#//she's got a hotd verse as well

[idanazaldrizes]

slowly bringing my girlie rhaeana back

[acornered]

i messaged on discord already but since your inbox is wilding today can i get your thoughts on the current state of sapphic affairs in hotd

ohhh hell yes you watched the ep didn't you! How does it feel to be so right about everything?? I was thinking of your transmasc Rhaenyra au the entire time she was talking about wishing she could be a man, and how being with Daemon partially fulfilled that longing.

Rhaenyra and Mysaria bonding over their lack of power and agency in a male-dominated world, the realization that Daemon was attractive to them in part because he was their access to power, and the moment where they realize that they are capable of having power and pleasure outside of him....GAHH. The buildup was so excellent and (aside from thinking wlw representation in the Thrones-verse was long overdue), I think the way this was done makes perfect narrative sense. Rhaenyra's arc has always been about overcoming the limitations of her sex in a patriarchal society-- she wants to travel the world on dragonback, participate in battles, rule Westeros, be openly sexual-- all things that, as a woman, society denies her access to. Daemon has allowed and encouraged her to pursue her "male" desires, so it makes sense that she would feel destabilized by the withdrawal of his support. Mysaria's arc parallels this in that her access to power is limited by her sex AND her station, which is why her relationship with Daemon was so important to her earlier in the story-- he was her access to security, to the political power to make a difference for disenfranchised children like herself. Her backstory isn't just tragic, it's intentional, and it makes perfect sense as the origin of her political goals and the driving force of her actions. When Rhaenyra said she was "half a soul", I guarantee Mysaria was feeling echoes of the same sentiment that she herself had towards Daemon back when they were together. And Rhaenyra and Mysaria become whole, not by clinging to Daemon's empty promises of power, but by trusting each other, supporting each other, making a bid for power and freedom together.

Anyway, Rhaenyra's vulnerability allows Mysaria to be vulnerable in turn, they recognize a similar wound in each other-- the wound of a world that has failed them because it is a world meant to empower men at the expense of women-- and recognition becomes comfort becomes attraction. The decision to make Rhaenyra go for the embrace first is excellent, and I'd be remiss not to point out that the only other person we see her seek/offer physical comfort to is Alicent. She and Alicent were two girls against a world of men, and she has never healed from the loss of that relationship. And there is a part of her that intuitively knows Mysaria is missing a relationship like that as well. Politically speaking there is a power imbalance between the two of them, but in that moment they are just two women sharing in the grief of womanhood. That is why I love the decision to have Rhaenyra hug her first-- because it demonstrates their relationship as one of comfort and solidarity that allows desire to flourish, as opposed to what they had with Daemon-- submitting to a mutual sexual desire in the hopes that something more intimate and stable would follow. I disagree with the takes that suggest either character is using the other, or taking advantage of the other's vulnerability here, because there is so much buildup of mutual recognition and non-sexual physical intimacy beforehand. Rhaenyra clearly moves only to offer comfort, and the escalation from hug to kiss happens naturally as both parties realize that intimacy and desire are supposed to follow mutual vulnerability, and not be a substitute for it. I'm hard pressed to think of a less gratuitous makeout scene, and while I'm here-- the way HOTD uses sex between characters with intent instead of just as set dressing is what sets it apart from GOT, and one of the reasons why I fell in love with it much more than the mainline series despite being a huge ASOIAF nerd.

As much as I hope we get to see more rhaesaria, I am happy with this moment as is, as a culmination of these characters' relationships with each other and with Daemon. TLDR, it feels correct to me and anyone who says otherwise is homophobic. They compliment each other so well I'm...I feel bad for Alicent tbh like this is what she could've had...

[presidenthades]

I am doing very minor revisions of Daemon’s Handbook (mostly formatting and continuity errors), and I wanted to do some behind-the-scenes commentary before too much time passes and I forget my original thoughts. Here’s Chapter 1!

DO NOT read these commentaries until you have finished reading the entire Handbook! There are many spoilers in each commentary for future chapters

(Note that these commentaries aren’t canon to the verse until/unless the author writes them into the series. I might change my mind on a few points later, but these are the thoughts I had while writing.)

Chapter titles are named for Daemon’s very bad parenting advice if he were writing an actual handbook.

The rumors that Rhaenyra’s kids are bastards started from a combination of a) black hair and b) Harwin still being unusually close/romancing Rhaenyra even if he isn’t the bio father. But when Jace grew old enough to look like a mini Rhaenys, most reasonable people gave it up.

JOFFRIDA. I was considering the name Jocelyn at first, but I wanted to lean into Laenor naming his third kid after Joffrey Lonmouth. There’s no obvious feminine version of Joffrey, though. Then I decided Laenor seems like the type to tack on a feminine suffix and call it a day. 😂

Daemon is convinced Aemond is a prude. We know how that turns out in Chapter 9.

Aegon starts out a bit afraid of Rhaenyra. He shows more backbone later (especially Chapter 9) but I like to think he’s always going to be a bit afraid of her.

“Oh well, not Daemon’s problem.” (Re: Hightower boys and how they grow up) 😂😂😂

Joff’s curse tablets are inspired by the ancient Roman curse scrolls wherein people wrote things like “Livia has done me great wrong. O gods of the Underworld, make her go bald and die a painful death. If you do this, I’ll sacrifice five goats to you.” Why doesn’t she use a curse tablet again in the story? I’ll flesh it out elsewhere in the series, but TLDR magic has a price and Joff learns this very early in her life.

Vaemond’s funeral eulogy in this verse doesn’t go so hard on “our blood runs true” (he knows the girls are legitimate) but maybe he makes some quips about women and motherhood and sacrifice. Nothing overtly terrible but he’s thinking about the future of Driftmark, which is currently slated to pass to a girl after Laenor, when he thinks it would be best for Driftmark to stay within the male line. So he uses the eulogy to subtly push his agenda. I’m not going to go into more detail here because I might write out his actual eulogy one day, but that’s the gist.

Daemon shies away from comforting his daughters in this chapter. He eventually grows out of this in Chapter 7 (with Baela) and Chapter 11 (late night discussion with Rhaenyra).

Driftmark Lite! I decided not to have Aemond lose his eye at Luce’s hand for several reasons. First, I thought it would be tonally inappropriate; this fic strongly leans toward comedy, and the canon fight would have been too heavy. Second, a lot of this fic is me exploring what would be different if Rhaenyra’s kids were girls, and I thought this would definitely change.

In the GOT/HOTD universe, highborn girls are way less likely than boys to carry blades. Girls like Baela and Arya are rare exceptions. Girls like Sansa are much more the norm. If we’re going by traditional gender norms, girls are probably encouraged to talk their problems out rather than fight it out, as boys might.

So the fight doesn’t escalate as badly because Jace is trying to be peacemaker, and instead of bastard insults, Aemond uses the playground taunt of “you’re a bunch of wussy girls wah wah” (which only provokes Baela).

But the fight DOES escalate to a degree when Aemond specifically insults Luce about things she’s very sensitive about, i.e. her reading struggles and little phobias like rats. Luce retaliates by kneeing him in the groin, which is a move a girl is far more likely to use than a boy on another boy.

Later, Alicent freaks out a bit because she’s in “overprotective mother” mode but once she takes a breather, she realizes it isn’t that huge a deal and lets it go (but this is yet another reason she doesn’t really like Luce).

Daemon 100% got hit in the groin before, and no one can convince me otherwise. Who did it? Dunno. Are they still alive? Probably not.

Laenor’s mysterious death!!! Was it Joff? Did she use her curse tablet? Did she do it because she hates her name? We’ll have to find out when I eventually write her POV.

Chapter 2 commentary here

[westofessos]

About Me:

I’ve had quite a few new followers these past few weeks, so I thought I would make a little about me post, just so you all know what you’re getting into.

First off, hello! My name is Madison (she/her), I’m 19 (will be 20 in January which is. . . something I’m not thinking about at the moment), I’m bisexual, extremely liberal (racists, misogynists, homophobes, transphobes, etc. can fuck off and die), and I live in Saskatchewan, Canada. My favourite thing in the world to do is write, and I love to read as well.

Here are some of my favourite things, sorted by category:

Star Wars

Favourite characters: Leia Organa, Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ben Solo, Hera Syndulla, Ahsoka Tano, Din Djarin, Captain Rex, Poe Dameron, Rey Skywalker, Satine Kryze, Luke Skywalker, Asajj Ventress, Luminara Unduli, and many, many more

I love every movie, and every TV show (I was admittedly not a fan of Andor, but I’m so happy that so many people loved it so much!), and I’m working through some of the canon novels

This is my first fandom, one of my first loves. No matter how deeply I fall in love with other things I will never love them like I love Star Wars

Marvel

Favourite Characters: Natasha Romanoff, Loki Laufeyson, Bucky Barnes, Wanda Maximoff, Kate Bishop, Jennifer Walters, Steve Rogers, Carol Danvers, Sylvie, Marc Spector, Valkyrie, Peggy Carter, Yelena Belova, and many, many more.

I love every movie and TV show (to varying degrees, but nonetheless) but my favourite movies are Endgame, Infinity War, No Way Home, Eternals, Winter Soldier, Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Ragnarok (not necessarily in that order), and my favourite shows are Moon Knight, She-Hulk, Loki, Werewolf by Night, Hawkeye (not necessarily in that order)

I also very casually read Marvel comics (just a few here and there whenever I find some that pique my interest)

DC

Admittedly, not nearly as much as Marvel. There isn’t a lot of emotional attachment. Honestly it’s bordering on contempt at this point, especially after spending money to go see The Flash in theatres

But I love The Batman, Wonder Woman, The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker, the Dark Knight trilogy, Harley Quinn, and Batman (1989). I am cautiously excited for many of their upcoming projects under James Gunn’s leadership

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is my all-time favourite comic book and honestly just one of my favourite books of all time. It’s truly a beautiful work of art.

Lord of the Rings

I’ve seen all three movies and 2/3 Hobbit movies, and I’ve read Fellowship of the Ring (planning on getting to the other two soon). I also watched and absolutely adored The Rings of Power.

My favourite characters are Éowyn and Aragorn, but I love Merry, Pippin, Legolas, and Gimli too. And Galadriel, Elrond, Durin, Elendil, Miriel, and Halbrand in TRoP

I’m admittedly not the most well-versed in LOTR, but I do really enjoy it.

A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones:

Don’t even get me started on those goddamn shows. Seasons 7 and 8 of GoT and HoTD infuriate me on a daily basis but goddamn it I love this world so much. Westeros is so important to me

Favourite characters: Daenerys, Jaime, Cersei, Jon, Arianne, Brienne, Robb, and more

Favourite Targaryens (it’s the best house, fight me): Visenya, Aegon I, Rhaenyra, Daemon, Rhaena the Queen in the East/West, Alysanne, Daena the Defiant, Aegon V, Rhaegar, and probably more I’m forgetting

Movies:

Almost Famous (my favourite of all time)

Good Will Hunting

Memento

The Usual Suspects

Frances Ha, Mistress America, Lady Bird, Little Women, Barbie (anything with Greta Gerwig involved)

Dazed and Confused

Tombstone

Tick, Tick . . . BOOM!

Father of the Bride 1 & 2

You’ve Got Mail

When Harry Met Sally

Palm Springs

Before Sunrise

The Princess Diaries

Dogma (anything Kevin Smith, really)

Anything John Hughes

Garden State

His Girl Friday

10 Things I Hate About You

The Princess Bride

Disney movies (I grew up on those princesses and damn it, I still love ‘em)

Scooby-Doo (it’s just so dumb and comforting after a long day)

Also just 80s/90s movies, particularly comedies

TV Shows:

Lost (my favourite of all time. I could talk about it for hours on end)

Roseanne (my favourite sitcom. Roseanne Barr might be a piece of shit but Roseanne and Dan Conner raised me)

The Walking Dead (very close second favourite show)

The Sandman

Good Omens

Community

Gilmore Girls

That 70’s Show

Daisy Jones and the Six

Friends

Seinfeld

Once Upon A Time

Ted Lasso (even though they fucked it at the end)

Superstore

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

The Good Place

Sons of Anarchy

Peaky Blinders

Scrubs

Bridgerton

Golden Girls

Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley

The Umbrella Academy

Schitt’s Creek

Only Murders in the Building

The Last of Us

Band of Brothers

Succession

Bojack Horseman

Grace & Frankie

Way, way more I can’t think of. I watch way too much TV. Just ask, I’ve probably seen it.

Music:

The Beatles (my all-time favourite band. I saw Paul McCartney in 2018 and almost died)

Pearl Jam

Phoebe Bridgers & boygenius

Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots

Anything from the 50’s and 60’s pretty much (i.e. The Beach Boys, Petula Clark, Jay and the Americans, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Buddy Holly, Sam Cooke, Simon & Garfunkel, Herman’s Hermits, The Zombies. Just ask, I probably love it.

Fleetwood Mac

Taylor Swift (I’m not a full Swiftie, but I’m getting there)

Olivia Rodrigo

The Chicks

Elton John

Billy Joel

Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child

ABBA

KISS

The Cranberries

Led Zeppelin

The Mountain Goats

Honestly it would probably be quicker to say who I don’t listen to in some capacity

Musicals:

Hamilton

Hadestown

Heathers

Wicked

In the Heights

Six

Grease, The Sound of Music, Mamma Mia, and other movie musicals

Books:

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab - never before has a book seemed like it was written just for me. And it’s so beautiful. Schwab is just my favourite author of all time, I’ll read anything of hers

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas - I read these as the last few were coming out and I still have such an attachment to them

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid - my favourite movie is Almost Famous so naturally, this was perfect for me. Goddamn did I love it.

A Song of Ice and Fire, of course

Classics: A Tale of Two Cities, Pride and Prejudice, The Handmaid’s Tale, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

The entire Grishaverse series by Leigh Bardugo

That’s just off the top of my head. There are many, many more, and I’ll always take recommendations!

Basically just fantasy. I love fantasy books more than anything

All Elite Wrestling:

My most recent obsession

I’m watching it through from the beginning so I haven’t seen everything just yet

Favourite wrestlers: CM Punk, MJF, Orange Cassidy, Kris Statlander, all the Best Friends honestly, Adam Cole, Cody Rhodes, Danhausen, Thunder Rosa, Juice Robinson, Toni Storm, Sting, Christian Cage, Eddie Kingston, Jon Moxley, Hangman Adam Page, Willow Nightingale, Hikaru Shida (not necessarily in that order other than the first 5, and there are more)

(I would love to have more women on that list but the women don’t get any good storylines or promo time or character development so I don’t form as many emotional attachments with as many of them. Book. The. Women’s. Division. Better.)

Favourite storylines/feuds: AdaMJF, Punk/MJF, Cody/MJF, Orange Cassidy/Chris Jericho, anything involving the Best Friends, everything with Hangman (from the very beginning all the way to where I am now, where he has just won the championship), probably more but that’s just off the top of my head

And that’s me, essentially. If you made it this far, I salute you. If there’s anything you want to know, feel free to ask! My asks and dms are always open, whether you’re a mutual or a complete stranger. Never be afraid to say hi!

[esther-dot]

What do you think of the Dunk and Egg series on HBO? Would it be worth to watch?

I refused to watch HotD because I can’t stand those targies and their lizards 🐉

I’m not a good person to ask about this! I haven’t read the supplemental books, and I swore off the spin-offs after the GoT finale. But the pilot for the Dunk & Egg show was written by a HOTD writer, so I suppose, for some fans, that’s reassuring? And the nature of the stories, if HBO is willing, could allow for a new tone in their GoT-verse?

Personally, I was a little dismayed by the news. I know this is exciting for Martin, HOTD and Dunk & Egg are the shows he wanted, and a lot of people have decided he already gave up on finishing ASOIAF, so getting shows is all they can hope for, but the shows are such a contradiction to the values Martin had written into his works…it isn’t a substitute to me. We all knew we weren’t getting ADOS, but I truly thought we’d be getting TWOW soon, except, considering how many shows he’s consulting on now, I’m beginning to worry:

Way back in the summer of 2016, when HBO first started thinking about GAME OF THRONES spinoffs, I pitched them two ideas: the Dance of the Dragons, which in due time became HOUSE OF THE DRAGON… and Dunk & Egg. That was seven years ago. (I can hardly believe it myself). The lesson there is that development takes time. I see all these stories on the net about other spinoffs being killed or abandoned… no idea where they get this stuff… and it just makes me shake my head. The Nymeria show is still in development. So is the Sea Snake show. Just had a great week on that one, working with writers. And there are others, both live action and animated

Again, this is what he wanted, so I’m happy for him, but I want Sansa. I want to read about her going home. Even if I never get to know-know, her ending, I want to read about her in the North again. But he has all of those shows + HOTD, the Snow show, and now D&E. 😳

He also said this about his writing schedule:

If THE HEDGE KNIGHT turns out as well as we hope it will, our hope would be to go on and adapt THE SWORN SWORD and THE MYSTERY KNIGHT as well. That will take a few years. Then comes the hard part. Before we reach the end of the published stories, I will need to find time to write all the other Dunk & Egg novellas that I have planned. There are… gulp… more of them than I had once thought. There’s “The Village Hero” and the Winterfell story, the one with the She-Wolves, and maybe I need to write that Dornish adventure too to slip in between “The Hedge Knight” and “The Sworn Sword,” and after that there are… ah… more. I just need to finish THE WINDS OF WINTER, and then do either A DREAM OF SPRING or volume two of FIRE & BLOOD, and slip in a new Dunk & Egg between each of those in my copious spare time… and that will keep me ahead of Ira and his merry crew… for a few more years. (link)

It’s very strange to me that he willingly delays the main event for sideshows, knowing it will mean he may never get to it. Also, that last part is very reminiscent of how he talked about staying ahead of D&D. 😅

[lcveblossomed]

@cfaugust asked: I have been longing to do it again. (for any westeros babe, from bubbles, called brienne crane in her got/hotd verse)

"Well the help is greatly appreciated, my lady." Margaery assures with a sweet smile. She looks up at Brienne as a hand is offered to her. She takes the hand and the help getting back up. Once she is standing again she starts dusting off the back of her dress. "How can I repay you for your kindness? Surely there is something you watn or need and I would be happy to make ti happen."

[bloomrots]

gonna give y'all the sparknotes on nina's au verses under the cut since i haven't even written nina's bio yet lmao

ASOIAF (can take place in GOT or HOTD): antonina is the youngest daughter of the wealthy house hofmann, a house in the westerlands ruled under house lannister. she's is notoriously rebellious and chafes under the control of her mother and her older brother lord gideon, who sees fit to torment her by marrying her off. though it is strategic in order to gain more status, her brother seems content to marry her to someone truly heinous, so she retaliates; not a single suitor has returned after meeting her.

bridgerton: nina is the youngest daughter of the dowager-viscountess birgit hofmann, who widowed a decade ago (though there was heavy suspicion of foul play). nina debuted two seasons prior, and seems to be in no rush to find a marriage; she is content to slip away from events with the champagne and wander alone.

d&d/bg3: warlock. nina grew up in cormyr and lived there with her family until her brother sells her to the zhentarim mercenaries, who then smuggler her into baldur's gate with the intention of forcing her into their labour. she initially fights back and attempts escape, but is caught and beaten near to death. as she's fading, a beautiful devil appears to her in her holding cell and offers her a deal: her life, and the power to break free, in exchange for her services. nina accepts the pact, and gains magical abilities that allow her to stand up despite her injuries and break free. it isn't until she has escaped that she discovers who her patron is: the archdevil glasya, queen of malboge.

descendants: nina is the youngest child of mother gothel, who was imprisoned on the isle of the lost for her crimes against rapunzel and the kingdom of corona. nina is a reckless and pessimistic loner who rarely interacts with her peers, does not engage with or belong to any gang, or care for any of the infighting on the isle. she just wants to be left alone.

celebrity: nina hofmann was a well-known child star on a children and teens channel, the star and titular character of her own show. she was a picture of innocence and joy, but like many child stars, she had been overexposed to parties and drugs and forced into every single project she acted in by her overbearing mother. when she turned 18, she left the channel and cut off her mother, and would have a very public "messy" phase, and public opinion of her declined as they labelled her as a "fallen angel". then suddenly, she disappeared from the public; unbeknownst to the world, she had quietly checked herself into rehab. 5 years later, a new A24 horror film releases its first trailer for a new psychological horror, and shocking hollywood with the sight of nina hofmann, 3 years clean and grown beyond her years.

[wcrriorhearts]

Welcome to part three of my positivity shoutouts. I will be doing these in alphabetical order and hope my scattered brain won’t forget anyone. Given I can only put people on here I follow and therefore know, feel free to send in positivity for people in the House of the Dragon fandom who I have missed & not mentioned, so I can include them in a later post! 

@idanazaldrizes - what a lovely oc you have! there are a lot of oc children for rhaenyra out there, but i literally never grow tired of them, because rhaenya is the mom ™ and deserves all the babies. aerea ( also kudos for the name choice, i love that name from got lore ) is beautifully written and a delight on my dash <3 keep up the good work

@incissam - another wonderful, talented and lovely rhaenyra! i have absolutely no duplicate anxiety and love to surround myself with other amazing beans who write my favorite character and this phenomenal mun does the best job at breathing life into her and doing her justice!

@inspireswar - beautiful lyanna <3 vic is one of the absolute best people on here and even though lyanna technically is a got muse, she has a hotd verse and i therefore claim her for this fandom :D vic is an incredibly talented, kind, creative and just overall perfect gem of a human being and makes my dash a better place with all of the characters she writes. lyanna is stunning and you should all interact with her!

@kipagircs - my son! we’re not just basically neighbors, but hannah also writes rhaenyra’s my favorite son perfectly. our sweet boy is wonderfully fleshed out, and the mun has developed him perfectly past his SUPPOSED death that never actually happened bc my boi gets to live a long and happy life. amazing & kind mun, who is just a joy to have around!

@leschanceux - another amazing mulit with a wonderful collection of hotd muses that are all written incredibly well and there are even some of the rarer ones we don’t get to see very often. the mun is also absolutely lovely, welcoming and super approachable. couldn’t imagine my dash without them on it!

@lykosog - technically another got muse and not hotd, but it is becoming a trend here to just include everyone who roughly belongs to the same world, because you are just all so freaking talented and it would be a shame not to mention you. a beautifully written version of robb, brought alive by a very nice and talented mun. absolutely worth a follow and so nice to have around!

@mccndancer - my sweet, sweet vesta <3 your baela is the light of my life ( and that of Elaena ) and I just adore writing with you on her. you put so much effort in bringing her to life and i love the way you portray her. baela is one of the coolest characters in the dance and you do her absolute justice <3

@nvrqn - ah, my darling! a wonderful, perfectly written rhaenys through and through. the mun has so much love and passion for her character and it shines through in everything she does. she has so many amazing verses for her and is just in general very approachable, kind and insanely creative. i love her so, so much and i am so grateful we get to write our silly little angsty verse together.

@nyratcrg - a rhaenyra that is entirely based in modern and so interesting! the mun has done an amazing job of developing her in a completely different setting than canon and fleshing her out to be a well rounded character. definitely worth a follow for all of you who thrive in modern verses as well and want to write with a lovely black queen!

[mneiai]

I've been reading some House of the Dragon fics, because while I outright hate some of the things that show has done with the plots/characterizations/etc there are also some interesting moments to be exploited (much like with GOT), and if you're looking for some interesting AUs, I'm enjoying these ones:

The Sons of the Dragon is an Aemond/Jace series with some great relationships between Jace and Rhaenys, Jace and Alicent, and Jace and Cole (who is his father, something I always enjoy lol). It starts out with a change to the infamous Driftmark episode and leads to the two boys fostering together, and from there the interesting changes keep happening. There's a lot of Rhaenyra and Daemon bashing, but the fic is HotD based, not just F&B based, and it works well in the verse.

The Fate of the Dowager Queen has Alicent time travel just far enough back to maybe avoid the worst of everything. It has a lot of her having to come to terms with what she did and didn't do in the life before and some very amusing parts where she realizes how much she didn't know or had made the wrong assumptions about things. It's got sweet Alicent & Rhaenyra and some well thought out changes that Alicent could do.

The Bitter Spring is another time travel AU, with Rhaenyra going back in time to just before her mother dies. It warns in the tags that it won't go the way readers are expecting and it really, really doesn't, but it's a fun divergence from the norm and the writer puts in lots of amusing nods to later history. It has a strong thread of past Daemon/Rhaenyra from the timeline before and that is also the endgame ship.

[all-is-fair-in-love-and-war]

Settling in

HOTD Keeping Up verse

@tessastormrp

Rhaenyra walked up to the house, looking at it curiously before gently knocking on the door. She hadn’t been to Laenor and Harwins new house yet, Jacaerys had been the one transporting his siblings back and forth between the two households, and of course Harwin and Laenor took and dropped them off quiet often as well. So far Rhaenyra had not the chance to see her former husbands, and boyfriends new house, although she was here now.

In her hands she held two bags, one was a simple grocery bag with one of Jace’s textbooks in it and a pair of his glasses he had left at their house on Friday before going back to his dads. In her other hand she carried a small red duffle bag, inside of it some new books and a few things she had thought Luke would like. Luke had also left the bag and it’s contents at her and Daemons house, although she had a sickening feeling that while Jace left his things be accident Luke had not. She knew the divorce had been hard on her children, and she felt bad for putting them through such a thing, but it needed to be done. Now she was trying her best to reconnect with her sons, although Luke was often angry and closed off, she did not know how to reconnect with her sweet boy who used to be so close to her. Rhaenyra had gone shopping with the Luke, Viserys and Aegon one day while her boys were staying with her, wanting to spend some quality time with Lucerys, and bought him a few things although he did not seem very excited about it. Then there was Jace. Jace she really didn’t know what to do with. He had always been his fathers son, but there was already a connection between Rhaenyra and her eldest son, but lately it seemed to be lacking.

Rhaenyra also had her hands full with her two sons with Daemon, young Aegon and Viserys. Adjusting to their new life, as two families. Although it had been difficult she knew the choice to split was best for all of them. It had to be. Especially the youngest, they got a more centered family with just her and Daemon as their primary caregivers, and she was happy in her marriage with Daemon. Happier than she had ever been. But she did not say this to her children with Harwin and Laenor. Although she was struggling some, struggling to adjust to making her home her own after having shared it with her husband and boyfriend for years before. Part of her was curious about Laenor and Harwin, to see how they were settling in with their new life without her. Perhaps deep down that was partly why she had come herself to drop of her sons things, to see what the others were going through.

[horizon-verizon]

I was wondering if you could do a simmilar analysis of the Game of Thrones costumes as you did for House of the Dragon? Do you think they are do a good job at world building and character work?

Response to this post.

I am not well-versed in analyzing how garments, accessories, hair, etc. tell the deep psychologies of individuals for character work. I can recognize superficial shifts in clothing and attribute it to changes to things that happened to the character more often than the reverse. Like Cersei going from her mostly red attire with billowy sleeves and more exposed shoulders-chest to her having black, eyelet, heavier fabrics. I can see that this is a reflection of her needing to feel more in control, but I didn't connect this to her wanting to be more like Tywin and how the clothes mimicked Tywin's clothes until I watched a video saying that, how she was always trying to emulate Tywin down to the clothes when she was trying to hang on to an idea of strength.

But I still think GoT made more thematically/sociopolitically consistent and cohesive pieces (that also looked aesthetically pleasing) than HotD did. Even if we compare HotD's only existing season to any one of GoT's. And I still have problems with GoT that I partially told HERE that were repeated in HotD. I mention Margarey and Olenna. Even though the Tyrells and court at Highgarden are less against women practicing power, they do that by maintaining a public image of Andal womanhood and chastity and regard for the smallfolk while flirting with the boundaries of that image. Margarey and other Tyrell-Reach girls are not going to have bare arms, shoulders, and a partially revealed stomach or an exposed cleavage (a hint of cleavage would suffice, esp in warmer weather)--as lovely as most of her garments were.

And I don't have that many notes about the men, because they kept it simple but believable for them more than they did for the women. Perhaps more hats and capes for the older or authoritative men, but eh apparently they wished to jock these guys up more.

If it sounds like I'm being sexist by slutshaming, I'm stating how the society these characters lived in would influence & shape how women vs men would dress and what women vs men w/could do to both conform to standards and also stand out for various reasons. When it comes to a feudalist, medieval-Renaissance-Tudorish-modelled, patriarchal society, dress them like it is a federal-Renaissance-ish society and express individualism and motive without breaking that immersion and contradicting said social challenges the "traditional garments" convey in the first place!

Other than that, my fav looks from HotD were Rhaenyra's investiture outfit, Rhaenyra's episode 8 gown (except the sleeves), Daemon's hair (all iterations), and most of his clothes, & Alicent's hair. They made sense and were gorgeous. The rest felt mediocre, out of character, out of place (culturally), or just really cheap-looking fabric for people who are supposed to be royals and the higher sort of nobles.

[reginarubie]

I know we are all here for HotD/GoT but I encourage ppl to go read G's newest I Medici fic. My friends, even if you give it a try knowing nothing about the fandom, it's gonna be a gem. And if you actually end up watching the series, it's gonna be THE experience.

Now, when I'm done promoting, let me tell you, it must be the first Giuliano/Simonetta fic I LOVED, the first one ever in my reading history where the author gets them — although I haven't read much in English for this ship. Because writers, unfortunately, often make the same mistake their surrounding made on the show — they cannot see behind the beauty. The were absolute loners despite getting attention from everyone (like, everyone was swooning at the sight of them both but knew nothing about them — neither Marco, nor I suppose any woman Giuliano has ever been with) and when they met, they just SAW each other. And that you captured perfectly. I'm absolutely sure this fic will give me what I want, for it's already deep enough. Once again I'm in awe of Simonetta's inner strength. It's time to let yourself go, queen! Marco's a jerk who, instead of trying to steal his wife's heart from Giuliano, breaks it even harder. Another proof he's not worthy. And he basically? Spoiled the conspiracy to her? I hope I got it right and there's still a lot of time before Easter. Priora suddenly seems to be nice. Ladies, unite for the greater good ✊

Ciao Anne!, first of all happy holidays!

Funny you would comment on that (and thank you for the advertising) as I’ve just updated the fic with a new short chapter!

I’m as always humbled by how much you hype me up!, especially since I always feel so little confident about it as well, especially this story! So thank you so much!

It is true that Giuliano and Simonetta actually saw each other, they always felt seen by the other, and I’ve rarely seen Simonetta being so herself as when she was shown with Giuliano, also I wanted to bring to life that woman who refused to reject her own love to make a man feel confident, the same woman who stood her ground despite being ill and accused, and faced the consequences and death (in the show) without remorse remaining true to herself. And I am happy you enjoyed it, and again I wanna thank you because this story would not have seen the light of the day without your encouragement and prompting as I was (and still am) pretty self-conscious about it!

Priora and Simonetta united to make sure the de’ Medici survive this plight. Also yeah, she is an OC but I figured that since they gave the Cavalcanti brothers such an important role in the show I could add another Cavalcanti to aid the plot 😉

As always thank you for your support, Anne! I cannot explain how much it means to me!

Sending all my love ~G.

Ps. for anyone interested this is the fic and you can find it here!

She didn’t care if she looked out of place, if she didn’t fit into the perfect, reasonable and elegant courtier she was raised to be, a noble and elegant Madonna of the nobility. […] She stepped into the courtyard uncaring the cold winds flapping in her face and the mud gathering at her feet. — from the first chapter.

The title is actually inspired by the verses written by Poliziano about the tourney Giuliano won to crown Simonetta as his (platonic) love in Florence! (He impersonated Iulio, a young warrior who had to prove his worth through several quests to gain the love of the nymph — Simonetta — with whom he had fallen in love).

So anyway, thank you again Anne! Sending all my love ~G.

[bruiisedpetals-a]

𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐍 𝐊𝐀𝐑𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐊 / 𝐘𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐍 𝐒𝐍𝐎𝐖

h.o.t.d. the ruling lord of karhold and house karstark. — g.o.t. the secondborn and bastard son of ruling lord rickard karstark; sometimes called the grey son.

twenty eight. fabien frankel. karhold, the north. [secondary/trial muse.]

general g.o.t. verse: half-brother of lord heir harrion karstark, he is the bastard son of ruling lord rickard karstark and a reachborn whore by the name of lillian. he is not legitimised, but has grown up alongside his half-siblings and shares a distant but friendly enough relationship with them. his father is somewhat disconnected but has never treated him with cruelty, and the lady karstark has also been civil to him though he represents his fathers' affair. though yoren is treated akin to a fostered outsider, rather than a member of the family and his bastardy isn't often a joke; owing to the ire mentions of the affair elicit from lady karstark. called the grey son mainly due to his habit of wearing a neutral grey garb (armour, clothing, even his saddlebag and sheath are all shades of grey) & the grey of his sealskin pelted cloak, his half-brother and father had taken to wearing black chainmail, so this also made him stand out as the grey 'son', whilst also serving as a misnomer due to his bastardy. this colour motif originally stemmed from his wearing of harrion's hand-me-downs; they were often faded.

general ho.t.d verse: he was already serving as the ruling lord of karhold at the start of the dance. yoren is the direct descendent of the founder of their house, karlon stark. yoren became lord of karhold after his father, kerron karstark, suffered a horrible fall from his horse and sustained a level of paralysis. kerron became angry and resentful after his accident, lashing out at his family and, briefly (before he was removed from public), towards his men and people. he now keeps himself locked away in his room, seperate from his wife, and sees no one bar a maester and his servants. yoren was castellan for six years, and when he was twenty two, he officially took over rule from his father who hadn't been seen in several years.

details. age & canon ref. dance era. birth: 103AC — the year jaehaerys targaryen, the old king, dies and the year viserys i targaryen is crowned king. yoren will be around twenty-six years old at the beginning of the civil war, and around twenty-eight when it concludes. game era. birth: 277AC — the same year as garland tyrell is born. yoren will be around twenty-one at the beginning of a game of thrones (aka. season 1), and he will be around twenty-eight approaching the two final seasons.

personality and game of thrones timelines explained under cut! note; yoren has two different timelines to operate in based on location.

personality traits. + summary.

(hotd) — there is a spiteful part of him that, due to his fathers accident and behaviour placing him as castellan and then lord, he wants to experience more than just karhold and lordship. this conflicts with his firmness in being northernborn and a dedicated leader, so he tries to balance both. he uses his duties as a way to avoid a marriage, claiming that he will once his father is 'well' (an impossibility) ... to allow him to remain uncommitted in at least one of the two great aspects of his life, he's openly flirtatious and arguably promiscuous, at least by the standards of someone who 'should' be married at this point. he cares greatly about his mother, but she has become more and more dedicated to the gods and less in her family since the accident, his only sibling is a brother four years his junior. going into the dance, house karstark follows house stark's support of the blacks. [note: there is no karstark lore in the targaryen era, so details are up to plotting!] (got) — he has somewhat of a chip on his shoulder at being a very clear outsider, like seeing a life he can't have though a thin pane of glass; just out of reach. it's tied less so to the concept of being a lord, or titled, but more that he knows his only kin in the region are no better than passing acquaintences. part of him does wish he had the authority to act as reckless as he feels sometimes, but being half northern and half reachborn, he also feels less valid in defending himself as being worthy of being at karhold. positive. adventurous, appreciative, charismatic & charming, dedicated, dutiful, firm, hardworking, honourable, leaderly, observant, persuasive, romantic, secure, strong, tolerant. neutral. aggressive, competitive, deceptive, dominating, high-spirited, noncommittal, proud, religious/mystical, sensual, stubborn. negative. assertive, brutal, cynical, disrespectful, hedonistic, hostile, impatient, impulsive, opportunistic, petty, possessive, reactive, resentful, strong-willed, superstitious, unrestrained.

v. bloody red keep ; in this timeline, at the outset of game of thrones yoren meets a brother of the nights watch, a 'wandering crow', brother yoren. the nights watchman is to journey up the kings road to collect prisoners for the wall, yoren volunteers and goes with him as to see outside of karhold and the north and learn more about the reach, which is where his mother hailed from. primary location is kings landing. using his bastardy to his advantage, he is able to slip through the initial northern noose that the lannisters put around kings landing, he is blending in as he gathers information on news of his house, house stark and the north, and includes/will include learning of his fathers execution at robb starks hand. (ref. yoren of the nights watch is the crow who intercepts arya at nedd starks beheading and escorts her out of the capital; my yoren would have been seperated from the party between the arresting and execution of lord stark, and unless otherwise stated, his knowledge and opinions are based on the canon events.)

v. they were terrible & red ; this follows more canon timeline lore. rickard is executed by robb, harrion is under lannister capture. his great-uncle arnolf karstark becomes castellan and declares for stannis & house baratheon, yoren's outrage caused a massive verbal row to break out; he argued that neither rickard nor harrion would follow someone who champions the lord of light and denounces the old gods. arnolf had yoren put in a cell for his 'treasonous talk', with the threat of being sent to the wall if he continued. yoren isn't fully aware of the secret alliance with the boltons that his great-uncle has planned, though he had overheard suspicious clips of conversation that would later make sense. when his half-sister alys karstark flees to the wall to seek out jon snow – yoren is tortured and questioned despite having no information. at his earliest opportunity he escapes after much planning; murdering a guard and stealing a horse, making for either the wall or winterfell (for jon snow and his half-sister alys, or to house stark; timeline dependent)

[bcbliophile]

@multistoty Elijah & Penelope HOTD Verse.

Feasts were a double edged sword for Penelope-- she enjoyed seeing everyone so dressed up and the food, but it did get a bit depressing when it came to the dancing and the fact that she never did. She had all but brushed the idea of anyone asking her do dance away when she was approached by Elijah the evening before, asking to be her escort for the night. A good wind could have knocked her over, but she nodded, managing a soft "I would love to" before they parted ways, agreeing to meet in the gardens before the feast.

Which lead the redhead to what she was currently doing-- freaking out and looking over every dress she owned with distain. They were all too bright, too garish, they cut her funny or all three, she had nearly given up hope when her ladies maid came rushing in with a delivery from the dress maker, a new dress she herself had designed, a soft periwinkle color which complimented her pale skin and red curls. Thankfully the jewelry she wanted to pair it with were resting on top of the mess and with a thankful smile they got her dressed, managing to make it on time if not mildly out of breath. She saw her escort and visibly relaxed, he had indeed come "my lord-- you look well this evening."

[stagnot]

quick & easy hotd verse — * until my brain comes up with something more decent

delivering the news of prince aemon’s death to the capitol, gendry is the unknown bastard son of boremund baratheon, conceived at the back of the red keep in 92 AC with a local tavern wench.

he was born with the standard baratheon features: striking blue eyes, thick black hair, and boremund's stubborn frown. his mother (blonde, frail woman) never sought out boremund for any form of compensation; most likely, she didn't know who he was. simply that he was a nobleman.

when gendry was five, his mum passed away from fever. gendry eventually ran away from the tavern, chased by the tavern keeper, and he had to scrap by fleabottom for a year until he met a qohorik master armorer, master aoken.

as a child, gendry has always been larger than his peers. (again, the baratheon genes at work.) this was why master aoken had taken up gendry at all because he saw "the potential in the boy". true enough, gendry showed resilient and easy strength in hammering the anvil.

unlike in canon [where tobho mott was one of the more famed master armorer due to his specific skills¹] master aoken, though a skilled smith himself, is considerably average among the many swordsmith down the street of steels. therefore, there will be weeks sometimes that master aoken and gendry would have to rely on limited pay to survive.

this did not help when master aoken is a drunkard and a serial gambler; something gendry, as he grows older, tries to stave master aoken away from, but also aid him whenever he's passed out somewhere.

when gendry was three-and-ten, the second prince took a hold of fleabottom with his goldcloaks and, overnight, they saw a dramatic change of order "restored". gendry lost friends from this sudden change, just as master aoken did as well. while some streets thrived, like the street of silk, some others lived in constant fear and watch-out. this turn of event is the first legitimate seed sown in gendry of his growing antagonism towards highborns.²

*** the following details may change — master aoken eventually passed away when gendry is five-and-twenty. ever since, he took up the armoury left in master aoken's wake and run it himself.

fun little note: his relationship with aoken is both a parallel to his relationship with tobho mott, yoren and arya in the canon verse. that is, aoken was, for a while, his father / brother figure (aoken was only 20ish when he found gendry), his master, his protector, and his source of shelter — but obviously as aoken's addiction grew worse over the years, gendry was forced to become his protector and source of shelter.

fun little note #2: same as got canon, gendry will always yearn for stability and family - which he still sometimes search in aoken, but he does not always receive them fully due to aoken's addictions.

¹ referring to the fact that tobho mott were one of the few who could work with valyrian steel. considering the time period wherein the targs' culture survive and are thriving, i would assume that smiths working with valyrian steel are abundant. or at least, there would be more than one. master aoken is simply one of them, thus he loses the appeal of being unique unlike tobho mott who posessed it. ² gendry has a lot of feelings about what the goldcloaks are doing. please feel free to challenge him about it :)

[sunlightswallowed]

Important information re: Arianna's GOT/HOTD/ASOIAF verse: Arianna's only child was conceived via a love affair she had shortly before her marriage, with her betrothed's younger brother, Frederic Hightower. When the affair was discovered by Arianna's father and Lord Hightower, Frederic was sent to study as a maester, and Arianna was hastily married to her betrothed, the lord's eldest son, Trevor Hightower. When it was discovered that she was pregnant, she was isolated (quite ironically) in a high tower, away from the rest of the household, supposedly because her health was fragile.

When the child was born, Arianna was told by the midwife that it was a girl, and managed to get a momentary glimpse of her, before the baby was whisked away despite Arianna's protests. Arianna, as well as the rest of Westeros, were told that the child had been born early (She hadn't been, but since she was married after she became pregnant, the lie of the child being premature would save face), and that she had been stillborn. Arianna knows that her child wasn't stillborn, as she heard the baby cry and saw her move, but those around her --- Her father, father-in-law and husband --- were so insistent that Arianna gradually began to doubt herself and what she knew. At first, she tried to insist that she knew her child had been born alive, but Lord Hightower and Trevor told everyone that the grief of losing her child had addled her mind, and that her "fancies" were not to be indulged.

Since then, Arianna has remained mostly isolated in the Hightower family castle, rarely allowed to see anyone who wasn't family, with the excuse given being that Arianna was physically and mentally fragile. She's sometimes allowed to join in family dinners and public events where it would be unseemly for her not to appear, but she spends most of her time in her private chambers.

TLDR IMPORTANT NOTES: NO ONE knows about Arianna and Frederic's affair other than Arianna and Frederic themselves, Trevor, Lord Hightower, and Arianna's father (and maybe Otto, depending on how much you think Hobart trusts him). Everyone was told that baby Rapunzel was premature and stillborn, and Arianna's protests that she saw her alive were brushed aside as ""madness"", and that supposed mental illness was used as an excuse to keep her isolated.