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sephirothisaslut · 4 years

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I’m not fond of goodbyes... See you later?

The first time Cloud met the General was on an errand for Zack.

It was Sunday, and Zack had gotten drunk the day before. How he got drunk in the first place is a mystery, but Cloud suspects it’s just an excuse to sleep in. Zack sent him a rather long message via PHS apologizing to Cloud for the inconvenience, telling him to go to his mentor (Angeal) and explain Zack’s absence.

Rather annoyed with his friend, Cloud resorted with scolding him over the phone.

“Why can’t you text him? Do I really have to say it in-person? “

“Sorry Spiky but we were supposed to train today, and Angeal doesn’t allow phones in the training room.” Zack sounded sheepish. “look I’ll make it up to you. How about some Ice-cream? My treat!”

“Ugh, Zack you’re lucky I’m awake anyway. You know this is the only day Cadets can sleep in.”

“Yeah yeah, Thanks a lot Spike!”

“I hate you” Cloud said, hanging-up.

He gathered his bearings, woke himself properly and got dressed for the day.

Cloud made his way through the building and entered the elevator, pressing the SOLDIER floor. The building was rather quiet, save for the occasional pencil pusher. Seems like everyone slept in today, of course except Cloud. Grumbling at his predicament, Cloud exited the elevator and headed to the First-Class Training Room. He knocked and entered as the door slid open.

As he stepped inside, he froze. There in the middle of the room was the Silver General himself, arms crossed and clad in his usual attire. He lifted one eye-brow and spoke.

“What are you doing here Cadet?”, Sephiroth said with a snap.

“Se-Sir! Zack asked me to tell the Commander about his absence Sir!” Cloud replied in a salute.

“At ease Cadet. It seems that both of us are hear for the same reason.” Sephiroth explained with a smirk. “Angeal sent me to inform Zackary of his absence.”

“Sir?”

“Tell Zack that training is postponed today, Angeal was sent on a mission along with Genesis last night.”

“Ye-yes Sir!” Cloud said, still stiff and dazed.

“Cadet I told you ‘at-ease’, and today is Saturday is it not? You’re not on duty.”

“yes si- I mean yeah.” Cloud uttered while rubbing his neck, “Sooo, I should leave then…”

Sephiroth merely raised an eyebrow again and smirked, looking very amused.

“Yeah ok, um, see you later” Cloud said as he left, then tensed as he realized what he just said to ‘the fucking General.’

“Hmm, see you later Cadet” Sephiroth replied as he went through the door, leaving Cloud in an empty training room.

“Ughh Zack why do I have to go” Cloud grumbled, “I’m a Cadet, I’m not supposed to be hanging-out with SOLDIERS, much less the Gods-damned Top Three of Shinra!”

“Oh come one Spike, you’ll be fine. And besides you already met Angeal and Sephiroth that one time, and Genesis will probs be ok with you, so long as you don’t insult Loveless.” Zack said while dragging Cloud toward the SOLDIER Housing section.

“You could’ve at least told me earlier so I could’ve made some more Mashed Potatoes.” Cloud gestured to the container he was holding.

“Shush, stop being a worry wart and relax. Come on!” Zack sprinted as Cloud chuckled and jogged behind him.

It was a fairly warm evening, Angeal welcomed the two boys, and Thanked Cloud for his Mashed Potatoes ( to which Cloud responded with a stuttered “yo-Your welcome…”). Genesis was lounging on the couch reading Loveless, while across him was Sephiroth scanning Angeal’s CD collection for a suitable movie.

Noticing Cloud’s gaze, Sephiroth looked up and met his eyes.

“Ah it’s the Cadet, I assume you’re here with Zackary?”

“Yes Si-“

“I believe it’s Saturday, ease-up Cadet” Sephiroth said, referencing their first meeting.

“I-…Yes”

“Sephiroth don’t be a hypocrite, how can the boy relax if you keep calling him cadet?” Genesis chided, lowering his book to tease his friend.

“Hmmm, True. So Cadet, what’s your name?” Sephiroth asked, turning to Cloud.

“uh-Cloud Si-, I mean Cloud…Cloud Strife” Cloud stuttered with a slight blush.

“Cloud? Very unusual name.”

“Look who’s talking” Cloud whispered under his breath, turning to head to the kitchen to offer help to Angeal.

“Touché”

Cloud winced, he forgot about enhanced hearing. He looked over his shoulder to see if he’s offended the General somehow, and relaxed when he saw Sephiroth had returned his focus to the CD Collection.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he left to make sure Zack hadn’t burned whatever dish Angeal has tasked him to supervise.

After preparations and several dishes, the group settled in front of the TV and started their little movie marathon. Genesis sat beside Angeal, slightly leaning on the gentle giant. Zack was seated between Angeal and Cloud, while Sephiroth settled at Cloud’s other side.

A movie in and Cloud tried not the squirm, and he seems successful. He tried focusing on the movie and not the fact that he’s sitting next to Sephiroth. He peeked at the General and blushed as he met Sephiroth’s eyes.

“So, Strife. I take it training is hard?” Sephiroth asked with a small smirk.

“Yes si-…yeah, yeah it is.”

“Hmm, who is your drill sergeant?” Sephiroth asked with curiosity.

“Sir Ghi, he’s tough on us.”

“Why is that? I heard from the Thirds that he was a relatively moderate instructor”

“Ah, it might have something to do with Bunker 4” Cloud explained with a chuckle.

“Oh? What did they do?” Sephiroth leaned closer, now obviously invested in the story.

Cloud, now noticing that their shoulders are touching, was flustered.

“Th-they didn’t do anything” Cloud squeaked, “They started a rumor that apparently Sir Ghi had once tripped during a fight with a Zolom.”

Sephiroth merely continued looking at Cloud, his smirk now a smile.

“They said he face planted in the mud and had to call for reinforcements to help him.” Cloud continued, now a little relaxed.

“It’s true” Sephiroth laughed.

“No shit!?” Cloud blurted, surprised. “I-I mean, really?”

“Yes, I was the ‘reinforcement’ that was called. It was quite messy, he never accepted missions on Swamplands after that.”

“Oh Gods, I gotta share this with the rest of the guys.”

“It’s better if you don’t, I imagine once the story spreads, Sir Ghi will make your training regime much more painful.” Sephiroth said, turning back to the movie.

“Hmm, true.” Cloud hummed as he returned to the movie.

“Oh and Cloud?” Sephiroth said without looking

“yes sir?”

“Call me Sephiroth”

Cloud looked at him, shocked. He gaped, then slowly closed his mouth and turned back to face the TV.

“Sure…Sephiroth” Cloud said, leaning slightly on the General.

Cloud didn’t see but a satisfied and happy smile graced Sephiroth’s lip.

After 3 more movies and several snacks and meals, everyone agreed to call it a night. Genesis left for his apartment, Angeal and Cloud stood and left to wash the plates, Zack headed to the bathroom, and Sephiroth volunteered to fix the living room. Cloud emerged from the kitchen and Zack from the bathroom. Everyone said their goodnights, and farewells.

“Hey Angeal, we’re heading out now!” Zack yelled toward the kitchen

“Goodnight Zack” Angeal voice emerged with the sound of running water.

“Night Seph!” Zack addressed the General. To which Sephiroth responded with a nod.

“See you later Cloud” Sephiroth smiled as he passed the two.

“See you later, Sephiroth” Cloud responded with his own smile.

It had been months since Genesis defected, and weeks since Angeal had too. Zack and Sephiroth were saddled with the duties two Commanders with their normal workload. Adding to the stress, the President has tasked Sephiroth with bringing Genesis, and Angeal back.

Before he was to be deployed, Sephiroth called Cloud.

“I don’t know how long I’ll be out, but it will most likely take a few days. Three at least” Sephiroth explained.

“Hey it’s ok, I’ll be fine. Just stay safe yeah? Come back soon, and drag Genesis and Angeal back with you.” Cloud responded soothingly.

“I intend to, but I suppose I can’t blame them”

“…” “Sephiroth?”

“Yes?”

“Do you sometimes think about it?”

“About what?”

“Defecting” Cloud whispered, but then hurriedly supplied, “I-I mean I know Shinra doesn’t exactly have a safe environment, and I know their ethics are-“

“Cloud” Sephiroth’s voice cut through Cloud’s rambling.

“So-sorry I was just-“

“Cloud, I would never leave you.” Sephiroth said as both a reprimand and a promise. “You’re too important to me for that”

“o-oh”

“Cloud I love you”

“I love you too…I’m sorry I guess I’m just depressed from failing the SOLDIER exam and…”

“SOLDIER or not I still love you”

“…thank you, Seph.”

“Anyway, the transport is here…See you later?”

“hmm, yeah. See you later Seph”

Sephiroth snapped his PHS close, and turned sharply toward the chopper. He was determined to bring his friends back. And he was determined to return them even if he had to drag them by the ear, he had made a promise after all.

Cloud fought. And he intends to survive. He survived two Sephiroth clones, and Geostigma. He can survive this.

Several years since he had found himself atop the cliffs. Since he impersonated Zack. Since he lost his memories, and still missing a bulk mostly from his time in Shinra. He fought, and struggled. He held his ground as Sephiroth, the Calamity’s child, threw half the city at him. Cloud glided, jumped and dodged. He parried and slashed, hoping that this would be the last time he had to face this monster.

Cloud didn’t understand Sephiroth’s obsession with him. Perhaps it the Jenova cells, but there were times when Sephiroth’s gaze bore through him and saw something more than a puppet. Nevertheless, he still fought. Their blades met and sparked. Cloud cornered Sephiroth, finally using his Limit Break. First Tsurugi glowed and each individual sword floated and surrounded the World’s Enemy. Every strike hit his adversary where he intended.

Cloud landed, his blades followed, surrounding him. Sephiroth rose, his wing outstretched. And then…He fell.

Cloud rushed toward him, intending to finish the job. He stood beside the One-Winged Angel, and saw-for the very first time- his face devoid of insanity and madness.

Cloud was shocked. He looked closely at the monster he had been chasing and fighting, and saw only a man. Sephiroth looked at him, smiling with broken eyes. He didn’t sneer, he just smiled sadly. He spoke in a rough, scratchy voice.

“I’m sorry Cloud…I…I’m sorry” The man said, staring into Cloud’s eyes.

“Shut up Sephiroth! You have no right to ask for forgiveness” Cloud replied with a fierceness that made Sephiroth wince.

“I know…But even so, I still would like to try” Sephiroth pleaded, his eyes now looking at the grey, empty sky.

“After everything you did to the planet? To the world? Sorry isn’t going to cut it.” Cloud glared. How dare Sephiroth of all people.

“I’m not asking the planet’s forgiveness…I’m asking for yours”

“what?”

“I’m sorry I left Cloud. I’m sorry I believed Hojo over you and Zack. I’m sorry I broke my promise.”

“what are you- “

Cloud winced; his hand shot to his head. He’s seeing visions… memories? He doesn’t know. It feels different from Jenova. There was no pain, only surprise and confusion. What are these? Are these his or Zacks? No, it’s definitely Cloud’s. Then why…no…

“No…No..nonono” Cloud crashed to his knees, clasping Sephiroth’s hand.

“Cloud?”

“no no Seph please This can’t- .. You can’t” He gasped, still dazed from his recent memory rush. He pleaded and begged as Sephiroth slowly disappeared in flecks of black feathers and miasma.

“Cloud…”

“don’t..just not-“

“Cloud…I’m not fond of goodbyes…”

‘See you later?’

Cloud returned Sephiroth’s broken gaze. He squeezed his hand tighter, afraid to let go.

“You can’t-” He whispered as the hand he held turned into a single black feather. He bowed down, unmoving for minutes.

And at the very last second, Sephiroth finally broke Cloud.

Cloud woke up. His vision swam as his eyes focused on the Cadet barracks’ ceiling. His PHS was ringing. It was Zack.

“Why can’t you text him? Do I really have to say it in-person? “

“Sorry Spiky but we were supposed to train today, and Angeal doesn’t allow phones in the training room.” Zack replied sheepishly. “look I’ll make it up to you. How about some Ice-cream? My treat!”

“Ugh, Zack you’re lucky I’m awake anyway. You know this is the only day Cadets can sleep in.”

“Yeah yeah, Thanks a lot Spike!”

“I hate you” Cloud said, hanging-up.

Cloud stood and rose from his bed. It has been months since he was sent back, and this was the moment he had prepared for. After several minutes he was dressed. He applied his contact lenses (being sent back with his enhancements, meant that he had eyes that glowed like headlights). He headed to the elevator and pressed the button for the SOLDIER Floor. And just like last time, the building was quiet. He slowly walked toward the First-Class Training room, his knuckles hovering over the door. He breathed in, and out…Then, he knocked.

The door opened to reveal the Silver General. His back was turned, arms crossed. Cloud allowed himself to drink-in the sight. He was just as he remembered.

Sephiroth turned, his eyebrow rose.

“What are you doing here Cadet?”, Sephiroth said with a snap.

“Sir! Zack asked me to tell the Commander about his absence Sir!” Cloud replied in a salute.

“At ease Cadet. It seems that both of us are hear for the same reason.” Sephiroth explained with a smirk. “Angeal sent me to inform Zackary of his absence.”

“…” Cloud said nothing. He refused to.

“Tell Zack that training is postponed today, Angeal was sent on a mission along with Genesis last night.”

“Yes Sir!” Cloud replied

“Cadet I told you ‘at-ease’, and today is Saturday is it not? You’re not on duty.”

“Sir, even so, you are still my superior” Cloud strained to keep his voice from cracking.

Sephiroth merely raised an eyebrow again.

“I shall take my leave then Sir.” Cloud saluted and turned, “Goodbye…Sephiroth” he whispered, knowing this time, Sephiroth can hear him.

Perhaps he had been selfish. Waiting months before enacting his plan. Just to say goodbye.

He never looked back. He didn’t dare to. After rounding a corner…he fled. He ran from the tower. He ran from his old life. He ran and never looked back.

A year later, Sephiroth was sent to return Genesis and Angeal…He never came back.

A few months after Shinra’s General went AWOL, Avalanche had managed to kill the President. A gaping hole was left on the President’s chest, a single strike from Masamune. Meanwhile, Hollander remained slumped on his chair, a pool of blood under him. A blond man standing over him.

Several more months following President Shinra’s death, it rained in Midgar. Genesis’ and Angeal’s degradation cured, and Jenova was thrown into a pool of Great Gospel’s water. Sephiroth kills Hojo, and burns his corpse to ashes.

#sefikura #time travel #sephiroth #cloud #tragedy #fanfic #final fantasy #ff7 #ff7cloud #ff7 remake #im sad yall #no regrets #sephiroth x cloud

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doublehex · 4 years

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The Righteousness of Blood - Or Why Daenerys was right to liberate Slaver’s Bay

I keep on seeing a common consensus in the fandom that Daenerys went “too far” in Meereen. In the books, Daenerys asked the Good Masters to bring her 136 masters to be crucified, to atone for the 136 children. The most charitable perspective on this seems to be that Daenerys was driven more by Daenerys’ personal drive for justice than any real attempt to balance the scale.

I have always had an issue with this view because it always seems to imply that Daenerys was supposed to find some other way for the slaves to get justice besides executing the slaving class that had benefited off of their misery for so long. The slaves had been waiting for justice, and freedom and liberty; their fathers had to wait, their grandfathers had to wait; their great grandfathers had to wait; and on and on the wheel span to when the dragonlords of the Valyrian Freehold had enslaved the entirety of Ghis.

How much longer were they supposed to wait for this supposed bloodless revolution? They had already waited a thousand years.

That is a question the fandom is not asking, but George is. One of the themes he explores in Dany’s arc through ADWD is that so long as the masters are in power, there will be no justice. The peace she is forming with them is a toxic one that continues to perpetuate the injustice that she had dedicated herself to eradicating.

This is not a new theme for Martin. The necessity of war to free others from tyranny appears in his vampire horror novel, Fevre Dream.

You can't just go... usin' another kind of people, like they wasn't people at all. Know what I mean? Got to end, sooner or later. Better if it ends peaceful, but it's got to end even if it has to be with fire and blood, you see?

I do not think it is by accident that the very first time that George uses fire and blood in association with justified violence. The very first time that Daenerys unleashes dracarys is when she liberates an entire people from enslavement. The Targaryens are old may believe fire and blood means military power to enforce feudalistic rule, but Daenerys obviously has a very different interpretation.

Fire and Blood is a responsibility to use the destructive power of the dragons to protect and liberate, not to safeguard your self-perceived rights.

#daenerys targaryen #asoiaf

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rwbyvein · 4 years

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Grand Kittens: Lapping: Part I/III

*doorbell rings*

Jaune: *answers the door*

Jaune: Kali?

Kali: I thought I told you to call me mom.

Jaune: Sorry, mom?

Blake: *appears beside Jaune*

Blake: Mom?!

Kali: Acting like I can't visit my daughter.

Blake: It's just!.. I mean!..

Jaune: *steps aside*

Blake: Of course, come in!

* * *

Jaune, Blake, and Kali: *sitting on couches in the living room*

Blake: Mother, it is wonderful to see you, but we are huntsmen.

Kali: That just means you need your mother even more to take care of you...

Blake: That's not...

Jaune: We're wandering huntsmen. We spend a good deal of time out of the city.

Kali: Oh. I guess I just lucked out, then.

Blake: You need to at least tell us you are coming, and if you are here, who's cooking for dad?

Kali: The finest cooks in Menagerie.

* * *

Ghira: *pokes at the ornate plate with his chopsticks*

Chef: *looks at Ghira with a nervous smile*

* * *

Kali: I felt it was about time I came to see how you were.

Blake: *nervously looks down*

Kali: And when you were planning on having babies.

Blake: Mom?!

Jaune: *nervous smile*

Kali: Well, you are huntsmen, but you can't wait that long.

Blake: Says who?

Kali: A woman who was happiest when her little girl was born.

Blake: *nervously looks down*

Jaune: *wraps his arm around Blake's shoulder and pulls her in for a cuddle*

Kali: You two are just adorable. Do you mind if I have a look around?

* * *

Kali: *looking around the bedroom*

Kali: *looks intently at the closet*

Jaune and Blake: *nervous breathing*

Kali: *looks away and out the window*

* * *

Kali: *looking around the kitchen*

Kali (at Blake): So, you finally learned to cook for your husband? It's wonderful, isn't it?

Blake: *looks about nervously*

Jaune: It is.

Blake: *looks at Jaune questioningly*

Kali: Would you mind if I cooked dinner for you?

Jaune: Go ahead.

Blake: *looks at Jaune questioningly*

Jaune: *wraps his arm around Blake's shoulders*

* * *

Jaune and Blake: *sitting on their bed*

Blake: Why didn't we tell her?

Jaune: I love cooking for you.

Blake: But if she's visiting, I think she's going to notice that I'm never the one cooking.

Jaune: Does this really mean that much to you?

Blake: I... I want her to think I'm a good wife...

Jaune: You are...

Blake: Says who?

Jaune: Me, of course? Who else's opinion matters?

Blake: *flattens her ears*

Blake: Mom's...

Jaune: So, what do you want to do?

Blake: I don't know... I think she'll notice I'm kind of lost in the kitchen...

Jaune: Why don't we just talk to her?

Blake: . . .

Blake: I suppose...

* * *

Jaune and Blake: *walk into the kitchen and sit at the table*

Blake: We... have a confession.

Kali: Is it about the kitchen?

Blake: . . .

Blake: Yes.

Kali: Is it that Jaune is the one who does the cooking here?

Blake: *wide eyes with shock*

Blake: How did you know?

Kali: You spend enough time in a kitchen and you get to learn who's the one using it.

Blake: I'm sorry... it's just...

Jaune: I enjoy cooking for her.

Kali: My biggest concern is that you find a husband. Cooking is one of the best ways to do that.

Blake: *looks about nervously*

Kali: That's also a great way.

Blake: *looks at her mother with a questioning look*

Kali: There's a reason I didn't look into a young couple's closet.

Blake: MOM!

Kali: You forget I was a young bride once upon a time. Though, that was...

Jaune: You are still beautiful.

Kali: Isn't he sweet. I wish Ghira still looked at me the way he looks at you.

Jaune: Implying you are not just as beautiful.

Kali: *blushes*

Blake: Jaune?!

Jaune: Isn't your mother-in-law the only one who's allowed to be more beautiful than your wife.

Kali: Isn't he darling?

Jaune: Aren't you adorable.

Blake: *grabs Jaune's hands*

Blake: *forces Jaune's hand to her ears*

Jaune: *starts scratching her kitty ears*

Blake: *purrs as she stares Kali in her eyes*

Kali: I wish... Ghi...

Kali: . . .

Kali: So, I know you know how intimate rubbing a Faunus' animal part is; does your husband?

Jaune: Very much.

Kali: And... you are willing to do this is front of your mother?..

Blake: *let's go of Jaune's hand*

Jaune: *continues to play with Blake's kitty ears*

Blake: *nervously tries to pull her head away*

Jaune: *aggressively keeps playing with Blake's ears*

Kali: *blushes, breathing headily*

Jaune: *looks Kali deep in the eyes*

Kali: *stares at him*

* * *

Blake: Why am I the one to take you to the grocery store?

Kali: Because I just want to spend time with you, dear.

Blake: But I'm not the one who does the grocery shopping.

Kali: What we need to talk about?..

Blake: Hm?

Kali: Your husband looked at me like Ghira used to...

Blake: Mo-om.

Kali: You're the one who had your husband rubbing your animal part in front of your mother. What did you think would happen? It makes me feel 16 years younger.

Blake: *shyly bows her head*

Blake: The kingdoms think that's too young...

Kali: What do you think?

Blake: I don't know. It's working so far.

Kali: You two are hardly children. You did save the world, afterall.

Blake: *nods*

Kali: Which you haven't told me about..

Blake: Okay, yeah... yeah... let's talk...

* * *

Jaune: *sits on the couch, stuffed from dinner*

Jaune: She just... wouldn't... stop...

Blake (snuggling into him): We don't have much in Menagerie, so we always make sure everyone is full.

#rwby #grandkittens #jaune arc #blake belladonna #kali belladonna

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jonroxton · 4 years

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@scratchybeardsweetmouth: uh-huh uh-huh. hahaha yeah the dragons being around her when the kiss happened is something that kinda makes me giggle every time. not a peep from them. as soon as she stood from her bed, she has not made note of them in the chapter, nor has she made note of their reactions during her recalls of the kiss. it may be a shocking and confusing moment for dany, but never a dangerous one.

it’s… insanely subtle and easy to miss! under a cut bc this got long!

after the kiss the feeling dany most experiences is expectancy. she tries not to think of jorah at all except as a commander and how he relates in that regard to her negotiations with kraznys. she tries. and fails completely. in fact the more she tries the harder it is to stop herself and we learn she actually HASN’T stopped thinking about how hot the kiss made her!

1. Keeping cool, stayin cool. I got this:

The gods of Ghis were dead, and so too its people; these Astapori were mongrels, Ser Jorah said. Even the Ghiscari tongue was largely forgotten; the slave cities spoke the High Valyrian of their conquerors, or what they had made of it.

2. Pff I’ve called him my bear before. Still cool. Yeah. Totally cool. Also I guess he’s not handsome but he’s so smart. My bear is so smart.

“They might be adequate to my needs,” Dany answered. It had been Ser Jorah’s suggestion that she speak only Dothraki and the Common Tongue while in Astapor. My bear is more clever than he looks. “Tell me of their training.”

3. I don’t want to think about jorah so i’ll leave him behind with my most priceless possessions, the most important weapons in the entire planet.

The old man had not wanted to sail to Astapor; nor did he favor buying this slave army. A queen should hear all sides before reaching a decision. That was why Dany had brought him with her to the Plaza of Pride, not to keep her safe. Her bloodriders would do that well enough. Ser Jorah Mormont she had left aboard Balerion to guard her people and her dragons. Much against her inclination, she had locked the dragons belowdecks. It was too dangerous to let them fly freely over the city; the world was all too full of men who would gladly kill them for no better reason than to name themselves dragons layer.

4. look at how cool i am this is not word association ok

Ask her if she wishes to view our fighting pits,” Kraznys added. “Douquor’s Pit has a fine folly scheduled for the evening. A bear and three small boys. One boy will be rolled in honey, one in blood, and one in rotting fish, and she may wager on which the bear will eat first.”

Tap tap tap, Dany heard. Arstan Whitebeard’s face was still, but his staff beat out his rage. Tap tap tap. She made herself smile. “I have my own bear on Balerion,” she told the translator, “and he may well eat me if I do not return to him.”

5. arstan lying to dany’s face since he met her: moral relativism is??? stupid?? jorah mormont is a piece of shit??? dany: wow i really never dealt with my sexual trauma i must stop this right now.

“When I leave Astapor it must be with an army, Ser Jorah says.”

“Ser Jorah was a slaver himself, Your Grace,” the old man reminded her. “There are sellswords in Pentos and Myr and Tyrosh you can hire. A man who kills for coin has no honor, but at least they are no slaves. Find your army there, I beg you.”

“My brother visited Pentos, Myr, Braavos, near all the Free Cities. The magisters and archons fed him wine and promises, but his soul was starved to death. A man cannot sup from the beggar’s bowl all his life and stay a man. I had my taste in Qarth, that was enough. I will not come to Pentos bowl in hand.”

“Better to come a beggar than a slaver,” Arstan said.

“There speaks one who has been neither.” Dany’s nostrils flared. “Do you know what it is like to be sold, squire? I do. My brother sold me to Khal Drogo for the promise of a golden crown. Well, Drogo crowned him in gold, though not as he had wished, and I… my sun-and-stars made a queen of me, but if he had been a different man, it might have been much otherwise. Do you think I have forgotten how it felt to be afraid?”

6. BUT WE’RE HERE NOW I GUESS WHAT THE FUCK

He has a good face, and great strength to him, Dany thought. She could not understand why Ser Jorah mistrusted the old man so. Could he be jealous that I have found another man to talk to?Unbidden, her thoughts went back to the night on Balerion when the exile knight had kissed her. He should never have done that. He is thrice my age, and of too low a birth for me, and I never gave him leave. No true knight would ever kiss a queen without her leave. She had taken care never to be alone with Ser Jorah after that, keeping her handmaids with her aboard ship, and sometimes her bloodriders. He wants to kiss me again, I see it in his eyes.

What Dany wanted she could not begin to say, but Jorah’s kiss had woken something in her, something that been sleeping since Khal Drogo died.

jorah’s kiss sounds like a fandom thing, like the unkiss. but yeah no it’s straight up how dany describes it. like it was something given to her, not taken in exchange for something (LIKE HERSELF TO DROGO!)

7. Listen I don’t want Jorah but here’s six to eight paragraphs of me having wet dreams and losing my shit..

The next day, it all seemed a dream. And what did Ser Jorah have to do with it, if anything?

8. Nada. nope. Ok maybe she’s not cool but eight thousand puppies geesh...

Aggo helped Dany down from her litter. Strong Belwas was seated on a massive piling, eating a great haunch of brown roasted meat. “Dog,” he said happily when he saw Dany. “Good dog in Astapor, little queen. Eat?” He offered it with a greasy grin.

“That is kind of you, Belwas, but no.” Dany had eaten dog in other places, at other times, but just now all she could think of was the Unsullied and their stupid puppies. She swept past the huge eunuch and up the plank onto the deck of Balerion.

9. REALLY DANY? IS THAT ALL YOU’RE THINKING ABOUT?

Ser Jorah Mormont stood waiting for her. “Your Grace,” he said, bowing his head. “The slavers have come and gone. Three of them, with a dozen scribes and as many slaves to lift and fetch. They crawled over every foot of our holds and made note of all we had.” He walked her aft. “How many men do they have for sale?”

“None.” Was it Mormont she was angry with, or this city with its sullen heat, its stinks and sweats and crumbling bricks? “They sell eunuchs, not men. Eunuchs made of brick, like the rest of Astapor. Shall I buy eight thousand brick eunuchs with dead eyes that never move, who kill suckling babes for the sake of a spiked hat and strangle their own dogs? They don’t even have names. So don’t call them men, ser.”

“Khaleesi,” he said, taken aback by her fury, “the Unsullied are chosen as boys, and trained—”

“I have heard all I care to of their training.” Dany could feel tears welling in her eyes, sudden and unwanted. Her hand flashed up and cracked Ser Jorah hard across the face. It was either that, or cry.

Mormont touched the cheek she’d slapped. “If I have displeased my queen—”

“You have. You’ve displeased me greatly, ser. If you were my true knight, you would never have brought me to this vile sty.” If you were my true knight, you would never have kissed me, or looked at my breasts the way you did, or…

OR WHAT DANY?

OR WHAT?

10. NOPE NOT COOL. annnnnd that’s when they come back

“As Your Grace commands. I shall tell Captain Groleo to make ready to sail on the evening tide, for some sty less vile.”

“No,” said Dany. Groleo watched them from the forecastle, and his crew was watching too. Whitebeard, her bloodriders, Jhiqui, every one had stopped what they were doing at the sound of the slap. “I want to sail now, not on the tide, I want to sail far and fast and never look back. But I can’t, can I? There are eight thousand brick eunuchs for sale, and I must find some way to buy them.” And with that she left him, and went below.

Behind the carved wooden door of the captain’s cabin, her dragons were restless. Drogon raised his head and screamed, pale smoke venting from his nostrils, and Viserion flapped at her and tried to perch on her shoulder, as he had when he was smaller. “No,” Dany said, trying to shrug him off gently. “You’re too big for that now, sweetling.” But the dragon coiled his white and gold tail around one arm and dug black claws into the fabric of her sleeve, clinging tightly. Helpless, she sank into Groleo’s great leather chair, giggling.

“They have been wild while you were gone, Khaleesi,” Irri told her. “Viserion clawed splinters from the door, do you see? And Drogon made to escape when the slaver men came to see them. When I grabbed his tail to hold him back, he turned and bit me.” She showed Dany the marks of his teeth on her hand.

“Did any of them try to burn their way free?” That was the thing that frightened Dany the most.

i haven’t completely chewed on this yet tho but THE DRAGONS WERE RESTLESS. jorah’s just agreed to change course again but dany believes completely that she CAN’T BC THERE ARE RULES DAMMIT.

jorah is a knight. she is a queen. dragons are weapons. all serve the purpose: obtaining the iron throne. everything else, wanting anything else, viserys beat it out of her. EVEN WITH DRAGONS SHE DOESN’T THINK SHE CAN HAVE THE THINGS SHE WANTS.

and this is already far too long hope this made sense!

#mystuff #dany x jorah #scratchybeardsweetmouth #LISTEN I KNOW I HAVE A PROBLEM #but this chapter is amazing #it's the rhagar fought chapter #the slap chapter #the i'm not into jorah but i am having w3t dreams ever since he kissed me chapter #it's the MY BEAR WILL EAT ME IF I DO NOT RETURN TO HIM chapter #it's the chapter missandei is introduced!

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accursedvoid · 5 years

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GODZILLA KING OF THE MONSTERS

Aight, so quick spoiler free part, GO SEE IT ITS AMAZING, 10/10, WILL BUY TICKETS TO NEXT WWE MONSTER MASH.

now for my highlights below in my ramblings (SPOILERS BELOW):

What I think was the perfect amount of human to monster screen time for a Godzilla movie (fuck the critics with the ‘too much godzilla not enough humans’ because A) that’s what we came here for and B) LAST TIME YOU SAID ‘NOT ENOUGH GODZILLA TOO MUCH HUMANS’ MAKE UP YOUR MINDS PEOPLE)

what human characters were there didn’t feel at all boring or like they were dragging the film down (I actually like all of them I can’t think of one I disliked tbh)

My favs are of course Serizawa, Jonah and Dad Russel (also Dr Chen and the nervous energy Sam Coleman) of the humans.

I love all these human scientists and their back and forth, glad they got the main man Serizawa back from 2014

Can I just say it’s really really cool to see these monsters brought to life in this way, like no shade to the originals at all I’m just so fucking hype to see it all like this ITS GREAT a someone who’s pretty much a baby godzilla fan.

Bby Mothra aw

bby mothra can fuck u up

OH HELLO THERE TYWIN LANNISTER

Tywin Jonah just as stone cold as his medieval counterpart I see, Charles Dance always an excellent villain pick.

Lannister obsession with gold still going strong

Tywin supports the Targaryens this time around guys lmao (the dragon devil has three heads indeed)

Shoutouts to MUTO and the last film.

GHIDORAH YOU MAGNIFICENT BASTARD I LOVE YOUR EVIL ASS

Ghidorah’s goddam intro just yes I love this terrifying golden dragon devil alien (and yes they keep the alien backstory aspect, it plays an aspect of this alpha system in the film)

Godzilla always showing up to save the tiny humans like ‘FUCK OFF GHIDORAH NOT AGAIN’

Monster roars are great 10/10 (and i’m unsure but I think its a mix mash of all the godzilla roars in parts? or at least significant ones and yes Ghidorah has his laugh-screech mash up)

the easter eggs are everywhere if you know how to look and the call backs (especially in the soundtrack like yes)

RODAN U FIRE DEMON I LOVE YOU

RODAN’S INTRO, ALSO TERRIFYING

GOD ALL,THESE INTROS FOR EACH MONSTER SOOO GOOD (from awe to terror to beautiful)

Rodan chasing the plane, yes I love these flying battles (AND THEN THE BIG GOLDEN BASTARD HIMSELF KNOCK OUT BRAWL)

Godzilla basically rocking up like ‘gtfo out of my yard Ghidorah and leave my pets alone you fucken jackass don’t make me put you back in the time out refrigerator’

My face when they mention ‘oxygen destroyer’ I may not be hardcore into the whole Godzilla lore from the Japanese films but don’t think I don’t know who that could hollaback too.

THE SOUNDTRACK THE SOUNDTRACK INSTANT BUY

Ghidorah is terrifying

NO LIKE HIS SHOTS THEY MAKE HIM SO TERRIFYING

Also Ghidorah and his disagreeing heads (man poor leftie gets picked on poor guy)

MOTHRA MOTHRA THE QUEEEEEN IS HERE

I LOVE HER WINGS

MOTHRA BEAUTIFUL GODDESS GLOW

Jonah 'long live the king' I SEE U TYWIN I SEE U

I love the glow monster eyes (and when it’s dark shots so they highlight it tf up like it makes the golden boi and the king look so much more fucking intimidating ITS GREAT)

The kong shoutouts I see u

Tywin ‘fuck humanity let the monsters rule’ Jonah (no I will not stop calling him Tywin I can’t help it)

Smart kiddo taking initiative

Ghidorah and the devil/red dragon imagery before a cross is just 👌

Ghidorah with that cross imagery all “WHERE IS YOUR GOD NOW MORTALS”

Ghidorah and his regeneration that’s fucken gory

ALL THE MONSTER SHOTS ARE GORGEOUS THE ACTION IS BEAUTIFUL HELL YEAH HELL YEAH

I love this mythos stuff I really do

Dr Serizawa I salute you man, what a fucking legend (MY EMOTIONS)

no that shit made me cry for real I was all tearing up

Godzilla rebirth just all of it yes! THE ORIGINAL THEME RETAKE MUSIC HELL YES

alright shoutout to the FUCKING TERRIFIC SCORE YOU GUYS

THE MONSTER THEMES ARE 10/10 (Ghidorah and his terrifying chanting music, Godzilla and his hype theme, Mothra and her beauty and Rodan’s pulse pounding angry theme)

Godzilla facing off with the humans like ‘I respect that tiny man and his sacrifice, for that I’ll save all y’all’

Monarch and their giant flying ship helping out Godzilla, just yes HUMANITY CAN BE HELPFUL, WE FIGHT BESIDE THE KING

Alright let’s go kids, Godzilla vs Ghidorah ft Rodan vs mothra tag team duels LETS GO

when the soundtrack has the chant squad yell: GO-JI-RA! MO-SU-RA! GHI-DO-RAH! RO-DAN! in various tracks and themes like HYPE.

MOTHRA VS RODAN GET HIM GIRL SHRED HIM

Lmao rodan just stung and like ‘oh shit guess imma tap out, Ghidorah u got this’

its okay Rodan not all of us got ghid's haxx fast regen skills

Mothra struggling to help Godzilla and just everything MY EMOTIONS WHAT A LEGEND WE STAN

Mothra’s sacrifice, i cry

I’ll admit the mom sacrifice got me, family sads kill my ass, REDEMPTION.

HES BACK, BACK AGAIN

THIS TIME ITS PERSONAL (AND RED)

- FUCKING BURNING GODZILLA AND HIS RADIATION WAVES (or is it Fire!Godzilla unsure)

Holy shit ghidorah gettin fucking shredded by those waves, LIKE REALLY SHREDDED THE SKIN N EVERYTHING

This movie is goddam beautiful you guys like I need to see it again right now (I NEED TO OWN IT)

that ending shot with Rodan bowing and then the others like yes HAIL TO THE KING BABY

(is Rodan just like the official stooge to whoever’s in charge? dude knows no loyalty but to whoever wins the next wwe monster bash I guess)

FUCK RODAN IS THE STARSCREAM OF THE MONSTERVERSE

I didn’t see what happened to Tywin Lannister Jonah, so who knows he might pop up again

THE CREDITS (also mention of an egg in the movie so Mothra return most likely)

SERJ TANKIAN DOES A GODZILLA SONG COVER ON THE CREDITS

OH NO WAIT TYWIN’S BACK BACK (post credits)

Oh shit ghidorah head fuck I forgot he tore off one way earlier, TYWIN WHAT ARE U PLANNING (whispers is it mecha ghidorah teasing????? Destroyah??? )

I’m guessing that’s gonna be a teaser for after kong vs Godzilla for sure

FUCK I CANT WAIT FOR MORE MONSTERVERSE GIMMMMMEEEE

In conclusion, 10/10 from me, thoroughly enjoyed it and will see many more times with friends and Family.

#Godzilla #godzilla king of the monsters #godzilla kotm #king ghidorah #mothra #rodan #accursed speaks #godzilla spoilers #godzilla king of the monsters spoilers #godzilla kotm spoilers

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fuck-customers · 5 years

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Hotel Staff are not punching bags

I have got a long one, so bear with me. Tldr at the end. TW for cussing and abusive behavior. Okay so, I work as a front desk clerk in a mid range hotel, the type of inn you go to for a holiday, you might say. We are also part of an affiliation with an international hospitality group, which means employees of other locations around the country and world can stay at my hotel at a reduced rate. So Friday (11/2) this woman, let's name her Entitled Bitch, comes to check in. I do the usual checking in process, but her card doesn't authorize. EB asks me how much I'm trying to charge her for, and I explain that it authorizes for the full amount of the stay (4 nights) plus incidentals, which for my hotel is $25 per night. She immediately starts berating me saying that she already called and she was told we would have her incidentals waived. Which is patently untrue. NOBODY stays at my hotel without incidentals. Even when the owner of my hotel stays, he has a card on file. So I tell her this. She begins talking over me saying that she spoke with someone who said she could and that she's a supervisor at her hotel, so she knows how all this works. So she tells me she wants to speak to a manger. But here's the thing: after about 3pm on weekdays, management leaves. It's just me and the houseman on the clock for the entire hotel. Thankfully, the houseman that was there was also the manager on duty bc he had been with my hotel since it opened. Let's name him Clark. So Clark comes back from a shuttle run as EB is berating me to find a manager, so I ask Clark to handle her so I can keep checking in people who have lined up behind her. Clark decides to do a work around in the system to let her check in without authorizing incidentals, but that charges her card up front. This way we know we have payment, but she can't charge anything to the room, and we're looking at a loss if she fucks with anything in the room. Oh, and her card only had enough money on it for 2 nights rather than the original 4, so we know that she just didn't have the money in her account to pay. So she's checked in for 2 nights, and that's the end of it, right? Wrong Two days later (11/3) EB tries to charge a meal from the restaurant to her room. Of course she can't because we have no way of insuring she can actually pay for that food when she leaves. The restaurant worker tells her that she can't charge anything to her room, and she storms over to the front desk where I am working and demands to know why she can't charge things to her room. She accuses me of doing this to her on purpose and that I don't know who I'm fucking with. (Side note: she had a toddler with her, maybe 3 years old, who was there as she cussed me out.) I calmly tell her I'm not the one who put that on her room, but before I can even finish, she storms back to the restaurant to pay for her food, and then SITS ON THE COUCH ACROSS FROM THE DESK TO CONTINUE TO HARRASS ME. She told me multiple times she was going to have me fired, and that we needed to stop playing with her, as well as saying that I was slow and that I shouldn't be behind the desk, I should be cleaning rooms. As if cleaning rooms is somehow lesser to what I do?? Anyway, I kept my cool until she left, and then had to go to the back room to compose myself. I let Clark know what had happened, as he was working with me again. He then asked me why she was still here, as her reservation was only for two nights and it was well past checkout time. So I checked her reservation, only to find that one of the new desk clerks had extended her room without payment, despite there being a note in our log not to! So we try to get payment from her card on file for the two nights. No dice. Okay, time to lock her out of her room! So I deactivate her keys and wait for her to return, as she had left the building at this point. She comes back and is equally as bitchy on her way to the elevators. I call Clark over the radio that she's in the building so he can be at the front to deal with her. She comes screaming out of the elevator saying that we need to stop playing with her, we don't know who we're fucking with, etc. Basically as abusive and ugly as a person can be. Clark calmly explains to her that we need payment for her nights or she is not welcome on the premises. EB screeches that she'll be calling GHI (the hospitality group we're affiliated with) to get every last one of us fired, and starts doing just that. Clark tells her she has ten minutes to vacate the premises before we call the police to evict her. She curses at him again before begining to yell at the poor help desk operator she had connected to on the phone. So we call the cops. They arrive, and problem solved, right? NOPE. THIS BITCH INTERCEPTS THE OFFICER AS HES COMING IN AND SOMEHOW WINS HIM OVER TO HER SIDE. I honestly still can't believe this happened. Like, how the fuck?? Anyways, the officer, let's call him Officer Asshole, asks me and Clark to tell him what's going on. We do so. He then begins interrogating us about our policy and who's in charge. We basically tell him if she doesn't pay she doesn't stay, period. And by this point if she doesn't pay full price for her stay, she ain't staying. EB doesn't deserve a discount for the bullshit she's put us through. OA told us to call a manager to have them speak with EB. I told him no, I'm not going to call my manager out of their bed (it was late evening at this point) only to be yelled at. He looks point blank at me and says, and I fucking quote, " You don't tell me no." I'm FLABBERGASTED at this point. I have not a single clue how the fuck I've gotten to this surreal land, but I'm fucking here now, so GREAT. So, trying to get this over with, I not only call my manager, I call the owner of the hotel, let's call him Chad. EB is told by OA that is she yells that's it and hands her the phone. She tries to tell Chad the same bullshit she's peddling with the officer, but of course he isn't having it. So OA talks to Chad and Chad says that if she doesn't pay full price up front right now she's gone. The cop tells her this and then they go up to her room to start packing. You think it's over right? HA EB COMES BACK DOWN AND HAS MADE A NEW RESERVATION THROUGH GHI AND WANTS TO CHECK IN. Seriously, I can't make this shit up. OA tries to tell us that we have to check her in at the employee rate bc Chad only said she had to pay full price for her current reservation. I tell him no, we're going to charge her full price, just like Chad told him and he looks at me and says, "If you keep talking to me like that, you won't like what happens to you." And then OA demands that Chad be called again. At this point I have to go leave because I'm visibly shaking and am two seconds away from crying. I go and sit in the back room, and call my brother, who also works at my hotel as the night auditor. I am sobbing as I explain to him what's going on, and that I feel like I was just threatened by a police officer and now I have no idea what to do. My brother calms me down and tells me to just stay in the back room, and that Clark will take care of it. By the time I was calm enough to come back to the desk EB was finally leaving. Now we're looking at finding out where she works and making a complaint against her and we have a meeting on Wednesday (11/7) to teach our front desk staff how to kick people out basically. Tldr: Entitled bitch doesn't want to lay her bill on her hotel room, cops get called to evict her, cop takes her side and I have a meltdown before she is finally made to leave. Ps. After all the shit settled down, Chad called back and said that I wasn't in trouble and that I was doing a great job, so thank god for good owners.

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junietwohundred · 4 years

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Dev Diary: What is time, even?

Welcome back to Bee Foundry Games. Pull up a chair. Have a cup of tea. Something stronger? Now you’re speaking my language.

Anyway, what were my goals for last week?

Write descriptions and flavor text. There’s no excuse not to; I’m just being lazy now.

Make the Bentley work like a car and not like a thing you’re toting around

Fix the SE/E problem.

Annotate my game outline with what conditions must be set for the player to continue.

How did that go?

I wrote a little. I had a good idea for some text about the Bentley and things in it. I got a little obsessive about “WHAT DOES THE INSIDE OF THE BOOT OF A 1932 BENTLEY LOOK LIKE?! IS THERE CARPET? WHY DO WE EVEN HAVE GOOGLE IF IT CAN’T TELL ME THIS?!” And then I said, “Fuck it. It’s the trunk of a car. Deal with it.”

Going pretty well. I’ve got a drive verb, and it works inside the Bentley. It moves the characters and the car and keeps the characters in the car when they reach their destination. I don’t entirely like that you have to say “Drive Bentley” rather than just “Drive,” but that’s a refinement problem for Future Me who knows more things.

Fixed! I had to swap two lines of code - if you look for the “east|e” input first, it finds both those qualities in “southeast|se” and takes you east. It has to look for the concept of pure east-ness second.

Preeeeeety much done? I know I haven’t figured out every possible flag, but I know what has to be in whose inventory at what times. I have to learn how to make order optional on a few acquisitions; I’m sure Future Me will have a ball with that.

So not bad progress, all in all, even if my goals weren’t especially lofty. I took a hack day on Friday to work on the game, and man, it was rough. I broke the drive verb around 9 am and didn’t fix it again until 4:30. I did it in a pretty janky way, but it works.

I also did some organizing on my Trello board, which previously featured a card labeled “idk write the game?” right between “Finish walkthrough” and “Get beta testers.” (The last card on the board, btw, is “ ‘Hey, Michael Sheen! Retweet this!’ ”) Now I have cards for writing and tech for individual scenes and puzzles. The lists inside are largely reminders from the outline: X has to be in inventory before Y; set the ABC flag when thing GHI happens.” (I seriously had a moment in that sentence when I forgot parts of the English alphabet.)

I feel like I’ve been focusing on the Bentley to the exclusion of the rest of the game because one my first goals (one that I set before I started diaries, or at least that never made it into a diary) was to make a navigable skeleton to the game, and the Bentley is part of navigating. And while it’s presented technical challenges and I’ve learned a lot, it’s like I’m afraid to start making objects and puzzles and actually doing the meat of the game. Maybe I feel like I don’t know enough about Quest or code? I tried to write a function the other day and wound up nuking the whole Git branch.

So my goals for next week:

Let the Bentley be. It’s OK. It’s not perfect, but it works.

I’ve written all the objects and rooms in Crowley’s flat - let’s get them in the game.

Change all the exits from just “north” to “north to X location,” etc.

See what I can do about writing and coding the very first scene, which requires the player to meet a few conditions before they progress.

I don’t expect work to be especially taxing this next week, so that gives me time to write. But I also have to give a conference talk in early January, and I need to work on that - that date is going to sneak right up on me. I need to prioritize, or at least divide my time appropriately. The conference talk is a lot less writing than Nine Precisely.

I’m gonna go, but you’re welcome to linger over your tea or your wine or your jelly jar of overproofed rum. Whatever gets you through a Sunday night.

Until next week!

#GOdevdiary #good omens #text adventures #interactive fiction #bee foundry games #we'll meet at nine precisely

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ayuyikes · 6 years

Text

Hunting a Cryptid pt.5

Now I’m getting somewhere

First part here:

"Lucas I'm so screwed."

"You keep saying that. You've said that at least four times already and you've been, what, friends for two weeks?"

They'd met up at a cheeky restaurant with cheery music, one that had been filled with many memories for the both of them. Their food hadn't even arrived yet but Tiro already had been telling his tale in despair.

"I should've seen this coming. I already knew this was gonna bite me in the ass."

"It's not biting anyone in the ass. It's going faster than expected, sure, but there's enough time. She's got nothing leading in your direction yet."

"I don't know what to do. I'm not comfortable with this."

"Hey hey hey," Lucas laid a hand on his shoulder. "It's gonna be alright. There's nothing that would make her put you on her list of suspects. You don't have to be nervous."

"Of course I'm nervous," he said, gulping down his rum-coke. "It's a secret I've been keeping for - what - years? I know it sounds far fetched and highly unlikely, but since I've become friends with a person who's actively trying to uncover it, it's starting to become a realistic fear."

"Have you talked since then?" Lucas said with sincere interest and a little concern.

“Through text. Hadn't had a status report yet, she's awaiting a message from her friend at security."

"And that isn't you?"

"Not in the mood for japes, Luke."

"Yes, I know. Do you know what the results will be?"

"Honestly? I have no idea. I don't remember going there at all, but it is close enough to my way home that they could've caught a glimpse. I don't know where their camera's hang."

The waitress came and put their food down, and Tiro decided to keep his mouth shut for the duration, but her suspicious look did not escape Tiro when she walked away.

He let out a deep sigh.

"So, yeah. Since she could do so much with just 'I saw a bat once' I'm worried what she'll be able to do when she actually does get footage." He took a bite of his fries.

"Yeah, she's a smart one," Lucas agreed while he cut his dish. "That keeps surprising me, to be honest."

"Whaf, fhaf she's smarf?" Tiro said with a mouthful of fries.

"Swallow first, goodness," Lucas laughed. "And no, I've known her long enough to know she's smart. But someone smart doesn't move here for a third-rate job, don't you think?"

Tiro had no retort, just silently kept eating his food. Lucas had a point.

"I never asked, but I sometimes wonder what she's doing here? She never told me why she came here."

"I don't..." He swallowed. "She didn't say anything to me too. Only that she already had the apartment before getting a job here."

"I see," the blond only responded.

They continued eating for a while longer.

After having finished his burger, the redhead was the first to speak again. "Thanks for this. I needed this I guess."

His friend smiled. "Anytime." He sipped his soda.

"You know," he started, not knowing if he should bring it up, but did anyway. "These last two weeks, everything we talk about seems to turn into an Ayuya discussion."

Tiro gave him a suspicious side eye. "What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing," Lucas sipped his drink innocently. "It's just an observation."

"You know damn well there's not much else going on in my life right now."

"Like I said, I'm not saying anything." The blond finished his plate. He eyed the other's plate.

"How's your hunger going?"

"Well, I can't say I'm full yet, but-"

"No, I mean," his face was serious. "It's been years already. How are you holding up?"

He fell silent.

"... I've said it before, I'm past that. I'm not a teenager anymore."

Lucas hummed in thought.

"I don’t think it was a puberty thing. You know I do.“

"Doesn’t mean you can’t be wrong.” He grumbled, seeking the blond’s eyes, frown deepening. “I’m fine, Lucas.”

“You say that,” Luke leant towards the table and laid down his hand between them. “But you’ve been looking more and more tired lately. Don’t deprive yourself from something you need-“

“I don’t-“ he raised his voice in a snarl, “fucking need it! I’m not-“ he broke himself off, feeling the stares in the restaurant.

Tiro took a deep breath before resuming himself, softer this time, “I am not depriving myself anything. I’m fine.”

Lucas just seemed concerned. "Just try to listen to your body every once in a while, okay? Straining it in any way can only be bad for you."

"It's fine, alright?" Tiro sighed irritatedly. "Just drop it already."

The waitress brought them the dessert menu and picked up their plates. They both looked at it but Lucas kept looking up with a troublesome look. The silence was heavy.

"Feeling like anything?" Lucas ended up saying.

"I'll just get another drink," Tiro said dryly. Lucas felt guilty but didn't reply.

"... I guess I'll get a latte."

"You're not obligated to order anything, you know," Tiro spoke with a sigh.

"I know and I'm still getting a latte."

"Knock yourself out."

They put their menus down and relayed them to the waitress the moment she went by. They shared another minute in silence. Tiro let out a defeated sigh.

"Alright, I'm sorry I snapped at you. But you know that this is not something I like to talk about. If it's fine it's fine."

Lucas didn't immediately respond. He just looked torn."... I'm just worried, that's all."

Tiro sighed but he knew there was nothing else he could say. On the subject, that is.

"... Talking about worry, how's your mom doing?"

The blond looked up in surprise.

"I'm... She's stable."

"But no progress?"

He refused to answer. He looked away with trouble written over his face.

"How long has it been already? A year?"

"... Ten months."

"Are you holding up?"

The blond mustered up a smile. "I'm managing. I've asked for more hours."

That's avoiding the question, Tiro thought while sipping his last bit of coke.

"Luke, listen," he tried to start, waiting a bit before making eye contact. "This is too heavy a burden to carry alone. Please let me help already."

"You've said that before and I'll say it again." Lucas didn't bother with the eye contact. "I am fine. Don't burden yourself with this. As long as I can pay the hospital bills it's all good."

"Lucas..."

"Don't worry about me. I'm alright."

Their drinks were hastily put on their table.

Tiro reached for his glass with a bothered look. "I know I can't do anything against your will, Luke, but please think about it. If there's anything I could do, just ask."

He took a sip before coughing it back out.

"Seriously, whats with that waitress today?"

Black and white monitors lit the dark room at a godforsaken hour in the morning. Behind a desk aimed at security camera feed sat a man, keeping close watch on one particular monitor, rewinding parts occasionally.

It's when his cellphone rang that another sound besides the whirring of computers filled the room.

"Ghi speaking," he answered bluntly, holding the phone to his ear with his shoulder.

He sat up a little more straight, moving his hand to support the phone better. "Oh hey Ayuya. Yeah, I was just looking through the footage for you."

He listened and nodded to himself. "Fi is doing great. She says hi. How about you?"

While listening he scrolled to the next feed, glancing at the remaining monitors for a moment. Seeing no movement on any monitor, he glanced back to the screen he was previously watching. At something she said he chuckled. "Sounds like normal, then."

He sat up a little straighter. "Listen, I've been trying to look over the footage from the date and time you sent me, but I only have one monitor spare to watch the feed of 12 camera's back, so it's going to take a while."

He hummed in response. "Yeah, I've watched three of them already, but no luck. Say, I think you'd rather go to sleep, it's two in the morning-"

He threw a curious sideglance out of habit, combing a hand through his side bangs. "No kidding. Don't let him mess up your own sleeping schedule, alright?" he said with a bit of a laugh.

"Oh yeah," he resumed glancing at the monitor again. "Fio can tell you all about that-"

Then he saw something black flashing through the screen and fell silent.

"Hold up, Yuuya, I think I found something. Give me a second."

He reached over, pressing the phone to his ear with his shouler and rewound the tape. There it was. The resolution wasn't great, but the shape of the wing was too odd to be a bird.

Letting the vid play at half speed, he tried to look at the flying motion of the currently unidentified flying object. He checked the cam number too. Feed #7.

"Hey Ayuya, are you still there?" he asked quietly through the phone's microphone.

"I think I've found your bat."

#my ocs #cait writes #shut it cait #fdsjlkf #MY BUDDY MANIAC IF YOURE READING THIS THIS IS WHERE YOU LEFT OFF #LIKE HALFWAY MY DUDE #nightguard au

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aboveallarescuer · 4 years

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Dany’s appreciation (and criticism) of the Dothraki and Viserys

As I was rereading ASOIAF, I made it my goal to compile all* the book passages demonstrating either certain key attributes of Daenerys Targaryen (e.g. that she's compassionate and empathetic) or aspects of hers that are usually overblown (e.g. that she's violent and ambitious). Doing such a task may seem exaggerated, but I'd argue it's not, for many, many misconceptions about Dany have become widespread in light of the show's final season's events (and even before).

It must be acknowledged that it can be tricky to reference, say, ADWD passages to counter-argument how she was depicted in season eight (which allegedly follows ADOS events). Dany will have had plenty of character development in the span of two books. However, whatever happens to Dany in the next two books, I would argue that there is more than enough material to conclude that her show counterpart was made to fall for flaws that she (for the most part) never had and actions that she (for the most part) would never take.

Another objection to the purpose of these lists is that Game of Thrones is different from A Song of Ice and Fire and should be analyzed on its own, which is a fair point. However, the show is also an adaptation of these books, which begs the questions: why did they change Dany's character? Why did they overfocus on negative traits of hers or depicted them as negative when they weren't supposed to be or gave her negative traits that were never hers to begin with? Another fact that undermines the show=/=books argument is that most people think that the show's ending will be the books', albeit only in broad strokes and in different circumstances. As a result, people's perception of Dany is inevitably influenced by the show, which is a shame.

I hope these lists can be useful for whoever wants to find book passages to defend Dany's character in analysis or even conversations.

*Well, at least all the passages that I could find.

Also, people may interpret certain passages differently and then come up with a different collection of passages, so I'm not arguing that this list is completely objective (nor that there could ever be one).

Also, some passages have been cut short according to whether they were, IMO, relevant to the specific topic of the list they're in, so the context surrounding them may not always be clear (always read the books!). Many of them appear in different lists, sometimes fully cited, sometimes not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To justify the existence of this list, let's see examples of widespread opinions that I feel misrepresent Daenerys Targaryen:

Would Dany’s return actually be good for the realm? She offers a fairly similar vision of Westeros to the Dothraki that her late husband Khal Drogo did back in season one, but for the common folk of Westeros, that would likely mean their homes and livelihood being destroyed by nomadic invaders with a penchant for violence. (x)

The problem is that Daenerys has come of age with Viserys and then the Dothraki: two parties who only ever cared about conquest. Maybe it’s too sweeping to say that conquest is always wrong. But, perhaps Daenerys needs to realize that war is rarely justified when it is just for one person’s glory. And I’m not sure that that will ever happen. (x)

Bonus from the same source linked above: Fundamentally, Daenerys has a good heart – and maybe Jon can show her the way.

Is Dany so lacking in moral conscience and critical thinking that she can't discern what's good and what's bad from the Dothraki and Viserys's influence? I would argue that the books tell a different story.

Also, fuck that person for saying that maybe Jon can show her the way (to goodness or peace or whatever). FUCK THAT PERSON.

A Dance with Dragons

ADWD Daenerys X

Dany set off through the tall grass at a brisk pace. The earth felt warm between her toes. The grass was as tall as she was. It never seemed so high when I was mounted on my silver, riding beside my sun-and-stars at the head of his khalasar.

Only the birth of her dragons amidst the fire and smoke of Khal Drogo’s funeral pyre had spared Dany herself from being dragged back to Vaes Dothrak to live out the remainder of her days amongst the crones of the dosh khaleen.

She wondered how the ants had managed to climb over it and find her. To them these tumbledown stones must loom as huge as the Wall of Westeros. The biggest wall in all the world, her brother Viserys used to say, as proud as if he’d built it himself.

Viserys told her tales of knights so poor that they had to sleep beneath the ancient hedges that grew along the byways of the Seven Kingdoms. Dany would have given much and more for a nice thick hedge. Preferably one without an anthill.

A few bright stars lingered in the cobalt sky. Perhaps one of them is Khal Drogo, sitting on his fiery stallion in the night lands and smiling down on me.

Would the horse god of the Dothraki part the grass and claim her for his starry khalasar, so she might ride the nightlands with Khal Drogo? In Westeros the dead of House Targaryen were given to the flames, but who would light her pyre here? My flesh will feed the wolves and carrion crows, she thought sadly, and worms will burrow through my womb.

She dreamt of her dead brother.

Viserys looked just as he had the last time she’d seen him. His mouth was twisted in anguish, his hair was burnt, and his face was black and smoking where the molten gold had run down across his brow and cheeks and into his eyes.

“You are dead,” Dany said.

Murdered. Though his lips never moved, somehow she could hear his voice, whispering in her ear. You never mourned me, sister. It is hard to die unmourned.

“I loved you once.”

Once, he said, so bitterly it made her shudder. You were supposed to be my wife, to bear me children with silver hair and purple eyes, to keep the blood of the dragon pure. I took care of you. I taught you who you were. I fed you. I sold our mother’s crown to keep you fed.

“You hurt me. You frightened me.”

Only when you woke the dragon. I loved you. “You sold me. You betrayed me.”

No. You were the betrayer. You turned against me, against your own blood. They cheated me. Your horsey husband and his stinking savages. They were cheats and liars. They promised me a golden crown and gave me this. He touched the molten gold that was creeping down his face, and smoke rose from his finger.

“You could have had your crown,” Dany told him. “My sun-and-stars would have won it for you if only you had waited.”

I waited long enough. I waited my whole life. I was their king, their rightful king. They laughed at me.

“You should have stayed in Pentos with Magister Illyrio. Khal Drogo had to present me to the dosh khaleen, but you did not have to ride with us. That was your choice. Your mistake.”

Do you want to wake the dragon, you stupid little whore? Drogo’s khalasar was mine. I bought them from him, a hundred thousand screamers. I paid for them with your maidenhead.

“You never understood. Dothraki do not buy and sell. They give gifts and receive them. If you had waited ...”

I did wait. For my crown, for my throne, for you. All those years, and all I ever got was a pot of molten gold. Why did they give the dragon’s eggs to you? They should have been mine. If I’d had a dragon, I would have taught the world the meaning of our words.

One rider, and alone. A scout. He was one who rode before the khalasar to find the game and the good green grass, and sniff out foes wherever they might hide. If he found her there, he would kill her, rape her, or enslave her. At best, he would send her back to the crones of the dosh khaleen, where good khaleesi were supposed to go when their khals had died.

ADWD Daenerys IX

Dany could hear her handmaids arguing behind her, debating who was going to win the day’s final match. Jhiqui favored the gigantic Goghor, who looked more bull than man, even to the bronze ring in his nose. Irri insisted that Belaquo Bonebreaker’s flail would prove the giant’s undoing. My handmaids are Dothraki, she told herself. Death rides with every khalasar. The day she wed Khal Drogo, the arakhs had flashed at her wedding feast, and men had died whilst others drank and mated. Life and death went hand in hand amongst the horselords, and a sprinkling of blood was thought to bless a marriage. Her new marriage would soon be drenched in blood. How blessed it would be.

In Westeros the septons spoke of seven hells and seven heavens, but the Seven Kingdoms and their gods were far away. If she died here, Dany wondered, would the horse god of the Dothraki part the grass and claim her for his starry khalasar, so she might ride the nightlands beside her sun-and-stars? Or would the angry gods of Ghis send their harpies to seize her soul and drag her down to torment?

ADWD Daenerys VII

Dany envied the Dothraki maids their loose sandsilk trousers and painted vests. They would be much cooler than her in her tokar, with its heavy fringe of baby pearls. “Help me wind this round myself, please. I cannot manage all these pearls by myself.”

“Have my silver saddled. I would not go to my lord husband upon the backs of bearers.”

ADWD Daenerys V

The day might come soon when she would have need of every knight. “Will they joust for me? I should like that.” Viserys had told her stories of the tourneys he had witnessed in the Seven Kingdoms, but Dany had never seen a joust herself.

“They are not ready, Your Grace. When they are, they will be pleased to demonstrate their prowess.”

Daario should be here, and my bloodriders, she thought. If there is to be a battle, the blood of my blood should be with me.

ADWD Daenerys IV

“Most queens have no purpose but to warm some king’s bed and pop out sons for him. If that’s the sort of queen you mean to be, best marry Hizdahr.”

Her anger flashed. “Have you forgotten who I am?”

“No. Have you?”

Viserys would have his head off for that insolence. “I am the blood of the dragon. Do not presume to teach me lessons.” When Dany stood, the lion pelt slipped from her shoulders and tumbled to the ground. “Leave me.”

ADWD Daenerys III

“Dothraki make slaves, Ghiscari train them. And to reach Qarth, the horselords must needs drive their captives across the red waste. Hundreds would die, if not thousands … and many horses too, which is why no khal will risk it. And there is this: Qarth wants no khalasars seething round our walls. The stench of all those horses … meaning no offense, Khaleesi.”

“A horse has an honest smell. That is more than can be said of some great lords and merchant princes.”

ADWD Daenerys I

Dothraki were wise where horses were concerned, but could be utter fools about much else.

Daenerys pushed her hair back. “Find these cowards for me. Find them, so that I might teach the Harpy’s Sons what it means to wake the dragon.”

“Soldiers, not warriors, if it please Your Grace. They were made for the battlefield, to stand shoulder to shoulder behind their shields with their spears thrust out before them. Their training teaches them to obey, fearlessly, perfectly, without thought or hesitation ... not to unravel secrets or ask questions.”

“Would knights serve me any better?” [...]

“Not in this,” the old man admitted. “And Your Grace has no knights, save me. It will be years before the boys are ready.”

“Then who, if not Unsullied? Dothraki would be even worse.” Dothraki fought from horseback. Mounted men were of more use in open fields and hills than in the narrow streets and alleys of the city.

A Storm of Swords

ASOS Daenerys VI

“When I sent you down into the sewers, part of me hoped I’d seen the last of you. It seemed a fitting end for liars, to drown in slavers’ filth. I thought the gods would deal with you, but instead you returned to me. My gallant knights of Westeros, an informer and a turncloak. My brother would have hanged you both.” Viserys, would have, anyway. She did not know what Rhaegar would have done.

Irri helped her slip from her court clothes and into more comfortable garb; baggy woolen breeches, a loose felted tunic, a painted Dothraki vest.

“Aegon the Conqueror brought fire and blood to Westeros, but afterward he gave them peace, prosperity, and justice. But all I have brought to Slaver’s Bay is death and ruin. I have been more khal than queen, smashing and plundering, then moving on.”

ASOS Daenerys V

High on the walls of Meereen, the jeers had grown louder, and now hundreds of the defenders were taking their lead from the hero and pissing down through the ramparts to show their contempt for the besiegers. They are pissing on slaves, to show how little they fear us, she thought. They would never dare such a thing if it were a Dothraki khalasar outside their gates.

“What if we were to build siege towers? My brother Viserys told tales of such, I know they can be made.”

ASOS Daenerys IV

She had made Jhogo, Aggo, and Rakharo her kos as well as her bloodriders, and just now she needed them more to command her Dothraki than to protect her person. Her khalasar was tiny, some thirty-odd mounted warriors, and most of them braidless boys and bentback old men. Yet they were all the horse she had, and she dared not go without them.

ASOS Daenerys III

Today she rode her silver, clad in horsehair pants and painted leather vest, a bronze medallion belt about her waist and two more crossed between her breasts. Irri and Jhiqui had braided her hair and hung it with a tiny silver bell whose chime sang of the Undying of Qarth, burned in their Palace of Dust.

ASOS Daenerys II

And some had skins of the same amber hue as Kraznys mo Nakloz, and the bristly red-black hair that marked the ancient folk of Ghis, who named themselves the harpy’s sons. They sell even their own kind. It should not have surprised her. The Dothraki did the same, when khalasar met khalasar in the sea of grass.

Aggo and Jhogo fell in to either side of them, walking with the bowlegged swagger all the horselords affected when forced to dismount and stride the earth like common mortals.

She set her mouth grimly and gave her head a shake, and the bell in her braid chimed softly.

“You speak of sacking cities. Answer me this, ser—why have the Dothraki never sacked this city?” She pointed. “Look at the walls. You can see where they’ve begun to crumble. There, and there. Do you see any guards on those towers? I don’t. Are they hiding, ser? I saw these sons of the harpy today, all their proud highborn warriors. They dressed in linen skirts, and the fiercest thing about them was their hair. Even a modest khalasar could crack this Astapor like a nut and spill out the rotted meat inside. So tell me, why is that ugly harpy not sitting beside the godsway in Vaes Dothrak among the other stolen gods?”

A Clash of Kings

ACOK Daenerys V

She was breaking her fast on a bowl of cold shrimp-and-persimmon soup when Irri brought her a Qartheen gown, an airy confection of ivory samite patterned with seed pearls. “Take it away,” Dany said. “The docks are no place for lady’s finery.”

If the Milk Men thought her such a savage, she would dress the part for them. When she went to the stables, she wore faded sandsilk pants and woven grass sandals. Her small breasts moved freely beneath a painted Dothraki vest, and a curved dagger hung from her medallion belt. Jhiqui had braided her hair Dothraki-fashion, and fastened a silver bell to the end of the braid. “I have won no victories,” she tried telling her handmaid when the bell tinkled softly.

Jhiqui disagreed. “You burned the maegi in their house of dust and sent their souls to hell.”

That was Drogon’s victory, not mine, Dany wanted to say, but she held her tongue. The Dothraki would esteem her all the more for a few bells in her hair.

She chimed as she mounted her silver mare, and again with every stride [...] At least when she rode she felt as though she was getting somewhere.

Well, perhaps it was time. The people of her khalasar had welcomed the chance to recover from the ravages of the red waste, but now that they were plump and rested once again, they began to grow unruly. Dothraki were not accustomed to staying long in one place. They were a warrior people, not made for cities.

“I smell it, Khaleesi,” he called. “The poison water.” The Dothraki distrusted the sea and all that moved upon it. Water that a horse could not drink was water they wanted no part of. They will learn, Dany resolved. I braved their sea with Khal Drogo. Now they can brave mine.

ACOK Daenerys IV

Aggo put a hand on his arakh. “Khaleesi, it is said that many go into the Palace of Dust, but few come out.”

“It is said,” Jhogo agreed.

“We are blood of your blood,” said Aggo, “sworn to live and die as you do. Let us walk with you in this dark place, to keep you safe from harm.”

“Some places even a khal must walk alone,” Dany said.

The blood of the dragon must not be afraid. Dany said a quick prayer, begging the Warrior for courage and the Dothraki horse god for strength. She made herself walk forward.

ACOK Daenerys III

“A firemage, Khaleesi.”

“I want to see.”

“Then you must.” The Dothraki offered a hand down. When she took it, he pulled her up onto his horse and sat her in front of him, where she could see over the heads of the crowd. The firemage had conjured a ladder in the air, a crackling orange ladder of swirling flame that rose unsupported from the floor of the bazaar, reaching toward the high latticed roof.

Most of the spectators, she noticed, were not of the city: she saw sailors off trading ships, merchants come by caravan, dusty men out of the red waste, wandering soldiers, craftsmen, slavers. Jhogo slid one hand about her waist and leaned close. “The Milk Men shun him. Khaleesi, do you see the girl in the felt hat? There, behind the fat priest. She is a—”

“—cutpurse,” finished Dany. She was no pampered lady, blind to such things. She had seen cutpurses aplenty in the streets of the Free Cities, during the years she’d spent with her brother, running from the Usurper’s hired knives.

ACOK Daenerys II

The thought of home disquieted her. If her sun-and-stars had lived, he would have led his khalasar across the poison water and swept away her enemies, but his strength had left the world. Her bloodriders remained, sworn to her for life and skilled in slaughter, but only in the ways of the horselords. The Dothraki sacked cities and plundered kingdoms, they did not rule them. Dany had no wish to reduce King’s Landing to a blackened ruin full of unquiet ghosts. She had supped enough on tears. I want to make my kingdom beautiful, to fill it with fat men and pretty maids and laughing children. I want my people to smile when they see me ride by, the way Viserys said they smiled for my father.

But before she could do that she must conquer.

[...]When Khal Drogo had lived, men trembled and made him gifts to stay his wrath. If they did not, he took their cities, wealth and wives and all. But his khalasar had been vast, while hers was meager. Her people had followed her across the red waste as she chased her comet, and would follow her across the poison water too, but they would not be enough. Even her dragons might not be enough. Viserys had believed that the realm would rise for its rightful king ... but Viserys had been a fool, and fools believe in foolish things.

Her doubts made her shiver.

ACOK Daenerys I

“Your hair is coming back, Khaleesi,” Jhiqui said as she scraped sand off her back. Dany ran a hand over the top of her head, feeling the new growth. Dothraki men wore their hair in long oiled braids, and cut them only when defeated. Perhaps I should do the same, she thought, to remind them that Drogo’s strength lives within me now. Khal Drogo had died with his hair uncut, a boast few men could make.

“My handmaids say there are ghosts here.”

“There are ghosts everywhere,” Ser Jorah said softly. “We carry them with us wherever we go.”

Yes, she thought. Viserys, Khal Drogo, my son Rhaego, they are with me always.

A Game of Thrones

AGOT Daenerys X

Then there was nothing to be done but watch the sun and look for the first star.

When a horselord dies, his horse is slain with him, so he might ride proud into the night lands. The bodies are burned beneath the open sky, and the khal rises on his fiery steed to take his place among the stars. The more fiercely the man burned in life, the brighter his star will shine in the darkness.

Jhogo spied it first. “There,” he said in a hushed voice. Dany looked and saw it, low in the east. The first star was a comet, burning red. Bloodred; fire red; the dragon’s tail. She could not have asked for a stronger sign.

AGOT Daenerys IX

“It was her fate, Khaleesi,” said Aggo. 

If I look back I am lost. “It was a cruel fate,” Dany said, “yet not so cruel as Mago’s will be. I promise you that, by the old gods and the new, by the lamb god and the horse god and every god that lives. I swear it by the Mother of Mountains and the Womb of the World. Before I am done with them, Mago and Ko Jhaqo will plead for the mercy they showed Eroeh.”

The memory of their first ride was with her when she led him out into the darkness, for the Dothraki believed that all things of importance in a man’s life must be done beneath the open sky. She told herself that there were powers stronger than hatred, and spells older and truer than any the maegi had learned in Asshai. The night was black and moonless, but overhead a million stars burned bright. She took that for an omen.

No soft blanket of grass welcomed them here, only the hard dusty ground, bare and strewn with stones. No trees stirred in the wind, and there was no stream to soothe her fears with the gentle music of water. Dany told herself that the stars would be enough. “Remember, Drogo,” she whispered. “Remember our first ride together, the day we wed. Remember the night we made Rhaego, with the khalasar all around us and your eyes on my face. Remember how cool and clean the water was in the Womb of the World. Remember, my sun-and-stars. Remember, and come back to me.”

AGOT Daenerys VIII

The child kicked inside her, as if he had heard. Dany remembered the story Viserys had told her, of what the Usurper’s dogs had done to Rhaegar’s children. His son had been a babe as well, yet they had ripped him from his mother’s breast and dashed his head against a wall. That was the way of men. “They must not hurt my son!” she cried.

Dany did not want to go back to Vaes Dothrak and live the rest of her life among those terrible old women, yet she knew that the knight spoke the truth. Drogo had been more than her sun-and-stars; he had been the shield that kept her safe. “I will not leave him,” she said stubbornly, miserably. She took his hand again. “I will not.”

“Khaleesi,” he pleaded, “you must not do this thing. Let me kill this maegi.”

“Kill her and you kill your khal,” Dany said.

“This is bloodmagic,” he said. “It is forbidden.”

“I am khaleesi, and I say it is not forbidden. In Vaes Dothrak, Khal Drogo slew a stallion and I ate his heart, to give our son strength and courage. This is the same. The same.”

Mirri Maz Duur had no use for the carcass. “Burn it,” Dany told them. It was what they did, she knew. When a man died, his mount was killed and placed beneath him on the funeral pyre, to carry him to the night lands. The men of her khas dragged the carcass from the tent.

AGOT Daenerys VII

Ser Jorah said the people of this country named themselves the Lhazareen, but the Dothraki called them haesh rakhi, the Lamb Men. Once Dany might have taken them for Dothraki, for they had the same copper skin and almond-shaped eyes. Now they looked alien to her, squat and flat-faced, their black hair cropped unnaturally short. They were herders of sheep and eaters of vegetables, and Khal Drogo said they belonged south of the river bend. The grass of the Dothraki sea was not meant for sheep.

“Jhogo, Quaro, you will aid Ser Jorah. I want no rape.”

The warriors exchanged a baffled look.

Jorah Mormont spurred his horse closer. “Princess,” he said, “you have a gentle heart, but you do not understand. This is how it has always been. Those men have shed blood for the khal. Now they claim their reward.”

Across the road, the girl was still crying, her high singsong tongue strange to Dany’s ears. The first man was done with her now, and a second had taken his place.

“She is a lamb girl,” Quaro said in Dothraki. “She is nothing, Khaleesi. The riders do her honor. The Lamb Men lay with sheep, it is known.”

“It is known,” her handmaid Irri echoed.

“It is known,” agreed Jhogo, astride the tall grey stallion that Drogo had given him. “If her wailing offends your ears, Khaleesi, Jhogo will bring you her tongue.” He drew his arakh.

“I will not have her harmed,” Dany said. “I claim her. Do as I command you, or Khal Drogo will know the reason why.”

“Ai, Khaleesi,” Jhogo replied, kicking his horse. Quaro and the others followed his lead, the bells in their hair chiming.

Dany heard Jhogo shout. The rapers laughed at him. One man shouted back. Jhogo’s arakh flashed, and the man’s head went tumbling from his shoulders. Laughter turned to curses as the horsemen reached for weapons, but by then Quaro and Aggo and Rakharo were there. She saw Aggo point across the road to where she sat upon her silver. The riders looked at her with cold black eyes. One spat. The others scattered to their mounts, muttering.

All the while the man atop the lamb girl continued to plunge in and out of her, so intent on his pleasure that he seemed unaware of what was going on around him. Ser Jorah dismounted and wrenched him off with a mailed hand. The Dothraki went sprawling in the mud, bounced up with a knife in hand, and died with Aggo’s arrow through his throat.

A mounted warrior rode up and vaulted from his saddle. He spoke to Haggo, a stream of angry Dothraki too fast for Dany to understand. The huge bloodrider gave her a heavy look before he turned to his khal. “This one is Mago, who rides in the khas of Ko Jhaqo. He says the khaleesi has taken his spoils, a daughter of the lambs who was his to mount.”

Khal Drogo’s face was still and hard, but his black eyes were curious as they went to Dany. “Tell me the truth of this, moon of my life,” he commanded in Dothraki.

Dany told him what she had done, in his own tongue so the khal would understand her better, her words simple and direct.

When she was done, Drogo was frowning. “This is the way of war. These women are our slaves now, to do with as we please.”

“It pleases me to hold them safe,” Dany said, wondering if she had dared too much. “If your warriors would mount these women, let them take them gently and keep them for wives. Give them places in the khalasar and let them bear you sons.”

Qotho was ever the cruelest of the bloodriders. It was he who laughed. “Does the horse breed with the sheep?”

Something in his tone reminded her of Viserys. Dany turned on him angrily. “The dragon feeds on horse and sheep alike.”

Khal Drogo smiled. “See how fierce she grows!” he said. “It is my son inside her, the stallion who mounts the world, filling her with his fire. Ride slowly, Qotho ... if the mother does not burn you where you sit, the son will trample you into the mud. And you, Mago, hold your tongue and find another lamb to mount. These belong to my khaleesi.”

AGOT Daenerys VI

She had never seen the Seven Kingdoms either, no more than Drogo, yet she felt as though she knew them from all the tales her brother had told her. Viserys had promised her a thousand times that he would take her back one day, but he was dead now and his promises had died with him.

Home? The word made her feel sad. Ser Jorah had his Bear Island, but what was home to her? A few tales, names recited as solemnly as the words of a prayer, the fading memory of a red door ... was Vaes Dothrak to be her home forever? When she looked at the crones of the dosh khaleen, was she looking at her future?

The day was warm and cloudless, the sky a deep blue. When the wind blew, she could smell the rich scents of grass and earth. As her litter passed beneath the stolen monuments, she went from sunlight to shadow and back again. Dany swayed along, studying the faces of dead heroes and forgotten kings. She wondered if the gods of burned cities could still answer prayers. If I were not the blood of the dragon, she thought wistfully, this could be my home. She was khaleesi, she had a strong man and a swift horse, handmaids to serve her, warriors to keep her safe, an honored place in the dosh khaleen awaiting her when she grew old ... and in her womb grew a son who would one day bestride the world. That should be enough for any woman ... but not for the dragon. With Viserys gone, Daenerys was the last, the very last. She was the seed of kings and conquerors, and so too the child inside her. She must not forget.

AGOT Daenerys V

A procession followed them out onto the godsway, the broad grassy road that ran through the heart of Vaes Dothrak, from the horse gate to the Mother of Mountains. The crones of the dosh khaleen came first, with their eunuchs and slaves. Some supported themselves with tall carved staffs as they struggled along on ancient, shaking legs, while others walked as proud as any horselord. Each of the old women had been a khaleesi once. When their lord husbands died and a new khal took his place at the front of his riders, with a new khaleesi mounted beside him, they were sent here, to reign over the vast Dothraki nation. Even the mightiest of khals bowed to the wisdom and authority of the dosh khaleen. Still, it gave Dany the shivers to think that one day she might be sent to join them, whether she willed it or no.

“He has no gold to pay soldiers. What if he’s betrayed?” Caravan guards were seldom troubled much by thoughts of honor, and the Usurper in King’s Landing would pay well for her brother’s head.

“Then ... he should have them. He does not need to steal them. He had only to ask. He is my brother ... and my true king.”

“He is your brother,” Ser Jorah acknowledged.

“You do not understand, ser,” she said. “My mother died giving me birth, and my father and my brother Rhaegar even before that. I would never have known so much as their names if Viserys had not been there to tell me. He was the only one left. The only one. He is all I have.” “Once,” said Ser Jorah. “No longer, Khaleesi. You belong to the Dothraki now. In your womb rides the stallion who mounts the world.”

AGOT Daenerys IV

Beyond the horse gate, plundered gods and stolen heroes loomed to either side of them. The forgotten deities of dead cities brandished their broken thunderbolts at the sky as Dany rode her silver past their feet. Stone kings looked down on her from their thrones, their faces chipped and stained, even their names lost in the mists of time. Lithe young maidens danced on marble plinths, draped only in flowers, or poured air from shattered jars. Monsters stood in the grass beside the road; black iron dragons with jewels for eyes, roaring griffins, manticores with their barbed tails poised to strike, and other beasts she could not name. Some of the statues were so lovely they took her breath away, others so misshapen and terrible that Dany could scarcely bear to look at them. Those, Ser Jorah said, had likely come from the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai.

“So many,” she said as her silver stepped slowly onward, “and from so many lands.”

Viserys was less impressed. “The trash of dead cities,” he sneered. He was careful to speak in the Common Tongue, which few Dothraki could understand, yet even so Dany found herself glancing back at the men of her khas, to make certain he had not been overheard. He went on blithely. “All these savages know how to do is steal the things better men have built ... and kill.” He laughed. “They do know how to kill. Otherwise I’d have no use for them at all.”

“They are my people now,” Dany said. “You should not call them savages, brother.”

“The dragon speaks as he likes,” Viserys said ... in the Common Tongue. He glanced over his shoulder at Aggo and Rakharo, riding behind them, and favored them with a mocking smile. “See, the savages lack the wit to understand the speech of civilized men.”

Every khal had his bloodriders. At first Dany had thought of them as a kind of Dothraki Kingsguard, sworn to protect their lord, but it went further than that. Jhiqui had taught her that a bloodrider was more than a guard; they were the khal’s brothers, his shadows, his fiercest friends. “Blood of my blood,” Drogo called them, and so it was; they shared a single life. The ancient traditions of the horselords demanded that when the khal died, his bloodriders died with him, to ride at his side in the night lands. If the khal died at the hands of some enemy, they lived only long enough to avenge him, and then followed him joyfully into the grave. In some khalasars, Jhiqui said, the bloodriders shared the khal’s wine, his tent, and even his wives, though never his horses. A man’s mount was his own.

Daenerys was glad that Khal Drogo did not hold to those ancient ways. She should not have liked being shared. And while old Cohollo treated her kindly enough, the others frightened her; Haggo, huge and silent, often glowered as if he had forgotten who she was, and Qotho had cruel eyes and quick hands that liked to hurt. He left bruises on Doreah’s soft white skin whenever he touched her, and sometimes made Irri sob in the night. Even his horses seemed to fear him.

Yet they were bound to Drogo for life and death, so Daenerys had no choice but to accept them. And sometimes she found herself wishing her father had been protected by such men. In the songs, the white knights of the Kingsguard were ever noble, valiant, and true, and yet King Aerys had been murdered by one of them, the handsome boy they now called the Kingslayer, and a second, Ser Barristan the Bold, had gone over to the Usurper. She wondered if all men were as false in the Seven Kingdoms. When her son sat the Iron Throne, she would see that he had bloodriders of his own to protect him against treachery in his Kingsguard. ~

“I will give my brother his gifts tonight,” she decided as Jhiqui was washing her hair. “He should look a king in the sacred city. Doreah, run and find him and invite him to sup with me.”

[...] While her handmaids prepared the meal, Dany laid out the clothing she’d had made to her brother’s measure: a tunic and leggings of crisp white linen, leather sandals that laced up to the knee, a bronze medallion belt, a leather vest painted with fire-breathing dragons. The Dothraki would respect him more if he looked less a beggar, she hoped, and perhaps he would forgive her for shaming him that day in the grass. He was still her king, after all, and her brother. They were both blood of the dragon.

She was arranging the last of his gifts—a sandsilk cloak, green as grass, with a pale grey border that would bring out the silver in his hair—when Viserys arrived, dragging Doreah by the arm.

“Look. These are for you.”

Viserys frowned suspiciously. “What is all this?”

“New raiment. I had it made for you.” Dany smiled shyly.

He looked at her and sneered. “Dothraki rags. Do you presume to dress me now?”

“Please ... you’ll be cooler and more comfortable, and I thought ... maybe if you dressed like them, the Dothraki ... ” Dany did not know how to say it without waking his dragon.

“Next you’ll want to braid my hair.”

“I’d never ... ” Why was he always so cruel? She had only wanted to help. “You have no right to a braid, you have won no victories yet.”

It was the wrong thing to say. Fury shone from his lilac eyes, yet he dared not strike her, not with her handmaids watching and the warriors of her khas outside. Viserys picked up the cloak and sniffed at it. “This stinks of manure. Perhaps I shall use it as a horse blanket.”

“I had Doreah sew it specially for you,” she told him, wounded. “These are garments fit for a khal.” “I am the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, not some grass-stained savage with bells in his hair,” Viserys spat back at her. He grabbed her arm. “You forget yourself, slut. Do you think that big belly will protect you if you wake the dragon?”

His fingers dug into her arm painfully and for an instant Dany felt like a child again, quailing in the face of his rage. She reached out with her other hand and grabbed the first thing she touched, the belt she’d hoped to give him, a heavy chain of ornate bronze medallions. She swung it with all her strength.

It caught him full in the face. Viserys let go of her. Blood ran down his cheek where the edge of one of the medallions had sliced it open. “You are the one who forgets himself,” Dany said to him. “Didn’t you learn anything that day in the grass? Leave me now, before I summon my khas to drag you out. And pray that Khal Drogo does not hear of this, or he will cut open your belly and feed you your own entrails.”

AGOT Daenerys III

“Wait here,” Dany told Ser Jorah. “Tell them all to stay. Tell them I command it.”

The knight smiled. Ser Jorah was not a handsome man. He had a neck and shoulders like a bull, and coarse black hair covered his arms and chest so thickly that there was none left for his head. Yet his smiles gave Dany comfort. “You are learning to talk like a queen, Daenerys.”

“Not a queen,” said Dany. “A khaleesi.” She wheeled her horse about and galloped down the ridge alone.

The descent was steep and rocky, but Dany rode fearlessly, and the joy and the danger of it were a song in her heart. All her life Viserys had told her she was a princess, but not until she rode her silver had Daenerys Targaryen ever felt like one.

From that hour onward, each day was easier than the one before it. Her legs grew stronger; her blisters burst and her hands grew callused; her soft thighs toughened, supple as leather.

The khal had commanded the handmaid Irri to teach Dany to ride in the Dothraki fashion, but it was the filly who was her real teacher. The horse seemed to know her moods, as if they shared a single mind. With every passing day, Dany felt surer in her seat. The Dothraki were a hard and unsentimental people, and it was not their custom to name their animals, so Dany thought of her only as the silver. She had never loved anything so much.

As the riding became less an ordeal, Dany began to notice the beauties of the land around her. She rode at the head of the khalasar with Drogo and his bloodriders, so she came to each country fresh and unspoiled. Behind them the great horde might tear the earth and muddy the rivers and send up clouds of choking dust, but the fields ahead of them were always green and verdant.

By then her agony was a fading memory. She still ached after a long day’s riding, yet somehow the pain had a sweetness to it now, and each morning she came willingly to her saddle, eager to know what wonders waited for her in the lands ahead. She began to find pleasure even in her nights, and if she still cried out when Drogo took her, it was not always in pain.

At the bottom of the ridge, the grasses rose around her, tall and supple. Dany slowed to a trot and rode out onto the plain, losing herself in the green, blessedly alone. In the khalasar, she was never alone. Khal Drogo came to her only after the sun went down, but her handmaids fed her and bathed her and slept by the door of her tent, Drogo’s bloodriders and the men of her khas were never far, and her brother was an unwelcome shadow, day and night. Dany could hear him on the top of the ridge, his voice shrill with anger as he shouted at Ser Jorah. She rode on, submerging herself deeper in the Dothraki sea.

The green swallowed her up. The air was rich with the scents of earth and grass, mixed with the smell of horseflesh and Dany’s sweat and the oil in her hair. Dothraki smells. They seemed to belong here. Dany breathed it all in, laughing. She had a sudden urge to feel the ground beneath her, to curl her toes in that thick black soil. Swinging down from her saddle, she let the silver graze while she pulled off her high boots.

“Have you forgotten who you are? Look at you. Look at you!”

Dany did not need to look. She was barefoot, with oiled hair, wearing Dothraki riding leathers and a painted vest given her as a bride gift. She looked as though she belonged here. Viserys was soiled and stained in city silks and ringmail.

“Take his horse,” Dany commanded Ser Jorah. Viserys gaped at her. He could not believe what he was hearing; nor could Dany quite believe what she was saying. Yet the words came. “Let my brother walk behind us back to the khalasar.” Among the Dothraki, the man who does not ride was no man at all, the lowest of the low, without honor or pride. “Let everyone see him as he is.”

“He could not lead an army even if my lord husband gave him one,” Dany said. “He has no coin and the only knight who follows him reviles him as less than a snake. The Dothraki make mock of his weakness. He will never take us home.”

“Wise child.” The knight smiled.

“I am no child,” she told him fiercely. Her heels pressed into the sides of her mount, rousing the silver to a gallop. Faster and faster she raced, leaving Jorah and Irri and the others far behind, the warm wind in her hair and the setting sun red on her face. By the time she reached the khalasar, it was dusk.

There is no privacy in the heart of the khalasar. Dany felt the eyes on her as she undressed him, heard the soft voices as she did the things that Doreah had told her to do. It was nothing to her. Was she not khaleesi? His were the only eyes that mattered, and when she mounted him she saw something there that she had never seen before. She rode him as fiercely as ever she had ridden her silver, and when the moment of his pleasure came, Khal Drogo called out her name.

AGOT Daenerys II

She was a young filly, spirited and splendid. Dany knew just enough about horses to know that this was no ordinary animal. There was something about her that took the breath away. She was grey as the winter sea, with a mane like silver smoke.

Hesitantly she reached out and stroked the horse’s neck, ran her fingers through the silver of her mane. Khal Drogo said something in Dothraki and Magister Illyrio translated. “Silver for the silver of your hair, the khal says.”

“She’s beautiful,” Dany murmured. 

“She is the pride of the khalasar,” Illyrio said. “Custom decrees that the khaleesi must ride a mount worthy of her place by the side of the khal.”

Drogo stepped forward and put his hands on her waist. He lifted her up as easily as if she were a child and set her on the thin Dothraki saddle, so much smaller than the ones she was used to. Dany sat there uncertain for a moment. No one had told her about this part. “What should I do?” she asked Illyrio.

It was Ser Jorah Mormont who answered. “Take the reins and ride. You need not go far.”

Nervously Dany gathered the reins in her hands and slid her feet into the short stirrups. She was only a fair rider; she had spent far more time traveling by ship and wagon and palanquin than by horseback. Praying that she would not fall off and disgrace herself, she gave the filly the lightest and most timid touch with her knees.

And for the first time in hours, she forgot to be afraid. Or perhaps it was for the first time ever.

The silver-grey filly moved with a smooth and silken gait, and the crowd parted for her, every eye upon them. Dany found herself moving faster than she had intended, yet somehow it was exciting rather than terrifying. The horse broke into a trot, and she smiled. Dothraki scrambled to clear a path. The slightest pressure with her legs, the lightest touch on the reins, and the filly responded. She sent it into a gallop, and now the Dothraki were hooting and laughing and shouting at her as they jumped out of her way. As she turned to ride back, a firepit loomed ahead, directly in her path. They were hemmed in on either side, with no room to stop. A daring she had never known filled Daenerys then, and she gave the filly her head.

The silver horse leapt the flames as if she had wings.

When she pulled up before Magister Illyrio, she said, “Tell Khal Drogo that he has given me the wind.” The fat Pentoshi stroked his yellow beard as he repeated her words in Dothraki, and Dany saw her new husband smile for the first time.

The last sliver of sun vanished behind the high walls of Pentos to the west just then. Dany had lost all track of time.

#daenerys targaryen #dany passages #a dance with dragons #a storm of swords #valyrianscrolls #a clash of kings #a game of thrones

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