Turning Tides

check my newest dunk x lyonel fic on ao3 !!

tags: post ep 5, akotsk spoilers, grief/mourning, smut, fluff, angst, animal metaphors, jealousy, estabilished relationship, sexual inexperience, top duncan, bottom lyonel, mitski song lyrics 

had profound (citation needed) thoughts about historical implication of jousting tournaments (it’s just no one cared to hear it)

clocked dunk for not being ‘just tall’

knows his vassal lords exact financial situation

knows about multifaceted nature of human beings

knows better not to spiral and overthink important matters at hand

knows precise time to take a breather to win a contest

knows lyrics to some smallfolk bangers

clocked dunk for not being knighted

clocked dunk’s being trouble potential for being catalyst of change

knows exactly when was the last historical precedent of trial of the seven (maybe read a book?)

knows at least 3 lines of knight’s vow

knows (for some reason) the mother is a young child's primary object of desire and affection, forming the basis of the Oedipus complex

knows baelor’s capacity to fight is undermined by his level-headed nature while maekar has much more to lose and will go ham

knows how to align himself with targs for optics but is still mindful of how they will always reap the benefits

Methinks Baby M worshipped the ground Baelor walked on. He wanted to be just like him, watched in awe as he won all those tourneys, wished he could be just as great a young knight. But in time, jealousy grew too, and resentment. Baelor seemed so perfect and he could never live up to him.

Sparring in the training yard was the highlight of their day to day. For Baelor, there was now an equal. A best friend. For Maekar, there was someone to beat so that he could prove that they were equals. An older brother.

But despite it all, life was stuck in "summer." And they were children. Nothing felt like it could ever go wrong.

Then life happened. Marriages. Kids. Wars. Politics. Accidents. Death. Hatred. Love.

And a lot of it might have been Maekar's fault. He fucked up. And he kept fucking up.

But in Baelor's final moments, none of that mattered. All he could think of was them sparring in the training yard. And he was proud. So immensely proud of how strong his brother had become.