Breeding Lilacs Out of the Dead Land

On further reflection, I have decided that my name is not something I particularly want to publicise. Use whatever pronouns you please. And since I have no means of enforcing a DNI list and frankly don't understand most of them, please just settle for not being a dickhead in my inbox.

[chanth-thara]

okay, i’m curious. let’s play a game. reblog this post and put in the tags the name of a fictional Indigenous character.

No headcanons, no ‘coding’, only CANONICALLY Indigenous characters. You have unlimited time. Go.

[chanth-thara]

if another FUCKING person mentions the fucking werewolves from twilight I'm going to burn this whole site down and take you all with me

[thornfield13713]

so, would you ever write a story featuring A/B/O or 'waking up as another version of yourself'? Or both? Actually, both would be wild- imagine being in a normal world and then waking up in an A/B/O universe, that would be deeply weird.

It- really would, wouldn't it?

And- huh. Okay, I had thought a lot about 'waking up as another version of yourself' (if I ever get to the point of making it an actual series, the Great Interdimensional Clex Matchmaking Project, in which I throw Smallville's Lex Luthor at versions of Clark Kent who aren't terrible, might feature that trope in one story), but not so much A/B/O beyond just- idly toying with how it would work in various settings, but- hm.

Okay, so, I am in the build-up to House of the Dragon right now, interested to see how they'll adapt the next stretch of the material and very much looking forward to the battle above the Gods' Eye, and- it might actually be really intriguing to play around with this in some contexts. Because- hm. The thing is, pregnancy/childbirth has historically been such a big part of what edges women out of power. It still is a big part of women's financial disadvantages - the time taken off work for pregnancies, the physical toll it takes, the way it affects how people think of you - so having a subsection of men also capable of it means that either we have to completely restructure how we think of gender...or we can just divide our society by who can/cannot give birth.

There's a rather good A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms fic out there playing with the idea that Targaryens can shift secondary genders...not at will, but through a usually-not-that-demanding process. And that's a really interesting idea in a feudal society, because what does a world built on these strictly gendered ideas of hierarchy/power do with that sort of sexual/reproductive fluidity? But I really don't want to step on the author's toes by stealing their idea, so we'll put that on the shelf for now (however cool the idea that Targaryens, like their dragons, are just sort of inherently fluid like that might be. Like- genuinely, even if you take out the A/B/O angle, 'Targaryens can just shift physical sex (if not necessarily gender, which is a whole 'nother kettle of fish) whenever they want' is a really fun premise). So, in honour of their impending demise, let's inflict this particular horror on Aemond and Daemon, because- they are pretty terrible people, but damned if they're not entertaining and sticking them in a gender-related torment nexus sounds like a reasonably amusing way to spend an evening.

Another aspect that might be fun to play with is the sort of- reversing the gender situation a bit for Daemon and Rhaenyra, but also playing around a bit with the idea that- secondary gender doesn't present until adolescence, meaning that people are often raised based on what people predict their secondary gender will be...only to get blindsided when they present as the opposite. In this case, both Daemon and Rhaenyra presented late, 15-16 or so. So Rhaenyra presents as an alpha out of nowhere at 15, shortly after her mother and brother's deaths, and- okay. One headache done for Viserys, he now has his heir. On the other, Rhaenyra now has to learn all the expected things for an alpha in Westeros in something of a crash course, as everyone was assuming that she'd be a beta or omega. For Rhaenyra, this works out pretty okay, particularly as Otto Hightower is just- okay, score, my daughter is already the princess's closest companion, so either I can take a chance on her bearing the king alpha sons...or I can marry her to the alpha daughter heir that already exists and get my grandchildren on the Iron Throne whatever happens...just so long as Viserys doesn't manage to produce an alpha son in the meantime. (Westeros taking the 'second breakfast' approach to sexism.)

For Aemond, this means that he wakes up- I'm going to stick him back in early childhood for this one, as a personal torment for him. He's the age he was for the 'Pink Dread' prank, that same bullied child who longed for a dragon of his own. Worse, he doesn't even have the bastardy thing to hold over the Strong boys anymore, because nobody is really batting an eye at the fact that some of the Princess Rhaenyra's children take after her wife. So not only is he right back in the most powerless/miserable time of his life, but also his hated nephews are now his brothers and he's expected to act like his (insert string of misogynistic abuse here) sister is his mother. Oh, and he can't go and claim Vhaegar, because Laena is still alive.

For Daemon...he's getting zapped right back to just before his wedding to Rhea Royce, only his situation is so much worse this time, because- okay, he has Caraxes, at least, but every other piece of power he had has been stripped from him, and on top of that, he now needs to face all the expectations of a wife in Westeros. Who he is has not inherently changed, nor has his tendency to buck against expectations, but he's going to get met with a much harsher response this time, because an omega acting the way Daemon does is something regarded with far less leniency. Like- 'the Rogue Prince' has a certain glamour to it, a certain amount of- yeah, he's a troublemaker, but he's just so damn cool. He's not getting any of that liberty this time, and even if he can just fly away on Caraxes, it's going to be much harder to make a life for himself that way.

Are either of them going to grow and learn valuable lessons from this? I genuinely have no idea, but it'd be an interesting situation to see them grapple with.

[neko-mancy]

just saw a "only one bed" fic with the major character death warning

[dontbreakthechain]

#i guess that's one way to solve that problem

[idabbleincrazy]

“This bed ain’t big enough for the both of us.”

[thornfield13713]

for the trope thing, character wakes up as AU version of themselves?

A+

It's harder to find and a bit more niche, but I just- I love this whole idea. It's a great way of doing outsider POV without the outsider, if that makes sense? It's also a great way of getting characters to reckon with their own choices/how their own lives have gone, and the assumptions they have always made. If I have one gripe, it's that it's sometimes hard to do plot with it in a way that really works, and it can sometimes get a bit self-indulgent, but- given that it's self-indulgent in a way that appeals to literally all my favourite things, I very rarely have a problem with it.

[thornfield13713]

Fanfic trope: fake relationships

A

Genuinely, this trope rocks. Like- you get forced proximity, which is always fun, you get a perfect excuse for both pining/yearning and fluffy romantic gestures...it's the best of all possible worlds in terms of getting as much as you possibly can out of a single trope. It can be silly or plotty, fluffy, angsty, long-term or short term- fake relationships are the little black dress of fanfiction clichés, and I adore them.

[thornfield13713]

A/B/O?

C+

My principal interest in this trope is- mostly around the worldbuilding? Particularly in historical settings, or settings with stricter societal gender roles, because- look, an ABO setting has, in practice, something like six formally-recognised genders. How does any given world handle that? Is primary or secondary gender considered more important? What does being trans or nonbinary look like in an A/B/O universe? How does this create new rules and new social expectations, or turn those we're familiar with on their heads? How do changed gender norms/expectations affect characters? What does having a secondary set of sexual characteristics which may only manifest in adolescence mean for the way this world approaches gender and gendered differences in upbringing? Honestly, the A/B/O setting is a really interesting worldbuilding opportunity for anyone interested in examining any of these subjects.

A lot of the time, fics get very biologically essentialist, which squicks me out a bit, and it is often an excuse to engage in some tropes that would read as pretty sexist, which- honestly, not my thing, but I do get why it's sometimes easier to read a degrading kink through the lens of that sort of distance from reality.

So- not one of my favourites, but I'll read it if I think it looks interesting/is doing something interesting with the concept, and I'm not saying I'd never write it, just that if I did, it would probably end up being about 80% worldbuilding and explorations of how characters relate to gender and maybe 5% smut. (Nothing against smut, I'm just not very confident writing it.)

[lazy8blog]

Give me a fanfiction trope and I’ll grade it:

A: Love it. Spend my time combing AO3 for it.

B: Like it. Not one of my bigger cravings, but it can scratch a certain itch if I’m in the right mood.

C: Neutral. A good author might be able to sell it, but a bad one will kill it deader than dead.

D: Not my favorite. I avoid it if I can, but it won’t necessarily put me off reading something.

F: Hate it. Will immediately make me nope out of a fic.

[eliotheman]

”This portrayal of a marginalized group was wrong then and is wrong now” and “This portrayal of a marginalized group was very progressive for the time period and paved the way for more representation while likely limited by factors outside of the creator’s control” are two statements that can and should ABSOLUTELY coexist and be kept in mind when interacting with older media

[lemonylemus]

Great example

[strayknight]

my main issue with making aus is that i will also make sub aus. like the au but theres some different significant change or addition to it. and ill keep making these in my brain until theres like an entire ecosystem of them

[hamelin-born]

@sparklecryptid It you.

...actually, this is true of just about any writer I've ever interacted with.

[sparklecryptid]

writers will be like: is anyone else going to think about AU from my brain or am I going to have make ten thousand subdivisions myself

[letseyx]

Smallville 4x09 - Bound

[saudades-whore]

#this scene was truly a new low #here we have active suicide risk lex luthor #telling clark with tears in his eyes that every day is a struggle and that for a moment he thought he deserved death #YEAH THAT'S NOT CONCERNING OK #but then #then!! #clark has the AUDACITY #to say he doesn't like that there's a side to lex he didn't know about #yeah that must be frustrating doesn't it clark#good thing you don't hide anything from lex right #cause that would make you EVIL obviously #oh? only when lex does it? #ok got it

YO these tags OP

[thornfield13713]

A reminder for those who have seen this episode, some useful information for those who have not: the terrible thing Lex has been hiding from Clark that made Clark feel like they were enemies was...Lex having consensual one-night stands with strangers approximately once a month.

[dalekpropaganda]

Basic question, but do Daleks like apples? I mean the saying is: an apple a day keeps the doctor away.

THE DALEKS WOULD LIKE APPLES MORE IF THAT WORKED. AND BELIEVE ME, WE HAVE TRIED.

[the-definite-article-official]

You just threw them at me. In no world would that have ever worked.

[dalekpropaganda]

ONE DAY, WE WILL THROW THEM HARD ENOUGH.

[thornfield13713]

what do you think of the notion that the Ashford tourney was rigged to give Valarr an easier shot?

I- think that's not quite what's going on, even if the effect is not dissimilar.

The thing is, we get a good look at what a fixed tourney looks like in The Mystery Knight, and even at that quite small event, it's damn near impossible to conceal that something is off about the jousting. I think the only one who doesn't know that it's rigged by the end is Daemon Blackfyre himself.

At Ashford, Valarr is in a position where he's one of Lady Gwin's champions, and thus people have to challenge him, rather than the other way around or a system where the lots choose opponents. And what's happening there? Every experienced jouster is just- not going up against him. Because they aren't going to deliberately lose, but they don't want to publicly humiliate Baelor's heir, either. I don't think this is deliberate match-fixing so much as it's just everyone making the same set of quiet political calculations, so the only people who actually challenge Valarr are the ones who either intend to lose on purpose, or who are pretty sure that he can beat them. And I think it sort of creates a self-perpetuating cycle where Valarr never faces a proper challenge, thus never improves at jousting, and thus nobody wants to properly challenge him for fear of humiliating him publicly. Unfortunately, this same situation is- obvious enough that even Dunk notices it in the book, so either way, Valarr comes off looking bad. No wonder he's drinking steadily through the whole tourney in the book, that has to be really frustrating.

(This last is why I sort of suspect Baelor's reputation for being just that good is entirely genuine, as people do notice this sort of match-fixing. Indeed, the proof that he is that good might well be that people didn't hesitate to challenge him back in the day.)

[urie]

did you receive abstinence only education in school? (and please say where your school is located in the tags)

yes

no

Remaining time: 1 day 11 hours

[thornfield13713]

so, what does the tourney being nine years ago instead of 16 change for the Lex-in-Westeros thing?

Given that my conceit was that that tourney was celebrating his birth? Kind of a lot.

Let's start with this- instead of being sixteen, a young knight making his tourney debut, at Ashford, Lex is nine, and probably only there to serve as his father's squire. He's also exactly of an age with Egg, which has potential for those two to strike up a friendship. (I rather enjoy the mental image of Egg mistaking Lex for a girl at first, as Lex is taking full advantage of having hair this time around. He will still end up completely bald eventually, but that's more an age/male-pattern baldness running in the family thing.)

I- sort of suspect that this version of Lex is rather an unnerving child. I suspect he would be under any circumstances, as being a child with the memories of a twenty-three-year-old is the sort of thing that makes anyone a bit unsettling, but the life Lex lived the first time around, and his horrible death by poisoning at the hands of his own father that brought him to Westeros, only makes that worse. He's too solemn, distrustful, disinclined to even try and make friends because he's so used to it going wrong, prone to fits of melancholy and outbursts of temper and eerily self-controlled when not in one of them. (Lex is pretty self-controlled as a rule, but the thing about being a child again is that age is physiological as much as psychological, and that does bring with it a certain loosening of control.) Lyonel- loves his son, but cannot even begin to understand him, and Lex's father trauma relating to the other Lionel isn't helping. I suspect Ashford, in this context, is at least in part an attempt at father-son bonding, taking his kid who's just old enough to be a squire along to see a tourney and get a feel for how things are done and maybe find something that the Laughing Storm has in common with his bookish little raincloud of a son.

So, what changes? Uh- I like the idea that both Egg and Lex are watching the puppet show when Aerion starts...Aerioning, Lex having taken one look at this obviously-lying-about-something bald kid who seems to be running from something and getting a rush of fellow-feeling. Open question whether Lex tries to stop it himself or runs to get someone, but- I lean towards the former, Lex is not great about going for help. Which means that the suit under discussion isn't just a random hedge knight in trouble for punching and kicking a prince, but also the heir to House Baratheon having bitten one. On the other hand, I do feel like Lex gets out of this one easily enough, but Dunk is probably still in the lurch.

[anonpolls]

A strange genie appears and has an offer for you. You’ll be cured of all, you’ll have a stable job you’re happy with, and you’ll basically just live the best life you can imagine. However, there’s a catch—you’ll have to relive one specific grade level from middle or high school (the genie is American).

Which would you pick?

6th grade

7th grade

8th grade

9th/freshman year

10th/sophomore year

11th/junior year

12th/senior year

decline the magician’s offer

none, i am the magician

answers to the magician

Voting ended onJun 18

Thanks, Anon!

-submit your poll!-

[thornfield13713]

We end on a Holtz-Angel confrontation, all high dramatics, which- uh- I have to be honest, Darla's death was the real emotional climax here, but- okay, sure, let's do this. This is also how Holtz finds out about the child. And for just one moment, facing down Angel with his newborn son in his arms, Holtz seems to relent, lowers his crossbow, and lets them go. Which is just- a great moment, even if it is going to turn out that he has bigger plans involving the child. Genuinely, as a villain concept, I love Holtz. Like- a concept like Angel's sort of requires some reckoning with the victims of his past, and Holtz is a sort of collective embodiment of everyone whose life Angelus ever destroyed for kicks. We'll see if Holtz can live up to the promise of that concept, but as a concept, it fucks severely.

And, like- the way Holtz turns to stare at the baby- maybe he's remembering having his own children, long ago, maybe he's already moved onto 'how can I use this to make Angel suffer as I have suffered', and even if he's not there yet, it won't be long until he is. And- oh, okay, no, he is fully already moved on to option B. Got to admire the persistence, honestly, even if Sahjan is as annoyed as I am by the way Holtz keeps shilly-shallying about this until Holtz makes that clear. But it's pretty clear just from the look on his face before Sahjan turns up that Holtz is just- a completely broken man. I do wish we got some more hints of who he was before his family got murked, just to get more of a sense of what that did to him, but- so far, it's not been a bad introduction.

Anyway, that wraps us up for 'Lullaby'. I'm going to be away next week - family thing back in Norway. That's the old country for my father's side of the family, and it'll be my first time seeing it, so- that's going to be fun. Until next time, then.

[thornfield13713]

The gang break through into the alley behind Caritas, Darla insisting that Angel should go on without her and Angel refusing, because of course he does. Also- oh dear. Lying down in a puddle does not actually seem like much of an improvement on being upright in this situation, honestly. Maybe less of one, as upright, one at least gets an assist from gravity. Then again, since Darla's suddenly out of labour anyway, maybe that isn't really relevant here. (Again, there has to be another demon obstetrician somewhere, none of these people has any medical training worth the name, and certainly not specialising in obstetrics.) At the very least, try and find a slightly drier patch of concrete. Meanwhile, Darla is having a bit of a breakdown over the whole 'once the baby is no longer in her, either because it's dead or it's born, she's going to be soulless again' situation.

And- okay- I do love Darla drawing the line between the stillbirth to come and Angel's own death in an alley, two hundred years ago. And the fact that even now, temporarily ensouled, Darla can't sincerely say sorry for that, because she's glad to have had him. And he can't tell her it's okay and she- clearly doesn't even really expect it, but- there's- yeah, the whole 'we didn't love each other, we weren't capable of love' thing is just- such obvious bullshit. Look at these two and tell me they never loved each other, I dare you. Even if it was horrifying, even if it led to them committing so many horrors together, to the point where maybe redemption isn't possible, maybe it's just all too much to atone for. But they loved each other. And now this child is, according to Darla, the one good thing they ever made together, which- the thing is. This could very easily have been effective and touching- if they'd let Darla want the pregnancy the whole time. Shift around her motives a bit between souled and unsouled, but the whole 'unsouled she doesn't want the kid, souled she does' situation is just- it leaves a bad taste in my mouth and sort of ruins the whole scene for me. Which is a shame, because the scene itself is well-written and actually very moving, and I really wish I could properly enjoy it. Like, her telling Angel to tell their kid that he was the one good thing they ever did together? That hurts, even with all my annoyance at the context.

Anyway, Darla then stakes herself, and dusts, and the infant Conner is left among the dust of her. Which- again, I get what they were trying to do, but the build-up just- wasn't there to make this work for me, and I- think it's a shame, because Darla deserved a truly magnificent send-off and this- could so easily have been- at least a good send-off, even if I don't love the 'death in childbirth' trope as a way of clearing female characters off the board.