Rhaegar and Elia took residence on Dragonstone after their marriage and we have no reason to think that Rhaenys was not born there as well. Dragonstone is a volcanic island located in Blackwater Bay that houses the Dragonmont, an active volcano that emits smoke that covers the island from its hot vents. Salt from Blackwater Bay and smoke from the Dragonmont are the same circumstances that Aegon and Dany were born under as well.
I highly doubt Rhaegar actually thought this far ahead, but what do you think his plan was/would’ve been for raising his child with Lyanna? (Let alone Lyanna herself post-baby…) Do you think his previous abhorrent behavior towards Elia suggests he might’ve raise the illegitimate child alongside Aegon and Rhaenys? (Sorry if you’ve answered something similar and feel free to ignore! I tend to agree with your interpretation of Rhaegar so I was curious what you thought).
I’ve sat on this question and similar ones for the longest of time because I simply don’t have a proper answer as to what Rhaegar’s plan was. Mostly I’m ¯_(ツ)_/¯ Like you, I don’t think he had a plan. His impulsive and careless approach to his affair with Lyanna combined with the currently mysterious haste he was in leads me to think he did not think that far. The priority was to complete the three heads of the dragon now and then think of the consequences later.
But you raise an interesting question about the possibility of Rhaegar intending to raise his child with Lyanna at court which is something I’ve pondered before. It’s certainly possible. I’ve flirted before with the idea that Rhaegar might have entertained the thought that he was needed on the throne as an organizing principle for the War for the Dawn and as a prophetic guide for the three heads of the dragon. If so, I can see Rhaegar hoping to raise his children together so as to build a strong relationship between them and to give them the proper education for the prophetic saviors they were. For such a prophecy-oriented individual, training and educating the three heads on their magical destiny and responsibility would be an important priority and I definitely do not think Rhaegar entertained the thought of sending Lyanna on her merry way with his child, not when said child was immeasurably important to him to the point of causing a scandal at Harrenhal followed by a political crisis. As for where that leaves Elia, well, Elia fell to the very bottom on the list of Rhaegar’s priorities in his single-minded pursuit of the prophecy and I don’t expect that would change.
But it’s worth noting that we don’t know what Rhaegars reaction to Jon would be. If the theory that Rhaegar was trying to recreate the three conquerors with his children is correct, Jon’s gender would throw a wrench in his plans and I really can’t say how he’d react to it. It could be anything from reconsidering his conclusions wrt the prophecy and his children’s place in it to shrugging off Jon’s existence with the thought that, Idk, Orys Baratheon existed or something, and trying for another ice-based child – a girl this time – with Lyanna. I don’t think he’d change his mind about Aegon being the prince who was promised regardless because the symbolism of the comet during his conception is fairly strong, and I question if Rhaegar might be led to apply the heralds of the prince that was promised to the other two heads as well – after all, Rhaenys was also born amidst salt and smoke so perhaps, to Rhaegar’s mind, Jon being the wrong gender can be attributed to the circumstances and location of his birth in Dorne lacking that – and react by shipping Lyanna to Dragonstone so that the next child would share the circumstances of her eldest brother and sister’s birth. I am, of course, ignoring every other facet of the plot right now and pretty much shooting darts in the dark using nothing but conjecture. But I guess it’s something to chew on in lieu of just ¯_(ツ)_/¯ .
I’ve got a weird question: how do Americans kiss? I often see in fanfic person A running their tongue over person B’s teeth, gums or even the roof of the mouth. Like?? This isn’t how we French kiss where I live lol plus A and B often part their kiss in order to breathe. Don’t Americans breathe through their noses? I really don’t understand it and these doubts haunt me whenever I come across yet another romance fanfic written by an American
Ok, this is an absolutely fair question and the answer is that nobody in real life kisses like people in fanfic. Nobody “plunders their lover’s mouth”. Tongues do not “battle for dominance”. Two people kissing do not look like they’re trying to “eat each other alive”. I can’t explain to you exactly why fanfic (and writing generally for that matter) is so bad at describing kisses but if I had to guess, I’d say it’s that it’s difficult to make actual kissing as it is practiced by normal, non-slobbery human beings sound exciting:
“A’s mouth pressed against B’s gently, then more firmly. Their lips slid against each other as they both tilted their heads, slightly varying the pressure. B’s tongue made a brief appearance to brush against A’s lower lip, then receded. They parted momentarily, then pressed their lips together again, firm, then gentle. They continued in this vein until a) they had to stop because you can’t actually take off your clothes while your face is attached to someone else’s, b) they got bored, or c) they misjudged the angles and knocked their teeth together, which is a thing that never happens in fanfic, does absolutely happen in real life, and really fucking hurts.”
See what I mean?
so we see Luke able to stay sober 2 years after the events of the show
…they made so much of the “twin thing” that I’m finding myself wondering whether Luke’s habit is a coping mechanism as he dealt with the feedback from Nellie’s terrors? Like … the reason he stays sober is … she’s no longer there? She’s no longer sending him awful things over the twin connection, and thus he finds it easier to cope?
that’s super sad
I… don’t think I much like the implications of that? I mean, I get what you’re saying but I think this inadvertently frames it that Luke needed the severance of the connection to Nell, needed Nell’s absence to be able to stay sober. I don’t like that.
I do think that the connection between Nell and Luke ultimately compounded their individual trauma since each had to deal with reverberations of their sibling’s psychological and physical injuries as well as their own. But it’s worth noting that 1) Luke’s 90 days of sobriety happened concurrently with perhaps the worst psychological break Nell had in her life so that breaks away from the idea of Luke kicking his habit tied to Nell’s absence, 2) linking Luke’s addiction to just what he received via Nell removes Luke’s own experiences in Hill House. Nell wasn’t the only one who walked away with a truckload of trauma and a haunting apparition. Luke saw ghosts outside of Hill House too, the same figure he encountered in his childhood and his mother. Luke had to deal with people including his own parents telling him what he saw was not real, a habit picked up aggressively by Steve in his adulthood. Luke witnessed his mother poisoning Abigail (with whom he shared the biggest relationship) and his father throwing away his and Nell’s tea cups, a connection that he might not have fully understood as a child but that he internalized all the same. And Luke didn’t instinctively understand that something was affecting his mother like Nell did which adds another layer of trauma.
I mostly think that what aided Luke’s sobriety is that he confronted his demons in Hill House and understood how it worked, understood how it got into their heads and made them do things without knowing. That explains a lot about the most traumatic events in his life, explains how he lost Nell and his mother. I also think that his siblings having a similar experience in which they also faced the power of Hill House was crucial in forming a support system that Luke didn’t really have before. His siblings have supported him before but the events of the night Liv died and their individual experiences in Hill House created a definitive chasm between them as those who coped by denying the paranormal of Hill House unwittingly undervalued and discredited the others’ experiences. It is complicated to accept help for a toxic coping mechanism from the people who deny the very thing you’re trying to cope with and have no grasp on how deep your trauma goes. The events of the finale and the answers the Crain siblings got changed Luke’s dynamic with his siblings and probably made them more sympathetic to his disease. That makes Luke’s support system more efficient. Of course, there is also a layer of Nell’s last (living) words to Luke and how she told him to get her brother back. That and how the poison in Luke’s veins was literally framed as Hill House. Nell told him to conquer that poison twice over, once in life and once in death. Even from beyond the grave, Nell told Luke to fight.
Incoming essay… I’m not a person who likes to look back. Lately, my life has been overflowing with wonder and magic. I’m happier than I’ve ever been. But I’ve also noticed a rising anxiety – especially with social media. I’m pulled into the past every time I see a photo from a long (and purposefully forgotten) era – a photo that I didn’t choose to put out into the world. It’s confronting. Cringing, I look at these old pictures and think about who I am now and who I was then and the wide gulf that stretches out between us. Who was he? Why did he dress like that? What’s with that hideous haircut? Why wasn’t he ‘cooler’ or at least, why didn’t people like him? Why didn’t he like himself? I judge him and all of his choices. The gulf gets wider and my anxiety grows. Here’s the thing – I was nerdy, sensitive, awkward and afraid. I was a day dreamer. I was bullied. I struggled to make friends. I struggled to fit in. I struggled to stand out. I struggled with weight. With acne. With girls. With guys. With life. The road to who I am now is littered with phases that I was embarrassed of, regretted or would otherwise choose to forget. But in rejecting these parts of myself, I realize now that I reject my journey – and I don’t want to do that. So, this is me taking ownership of all of the pieces. It’s trivial, but I’m sharing these intimate snapshots as a small act of rebellion against self judgement. I’m proud of the growth and evolution that I’ve undergone and I’m grateful for all of the moments, especially the tough ones that helped forge who I am today. I’m choosing to own my journey with compassion, in all of it’s embarrassing face-palm glory. Enjoy x
When I commented that you seemed a poor sort of monster, your sister
said, ‘He killed my mother,’ and twisted your little cock so hard I
thought she was like to pull it off. You shrieked, but it was only when
your brother Jaime said, ‘Leave him be, you’re hurting him,’ that Cersei
let go of you.
I can’t believe that I’m only appreciating this
now, but this story adds another dimension to how Tyrion and Jaime’s
interaction during the former’s prison break was utterly devastating.
From
the start, Tyrion’s relationship with Jaime had been set apart from his
dynamic with the rest of his family. Whereas Tywin and Cersei actively
hated Tyrion and wished him dead, Jaime stood apart in loving his
brother and being kind to him. And Tyrion loved him back. Jaime was his
big brother, his defender, the one that Tyrion could expect no extreme
form of bigotry from. While Jaime did show casual ableism towards
Tyrion, he lacked the deliberate maliciousness and belief of Tyrion’s
corruption and evilness that Tywin and Cersei displayed. Tywin and Cersei thought
that Tyrion’s dwarfism engendered monstrosity which played the biggest
part in why they blamed him for Joanna’s death. That inherent bigotry
made scapegoating Tyrion a natural response. Tyrion killed Joanna
because Tyrion is a twisted monster. Tyrion is the valonqar because
Tyrion is a twisted monster. Tyrion killed Joffrey because Tyrion is a
twisted monster. Easy.
But Jaime didn’t believe in Tyrion’s
so-called monstrosity. He didn’t see him as his mother’s murderer or
this evil twisted creature of hate and violence that his father and
sister did. That’s something that Tyrion came to depend on, that his
beloved brother can see the real him and not the distorted dehumanizing
mockery of Tywin and Cersei’s creation. For Jaime then to question if
Tyrion was the one who killed Joffrey undermines that. It implies that
Jaime did buy into Tywin and Cersei’s image of Tyrion and into the idea
of his monstrosity. Tyrion spoke very clearly about his innocence of
Joffrey’s murder and about his dwarfism being the true crime he was was
on trial for. And Jaime… Jaime’s question says he bought into his
bigoted accusers’ rhetoric. Jaime who knew the real Tyrion, or so
Tyrion thought. Jaime who, when Cersei was hurting Tyrion and waiting
like Tywin for his death, cared about his brother’s pain. Jaime who
stepped in to protect Tyrion the very first time he was put on trial and
condemned for his disability. Who put a stop to his sexual abuse. And there lies another layer of devastation.
How brutal is it to have the guy who was just
cast as Tyrion’s protector against sexual abuse admit that he
unwittingly enabled Tyrion’s (and Tysha’s, not that Jaime cares much
about her) sexual abuse. That he contributed to Tywin’s trend of using
Tyrion’s sexuality to punish and humiliate him. Jaime’s lie shows that
he had accepted Tywin’s perspective of Tyrion being unlovable and so his
marriage to Tysha must have been about gold, which was then used by
Tywin to manipulate Tyrion and sexually coerce him. Jaime abused
Tyrion’s trust in him and while he didn’t know what Tywin had planned
for either Tysha or Tyrion, he still knowingly facilitated the
administration of an undetermined “sharp lesson” that was built on the
premise that there’s no feasible way Tysha could have loved Tyrion for Tyrion,
and that he deserved to be punished for marrying her through the emphasis
that he can not be loved for his person. That Jaime kept his silence all
these years after he found out that sharp lesson entailed Tysha’s rape
and his 13-year-old brother’s sexual assault (even if Jaime still does
not know the full extent of it, he still knows that Tyrion was forced
to watch Tysha get raped over and over, which is in itself a form of
assault on Tyrion as well as Tysha. He knew Tyrion was a child being
forcibly exposed to the abuse of another child as a punishment) makes it
worse. He knew what his actions contributed to and yet he still gave
Tyrion Tywin’s sales pitch about Tysha being no better than a whore
since it just could not be that she just loved Tyrion. With a few
sentences, Jaime not only told Tyrion that he contributed to his and
Tysha’s abuse, but he implied that he did think him unlovable on his own
merit and as monstrous as Tywin and Cersei did. And if the one person
Tyrion thought capable of not judging him based on his disability did,
well.
I am the monster they all say I am.
So, is Bodyguard just another show perpetuating stereotypes and falling on frankly lazy writing tricks of making Muslims terrorists or does this get better? I watched 20 minutes and I’m ready to quit and forget it ever happened.
There’s a “Sexy” Handmaid’s Tale costume.
The description of the costume: “An upsetting dystopian future has emerged where women no longer have a say. However, we say be bold and speak your mind in this exclusive Brave Red Maiden costume featuring a red mini dress, a matching cloak with an attached hood, and a white bonnet headpiece.”
A reminder for myself and for you all! It’s never a fair comparison because we all started in completely different situations and you never know the full story of other people’s lives. It’s healthier to focus on our own lives instead, where there is more that we can control and improve upon. 🌻
Me: this is such good advice!
My Imposter Syndrome: I have a counterpoint…
Sam speaks 