01). ❝ BITE, BITE, BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU : ❞
PRIVATE, PERSONAL INTERPRETATION OF MARGARET DAINO FROM ARKASHA STEVENSON'S 2O24 FILM, THE FIRST OMEN. BY NADYA. SHE / HER. 24. LESBIAN. NOT CONFINED TO THE FILM'S TIMELINE. EXTREMELY SELECTIVE WITH MUTUALS & RARELY FOLLOWS FIRST. SEVERAL CROSSOVER VERSES PENDING. DUPE FRIENDLY. * HEAVY (ANTI)RELIGIOUS THEMES !!
HOUSE OF THE DRAGON / ASOIAF VERSE, SETTINGS : ASSHAI, WESTEROS, ETC. NOTE : MARGARET’S HOUSE WILL ALWAYS BE PLOT DEPENDENT.
margaret of house (??), born daino of asshai was conceived through the careful planning, magic - wielding, & dark witchcraft of an unchecked, radical sect of the red priests of r'hllor. [the intention behind margaret’s conception being the eventual birth of her son - the catalyst for the long night] both margaret & her child would be of the same parentage, fathered by (THE GREAT OTHER) under the control of the red sect & spelled to do their bidding. they remain hidden within the darkness of stygai, the corpse city. upon her birth, margaret is integrated into house ??, believed to be the new born daughter of the lord & his lady wife. in truth, their daughter did not survive the birth & was skillfully replaced with the fire priests’ creation. margaret does not have an easy youth, her hallucinations, night terrors, & aggressive outbursts ALL SIDE EFFECTS OF HER DARK CAPABILITIES, [x] result in a severe level of inflicted control. she is often locked in her rooms & sometimes restrained to the bed if her behavior is uncontrollable. margaret, every so often, speaks or yells in a strange, unfamiliar language (the language of asshai). though she never remembers these moments & cannot speak the language at will.
eventually, margaret is extracted & taken back to asshai to unknowingly copulate with the great other, her father, & conceive the shadow. (THE SHADOW OF THE GREAT OTHER WILL BE SACRIFICED DURING THE LONG NIGHT - SIGNIFYING AN END TO THE LASTING OPPOSITION OF THE LORD OF LIGHT, AZOR AHAI) most of margaret’s time back in asshai is filled with pain, betrayal, & confusion as she is forced to come to terms with the truth of her origins. despite having a deep, intrinsic knowledge that she did not belong in westeros, she never would have guessed that the very blood running through her veins, the magic imbued into her bones would be cause for such revulsion, born of the utter perversion of sorcery and the red god. [due to the influence of the magic of the great others, margaret is automatically disliked by dragons. they can sense / smell it in her blood] despite being loyal to team black, margaret takes great care to keep out of their path. her one & only run in with a dragon would have been the end of her if not for the intervention of their rider.
in the chaos following the birth of her son, margaret flees the shadowlands to sothoryos. not knowing any better, she heads directly for wyvern point, where many have met their end. in the cover of night, she's happened upon by one of the dreaded shadow - wing wyvern, of which she's only heard tales. she accepts her fate, closing her eyes in surrender before the wyvern settles in beside her, watching over her all night. now, she is free to escape anywhere she wants.
(the last bit is purely self serving & basically goes against the book canon notion that any amount of wyvern population in an inhabited area would lead to the total wiping out of any current residents. in my mind / verse, this is overshadowed by margaret's bond to the wyvern.)
LOW ACTIVITY PSA : hi friends <3, please expect a dip in my (admittedly already sporadic) activity as of late! i'm beginning a new full time 9-5 job tomorrow that will take up a lot of my current free time. it's remote so luckily no commute but i do worry about my desire to be here writing after already spending my workday on my laptop. that being said, i am feeling pretty inspired as of late & plan to continue riding the wave of that energy for as long as it lasts! if you would like to keep in better touch, plot, etc. through disc just send me a mssg :)
from the memes listed here, @omargaret 𝚂𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝙵𝚁𝙾𝙼 𝙰𝙱𝙾𝚅𝙴 : " you can think what you want. "
WHAT A WRETCHED THING, PARTING A CHILD FROM THEIR MOTHER ! but damien is 𝖓𝖔 child of this woman, HE IS THE CHILD OF THE JACKAL ; born from the womb of a beast ... at least, that was what the man was lead to believe— told by both fabricated scripture & the clever tongues of those that MANIPULATED THE MANIPULATOR. narrowing coal 𝖇𝖑𝖆𝖈𝖐 eyes, so unlike the woman's before him & so like the father who reigns the fiendish plains below, he appears on edge.
he is on edge.
everything about him recognizes 𝖐𝖎𝖓𝖘𝖍𝖎𝖕 in the woman before him when it should not, and red flags are raised ; the prickle of power ebbing from the pale panes of his skin in warning. harm and be harmed, leave now and you MIGHT YET SURVIVE.
" and you know what i think? " 𝖆 𝖕𝖆𝖚𝖘𝖊, unmoving and unearthly still before his lips shape words once more, commanding with them the power to level mountains and move seas. " LEAVE, now. " for while he would never in this life, nor in whatever life he may or may not live after this one, admit it: he was afraid. like he once was, a young boy discovering his blood was foul; his destiny a scourge and his existence? an abomination against THOSE HE HAD ONCE LOVED.
THE COLD PLANES OF HIS SEMI - FAMILIAR FACE, like a noteworthy stranger passing by you never think you'll see again. margaret forces herself to linger on the features where they differ, pointedly ignoring the aspects that strike a bitter chord, (HE LOOKS LIKE HIS SISTER), she'd cut the thought from her brain if she could. none of it matters if they'll never be together. the simple tragedy of circumstance, of being dragged into a world of cruelty - only to be taught how hard you can bite back.
ONCE SHARPENED TEETH REVERT TO BLUNT EDGES,
❝ okay, i'll go. ❞ what would he think if he knew [ how like them ] he is? those fervid believers who would bring about their own destruction if it meant they could inject their faith into all - wielding the power of fear.
does he enjoy it? THE WAY THEY DID, the taste of terror on his tongue. she's felt it only once, that deadly rush of power. when she watched cardinal lawrence drown in his own blood. ❝ but that's it, once i'm gone - you'll never see me again. ❞ or her. as of yet, she can't tell IF HE'LL EVEN CARE. & if he does? if he doesn't? she struggles to decide which would be worse. if her son proves her right or proves her wrong.
Belief is power. Now, how do you control people who no longer believe in your stories of fire and brimstone? People who do not seem to fear? You create something to fear.
ALWAYS TUGGING AT THE UNFAMILIAR CUT of her clothing, the fabric that clings to her skin rather than laying atop it. all stitched together in an effort to draw the eye, trace across the lines & curves on display. nothing present to hide behind - to preserve her modesty, or (allow her to fade into the shadows). no, tonight she is just screaming to be seen. perhaps the discomfort stems from a place of truth, she's cut wide open so passing eyes might behold ALL THE DESPERATION INSIDE.
❝ wasn't so bad? ❞ genuine disbelief coloring the panicked tone of her rebuttal. of all the scenarios she dreamed up, somehow the real outcome felt worse. WANDERING HOME IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT, having just barely outrun the flashing lights. ❝ they called the cops- i was almost arrested! ❞ margaret forces herself to [inhale / exhale] at a steady rate, never too fast in an effort to avoid hyperventilating.
margaret daino is a 21 year old ward of the church, raised in pittsfield, massachusetts & unknowingly herded back to vatican city, under the guise of taking her finals vows, in order to fulfill what they consider to be her birthright. (𝘛𝘏𝘌𝘠, being the radical believers within the catholic church who conspired to impregnate her with the supposed antichrist in the hopes of driving people back into the church). maggie is a mostly devout young woman who believes the many troubles of her youth were only overcome by her commitment to her faith. while in this new place, maggie meets carlita. a young woman who reminds her of herself & turns out to be her 'sister' of sorts. another scianna, planned & conceived by the church. another offspring of the jackal.
despite the church's somewhat barbaric methods of keeping her under control as a child, she was ultimately grateful for the outcome. believing that her hallucinations were cured by their 'care' - rather than repressed by her own will. as the truth of her origins is slowly unraveled, so is her hold on her demonic capabilities which are what truly causes her 'hallucinations'. (more on that here) unfortunately for margaret, it all comes to light far too late. just as the church had planned, maggie conceives & gives birth to twins. one of which they have been waiting for for many years. a boy. damien. while they make off with their creation, maggie, her daughter [damien's twin sister] & the jackal [her birth father who r*ped & impregnated her with the twins], are all left behind to burn. margaret & her daughter are saved by carlita while the jackal continues to burn. from there, they are on the run.
following the events of the film, margaret is now a new, ill - prepared single mother, left to fend for herself, carlita & her daughter. it takes time, but eventually (thanks to the natural death of it's previous owner) the girls acquire a cabin out in the woods & begin to live off the land. margaret teaches herself a lot about food, medicine, & using the resources available to her. she does her best to teach carlita & her daughter once she's old enough, fearing the worst outcome is on it's way to her. that the church will find them.
• religion is a closed box that margaret never again opens, forever scarred by the reality of the life... [the lies] she partook in for so many years. instead, maggie teaches herself & the girls about all kinds of religions, spiritual beliefs, etc. as they navigate the formation of their own sets of values, beliefs, & moral codes.
margaret's word choice when she prays is so interesting to me, the way it more so resembles something like words of affirmation rather than speaking out towards another entity for guidance
" i am accepted, and i am loved. it is good that i exist. "
it makes me wonder if it was something that she came up with herself or if it was taught to her. like a coping method to repeat in order to calm herself down. PLS i swear i need to rewatch this film like 100 times to really (get it) the way i want to
but it also makes me wonder what her inner monologue is like because it almost seems as if she's fighting back against something. whether that is the things she was convinced of as a young girl, that she was "bad" or something more tangible, like a voice in her head that whispers sentiments of an opposing nature is anyone's guess. maybe i will settle on something a little more concrete as i dig deeper into my development. just rambling !
✟ ❛ FUCK THIS PLACE. SERIOUSLY, JUST FUCK THIS PLACE. ❜ — @norgodly (robin b.)
THE INSTINCTUAL TIGHTENING OF YOUR SHOULDERS, unaccustomed to the casual use of such coarse language but intrigued by it all the same. the voices had often sworn at you in your youth : VILE, TERRIBLE THINGS. but robin's fervent over-use of the word doesn't turn your stomach in the same way. so, moth to the flame, you imagine the word on your own tongue. how shamelessly it might pass through your lips. ❝ YEAH, FUCK THIS PLACE. ❞ not so confidently delivered, but the smile on your lips warns it may not be the last time you let it slip.
❝ WHY EXACTLY? ❞ you had your own issues with the graveyard attached to the old church, horrible memories that haunted your days & nights. ❝ DID SOMETHING HAPPEN TO YOU HERE? ❞ could these horrors have tormented someone else? ( is there a chance that i'm not crazy? ) oh, you dare to dream. . .
