Into the Eye Behind the Chapter(s) 54 - 60
Chapter 54
Moltisanti Villa
The Moltisanti Villa is inspired off of ancient Roman villas, specifically Villa Poppaea
Villa Poppaea - Wikipedia
Fight Scene
The fight scene towards the end is taken from the opening scene of Romeo & Juliet, the very famous "do you bite your thumb at us sir?"
Chapter 55
Laenor's song
Laenor sings Surrender by Cheap Trick to Helaena after she got hurt. Helaena's verse includes a joke that Tyroshi recruiting gays for the war but her fathers are definitely not gay.
Sports Game
I included a sports game because my friend S messaged me saying "fanfiction should have more sports" and complaoned about how organized sports are almost never featured in fictional world and she argued it's good for battle prep, staying in shape, and fun. So she found an ancient roman organized sport for me to use for Myr since I drew off of Italy/Ancient Rome for inspiration for Myr.
This conversation is very funny considering S is not in the HOTD fandom and will never read my work but she has repeatedly helped me research for it.
Harpastum - Wikipedia
We don't have a ton of information on Harpastum rules so I borrowed from another game believed to have been a revival of Harpastum that is still played today
Calcio storico fiorentino - Wikipedia
Giovanni's Sonnet
The opening line is from a Shakespeare sonnet, the rest was written by me, I had originally intended to write all fourteen lines but it's not easy trying to write a poem so I cut down the lines.
The Play
The play Lorenzo takes Helaena too is Coriolanus. The concessions they eat are based off of what concessions would've been sold during that time.
There were no dress circle lounges nor mezzanine bars 400 years ago. Back then, audience snacked on cold nibbles and ready-made street food
Chapter 56
Caterpillar Brows
Caterpillar Brows is a faceless assassin... we'll see how and if that comes up in the next arc.
The green drink
Helaena drinks absinthe which has a 45 - 74% alcohol by volume so she is... very drunk. It also allegedly has hallucingenic effects. And according to @brielyse95 tastes awful.
Chapter 57
(see Romeo & Juliet section and Lorenzo's Death for details)
Chapter 58
Helaena's being raised by dramatic gay dads so they raced back to their quarters to catch her in the act of sneaking back in.
"reeling ripe" is an old timey word for drunk
Chapter 59
Again we see Helaena being haunted by the life she should've had when she notices a girl about her age with a baby. Her thinking "my night is young and full of merriment" is taken from GoT Melisandre saying "the night is dark and full of terrors." Helaena is boldly in defiance of her fate and traditional symbolism of nighttime, instead finding pleasure and youthfullness in it.
The stag, wolf, and dragon costumes are an Easter egg for Robert, Lyanna, and Rhaegar.
Stags, or stag antlers can also be used to symbolized being cucked or made a cuckhold which is why Helaena laughs at the costume.
Chapter 60
Helaena's sexuality is something that is continually explored by her as the story goes on. Originally she's labeled as "frigid" for not particularly being enthusiastic about physical intimacy in the Volantis whorehouse which Helaena believes. Now that she's a couple years older she finds herself wondering if she was truly frigid or just a child (it's the latter).
The poison Helaena has heard tales of is the strangler, the poison that will eventually kill Joffrey Baratheon.
Strumpet is an old timey word for slut.
An original purpose of bridesmaids was to protect from kidnappers and evil spirits, hence why her and Chiara are dressed similar.
Lobster's were originally food for poor people, hence why Lorenzo shows disdain at the idea of eating one. It's like she's talking about wanting to eat cheap ramen.
Romeo & Juliet
This arc is heavily inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet.
Brielyse95 helped reassign the names of the different characters and here's her reasoning behind them:
Moltisanti- Many saints, this family is the patron of the temple
Coppola - made hats, now patron of the arts
Romeo: Giovani- means “god is gracious” there’s an association with divine favor and benevolence. It’s also the Italian version of John and usually refers to John the Baptist someone o felt was the first missionary in Christianity and the name Romeo means pilgrim to Rome or someone from Rome. I felt the Giovanni was the closest in meaning and association to the name of the character
Juliet: Chiara- so the name for Juliette means young girl and I wanted something similar-ish, the problem with her name is that it would’ve been too obvious who she was and I didn’t want to be corny so I chose a name that meant bright and clear, Romeo was know to be into the arts and I imagine that “love at first sight” to an artist would feel like clarity. The name is also associated with
Saint Clare of Assisi is primarily known as the founder of the Order of Poor Ladies, which later became known as the Poor Clares,and for her embrace of a life of poverty and prayer. She was a close follower of Saint Francis of Assisi and is known for her profound spirituality, courage, and dedication to her religious order. She is also the patron saint of television and those with eye diseases.
Friar Lawrence: Federico- means peaceful ruler and I wanted to acknowledge the friar’s intentions for peace despite the fact that it goes awry in the original play.
Tybalt: Leonardo- The name's core meaning revolves around the idea of a lion's bravery and strength, conveying a sense of courage and fearlessness, I felt this was a good name for someone who was hotheaded and thought more with his sword, especially because Tybalt’s motives with in the play revolve around his family’s honor and pride
Mercutio: Alessandro- defender of man kind or defender of men, Mercutio dies in defense of Romeo
Benvolio: Lorenzo- primarily means "from Laurentum" or "crowned with laurel". Laurentum was a city in ancient Rome, and laurel wreaths symbolized victory and honor. In some adaptation of the play that I’ve seen it’s usually Benvolio who honors Romeo and Juliette after they’ve passed. I also think think about the association with nature and felt that Benvolio was one of the characters that was most down to earth.
Count Paris: Francesco- means Frenchman and well… this one was just lack of creativity on my part, Paris a city in France and thus Francesco the Frenchman.
Rosaline: Sofia- means wise, she was definitely wise to not continue a connection the the son of her enemy house.
Nurse: Alessia- similar to Alessandro, the nurse was Juliette’s primary defender so to speak and I wanted to find a way to honor that and give her an actual name.
Prince Escalus: Aurelius- I named him after a political philosopher
The monologue she hears when first stepping foot on to Myr (chapter 54) is from the opening monologue of Romeo & Juliet
The fight scene from Chapter 54 is based on the opening scene in Romeo & Juliet
Chapter 57 Helaena comments that she hears a nightingale only to find out its a lark. This is inspired off of a scene in R&J where Juliet argue over whether a bird is a nightingale or lark, as she's trying to get Romeo to stay longer.
In Chapter 58 Alessandro (Mercutio)'s outfit is inspired by Romeo + Juliet 1996. During the party scene he dresses in drag and does a dance performance. Alessandro doing this in my fic is a nod to the 1996 film
Some of the dialogue of everyone teasing Giovanni is also taken from Romeo & Juliet from the scene where Mecrutio entices Romeo to going to the party.
Lorenzo's Death
Lorenzo's death has been foreshadowed since the start of the Myr arc:
When Helaena first steps onto the Myr dock, the first thing she hears is the opening monologue from Romeo & Juliet, which tells the audience the lovers will die. She has a feeling of dread which foreshadows that this arc will end in a tragedy.
Lorenzo for a first date takes her to a temple that contains his family crypt.
in Chapter 59 Helaena dresses up as a monarch butterfly and it's mentioned that it's a marigold yellow. Monarchs and marigolds in Mexican culture are associated with day of the dead.
Lorenzo dresses up as a moth, which can symbolize death. When Helaena offers to switch costumes and he declines, it's a sign that only he is the one marked for death of the two.
At the end of the night Lorenzo goes to kiss Helaena but is interrupted by Alessandro calling for him, foreshadowing the abrupt end of the relationship.
In chapter 60 Helaena hears an owl when she goes back to the temple where the Moltisanti crypts are - owls can also be used to symbolize death and foreboding.
Lorenzo gives Helaena a tear drop shaped pearl that's blue right before going into the market where he'll die... I was getting heavy handed with it lol.
Why Did You Have to Kill Lorenzo You Monster?
Short answer: Drama & My mutuals.
The Myr arc went through multiple edits. It was originally supposed to be a brief blip, only like maybe 10K in total. Lorenzo was going to die but not have a romantic relationship. It got suggested by Brielyse95 that I turn Lorenzo into her first boyfriend, so to speak, and that would make the death more impactful.
And even though it was HER idea, she's been calling me a whore and a monster for the past couple months leading up to this arc. IT WAS HER IDEA! He was just going to be some guy that died! Helaena was going to have a normal time in Myr eating lemon cakes and playing sports and some guy was gonna die and we were all going to go: damn and move on but nooooooooooooooooooooooooo Brie said Lorenzo should be her boyfriend. This pain? The pain you feel? The pain that she feels? SHE CAUSED IT! And then she's been spending weeks, months, going "and then you kill him" every time I developed his character!
The insane thing is, she's mild compared to the way Reddish bullies me! The Hague is going to show our DMs in court for war crimes you monster. "Have mutuals" they said, "it'll be fun" they said. THEY'VE UNIONIZED AGAINST ME! THEY'RE WRITING FRUSTRATINGLY EXCELLENT REVENGE MPREG! They're calling me a monster whilst turning around and dropping anvils on my favorite characters.
That mpreg is at 71K now... do you know what it's like to have seventy-one thousand words of revenge mpreg written for you? I am either greatly loved or hated behind belief let me tell you.
They're monsters! All of them.
...
Anyways
I also ended up deciding to make it inspired by Romeo & Juliet due to destructive family feuds being something that is a struggle Helaena has and will deal with.
Lorenzo's death was originally going to be via a Faceless Assassin using the strangler poison, but when my mutuals read it they found him dying during the sword fight in the courtyard.
Behind the Chapter Masterpost