“Daeron is a great bridge between the Targaryens and Dunk and Egg, because he’s been hardened, or softened by the brutality and being part of that family. He’s not a good man in the way he behaves, but he is in his heart. So, it’s that struggle between self-preservation and doing the right thing, his love for his brother and for himself, or hatred of himself being a Targaryen. He’s so self-destructive and almost wants to burn down everything around him. The tragic thing about him is that you see this untapped potential beneath the exterior, with his incredibly powerful gift of prophetic dreams and being able to see the future. If he were able to harness that, it would be one of the most powerful things ever, and he's the firstborn son, too. His potential is huge, but he can't handle it. It's a sad story because, like addiction, he's just surrendering himself to it.”
"Their hair is white," he says.
"What?"
"Their hair. It's white, like properly white—"
"Jesus, are they in their eighties?"
"—white as in—no, they're my age. I thought they bleached it, but it's natural."
"Natural white hair."
"Whole family's got it. Met their da, he's the same."
pairing: dunk/aerion | chapters: 11/? | rating: M | word count: 43,736 | updating: once a week | tags: alternate universe - modern setting, fluff, sexual tension, alternate universe - bar/pub, class differences, london, pov alternating, modern era, getting together, strangers to lovers, angst with a happy ending, humor, texting, mutual pining, slow burn, idiots in love
a love letter to london pubs and a modern au that nobody asked for.
“There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more I am dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of merit or sense.”
"Nice characters are boring" to YOU. I love characters who no matter what, will always have genuine love for humanity in their heart. Characters who dance and laugh and sing with sincerity. Characters who believe in others, and are willing to extend a helping hand to people when no one gave them the same luxury. Characters who have gone through so much but believe, no matter what, that humanity and life is something beautiful and worth protecting
The impulse cuts through before Aerion can stop it.
"There'll be beer pong, probably," he turns, words tumbling out. "And my cousin's friends are, as I said, unbearable, so I'll need someone to talk to, someone normal—"
Dunk's searching his face, eyes wide, mouth slightly agape and for a second, Aerion thinks fuck, bloody hell, fuck, what the fuck am I saying?
"—so, do you want to come?"
Aerion frantically clicks the end of the pen up and down on the table as Arlan reads from the laptop. His ears ring with the echo of his own voice, and he keeps his eyes locked on Dunk's in a desperate gamble.
The table gives a sudden jolt. Tanselle, hidden beneath, has given Dunk a strong kick.
"Uhhh," Dunk finally manages, rubbing his shin. "You're asking me to your cousin's engagement party."
"That's what I said."
"Me?"
"Yes."
Bloody hell.
"Right." Dunk moves his head left to right, leans in. Voice low, meant only for Aerion's ears, but Tanselle is leaning so far forward she's practically in the conversation. "As your what exactly?"
pairing: dunk/aerion | chapters: 8/15 | rating: M | modern au, strangers to lovers, class differences, slow burn
a love letter to london pubs and a modern au that nobody asked for.
UPDATED APRIL 2025 (previous version | oldest version)
the links broke again so this time we're trying the tumblr image links and hope they don't spontaneously break (as has been known to happen) 🤞
Are you frustrated you can't leave second kudos on AO3? or third kudos? or whatever-who's-counting kudos?
Well, have I got the html for you!
Plop any of the codes in a comment (by copy&pasting the code under Keep reading - scroll to the bottom of the post) to make an author's day and show your appreciation!
bonus: cookie kudos
SCROLL DOWN TO GET THE CODES (under the cut)!
Feel free to spread and use these as much as you like, however you like!
[ if you enjoy them, consider supporting my ko-fi ]
I've received a lot of good suggestions for more variants but can't keep up with them all, so here are some resources to make it easier to make your own.
PSD for easily editable text (there is a color fill layer for adding a bit of white where the stroke doesn't cover small holes. I recommend cropping excess empty space out before exporting as PNG)
and here are PNGs of the kudos button for any other editing needs, with and without white stroke:
Use your favorite image host, copy the direct image link, insert it between the quotation marks in the code, add alt text, and you're ready!
<img src="[DIRECT IMAGE LINK]" alt="[ALT TEXT]">
(you can add any image or gif to a comment like this as long as you have the direct image link btw)
if you post your kudos images, I'd be grateful if you'd link back to this post so other people can find the resources too 💗
When you paste into the AO3 comment box, make sure the quotation marks are straight:
NOT curly:
simply deleting and re-typing them in the ao3 comment box should fix this!
Many of the old image links from the original post are broken. I cannot fix them. Please use the new codes going forward ❤️
Second kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/7a59d6a32ace63cdcce3911d529f8b88/08d1854086a423d0-e6/s250x400/3e75997487cf31a3ddd8d9314e78d3d63985ec7d.png" alt="second kudos">
Third kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/867894b77aae146acc60c681d556e02f/08d1854086a423d0-16/s250x400/83741777e69d723c92497dbc8909c1989bcfd8ac.png" alt="third kudos">
yet another kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/05ec40eaf2f6948ddcfd58e7b3f6289f/08d1854086a423d0-4a/s250x400/30f9e4560583a7e145ba9869c1650ee79cd989eb.png" alt="yet another kudos">
ALL the kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/ae814ede90f2637ce1e58decbe783dc1/08d1854086a423d0-1e/s250x400/c52bf3d8f978b90f9fa00fee6d748fab31ba74d2.png" alt="ALL the kudos">
Heaps of kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/79486036ed102d1d6bbdcfdde40cfce0/08d1854086a423d0-97/s250x400/562c7913b5c04a0be3ae88aefb0c7b52a677de98.png" alt="Heaps of kudos">
Kisses your forehead kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/59d6eef76163bef189aab485c889d938/08d1854086a423d0-f7/s250x400/9afad07e80307757b08a752ae93d0ca30bd75f13.png" alt="Kisses your forehead kudos">
Reading in public kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/2c2ef21138ac15cd86c940e18f026f18/08d1854086a423d0-9e/s250x400/1089607ba50414159c44322a09159017251b34db.png" alt="Reading in public kudos">
This is the sole reason my sleep schedule is being ruined kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/b6c7385c4b2a18d2bdd7b2f7809f7679/08d1854086a423d0-96/s250x400/34d3bdd8263439d9ebff3a630c4ff785221da2d2.png" alt="This is the sole reason my sleep schedule is being ruined kudos">
Should be sleeping kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/fc26ea389c37ea36f7842bc7b9af0ddf/08d1854086a423d0-61/s100x200/f0959d6bfc6e5c7ced8e95bd4732a175f1b153a1.png" alt="Should be sleeping kudos">
Should be working kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/960404eda62b6161dfc5293ffbd60067/08d1854086a423d0-16/s250x400/1285e4b0e3a224a697ed7e2361ceeae383b297b3.png" alt="Should be working kudos">
Read the whole fic in one go kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/dcc0ff353b88330dcc32d0ce42126472/08d1854086a423d0-c7/s250x400/fe64765f47a12175372d9bbc69897c03b90e173a.png" alt="Read the whole fic in one go kudos">
what about elevenses kudos:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/33235fdbdca4deb1f0332efe25278473/08d1854086a423d0-41/s250x400/3790c6b7c260468371f54c5d30194b07941ecbb2.png" alt="what about elevenses kudos">
You've already left kudos here!:
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/3d7f5de5f16d1740360d9b264fc31d46/08d1854086a423d0-ae/s250x400/bdbfed76d384df20c1b8972f99de791e172c5c4b.png" alt="You've already left kudos here!">
You have already left kudos here. :) (red AO3 box):
<img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/f3ab87c7fa67958f45798af8f83fef41/08d1854086a423d0-27/s500x750/978088884e0431616ff413f1401706617cf5c447.png" alt="You have already left kudos here. :)">
Other links
answered asks about broken kudos links
all answered asks/fulfilled requests/misc related to this post
maekar gotta be my favorite of the random fuckass targaryens. hes fucked over by birth and being so far down the succession that nobody cares about him but the pressure of simply being royalty makes all his kids losers. and then his dad and all his brothers die horrifically and he’s left standing there like. ?????????? okay? and then after spending his entire life prepping for war and being the only competent commander in the room his reign has no wars. and then he gets killed by a random fuckass rock at starpike. free my mans seriously
All of us were like, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry about like, Victor and John and everything," but oh my god, I've never felt sexier. — Claudia Jessie, about Eloise being dressed in dark colors (x)
Eloise Bridgerton's mourning clothes
BRIDGERTON 4.07 – The Beyond
