SPOILER WARNING FOR CHAPTER 54 OF THE BEAST YOU’VE MADE OF ME
‘“Why do you get to keep her?” Lucerys asks.
Rhaenyra stands there, hands behind her back, her head tilted as she observes him. She is like stone, like marble, like armor, something so impenetrable. But he knows her, he knows the messiness inside of her because he feels the messiness inside his own chest and he is his mother’s son.
“Why do you get to keep Alicent and I can’t keep him?” Lucerys demands.’
—the beast you’ve made of me by MaidenMotherCrone on ao3
I am bawling my eyes out STOP.
The fact that people still call Lucerys ‘Your Grace’ even now is something so interesting and it’s very dear to me. He will forever be the Kingmaker, Witch King, King Consort, Lucerys Targaryen, and no one will forget that no matter who sits the Iron Throne.
Also, Lucerys using his manipulative charms, ‘“They will never love you as they love me.”’?? Go off. This is the beastie we all know and love. My man knew what he wanted and he exhausted all of the methods available to him until he got it. Go with your man, Lucerys, you go.
And Aemond, my love, I know you’re tired and you can rest now. You can even have your beastie. It’s gonna be great.
If it’s not obvious I just read the second to last chapter of the beast you’ve made of me and I have still not recovered. I will never recover. I can’t believe it’s almost over. What will I do with myself once it’s done??
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“Ah! The newbies! Tommy said his brother was in town! What’s the name?”
Joel’s mouth turned into half a smirk at the elation in the voice of the man welcoming them to the Tipsy Bison. “Joel.” He said, motioning his hand that was not occupied with Ellie’s in her direction, “this is Ellie.”
“Joel and Ellie Miller. Nice to meet you folks!”
Ellie’s eyes grew wide. Ellie Miller.
Williams? Miller. Miller? Ellie Williams… Ellie Miller.
The voices of the conversing men were drowned out now, Ellie taken completely captive by her thoughts. Joel’s last name. My last name. Our last name. But… we’re not family. We can’t, can we? It’s his name, it’s not mine. I shouldn’t be called that. I shouldn’t be but I… want to be? Do I? Fuck, of course I do. Official shit? I’d get to be a Miller? Joel’s…
“-lie?”
She was back, her thoughts pushed somewhat back. “Hm?”
He faced her, her hand still in his. “Hey, you okay? You were out of it there for a minute,” he asked, voice unmistakably soft.
“Yup, perfect,” she said, trying to brush it off. It’s a name. Chill.
“Alright,” he said, not pushing it.
The chefs cooked up burgers for them that night and Joel nearly died and went to Heaven having a burger again. Ellie wasn’t as impressed, but seeing Joel eat with the biggest grin on his face and spew some pre-outbreak junk about how delicious a good homemade burger on the grill was made it worth it to her.
But even through dinner, the thoughts in Ellie’s head didn’t leave. They weren’t bad… just curious. Miller. Ellie Miller. It’s just a simple hope. It would never happen; stop making a big deal out of it.
Even after dinner and their walk home, Joel could feel a difference. Silent communication to feeling a difference in them through… the others scent? The way they walk? How their head hung? He couldn’t tell. But there was… something there that was different about her.
They both kicked off their shoes, Ellie moving to the couch immediately to plop into the weary leather.
He asked again. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Fine.”
He stood by the door, eyebrows raised and hands alarmingly close to sitting on his hips.
She sighed, throwing her head against the back of the couch. “Nothing bad, I swear. Just… some thoughts.”
“Baby, from what I’ve seen, majority of your thoughts are bad.”
“Wow, helpful,” she said, letting out an exasperated sigh. “But you’re right. But I swear, they’re not bad. Just dumb.”
Joel sat on the other end of the couch to face her. He didn’t speak, but he did want to hear from her. Poking and prodding about her dumb thoughts would shut her down. Her dumb thoughts would still overtake her in a number of ways and he wanted her to talk about them, no matter how dumb she said or thought they were.
He sat and waited patiently for her to start.
“What the guy said earlier at dinner.”
“What, specifically?”
She half groaned, annoyed with how such dumb thoughts were making her feel. “When we first got there. You introduced us and he said Joel and Ellie Miller…”
Joel turned his head to the side, a few lightbulbs going off.
“I just… didn’t know how to feel about it, I guess. But, it’s dumb. I’m sure sleeping on it will be fine.”
“Ellie,” he started, cautiously approaching the question, “what was your reaction to it? Did you hate it or was there…”
“Interest,” Ellie continued for him. “Interest, I think? I don’t know, it’s not like I go by Ellie Williams everywhere I go. But… Miller is your name. It’s Tommy’s, it’s Maria’s. It’s not… mine. But…” she trailed off slightly, pulling at her fingers as she glanced up at him. “I kept saying it as my last name in my head and it felt… good, almost. But I’m not a part of the family and using it as my last name seems really official and we’re not official and I’m not related to you guys so it feels wrong to want something when-“
“Hey,” he interrupted, grabbing her hand from across the couch. “My last name does not define whether you’re in the family or not, got it?”
Ellie sniffed and swallowed, forcing the lump in her throat down. “Still… it feels weird.”
“Tell you what,” he grabbed her hand with his other, holding it tight. “We try it on for size for a little while? If you want. There’s a lot of families we haven’t met. Plenty of kids your age, adults my age. They know I’m Tommy’s brother, so they’re going to assume you’re related, too. If you want, when introducing yourself, you can use Miller to see how it sounds.” He smiled at her. Ellie Miller. Fuck, he’d love it. “If you end up hatin’ it, you don’t have to use it. Okay?”
She nodded in agreement, “Okay.” She looked up at him again, noting those familiar creases at the corners of his eyes. “Do you… like how it sounds?”
His smile grew as he brought her enveloped hand up to his lips, adjusting his grip on her so he could kiss her knuckles briefly, the feel of his stubble causing her to reflexively flex her fingers at the feeling. “Course I do,” he said, grabbing hold of her hand again. “But I’m not gonna ask you to use it if you end up hating it.”
She smiled, nodding in understanding. She wouldn’t hate it. It’s his last name. If this is as official as they can get, she wants it.
They stayed on the couch, Ellie eventually changing positions to laying her head on his thigh as he told her Miller Family Stories, per her request. The majority of them were embarrassing stories of Tommy in his youth, stories Joel supposedly was made to swear would never leave the immediate family.
But Ellie was a part of the immediate family now, and she’s definitely going to use her newfound knowledge against her uncle.
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Haaayy can you tell us more about your au where branch finds cooper's egg?
Hiiii!! Thanks for asking! And of course :)
lol turns out I had a lot more thought out. Fair warning, none of this is concrete, this was thought up a while ago and uhhhhh… writing is not my strong suit lol
In this au I had debated whether to make copper a little bit younger, I already hc him as the youngest of the snack pack so idk if its needed lol.
While in the beginning of making his bunker, branch (who’s maybe 7??) would travel farther out into the forest and gather supplies to build when he stumbles on what looks like an egg? Just in time too, ‘cause Coops pops out like in twt, does his little groove, & then proceeds to flop over to nap (being baby is tiring work).
Branch is just ??? cause like what?? Baby? Way out here in the woods?? Why does the baby have 4 legs??? Why is said baby all alone? And that last part makes b pause for a sec bc where’s his family? Did he lose them? Or is it even worse…was he left behind? (He might be projecting a lil).
Cooper and Branch proceed to live where other kids w/o families go. Caretakers try to care for cooper & he is not having it. After all, branch is the first person he’d ever seen, was the first person who’d carried him. He’s imprinted on branch and whole heartedly believes and he is his family. So if C needs to be taken care of B has to be there. It goes on long enough that the caretaker decides it'll just easier if branch helped take care of him; and who knows maybe he'll regain his color being around such a happy little goober.
At first, branch doesn’t realize how much he means to C and assumes his attachment will fade. After all why wouldn’t it when he’s being doted on by warm and cheerful trolls. But nope! Whenever the caretakers aren't taking cooper around the village, Cooper is always following Branch. Around the pod, and through the woods. Branch looks out for him, talks to him, teaches him what he can, and even plays games! I think the fact that branch has been a part of Coopers whole life gives him a sense of obligation perhaps like a big brother?. It's easy to be open to him.
All attempts to foster Cooper are unsuccessful. It's not that Cooper doesn't match the family, it's that he just doesn't want to live with them. Imagine a foster family having the time of their lives singing & playing around & when the time comes Cooper's like 'I had a lot of fun today! Time to go! what?? Stay here? be a part of your family? ...Nope :D
When the time comes that the bunker can feasibly house him, (preteen?) Branch packs up what little he owns, and prepares to leave that night. It's not like the anyone at the orphanage would chase after him. Well, except for one trolling.
It's been years, long enough that their bond is strong, they're brothers in all but name. At least unnamed on branch's side, he kind of refuses to acknowledge it.
Anyway- Branch waits until everyone falls asleep and sneaks out. He doesn't even make it out of the room lol. One foot out the door and a sleepy voice is asking him where he's going. Branch just says he's going to the bunker, that he'll see him soon, it won't be forever you see what im trying to parallel? and it's true. It's not like he's leaving to who knows where. Cooper just nods & yawns out a "bye, see you later". Love me a parallel
Branch lasts an hour or two in the bunker. He's on edge the whole time, racked w/ guilt. Has a little mental spiral until there is just one loud thought of 'what am i doing? there's someone waiting for me' and runs back.
In the joined room, Cooper fell asleep on branch's bed waiting for him. So making sure not to wake him, Branch rests coopers head on his lap. Leaning against the headboard Branch just stares at his vest left at the end of the bed & has a moment of clarity. Like oh, that's why i felt terrible, i left my little brother behind. (Keep in mind that no, he didn’t really do that, but he’s a kid and that whole ‘see you later’ really shook him so he’s making some jumps in logic)(there some projecting happening as well)
So yeah, gained a brother!! yay!!! Cooper beat you to that revelation yeeaarrrss ago lol.
One thing I like about branch being a big bro is this idea that the more he learns about what it means to be one, the less he can understand his brothers. And are they his brothers?? Over the years it’s not looking like it.
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Prompt 188
Pariah stares down his muzzle at the scrap of a ghostling hissing up at him, still waking up from an eternity of sleep. Something he honestly hadn’t expected to awaken from any time soon, even if it had been several thousands of years.
But that was not important at the moment. No, what was concerning him was the fact that there was a ghostling, practically a fetus really, with itty bitty fangs bared and tiny wings puffed up in an obvious attempt to make themself look bigger.
Not to mention the fact another ghostling tried to attack him from behind the moment he leaned down to get a better look. Which meant moving very carefully to not accidentally crush said ghostling while dislodging them from the spikes across his spine.
Ugh, he’d just woken up, why was there a pair of ghostlings in front of his prison? Where was whoever had decided to free him? …
…
Please don’t tell him that the sarcophagus was opened by a pair of ghostlings that shouldn’t even be out of their caretaker’s nest yet. Alright. How did they even get- Why is his Keep in this location? Where is, ah, there Fright Knight is.
Please do tell him you at least know what’s going on, because while feeling quite better than before his mandated nap, he’s also not up for active conquering or anything close at the moment. Actually he still feels exhausted and- would you stop trying to bite him tiny ghostlings-
Oh Realms, why are there two hatchlings this sick?! One had one of the worst infections he’s ever seen, and he became an adult in the middle of the Zone’s warring days! The other- dear Flame, what is he even looking at?! Why are their cores like that?! What in the Realms’ Name has happened while he was imprisoned that there are ghostlings with cores looking like that?
No no no, he has eternity to continue conquering if he wishes to attempt that again, but he has to fix this immediately. If there is something wrong with the Nesting sites where ghostlings arrive and form to the realms then there is something very wrong.
…
Why is there a literal tear in the Zone?! Ow, stop trying to bite him you tiny ghostlings, he’s not setting either of you down until he can figure out how to deal with this and get you medical care! Fright Knight, you’re in charge of investigating this portal-tear, he’s going to see what the fuck has happened.
Heroes and civilians alike are very concerned about the multitude of literal dragons suddenly going all across the midwest and would really like answers now. Perhaps also answers as to why several government buildings have been (seemingly accidentally… maybe) wrecked? Maybe? Please?
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