the sin is real, so is the salt

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Lyanna curses herself for not turning her phone to silent before they began, but in all fairness, Robert had pounced on her too quickly to even give her a chance. 

She could just ignore it, Robert is making a very strong argument against it, but she recognized the ringtone as the one she set for Brandon. Anyone else could wait, but her brother would call and call and call until he got an answer. 

Reluctantly, Lyanna tugs on Robert’s hair, pulling his mouth away from that sweet spot between her thighs, before she swipes to accept the call.

“What is it, Brandon?” Lyanna answers unhappily. 

“What’s with the attitude, baby sis? You're the one standing me up.”

“I- What?”

“You seriously forgot? We were supposed to meet at the stables like an hour ago.”

Shit, that's right. “We were going to go riding…”

Robert’s ears prick up at the word, and she's sorely tempted to slap the smirk off his face. It doesn't stop him from moving around the bed, shifting their positions until she's straddling his hip, while he lies back. “Tell him you've already got a riding partner,” he whispers to her, chuckling when her face turns beet red. 

“What- yeah I'm still here  Sorry Brandon, I forgot. I’m with a friend right now.”

“You can bring Dacey along, I don't care.”

“It's not D-dacey,” Lyanna stumbles over her words as Robert, inpatient, rolls his hips into hers. “And I'm not at home. Can we reschedule? Saturday? K, bye.”

Lyanna turns her phone off and throws it to the corner of the room, and her attention returns to Robert. “You're a pervert, you know that?”

“You've never complained before.” He groans happily as Lyanna takes him in and grinds against him. “Besides, you’re the one who answered the phone. Shouldn't have done that if you don’t want big brother to hear.”

“Oh, shut up and fuck me, Bobby.”

“Mmm, I dunno. I heard you have plans with your friend. I wouldn’t want to keep you.”

“You know I meant you.”

Robert’s expression changes just then, for a brief moment. It’s not all too often that his walls come down, and something almost like real emotion breaks the surface. It makes her nervous. Because emotions… that’s not what they do, that’s not what this is about. At least, that’s what she tells herself when her heart starts to beat too fast when he is near, when she misses him too much when he is gone. 

“I’d like to think we’re more than ‘just friends’,” Robert says, his lips brushing against hers.

I disagree with this interpretation. I think this scene was actually one of the many that served as a build-up to what happens with Envy in the tunnels.

(ch 80)

First of all, yes, the common theme for Riza's character is, of course, choice. She chose to give Roy flame alchemy, she chose to join the military and she chose to follow him until he reaches their goals. And that's exactly why I think this has nothing to do with what Bradley tells her, because no one's forcing her to stay in the military or to be Roy's subordinate.

If she really wanted to get married to him, she could leave the military or serve under another chain of command and still support him, just like Hughes was doing. But no, she weighed her options and decided that wasn't what she wanted. Getting married is not her priority, and I don't think she'd suddenly feel bad about her own decision just because the homunculus loves his wife.

Now let's take a look at Roy. The reason why I'm talking about him now won't make sense at first, but hang in there, because it'll all (hopefully) come together by the end of this post.

The common theme for his character seems to be that deep down he knows he's capable of committing heinous acts, even when he's not following orders, and he's terrified of himself. This is portrayed in these scenes:

(ch 16)

(ch 61)

(Extra: His battlefield once more)

The extra is the most telling one. For some reason, he thinks there's a real possibility he could do the same thing as Bradley and order the mass extermination of innocent people. Here it becomes clear that his subordinates trust him more than he trusts himself.

(also, interesting to note that Riza doesn't answer "I'd shoot you", which I think was what he was expecting, because their answer actually surprises him).

However, in spite of all of his self-doubt and the fact he thinks of himself as a monster, at the very least he feels like he's above the homunculi in terms of humanity. This becomes apparent in this particular scene that happens after Roy confirms that Bradley isn't human:

(ch 57)

Now let's go back to Riza and Bradley's convo and the reason why I believe it was actually part of the build-up to what happened in the tunnels.

Assuming Riza feels the same way as Roy about the homunculi, and she probably does, considering what she says about Bradley playing house, she also thinks they're inhuman, incapable of feeling anything but contempt against humans. But then Bradley turns that notion on its head by revealing that no, he actually does love his wife.

Riza is suddenly confronted with the fact that the monster that issued Executive Order #3066, the mass murderer responsible for turning her and Roy into murderers themselves, is capable of feeling such a pure human emotion such as love.

Not only that, he seems proud of the fact that was the one thing he chose for himself. As someone that also felt like she was trapped, having no choice but to bear the weight of flame alchemy, she probably empathized with this little freedom he allowed to himself.

She's so shocked that she looks back at him likes she's seeing him for the first time. She's suddenly not sure if he's really that different from her and Roy. And then maybe, for the first time since Ishval, she feels her faith in Roy wavering while she wonders if he could ever become like Bradley.

The scene ends with her looking worriedly at his silhouette because she's not seeing Bradley anymore, she's seeing Roy.

I think it's no coincidence that his silhouette here is even eerily similar to Roy's side profile asking what his subordinates would do if he ever asked them to kill thousands of innocents. Even the side she's seeing is the same (the reader sees Bradley's right profile, but Riza is seeing his left side, just like we see Roy's below).

and I'd bet he even compliments her tea the same way Roy does as well

The time apart was probably part of the reason Roy and Riza were both over the edge down at the tunnels. I don't think she was in her right mind either. Roy had nothing to do but obsess over his plans and vengeance, but Hayate was her only solace during that time (Roy had Madame Christmas and her girls, at least).

She doesn’t mother Theon either. Theon is a political hostage and a warning banner for Winterfell’s survival. She owes him nothing but courtesy, and that’s all she gives.

She doesn’t mother Jon, because Jon is a visible wound he is the symbol of Ned’s betrayal as she understands it, the reminder she has to live with every day. She tries to be civil, to be dutiful, but she refuses to lie to herself about her feelings, and that’s part of what makes her so real. She doesn’t collapse into the fantasy of “love the innocent child,” because the situation wasn’t innocent for her.

Even with Brienne one of the most emotionally loaded bonds she forms Catelyn meets her as an equal in grief and loyalty, not as a daughter. Their connection is built on shared losses, shared promises, shared steel. It’s intimate, but not maternal; it’s two women trying to survive in a man-shaped world.

Catelyn is a mother, yes but she is never a symbol. She is not a saint. She is not a vessel of unconditional love. She loves her children fiercely, violently, protectively, and that intensity doesn’t spill onto others simply because they are young or vulnerable.

An AU in which Steffon and Cassana Baratheon return safely from their journey to Essos

When Father summoned her to his chambers, Lyanna expected a scolding. It would hardly be the first time she’s gotten into trouble. Though, she ponders as she makes her way through the halls to the Lord’s Solar, what it could possibly be this time? To her recollection, she hasn’t done anything worthy of a scolding in quite some time. At least, not anything Father would’ve heard about. She and Ben had been extra careful only to play swords deep in the godswood, when they knew that the staff was too preoccupied to pay them any mind. And Brandon had been off in Barrowton for moons now, they hadn’t gone off racing outside of the castle walls in gods only know how long. She had skipped a lesson or two with Maester Walys. Perhaps he’d told Father and now she was about to get an earful about the importance of a lady’s education.

She feels not a trace of apprehension as she knocks on the heavy ironwood door and Father bids her enter, but something about his expression is —always solemn, he has the long face of a Stark, after all— but somehow… well, more serious, if it were at all possible. And that makes her anxious.

“You called for me, Father?”

“Yes. I need to speak with you, Lyanna. Please, sit.”

And Lyanna knows then it’s not a scolding that is coming. He always expects them to stand through a scolding. Nervously, she takes the seat offered, perched upon the very edge of it. This is serious, she thinks to herself. Is it Brandon? Or Ned? Are my brothers all right? “What is the matter?”

Katara&Aang

Commission for @it-will-pass ♡ Thank you again for your trust!!

Like come on. If we’re gonna judge Robert with Lyanna, then there’s so many other factors that you should consider as well. First of all would be; the war never happened. Brandon wouldn’t have died, Rickard Stark wouldn’t have died. Robert wouldn’t have become King. Ned and Robert wouldn’t have gotten a rift in their friendship. Robert wouldn’t have become that bitter, fat old man.

That being said, you cannot ever compare Robert with Cersei’s canon relationship with an What-If relationship of Robert with Lyanna.

He would have abused Lyanna.

Never. Think about it. Even if he did, if Lyanna so much as mentioned something like that to either Ned or -heaven forbid- Brandon, Robert will get the full force of the Stark family on his ass.

Robert loved Lyanna. Ned says so. {Ned also says that Robert only loved Lyanna’s looks and not her iron within, but in that same breath he says Robert loved Lyanna even more than Ned did himself.} And Robert loved the Starks. So much so, that even years after Lyanna’s demise, he wanted to combine their houses through Ned’s daughter and his own horrible son. He wouldn’t compromise the love of Starks through Lyanna… ever.

Robert never loved Cersei. Robert never cared for Cersei and combine that with Cersei’s not so gentle nature and Robert’s constant drunkeness, you get the relationship we saw in canon. That would never have become Lyanna and Robert.

Robert was a drunk and a whoremonger.

It’s my belief that Robert was on the drink so much to wash his sorrows away. And also because he was bored. He always liked to drink, but that got only so much worse once he became King. Heartbroken, stuck with a woman who hated him pretty much since Day 1, he found an escape through drink.

As well as whoring. Now Robert always loved girls. And this would possibly the only true issue Lyanna would have had with Robert - the cheating. I’ll admit to this much; Robert has a problem with infidelity.

However, I do believe people are able to change. Again, I’ll say that Robert loved Lyanna. The same Robert Baratheon who had hundreds of other women before Lyanna, the same Robert Baratheon who probably seen hundreds of more beautiful girls than Lyanna, fell for her and only her. Lyanna, who wasn’t the prettiest girl in Westeros, still managed to capture Robert’s heart.

Maybe for the love that Robert bears for both Lyanna and Ned, he could have found a way to change himself. Maybe.

Robert isn’t a good man.

Only the Robert that we saw in canon. King Robert, First of His Name was an asshole. But the Robert of Lyanna’s time was a good man. If the oh-so honorable Eddard Stark became such good friends with Lord Robert Baratheon, enough to go to war with him, enough to lay his life on the line for him, then Lord Robert Baratheon - the one who Lyanna would have married otherwise - was a man worthy enough to call husband.

No one questions Ned’s judge of character before, why should we decree that Robert wasn’t good enough for Lyanna, if even Ned favored the union?