#Harwin was his father

[andreawritesit]

I love the fact that Baela asked Jace about Harwin as his father. Because no matter how much he has to keep up the Velaryon name, he's in truth Harwin's son. I fucking love that Baela and Jace are close enough that they talk about this openly.

[thou-shall-fucketh-off]

It just occurred to me that the strong children had 3 fathers. THREE FATHERS who all cared for them. Harwin trained them, Laenor cared for them, and Daemon..Daemon was set on making them his own by influencing every other thing 😭

[fanfictionroxs]

Rhaenyra to her half-siblings: Alicent's baby (steals her attention from me, this BASTARD), Alicent's baby that she chose over me, this BASTARD, Alicent's baby who thankfully got sent to boarding school NON-BASTARD, oh hi Helaena my sweet daugh i mean sister!

Alicent to step-grandbabies: bastard no 1 (kinda bastardphobic like me NO IM NOT THE FATHER DAMN IT), bastard no 2 (kinda anxious like me NO IM NOT THE FATHER OKAY), bastard no 3 (kinda vicious like me NO IM NOT THE- SHIT FUCK), HOW DARE SHE USE MY SON'S NAME FOR NON-BASTARD NO 1, non-bastard no 2

[corybiit]

Jace and Lucerys meeting for the first time when Luke flies to Winterfell to ask for the Starks's support.

Jace was smuggled as a baby after his birth, Rhaenyra faking his death and sending him to Harrenhall to Harwin.

So Jace is brought up as a bastard until Harwin asks the king to legitimize him as Strong, and Harwin in his need to protect his child marries him to Cregan Stark, hoping the north is far away enough to escape the fire of the impending war of succession. So Jace has never actually seen any of his brothers.

And while Jce knows nothing of his birth mother he knows of the whispers regarding his father and the crown princess. So they meet for the first time, Jace a Stark now, Lucerys is heir to the iron throne, and Jace looks for their resemblance. Their hair, the eyes, anything.

He searches for his father's look on Lucerys' own features.

Luke who is subconsciously sure of his true parentage sees for the first time something he had avoided all his life. Sees Jace's hair and his dark eyes and he knows he is Harwin’s son, he wonders if people can tell if it's too obvious they are truly brothers.

[bluebellhairpin]

it's so interesting becuse in a deleted scene (like I can't even recall it being filmed, so maybe it was just in the script) harwin defends larys from someone making fun of his clubbed foot, and larys isn't happy about it. harwin is protective of his little brother, but larys doesn't like being protected. harwin probably wouldn't ever think larys would hurt him, yet larys very well could have a lot of resentment hiding away because harwin is so protective. it's actually so sad.

[throwawayasoiafaccount]

if westeros was created to reflect our modern society instead of being loosely based off of western medieval society, then i think people would understand that these political marriages are for alliances, not love, and would agree that the modern lower class sentiments towards marriage are simply not applicable to these arrangements and both bride and groom cannot and should not expect love from their partner.

if our story occurred in a modern westeros very similar to our own modern society, then a lot of the obstacles our characters face would not happen because, simply put, modern society benefits from equality.

as an example, i am quite (100%) certain that the introduction of gender equality and other modern values and advancements to westeros would only be beneficial to rhaegar and elia, which means that this ideology benefits westerosi society on an individual level.

so, in this modern westeros au, if rhaegar and elia still married for a political alliance, and then had two children like they did in asoiaf, they could then peacefully divorce and write out a contract that secures both rhaenys and aegons inheritances. if lyanna and rhaegar met and fell in love while rhaegar and elia were married then the misunderstanding that sparked a war would never have happened. why? because lyanna would have a say in who she marries in this modern au. also, elia would have possibly been seeing others as well. why? because this was a political marriage and love shouldn’t be expected, so why would anyone be concerned about either party finding love outside of their marriage? plus modern westeros would have dna testing so there’s no reason to question the paternity of their children.

also, if elia had a child with someone else (in this hypothetical scenario, perhaps her lover died) and rhaegar decided to claim that child as his own while knowing that he’s not the real father in order to give this child a better life, then this wouldn’t be a problem either. why? because rhaegar’s in the know. (i’m only bringing this up bc of the rhaenyra and laenor situation. guys… laenor is perfectly aware that biologically those kids aren’t his, yet he still claimed them and loved them bc he and rhaenyra had an agreement. i do not understand why real ppl are even concerned about jace, luke, and joffs parentage. in the eyes of the law those boys are legally laenors.)

however, since asoiaf isn’t based off of our modern society and is instead a society riddled with misogyny, xenophobia and other social issues without the progress and advancements that we in the 21st century have benefited from, i will concede one thing to these antis who harp on and on about how selfish rhaenyra and rhaegar were for loving someone who wasn’t their spouse and for having a child(ren) out of wedlock.

because yes, rhaegar and lyanna’s love can be considered an act of selfishness, and rhaenyra loving harwin and having children with him can also be considered selfish.

but guess what? love in general is a very selfish state of being. you are prioritizing your partner and your desires over everything and everyone else in your life.

one of the greatest love stories of all time, romeo and juliet, is a tale of two selfish lovers who seek to be together despite the immense hatred between their families. selfless and dutiful children would never love an enemy. and yet, despite romeo and juliet’s love story ending in tragedy, no one would ever argue that these two lovers were in the wrong for simply trying to be together even though their love caused their families great grief. why? because the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets was stupid. and the story ends with the characters agreeing that this feud went on for long enough and acknowledging the fact that this petty feud between the families was the cause of their misery and the tragedy that befell them.

though the circumstances of all three love stories are different, it’s undeniable that these lovers were selfish for prioritizing their own desires over their duties to their houses.

to end this little spiel, i’d like to mention that the reason i first brought up a modern au was to remind people that the only reason rhaelya and rhaenyra’s relationship with harwin can be so decisively called selfish is because these characters live in westeros. and westeros is a fucked up society rooted in systematic oppression, violence, and abuse and other forms of exploitation in order to further the agenda of the powerful despite the harm it causes. any modern comforts and progressive ideas hinder the control the patriarchs have over their families and put a name to the bigotry expressed against these unconventional relationships. so yes, their love is selfish because being unconventional in such a backwards society is a recipe for disaster, especially since both of these relationships hinge on a woman deciding to take control of her sexual autonomy, which is a big no no in westeros since a woman’s body only belongs to her father and husband. so yes, these love stories are selfish because these characters are prioritizing themselves in a society that benefits from them losing their autonomy and harms them and their loved ones when they try to take back their autonomy.

to finish off, the reason i brought up the tragic love story of romeo and juliet is to remind people that even though rhaegar and lyanna’s love was selfish, other characters still need to be held accountable for their actions that helped to escalate this misunderstanding into a tragedy that consumed all of westeros.

[rainwingmarvel7]

Basic Rhaedaera Velaryon Lore (Soaring Higher)

Born: ??? AC

Parents: Kaleb Dormaire and Rhaenyra Targaryen

Siblings: Tristan Dormaire (Snow) and Therese Targaryen (Snow); Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey Velaryon; Aegon, Viserys, and Visenya Targaryen

Love Interest(s): Aemond Targaryen (husband)

Children: Aerion and Aerea Targaryen (w/Aemond)

Titles: Princess Consort, Princess of the Seven Kingdoms, rider of The Cannibal

Face Claim: Gülcan Arslan

[halfyearsqueen]

her and her children are my roman empire bc they’re just so. endlessly tragic

[crownspeaksblog]

I hate that we didn't get to see the relationship between rhaenyra and ser harwin, it's like the show gave me ser harwin and then took him away in the same episode, because it felt like he's always on the side doing whatever, so i never really noticed him, until the wedding, when he punched his way through a crowd then threw rhaenyra on his shoulder to get her away.. and i just wanna say, i get it, rhaenyra i so get why you have 3 children with this man!

I just wanna know more about their relationship, did they love eachother? They must've, i assume they were together for a decade, i also assume he's the only one she's been with this whole time. I just really didn't get a sense of how close they were, i hope he gets brought up in the remaining episodes.

[maegalkarven]

A future fic carcass I'll write when I write (after I finish 9 ungoing fics)

King Viserys dies at the wedding celebration of his daughter, Crown Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen.

No one else does.

I am a firm believer Otto and Viserys are the rot on the face of the House of the Dragon and without these two everything would be fine-ish.

Unfortunately, we need Vissy T for his kids to be born, so Viserys dies soon after Aemond is conceived. Sorry, Daeron, not this time.

Joffrey doesn't die because he doesn't manage to provoke Criston before the king dies.

Rhaenyra overrules his father's decision and marries Harwin Strong.

Their son Jacaerys Targaryen is the heir to the throne, Lucerys Targaryen is the heir to Harrenhal.

Daemon marries Laena and lives at Dragonstone (Rhaenyra grants him that), their firstborn is the heir of Driftmark.

Laenor joins the Queensguard and is sent to Dragonstone to protect Prince Daemon (ha) and his future heirs.

Criston Cole becomes the Commander of City Watch while still retaining his white cloak (what? He did it in canon, can do it here).

Rhaenyra removes Tyland Lannister as the master of ships and appoints Corlys Velaryon (back).

When Baela and Rhaena are born, it is decided to betroth Prince Aegon and Lady Baela, making him future lord-consort of Driftmark (and successfully removing him out of succession of the iron throne).

When Jace is born, his and Helaena's betrothal is announced.

Baelon is born without an issue and the royal family meets at the celebration on Dragonstone, where Aemond claims Cannibal and loses an eye in the process.

(Kinslayer, everyone. It fits).

Afterwards Luke is sent as a ward to Harrenhal with his father. A huge ass scene ensures there Luke clings to Aemond and refuses to go.

Aegon makes a greasy comment and gets punched.

Both Aegon and Baela are sent as wards to Driftmark.

Lucerys still leaves.

Harrenhal doesn't burn bc even if Larys kills Harwin and Luke, there's still Lyonel and Joffrey in the equation. Lyonel keeps serving Queen Rhaenyra as her Hand.

Years later the royal family meets at the wedding celebration of Baela and Aegon, where Luke and Aemond behave very much like Rhaenyra and Daemon at Rhaenyra's not happened wedding.

Rhaenyra and Alicent clutch at their pearls, Rhaenyra suggests father died because of seeing something like that.

Daemon asks if she implies they killed Viserys, then asks where is Baelon.

Laena replies Baelon is playing knights with Joffrey.

Rhaenyra and Harwin Strong (no) have three more children, Aegon, Viserys and Visenya, all silver-haired like their mother (her uncle).

Laena is fine with it, they have a poly. Laena doesn't have more children because Baelon's birth was a ghasty one.

Baelon claims the Grey Ghost.

Otto is never called back to the capital because (suprise!) Rhaenyra didn't rush to kill her 3 y.o brother or the other one who was born after Viserys' death. Instead she marries Aegon off so he's no threat.

Aemond eventually joins the Queensguard and is appointed to the future lord of Harenhall.

Lucerys refuses to marry and appoints his brother Viserys as his heir, who marries Visenya. They have a very good life in Harrenhal.

The reason Luke skips over Joffrey is because Joffrey is always at the sea (with Baelon), and Aegon the Younger is bethrothed to Baela and Aegon the Elder' firstborn, Laena.

Everyone lives happily ever after, Otto gets to be the head of the house Hightower after he successfully plots against his own kin, since his blood is secured on the throne, if in unconventional for him way.

He once tried to manipulate Aegon, but was cut off sharply by Rhaenys and Corlys, who kind of adopted the boy as theirs.

Aegon enjoys wandering about Essos very much, he, of course, whores around, but he and Baela have an agreement. One of Baela's children is born from Alyn of Hull, but no one is any wiser, since everyone just thinks the child looks like her.

Jacaerys and Helaena have three kids, Jaehaerys and Jaehaera and then Maelor.

Jaehaera is oldest and so is the heir.

Oh, and Rhaena is happily married to Corwyn Cobray. They have a daughter, Rhaenys.

[atopvisenyashill]

If you had the chance to change something about the dance of the dragons (TV show or book), what would it be? For example, how a character dies, which team a house is on,or an entire character personally. How would you change it to make the story better, in your opinion? 💙💚🖤♥️

JUST ONE THING. ANON U R A SADIST.

aksjdjd no okay thank you great ask. sorry if it’s a lil all over the place, i think obsessively about how i would adapt f&b and asoiaf if i was a millionaire lmao.

for the show it’s so easy (besides just giving it like ten more episodes to cook before getting to the Dance, I mean) - lean into the dueling protagonists of alicent & rhaenyra by giving them dueling deuteragonists in aegon ii and jacaerys. i realize this would completely reframe the whole show lmao, but we can even compromise and say once they do that ten year skip, the narrative should focus in on building up the two sides through the dueling protagonists alicent & rhaenyra, and dueling deuteragonists aegon & jace. it makes way more sense to have the character they most interact with be their sons & “heirs” and contrast those relationships & all the politics that exist in how they act as mothers towards their sons. rather than focus in on daemon as the second main character for rhaenyra and…this weird fucking musical chairs male protagonist with the greens they’re doing. it doesn’t fix everything but i think shifting the focus from rhaenyra’s marriages to her as a mother and queen regnant, and from alicent’s conga line of abuses to again, an active role as a mother and queen consort/queen mother, as well as fleshing out the two men who are objectively thee most important men in their lives (argue with the wall jace & aegon haters!!!!). explaining why jace & aegon developed into the sort of men they are through how they exist in the most important relationship in their lives, literally until the day they both die. (and if you’re curious, daemon’s counterpart is aemond, they get to be number three for both their sides. viserys isn’t on a “team” but he does have a counterpart and it’s QOREN).

i think the way they did it in the show really does a disservice to the potential of aegon and especially jacaerys as characters, as well as downplaying the importance of a lot of critical relationships like rhaewin, laenyra, criston’s entire demented relationship with both women, rhaenys’ relationship with laena & rhaenyra, alicent’s whole ass relationship with her kids, AND rhaenyra’s whole ass relationship with her kids. imo they go for this kind of half in half out “we want to appeal to the insane targ stans who genuinely believe incest will save westeros” and “we want to write a story about the complexities of motherhood & sexuality in a patriarchal society” and wound up in a weird place where daemon & alicent are both bisexual but only in deleted scenes and completely drop rhaenyra’s gender fuckery the moment she’s played by an actually non-binary actor and also completely bury the other non-binary actor (rhaena’s actor, phoebe campbell) by giving their character like two fucking lines and no depth.

also better wigs jesus FUCKING christ hbo i know you have the budget!!

for the books….a lot of the problem with the dance is that f&b is so antithetical to how george writes. it’s effectively a very long and detailed outline of a plot and george doesn’t write exclusively by outline. as he says himself, he gardens - he writes and he sees where the writing takes him. if he had actually sat down and written out the dance as a series of short stories the way he does with dunk & egg, i think the plot would not only be massively different it would also be leaps and bounds better. what i want to change is to make george actually WRITE the dance and not just outline and call it a day!!!!

BUT. Okay if I can change ONE thing. fuck that’s hard.

I’d make Larys’ motivation more clear, and when i say more clear i mean my theory is that Larys just straight up hated the Targaryens and Velaryons bc he believed one of them killed Harwin, and decided to get revenge by completely fucking over the whole family tree. i get why people like his show version (I like parts of him a lot too and the actor has some galaxy brained takes!!!) but i think while Larys is well done, his character adaption & the way he’s completely unknowable in the series itself is just a rehash of Tyrion. We already have a disabled younger brother who hates his older brother for being condescending in his love & conditional acceptance, and hates his father for being a patriarchal monster, and is a sexually abusive menace to teenage girls, and I don’t think they are saying anything new or groundbreaking with Larys in the show or book. He is just there to be the evil crippled henchman, and then die.

No, what I want is a true chaos agent to rival Littlefucker, a man who becomes obsessively and uncomfortably devoted to Harwin, the only person in his entire life who ever treated him with any love or respect or care, who launches this bloody, demented quest to completely wipe out every Valyrian left alive for the misuse and murder of his brother. Willing to help kill his own nephews. Willing to burn the kingdom to the ground. Willing to destroy his own house if it means Harwin will be avenged, if it means the dragons die. All leading to Larys getting his Pyrrhic victory and choosing to die because he feels he has nothing left.

Why the extreme change? I think it fits better with a lot of the themes in F&B and the dance in particular - not just family, and “the things we do for love” but the legacy of Valyria, of the Targaryens and the dragons, the clash and growing pains of this group of interlinked cultures learning to tolerate each other’s existence on the same continent, and of course, what being told every day of your life that you’re a monster does to how you view yourself. You can keep all the rest of his weird behavior from the show and the books even - the sexual abuse of Alicent being Larys unable to stop himself from turning into the same sort of awful man his father was; of him switching sides without a care or without any seeming sense in the books, always ready to be the devil on a shoulder to Viserys, Aegon, Alicent, and Corlys - but a little bit here and there to let us know that Larys genuinely loved Harwin until the bitter end. We already have several stories about a brother who grows to resent another and lets the resentment fester until he’s willing to cross a line you can’t come back from and murder his brother for a perceived sleight. I think Larys & the dance as a whole benefit from him being a brother who romanticizes and saintifies Harwin (but not lyonel!) so much that he weaponizes his years of resentment & turns it against the entire world and damn the consequences. I think he fits in much more with Rhaenyra, Alicent, Corlys, Viserys, Daemon, and Rhaenys that way and steps away from being Tyrion but slightly to the left and into his own type of character instead.

[dulcewrites]

1, 2, 17 and 18 with Nina and Aemond please 😄

Who first brought up the option of marriage? Was it an easy topic?

Aemond. And yes and no? Easy in the way that he knew Nina was the one. Hard because of what was to come, the hoops they will have to jump through.

2. Which one proposed? Was it grand and public? Discreet and private? Was it expected?

The proposal was private. They went to a cabin in the winter. It technically was a Christmas proposal in some ways, though not on Christmas Day. He proposed in front of the fireplace. Vhagar was there. Meemaw almost ate the ring but it was really sweet. They did have to do the hoopla of announcing the engagement, and doing a photo call for it. It was expected from their families. Aemond got a ring made with alicent. He talked to Nina's family. The media probably are surprised... but they have been gagged since they started dating lmao.

17. Show us their vows. Did either of them tear up at them?

They do more personal vows at a private ceremony just for the fam because the royal one is formal and honestly stiff. Nina is a crier so she definitely shed some tears. Their vows would be about how resilient they are as a couple and that they are in this together. They probably cry a little after it is all said and done and they feel a bit of wedding pressure off of them.

18. Did anyone oppose the marriage? Did they speak then, or did they just forever hold their peace?

Well... a lot of people had a lot to say once the news broke. So, aemond is the second of person of the targtower kids (third of viserys' if you count rhaenyra). Rhaenyra and Harwin more than likely are married in this but people would rather compare her to Aegon's wife (did I name her Celine... the way I can't remember). Aegon married into aristocracy (she is a Lannister.. ouu or maybe a Tyrell), much like how Viserys did with Alicent. Nina is very much not that, and Aemond sort of surprises a lot of people with being with her. it is sort of an interesting foil that the most buttoned up of all the kids go an untraditional route

Wedding ask game

[fanfictionroxs]

Can you imagine Laenor getting used to being around Harwin and how bewildering it must be? Because Laenor has grown up with a father like Corlys who is all about names and names and ambition and meaningless honour which he choses over his own son. But here is Harwin, a father who doesn't give a shit about names, whose honour is literally his sons and princess. And while he is commander of the city watch and Rhaenyra's sworn shield which are high positions for sure, everyone knows he could enjoy a far more comfortable and luxurious life back at Harrenhall as its heir. But here he is, ambition of being the future lord pushed aside in favour of being with his children. We just know he was going to be queensguard for the rest of his life when Nyra became queen and kingsguard when Jace became king if they had all lived. Here is a father who doesn't care that his sons call Laenor father, heck him and Laenor are friends! He only cares about protecting them all, uncaring of names and no insecurities. Jace, Luke, Joff could be called Targaryen, Strong, Velaryon, Rivers, Waters and it would make zero difference to Harwin (and Rhaenyra) who would protect and cherish his babies regardless and that.. that makes Laenor reel because it stands in complete opposition to the kind of father he has grown up with. And he wishes that Corlys had more of Harwin's honour, that his father could have valued Leanor's happiness as Harwin valued the happiness of their sons, that his father could have looked beyond his ambition and history books and just looked at him.

[sheisbeautyweareworldass]

i hope d&d burn in hell for making jon snow stans act as if that bastard is the legitimate heir to the iron throne

[drakblod]

like father, like son

Lucerys Velaryon & Ser Harwin Strong (ft. @breakbcnes)

[cateyesinlove]

OH I AM BITING MY HAND WTFFFFF I WILL CRY

“My son, do not be over bold or rash; be cautious, keep within the bounds of propriety, and protect our home and family.”

— "The Odyssey" by Homer