the void screams back

The published narratives that Rae, Alice and Eric were reading were not objective accounts of events but instead constructed to create a deliberate narrative that effectively censors anything that doesn’t fit.

I think the two ways the “inside the book” world and the published narrative most visibly differ are in queerness/sexuality and any reference to our world. Rae and Alice have no idea that the Golden Cobra is from their own world. Meanwhile, the Cobra is not exactly subtle in his references to his own home (“Google Maps” the horse as one example). I think from this it can be inferred that the published narrative is skipping, paraphrasing or otherwise avoiding anything that would clue the reader in as to the portal fantasy nature.

Then there’s queerness and sexuality in general. The published narrative is presenting a very normative, traditional view of sexuality with chastity until marriage equated to heroic purity and promiscuity equated to villainy. Rae even explicitly notes this when she’s reflecting on the sex scene between Rahela and the king, with the weasel worded passive language ignoring that Octavian is just as involved as Rahela.

Meanwhile, the published narrative also conceals queerness. Lia’s entanglements with other women as well her true feelings towards male attention are absented. The wedding night between Key and Lia is left unclear, to preserve the image of heterosexuality. Interestingly, it’s also left unclear as to whether Marius had a sexual relationship with Rahela’s mother — Eric assumes this to be the case. That ambiguity also helps the published narrative portray Marius as (presumably) heterosexual.

If the author is in fact the Great Goddess, this raises even more questions because:

1) Does she not actually see all that happens in her fantasy world, only what she expects?

2) Does she see all but leave stuff out due to a conservative mindset when it comes to sexuality?

3) Is she trying to hide events/ the people she's brought into the story from the Great God?

4) Is she most concerned with trying to appeal to the greatest number of readers?

In-universe Time of Iron is explicitly stated to be a Proper fantasy series, something that leans into grimdark and has a lot of men (and only one woman - Emer) doing badass deeds. The romance is central to the fans' experience but the narrative deprioritises it in favour of battles and a bleak ending (as opposed to a silly, fluffy happy ever after). None of the female characters are afforded much interiority, and on-page, no one is gay.

In other words, it's a fantasy that appeals to the mainstream, and to straight men. And therefore it's more likely to get Huge, and reach as many readers as possible- more hearts and minds to love the emperor. Dudes will love him because he can rip things apart, women and minoritised readers will love him because they're more used to putting in the work to empathise with someone different to themselves.

So I mostly think the Great Goddess is the author. If she's not writing the books by hand, then she may be magic-ing them into existence somehow. The only other candidate for author that I can think of is the oracle, though she would still be working on behalf of the Great Goddess.

As for the motivation for concealing certain aspects of the story, I love theory #4. It's both plausible (if we are considering the readers = belief = power theory) and fascinating for the moral dilemmas it raises. If she conceals certain parts of the story, and readers don't believe in them, then does that make those parts less true? Or could it be that the speculation of the fans is what made these theories (like the Cobra Marius ship) true to begin with? Does the story change not only based on the actions of the people transported to it, but also based on the audience's reactions to the new text?

Look, it's really important to me that Key is a remorseless killer, a cut-throat from the cradle with the powers of a god and he... still believes more in his own capacity for friendship and love than Emer ni Domitia, jaded maid extraordinaire.

At the start of LLE, Key has only cared for or been loyal to one person in his entire life, and will happily betray anyone else, but Emer still considers him dangerously naive. Her apparently ordinary backstory as a domestic servant to the demanding and mercenary Domitia family has given her enough cynicism to know that people can't be trusted, especially not the rich, and especially not men. Emer finds it hard to admit to herself that she cares about Key, until her grieving fury at his death.

When Emer is in the Cauldron in AHC, thinking about Key, she finally acknowledges that he was her friend, but also believes he isn't any more. Besides her distrust of men in general, she's also dubious about how much of his original self survived death and transition to godhood, as well as his entry into the ranks of the wealthy. Emer has to confront her own class biases in AHC, but she also becomes increasingly aware of Key's, with the number of times she compares his ghouls to servants stripped of agency.

I think this has been touched on before in one of @thesamuraiturnedpretty 's previous posts, but I am truly so grateful that the love interest is allowed to make friends. And not just male friends, but friends who are women he is not related to and could potentially be attracted to.

Lia: The Pearl of the World

Time of Iron Playlists | YouTube Link

Britney Spears / Oops!...I Did It Again

Priests / I'm Clean

Ashnikko / Nice Girl

Ariana Grande / hate that i made you love me

Taylor Swift / Look What You Made Me Do

Marina / Cuntissimo

Marina Hackman / Boyfriend

Ashnikko / Slumber Party (ft. Princess Nokia)

Grimes / Life in the Vivid Dream

Emer | Rae | Key | Marius | Eric

Alice Parilla (never liked him even when he was made of pages)

Caracalla Valerius (perhaps more directed towards his dad, but Key's definitely not her favourite person)

Horatia Nemeth (he killed her brother)

Hortensia Nemeth (he killed her brother)

Vasilisa, princess of Tagar (he kidnapped her and killed her fiance)

Lia Felice (this is conjecture since she's supposedly on his side now, but she did explicitly state this as her goal)

A girl who knows the future

A girl with divine strength

A girl with magical battle gauntlets

A girl who glows

A girl with armies

A girl with an evil plan