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[bastardash]

A Knight's Journey Ends Chapter 7

Dunk's Interlude

Summary: Dunk wrestles with Lyonel's confession, unable to accept it while still being wracked with guilt over Egg's death. He remains determined to return to King's Landing and fulfill his duty until a surprise visit from an old friend sets him on the right path.

Excerpt:

Dunk smoothed out the parchment in front of him. He'd been trying all morning to find the right words. Words had never been his strength. He had come to writing late in life, but sometimes he found that spelling each word out letter by letter and gathering them all in one place could help him find what he wanted to say. This morning was not one of those times.

"I would have crawled all the way from the wall to see you one last time," he read out loud. It was the truth, but it still felt wrong. Would it soothe Lyonel to read that after he left? "I was selfish," he wrote. "I needed to see you, but I can't stay." Groaning Dunk tore the parchment in half, and crumpled the pieces in his fist. He threw it on the ground where dozens more discarded attempts gathered around him.

Lyonel had wielded his words like a champion. They flew out of him sharp and true. Dunk had wanted to bat them away, but he wasn't quick enough.

I have loved you from the moment you stepped into my tent…

Taking a shaky breath Dunk stared down at a blank piece of parchment with Lyonel's words echoing in his mind. He couldn't escape them.

I will love you until I take my final breath.

Dunk hadn't been able to take a proper breath since Lyonel had stolen his away. How could it be true? His first instinct was to believe it was some cruel jape, but the pain in Lyonel's eyes and the sadness of his voice was no act. He knew his friend well enough to know he spoke true, and somehow that was worse.

"The Laughing Storm they call him," Raymun had said that first night, and what a fine name it was. The man's laughter had filled the tent, but not just his laugh—his presence. Lyonel Baratheon was a force of nature, and on that night Dunk had been happy to be swept away. It was like something out of a story. The beggar hedge knight with his sword tied to his hip dancing with the heir to Storm's End. Nobody in that tent could say anything to him. The Laughing Storm had claimed him, pulling back to his table, placing his antler crown on Dunk's head, and telling him to call him Lyonel like they were equals. He was over generous from the start, and when Lyonel took up his cause in the trial, Dunk knew that he'd never be able to repay him.

Should he have gone with him back then? It was a question he sometimes asked himself in the dead of night. More frequently during the long silent years that followed Lyonel's own trial. What would they have become if he had? It was a question used to torture. Dunk couldn't go back, and he knew he couldn't have made a different choice at the time. The Trial of Seven had rattled him. A prince dying for him was too much. Baelor had been an honourable man and he would have made a fine king. Whatever politics had led him to stand by Dunk's side didn't matter, he died all the same. Dunk had needed to get as far away from high lords and princes as he could get after that, except one prince had gone along with him.

Egg. The pain was still fresh and awful. It had been foolish to think that sleeping in ditches and eating salt beef could save him, but he wouldn't take that choice back either. His choices had been so few and limited, he didn't have the luxury of regret.

Read more on AO3!

[fungi-maestro]

Hm. Your interpretation of this character displeases me. Guards! Take them away! Make them read the source material once more, and if that fails, the stocks.

[userarmand]

“That's the most contact I've had from him in a while.” [via tvinsider]

[undead-knick-knack]

She really is. In every conceivable way 🥰

[forsakenwitchery]

When are you going to make an honest woman of her? The Legend of Vox Machina 4x01

[forsakenwitchery]

Hail the tempest! The Legend of Vox Machina 4x03

[forsakenwitchery]

Are you two related? The Legend of Vox Machina 4x03

[scappu]

hey we saw you from across the bar and we absolutely fucking hate your vibe

[ginawankenobi]

Oh King Gus

A man who never wanted to be king but got saddled with it because he was too damn good at his job,

A man who was rejected by his father, lost the man who raised him, lost his uncles, lost his lover, and yet has never lost his hope or his kindness,

A man who gets called a tyrant for trying to do right by his people, and yet still loves and fights for all of his people including the ones who oppose him,

A man whose first and only thought after nearly dying and then witnessing what looked like an actual divine miracle was, “I need to tend to my fallen knight,”

What a man you are

[kinkydorah]

i feel high

[insecuregodcomplex]

[wlwgif]

DERRY GIRLS (2018-2022) 2.01 Across the Barricade

[bastardash]

Every day is a struggle to not get trapped in Bolaire discourse hell, but I will say:

There is a difference between survival and living comfortably, and there is a difference between what a character thinks they need to survive and what the actually need.

There are a whole lot of interesting things that can be explored within that spectrum.

I do not think Bolaire is a human serial killer. I think he is an immortal monster who is willfully sacrificing those he sees as unworthy of life for his own comfort.

I also think it would be a lot more interesting for him to be forced to confront his own false logic and hypocrisy and grow either better or worse depending, then for him to just be right. *shrug emoji*

[orteil42]

given the current climate this pride especially i feel i must mention that i love my trans friends, i stand with trans people in the fight against transphobic legislation and those who would enforce it, and this blog is not a good place for you to be if you do not vibe with that

[luna-azzurra]

Unpopular opinion but reading a lot does not automatically make you a better writer and i'm tired of pretending it does. Reading makes you a better reader. Writing makes you a better writer. They're related but they're not the same thing. You can read every book ever written and still not know how to be honest on the page. That part you have to earn separately and it costs more.

[wearwind-ao3]

I mean, I see what you're saying, but it doesn't meaningfully change anything in what that advice is getting across. If a person is already a writer, you'd have to willfully ignore the point to understand "be a better reader and you'll be a better writer" as "you don't need to practice." It's more if a "as you read, you will come across approaches, perspectives, and techniques that will inspire you to test your craft in new and exciting ways, so fill your cup if it ever feels stale or stuck."

Writing's an act of love. If it ever gets choked out by fear (of failure, inadequacy, clichè, etc), and clarity and honesty feel out of reach, the easiest way to dig it back is not to beat yourself up over inadequate skill, but to find that love in other stuff. Reading is writing in the same way firewood is flame. The spark happens in your mind.

[wearwind-ao3]

also because I just saw someone being like "I don't wanna read and imitate other people, I wanna write like myself!" and had feelings about it:

girl. I am holding you so gently right now. this is abject loneliness that you're subjecting yourself to. reading other people's thoughts doesn't take away from your own perspective, but what it gives you is the words to express yourself so that you will understand you. It gives you the literary vocabulary (images! symbols! metaphors! comparisons! pacing!) of your culture/s of choice, and shows you how use them to make sense of what you feel and what want to say, and then express it in a way that other people will understand you too. Literature isn't a rally where there's one voice blaring out for others to listen, it's a conversation. You're writing to be read. You and your readers will need a common language. You acquire that language by reading widely. And then not only do you get better at expressing your feelings to others, you find others who feel the same, and suddenly the world's a greater and more beautiful place where you can go, "you too?! I thought it was just me!"

I promise this is not taking one whit of your individuality away. You might be exposing yourself to all of those outside influences but the I in the centre, the mind that decides and interacts and feels, that's the voice that will always be unique. You just gotta channel it in a way that can be understood.

If you wanna write: read. Please.

[paper-mario-wiki]

do not forget the patron saint of these weeks that we celebrate ourselves proudly and openly in the streets

her name was Marsha P Johnson, and we have her to thank for so much.

remember, the first Pride was a riot, and she was one of the brave souls who endured it to help carve the path which so many of us walk today. she helped found several activist groups regarding LGBT safety and wellbeing. and she was absolutely radiant, too.

thank you, Marsha. we remember you.

[theocseason4]

[longscorsese]

king

[puertohurraco]

King

[vortigone]

[occidentalist]

“Pack it up boys we’ve made a social blunder” is the funniest sentence I’ve ever read 😭😭😭😭😭