassing, but I often find this trend with female authors, and sadly, Southon is not exception here. I was excited to read her book, I tried to give it a chance, Agrippina has few biographies about her, but it was insupportable. I get that she loves Agrippina, I do, too. She was a fascinating woman, and I do think she is innocent on some accusations, I do think she was slandered (as powerful people often were) by some contemporaries about some things. But this approach I just mentioned? the simplistic blaming of everything on one person, one thing, one reason, the putting of the historical figure on a pedestal where they are always right, they are always virtuous, always the victim, is not realistic and it gets odd fast. It doesn’t stick when you look at the material and you think about it critically, and it often leads to dishonesty and unfairness, and it fails to truly make us understand, as much as we can, the lives of these people from the past, so yeah, in a nutshell: I’m not a fan of her work, lol. Now Barrett, on the other hand, guess it’s not secret I am a fan of his 👀😂. Idk anon, but I hope so, because I think history needs historians like him, it’s not that his methodology, his approach to history are irreproachable, nothing and no one is, there’s some things I disagree with him, or that I find are not well supported, but the way he tries to be objective, to be balanced when dealing with historical women like Livia Drusilla and Agrippina, where it’s so easy to fall on cliches narratives, the way he tries to separate myths from facts, fiction from history, the way he is careful around rumours, with the primary sources, too, and how he often warns the reader about it, the way he meticulously exposes the documentation, the research, all of that in my view, are the fundamental elements for any proper historical work, let alone, a biography. Yes, it might make it dull, it might make not accessible to everyone, but I don’t think that should be the highest goal anyways. The highest goal should be try to recreate, as much as it is possible, these historical figures’ lives and the events that happened (while acknowledging the mysteries, the uncertainties, and the things we will never know. We may try to fill out these gaps with assumptions or hypothesis, but it should be made clear that that's what they are), in a just, humane and honest manner. Not just to the historical figure as the subject, because often that’s the easy part, but also to those around them and the times they lived in, which proves to be more diffcult for many historians. Barrett, for the most part, does all of this really well, and it’s why I like his works so much, or why I’m a fan dsjdsjd. Thoughts on...ask meme

#anon ask #ask answered #it was funny for me that you noticed my love for barrett's works anon #sometimes i forget this is a public blog and that people follow me #and that i do actually gush a lot about barrett djsdjsdjs #thanks for the ask #:)

[lucasmeows-blog]

Why Daredevil series is so good

I was re-watching the Netflix Daredevil series.  I really love Daredevil, I read a lot about him, one of my favorite stages was the one Bendis wrote (after his success they gave him the ultimate universe, he was director of marvel and everything went to hell) he rethought Frank Miller's style, brought many great supporting characters and in addition to that unique tenure where his secret was in danger and he tried to convince the press that he was not daredevil while they investigated him. Bendis ends his stage with Matt going to jail and another very good stage begins

The thing is, the series portrayed the best of comics with an interesting three-dimensional character development: the bad guys aren't just bad, the good guys aren't totally good, they're all human. The daredevil series is faithful to the comic in the sense that it captures its essence and adapts it to reality (we all know that Daredevil has the gallery of the most ridiculous villains that exist)

The chosen color palette seems very appropriate to me because in a comic you can look good in his red devil costume but finding someone dressed like that would be quite ridiculous when what Matt was looking for was to instill fear in his enemies (or was that Batman?)

 They gave Karen an importance more than being the love of Matt's life that in reality the only thing she basically does is leave him and come back to leave him again. Karen never earned my love in comics, especially for selling Matt's identity FOR A SINGLE DOSE OF DRUG

I mean she could have asked for a lot more. However I had liked his return as a feminist activist who wanted to destroy the porn industry. The thing is that they gave her a personality from the beginning and a greater participation in the series, was not only the pretty secretary that both lawyers fall in love with (she had to be a naive and hegemonic blonde because they were going through times much more misogynistic than now. In fact the subject of misogyny in comics is left for another day to delve deeper)

 and the most important thing Karen is not alone to break Matt's heart and screw everything, he is convinced by the truth and becomes a reporter (a bit abrupt maybe but I accept it)

I always liked that formula from the comics where a client with a somewhat unusual problem presented himself, a difficult case that was not credible that Matt accepted when he learned that he was not lying and investigated the case as Daredevil. Something I really appreciated about the series is that Foggy is the first to find out his secret, Foggy always deserved more and was always treated as the naive friend of Matt Murdock, I think they gave him some of the respect he deserved, also many will remember his incredible bad luck in love, but the relationship with Marci that although it is a little strange ends up being pretty? I dont know

     What impacted me the most: Wilson Fisk and Bullseye, are one of the biggest villains daredevil faced, I had no faith that they interpret them well but OH MY GOD. I empathized with both of them and then I worried about myself. But it is great, I mean yes, maybe it is not the size that Kingpin has in the comics and it took a long time to put on his white suit but they show how he is building his empire, manipulating and convincing people, it was like a construction, when he finally Put on his white suit is like  ready. He did it, he became the Kingpin.

     I never thought Bullseye could be portrayed in any way other than a psychopathic killer incapable of feeling. They show us as a beginning, it reminds us that it necessarily had to be a person who lived in society until he got fed up and became what he is. It was quite ingenious and interesting, also a way of talking about mental health, and touching on that subject I would have liked to see a little more about Melvin Potter "the gladiator", who if you read comics you know him, but if you don't is going to be only the man that makes the costume for daredevil. I found his story very beautiful because it was not easy for him to recover, he needed Matt's trust and he became a very tender and sensitive giant human that unfortunately was easy to manipulate. Justice for Melvin. 

    I like that too, there wasn't a big obsession with saying who they were and remembering him all the time, they just were (I talk about the super cliche conversations where they yell daredevil, he yells the name of the villain and then replies -you'll never catch me daredevil because I ...- and they say his name and tell his whole evil plan). 

    In general I liked everything about the series, I love it, I found it so perfect, a work of art. It is the best adaptation I have ever seen and we know that the story of the comic is not perfect in its entirety. I was amazed at how good the scripts were, the character transformations, the tense moments, the way they portrayed Matt's heightened senses (haha I can smell the suit, Matt you should know that sounds super weird). Yesterday reading the credits I came across the list of thanks, and I understood why they managed to capture that essence. Look at those writers, that team, it's just incredible.

There is a lot to talk about, I just wanted to highlight those general aspects, as I already said I really love daredevil, I really like his relationship with Ben Urich and the numbers narrated from his perspective, it broke my heart a little that this character did not exploit but it is fine It doesn't have to be exactly like the comic. I think the proper enemies had to be carefully chosen to display, I also believed that the owl was going to survive and become a major villain eventually but it didn't. The series is really good, anyone can watch it and enjoy it, you don't have to be a comic fan to understand it. The coordination of fights, the camera movements, the lights, the scenery, the scripts, it is beautiful to see.

The man without fear. (Oh and Charlie Cox was so sexy)

#Daredevil #daredevil comics #marvel #daredevil netflix #Matt Murdock #the devil of hell's kitchen #the man without fear #foggy nelson #karen page #wilson fisk #kingpin #gladiator #melvin potter #ben urich #bullseye #ben poindexter #charlie cox #vincent d'onofrio #helden helson #deborah ann woll #wilson bethel #marvel comics

[sobdasha]

"I definitely updated my list of books I was reading on tumblr so it's all good" -me, a lying liar, right before spending several months finishing my reread of All The Discworld Books I Own But In Chronological Order For The First Time Ever Which In Fact Makes A Difference.

(and then I did it again after the libraries closed)

The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin Hm, so. I definitely read this. At some point. It was not really for me, not bad, but not really for me. This particular edition had various notes before and after the text, all of which I read, which made it an experience I got more out of. It's important for me to know that the author is aware that the protagonist is a raging misogynist who's stupid, and yes this was on purpose so you'd realize how really incredibly stupid he is and thus maybe be tricked into changing your mind yourself. It is a legit tactic, but one I tend not to enjoy, so if I hadn't been forewarned I'd have been UUUUGGGGGHHHH MAKE HIM SHUT UP ALREADY and probably rage-quit. As it was, I was able to better appreciate what Le Guin was doing here, even if this book didn't win a place in my heart and I probably won't reread. I definitely preferred Ancillary Justice's take, with the feminine pronouns. For my brain, masculine pronouns = they might as well all be men = business as usual = I didn't really get any gender queering from it. I can't really remember much else now. Oh, it was also part "survival in the wilderness" story, which they're big on making you read in school (which I find very suspicious), and which I tolerated and read a few classic ones on my own until they kept assigning these kinds of stories for us to read and now I get nothing from them and mindlessly hate them. Anyway, as I said, not bad at all but not really for me.

Lavinia, Ursula K. Le Guin This one's a reread--I picked it up from the library during college because we were doing Titus Andronicus in class and it didn't occur to me that there might be more than one Lavinia???? But hey it worked out because later in college we did the Aeneid and then I had Background for rereading Lavinia. This is the book that is lyrical and beautiful and pulls me in and makes me care deeply about the world and the characters. This is the book of Le Guin's that makes me feel the way everyone else feels about Earthsea and The Left Hand of Darkness and etc. I would like to find more of Le Guin's work that makes me feel the same way, because as I've said you can really tell from her other stuff that she's a solid writer who knows her stuff. I just…don't enjoy any of the other things. Anyway I recommend. I always forget about this book, and then when I reread I'm like "wow why don't I read this more often?????"

How Long 'Til Black Future Month?, N. K. Jemisin I liked every story in this short story collection. I should just reread it and try writing this up again tbh but also tbh I'll probably do the rereading and then just not write anything up again. Just read Jemisin's stuff I love her writing so much okay. ETA: that’s exactly what I did, I reread this during my covid rereads and said “I should do a proper write-up this time” and lo and behold where is it

Tehanu, Ursula K. Le Guin Okay, this last Earthsea book treated me much better than the others. It's probably not for everyone else, which might be why it's for me. It's much more domestic, much less "plot" happening, full of introspection, and centered on women rather than men. This novel acknowledges and confronts the rampant internalized misogyny in the previous three books, engages it in a way that the misandrist in me finds satisfying even though it never comes to a good solution for the problem. This book is more like a reflection. Earthsea has never been about "light is always good, dark is always bad; be a hero, fight evil" etc. But this one I think shifts the tone a little farther; it's less about balance, and more...I guess I'd put it as, "actions have consequences." It's not concerned with right or wrong, it's concerned with people getting hurt. It's pretty somber and serious, without any humor to balance it out, tons of bad things happen to people, lots of PTSD...but this time I really cared about the characters, and I feel like it was all handled really well? In addition to critiquing internalized misogyny, it also critiqued victim blaming. Seemed like it handled disability pretty well too--was honest about how people are jerks about it in reality, while still being optimistic and treating Therru as valuable; made occasional mentions of considering work-arounds for having only one fully-functional hand, while mostly just having Therru go about living and doing chores and being capable and assuming she did find those work-arounds without having to draw attention to it; and Therru's terrible scars didn't get magically healed at the end, the whole book makes a point all the way through that her physical scars will always be with her the same way her emotional scars will be, and she's simply learned how to go on living with them. Tehanu: a book full of trauma happening to people, where what would normally be the plot in a fantasy novel ended up not even getting started to be resolved, but Le Guin's writing and handling of the subject matter helped heal my jaded soul.

Ninefox Gambit, Yoon Ha Lee A quick summary of my experience: Chapter 1 - ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh what is going on what even Chapter 2 - no, no this is just, this is what sci fi is like, right? Just give it a few chapters and then by the end of the book everything will probably make sense. I'm sure that's how it works. Remember how even in Ancillary Justice I ended up with two separate Battles of Valskay, but now everything is fine??? It's. Fine. Chapter 4 - (ohhhhhhh I still don't know what's going on) Several Chapters Later - still no clue what's going on, but hit my stride with the terminology, my foreign language instinct kicked in where words stopped sounding weird and while I could not for the life of me define any terms for you, I had a vague comprehension of how the words operated In Context. Sort of. And by then I had, without realizing it, begun page-turning and binging, so I guess I liked the book lol! Another serious-but-not-funny one, but with an extra dose of War Memoir and all the gruesomeness that entails (but probably, like any good War Memoir, probably not actually gratuitous and actually in fact the necessary amount of gruesome). Jedao was turned into a woobie at the last minute and, well, damn, guy knows the way to my heart. The novel apparently gripped me enough that I don't even mind that it only came into play at the very end of the game. And hey, there's two more novels to deal with that revelation, which I have picked up from the library to read immediately! Yay! Current personal theory: based on the heavy math references that made me want to cry at the start, but the almost entire absence of actual numbers, and a reference to "there's no way actual physics works like that, it was obviously a calendrical effect" or something…I'm going to throw out a wild guess that the calendar stuff (and all the social structuring that goes with it) is so that they can break and reinvent math. So they can effect a universe where 2+2=5 and therefore a bunch of people standing in this exact position makes a force field or bullets of rose thorns or whatever and some other dude can make himself immortal. This sounded like a pretty terrible theory already and it sounds even worse now I've typed it up but oh well.

Raven Stratagems, Yoon Ha Lee Guess who didn't write this up back when she read it!!! Also, I returned Ninefox Gambit to the library right before the libraries shut down for covid. So, I had Raven and Revenant on hand for months but I didn't have Ninefox on hand to do an immediate reread to see if that made the sci fi make more sense. (It probably wouldn't have, but I would have liked to do a rereading while the ending was still fresh.) By this time there is a lesser degree of visceral viscera. Lee is brutal, however, about continuing to be honest about what war costs and whether war is worth that cost (which depends, really, on whose lives you think matter. Very relevant for these times. Very much prepared me to shut up and not whine about the inconveniences of protests and their fallout. There is no pretty and clean way to have a revolution, since it involves destroying a particular [terrible] way of life, so we're all just gonna have to sacrifice together). Also I think by this point all the character development from the first novel paid off in the form of character dynamics being hilarious now despite, y’know, the gruesome shadow of war.

Revenant Gun, Yoon Ha Lee Continues to discuss the honest price of war and the messiness of fallout. Shuos "The risks I took were calculated, but boy am I bad at math" Jedao. Oh I think this is also the one where every so often one of the characters thinks, "Okay so this person is a tyrannical murderous dictator but he is ensuring that there will never again be food shortages and no one in the space empire ever goes hungry." And then Lee turns around and is like, "Haha but don't forget this same person invented a form of vital infrastructural technology (and also immortality) that is optionally based off ritual human torture sacrifice. Like he didn't have to do that to make it work. He just decided to anyway. And that's always bad :) " (Also useful in our current climate of "Okay but we should consider the other person's circumstances and point of view" and also "Yeah but that doesn't apply if they're literally Nazis tho.")

Hexarchate Stories, Yoon Ha Lee A collection of short stories set in the universe of those three books. There's one story at the end that does satisfy the "But I wanted another sequel!!!" urge. And there's a bit of backstory for Jedao and Cheris. But by and large what you should be in the mood to read is flash fiction snippets that simply happen to be set in the same universe but have no bearing on the plot. Which is pretty cool and interesting if you are in the proper mindset! Even better, Lee includes author's notes at the end of each story to talk about the story, or the influences, or the context of his life at the time, etc etc. That is always my absolute favorite part of a short story collection. Also these notes told me everything I needed to know about why I liked certain things about his writing. "I wanted to write my own AUs," "If I get stuck I go on TV Tropes," "My only regret is that I had to cut the scene where Jedao goes to ~Halloween~ dressed as himself and trolls people" ahhhh that's also a regret I share.

Dragon Pearl, Yoon Ha Lee This one is YA! There is a lot less gore although I guess there was still genocide! Read this when you are in the mood for something that doesn't attempt to hide the fact that the plot is completely, conveniently contrived to give you fast-paced action and fun. Min sure has a lot of coincidental meetings that should stretch my disbelief but I don't care. Also, I am enjoying reading books with girls as protagonists that do what I'm tired of being told to love about boy protagonists--just keep barreling along with complete self-assurance that you are right and, if you run into trouble, you can egotistically figure your way out.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N. K. Jemisin Gods and mortal ruling family's messy soap opera sexcapades is not exactly my favorite genre, but luckily it is handled by Jemisin so it's all good. Lots of Souma Family Values. I'm really appreciating how Jemisin considers choice of narrator very carefully and uses it to brilliant effect in this trilogy. Stories are things told by a narrator to an audience; why should we rely on the artifice of an "impartial" "reliable" "omniscient" 3rd person narrator writing into the void? This trilogy was Jemisin's first, I believe, so it's a little awkward coming back to them now, only because Jemisin is such a powerful writer that the themes she's begun working with here have only gotten stronger with each successive work.

The Broken Kingdoms, N. K. Jemisin This one I rated as I read for Protagonist Is Blind based on the scale of a sighted person going "but some of my best friends are blind!" In that regard, I think the book does really well! Blindness doesn't define Oree's life and value; Oree doesn't get magical powers that make her a blind person who isn't really blind; Oree moves away from home and gets a job and lives on her own which seems very accurate to me based on my knowledge of one (1) person who is blind; instead of being ~cured~, Oree actually gets more blind at the end of the story and this is considered a Good Ending. Also personal bonus points are awarded for references to her stick being handy for hitting people with. Some stuff was stereotypical, but Jemisin's intent was not. A+, will read again, please support including way more characters who are blind in media. Anyway I enjoyed this one.

The Kingdom of Gods, N. K. Jemisin First off, Jemisin directly up front critiques the narration choices she made in the first two books and then pays it off like a boss at the end. Like holy crap. I admit by now I was getting a bit bored of the genre, but the book was still very engaging because Jemisin is a master. It may also have been affected by how much increasing pain I've been in lately.

The Awakened Kingdom, N. K. Jemisin I'm dead. This one was way more my speed and you need the other three books to understand this novella but ohhhh my god it's perfect. I read a lot of choice passages of this aloud to my roommate because how could you resist. It's still heavy but it's hilarious. Bless Shill.

#sobdasha booking

[alexsfictionaddiction]

Review: American Royals by Katharine McGee

What if America had a royal family? As soon as I heard about American Royals, my interest was piqued. I love stories that rotate around the upper classes and see them as a kind of window into a world that is completely closed off to me. However, I had a special interest in the idea of an American monarchy because I couldn’t help but consider the American-ness that would surely come into their brand of royalty.

Due to a change in the law, Princess Beatrice is due to become America’s first reigning queen when her father dies. Her whole life has been leading up to this destiny and as such, she is America’s sweetheart. However, she is starting to have doubts as to whether she is really up to the job and all that it truly entails. As Beatrice is next in line to the throne, no one really pays much attention to her younger sister Sam, who is quite happy to do as she pleases until she finds herself falling for a man she really shouldn’t. Sam’s twin brother Jefferson's handsome face and irresistible charm makes him a winner with every eligible young woman in America but with both his childhood friend, quirky college student Nina and his socialite ex-girlfriend Daphne interested, who will he choose?

Her grandfather’s final words are what spurs Beatrice’s decisions for her entire narrative. The divide between the real Beatrice and Beatrice the Princess grows steadily as the book progresses and in turn, I could feel myself being torn apart in each of her chapters. Although Beatrice and I inhabit totally different worlds, I could understand her sense of duty to her family and the fact that she had to make certain sacrifices in order to follow their wishes. This is something I’ve had to do in the past but walking through it with her alerted me as to how devastating this truly is. It reminded me of some regrets of my own and I was just constantly willing her to make the right choice for the real authentic girl she is.

There were several points in the book which touched on the inherent sexism and misogyny within society -even a society which is finally accepting a female monarch. It was most apparent when comparing how the media and public treated Sam and Jeff, which is what Sam is talking about in the above passage. I really appreciated these little nods to reality as they increased my sympathy for these insanely rich and privileged people and made them more human. It reminded me of the pressures they’re under to remain perfect and the daily injustice they face. It’s particularly unfair for the royals, as they haven’t chosen fame -they were merely unlucky enough to be born into it. 

I also smiled at these little comments that imagine America as a republic, which of course it is in our world. Thinking about the state of America -in particular the state of women’s rights- at the moment, I couldn’t help but sigh and shake my head. I may have even whispered to the book ‘I’m afraid we were always screwed’ at one point (because that’s not weird, right?). However, could a queen like Beatrice have improved or even stopped a Trump-ravaged America? When I think about my own country, which has both a female monarch and a government, and the current face of our politics, the verdict sadly points to no. 

Nina and Jeff’s relationship provided the much needed cutesy, upbeat chapters that both Beatrice and Sam’s lacked. Despite it being clear that they were made for each other, their relationship was never a done deal due to the differences in their backgrounds and again, society’s expectations of who Jeff should date. Nina is the daughter of the Latina Minister of the Treasury and she has been best friends with Sam -and consequently Jeff- since she was six years old. Therefore she is considered a commoner and not suitable royal family material. I’ll be honest and say that Nina wasn’t my favourite character. I didn’t like that she felt the need to hide her friendship with Sam from her college friends just because she wanted them to see her in a certain light. However, she was a grounding force for both twins and I certainly shipped her with Jeff much more than I shipped him with her love rival, Daphne. 

Daphne’s part in the novel -a meddlesome ex with an apparent desperation to better herself- struck me as very Crazy Rich Asians, which is a series I adore. The little sly digs and devious ruses that are concocted in Kevin Kwan’s books always have a somewhat wry vibe to them which was missing in American Royals but Daphne’s chapters were still enjoyable nonetheless. She is the beautiful daughter of a wealthy, well-regarded family whose mother is desperate for her to rekindle her romance with Jeff and elevate them to royal status. There were a few quick glimpses of Daphne’s home and family life and they provided insight as to why she did the things she did. 

In the above quote, she’s talking about her friend Himari who is in a coma for the entire novel. It’s only towards the end that we find out how she got there but it’s clear from the start that Daphne genuinely cares about her. However, she has been raised to compete against other girls as evidenced by her mother’s words here. This then prompts Daphne to launch a vendetta against Nina, who is also vying for Jeff’s affections but there is a sense that her heart isn’t really in it. Much like Beatrice, she feels torn between who she has always been told she should be and who she really is. The more time I spent with Daphne, the more I liked her whereas the opposite seemed to happen with Nina. I’m sure that wasn’t McGee’s intention but I just found Daphne to be a much more interesting and overall, more likeable character.

As I neared the end of the book, everything started to go wrong and there didn’t seem to be enough pages left to resolve everything, which is what I’d been expecting. No one was with who they were in love with, so many tensions were still floating around and when I did finally finish it, I was left reeling and quite shocked that things had apparently been left like they had. However, I’m delighted to learn that this is the first book in a series. I would have been fuming had it been a standalone with that ending!

American Royals is a fun, YA read with a healthy dose of political and social commentary. There are some incredibly shippable romances, a huge amount of frustration and a lot of very well fleshed-out believable characters. Is it a little silly? Of course it is but it’s perfect light escapism!

#american royals #katharine mcgee #ya #book review #review #books #bookworm