#Horror tropes in ASOIAF

[la-pheacienne]

I wish asoiaf fandom could tell the difference between subverting a trope and subverting expectations because it is not the same thing. While subverting a trope is a valid and very interesting approach, subverting expectations most of the time results in bad, incoherent and actually pretty conventional storytelling because it primarily aims at eliciting emotions of shock/horror/pain instead of constructing a meaningful, original narrative with solid and thought provoking themes. You don't actually need to subvert the readers' expectations in order to subvert a trope. You don't even need plot twists to subvert a trope. These are really not the same thing at all.

Example: Dany being TPTWP instead of Rhaegar is a subverted trope. The fact that the knights actually suck and the only one who actually thinks and behaves like an ideal knight cannot be one and will never be accepted as one is also a subverted trope. fAegon, the Prince Who Surived, being a scam is also a subverted trope. The element of subverting expectations is weak in most of these, nonexistent in some of these.

Dany becoming mad, Rhaegar being revealed as a machiavellian pedophile, Jon becoming one of the Others and being killed by Arya, the prophecy being just a scam of the universe and/or Rhaegar's wet dream instead of, ahm, the only solution in the war for the dawn, all these are not subversions of any trope. These are plot twists. These subvert the reader's very valid expectations and not in a good way. They go directly against themes, characterization and narrative that has been established for the past 30 years.

[phntmeii]

✰ Phntmeii's Headcanon Masterlist ✰

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✰ Current Fixations: Across the Spider-Verse, COD:MWII, Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, Live Action One Piece, Horror Slashers, Mortal Kombat 1

NSFW Headcanons are highlighted in RED. WIP Headcanons are highlighted in PINK. This list will be updated as time goes on with more characters and links directly to the posts. Compilation Headcanons with several characters are highlighted in PURPLE.

ASOIAF:

Aegon II Targaryen Aemond Targaryen Jaime Lannister [Kingslayer] Jaime Lannister [Redemption] Margaery Tyrell x Snow!Reader Robb Stark Sandor Clegane Sandor Clegane x Snow!Reader (20% Done)

ATSV:

Hobie Brown Miguel O’Hara Miles Morales Miles Morales x SelfHarming!Reader Miles Morales [E42]

One Piece Live Action:

Luffy w/ Breeding Kink OPLA Characters and Physical Touch OPLA Characters Makeout Sessions OPLA Characters “Only One Bed” Trope OPLA Characters "Only One Bed" Trope PT. 2 (Coming Soon) OPLA Characters x disabled!Reader Possessive!OPLA Characters x shy!Reader (Coming Soon)

Random things OPLA Characters would Do Roronoa Zoro w/ Breeding Kink Sanji Cooking w/ Reader (Coming Soon) Sanji w/ Breeding Kink Sanji x Reader w/ ED (Coming Soon) Sanji x shy!Reader (Coming Soon) Jealous!Sanji x Pirate!GN!Reader Straw Hat Crew when You’re Sick Usopp w/ Breeding Kink

Slashers:

Angela Baker Brahms Heelshire Bo Sinclair NSFW Alphabet Corey Cunningham Hannibal Lecter (Coming Soon) RZ!Michael Myers (Coming Soon) RZ!Michael Myers x Russian!SO Sinclair Twins [Artist!Reader + Bimbo!Reader] Slashers and Hanahaki Disease Slashers Thoughts on Having Kids Slashers x depressed!Reader (Coming Soon) Slashers x Fanfic Reading SO Slashers x Naive!Sunshine!SO Slashers x Shy!SO Slashers x StrictLatina!SO Slashers x Petite!Strong!SO Thomas Hewitt

HOTD Texts:

Aemond's Texts After Season 1 HOTD x SO!Reader: "Are You Cheating on Me?” HOTD x SO!Reader: "Would you still love me if I was a worm?” Team Green Incorrect Quotes

⤷ divider credits: @cafekitsune

[lord-armitage]

ASOIAF Characters Ranked of How Likely They Are to Survive A Horror Movie

Robb Stark - 4/10

The likeable, grounded voice of reason comes up with the best strategies but delays things by ignoring Grey Wind's instincts. Will die either as a heroic sacrifice during the climax or at the end of the second act to ramp up the stakes.

Cat Stark - 0/10

Dead before the story began. She's the reason why the Starks decided to have a fresh start in a new town living in that creepy old mansion. Maybe her possessed ghost will enter the story, but she's already gone.

Ned Stark - 1/10

"No, children, this house is definitely not haunted. What you are hearing at the end is just the floorboards settling. There's no such thing are ghosts or monsters. Maybe we should take your direwolves to the vets as they keep barking at nothing during the night?"

Sansa Stark - 5/10

Could go either way with Sansa. She'll either be the girl who dies first if the scriptwriter is a misogynist, or the final girl if not. Either way, she's getting absolutely drenched in blood.

Ayra Stark - 10/10

Of course Ayra surives. There isn't even a question that Ayra Stark won't survive a horror movie.

Daenerys Targaryen - 10/10

Dany is literally the final girl in her own story, so she's the final girl here now. There has literally never been a character created with more final girl energy than Dany.

Tyrion Lannister - 2/10

Gets way too confident in his intellectual ability to defeat the monster. Will have a moment where he thinks he's defeated it by chanting something out of an old book, but doesn't spot check to make sure it's really gone and ends up getting killed.

Jon Snow - 9/10

The quiet one who knew exactly what was happening right from the start because he trusts Ghost's instincts. While everyone else is arguing about the monster being real, he's getting weapons. Fully aware of what genre he's in.

Theon Greyjoy - 0/10

Theon was born to be the drunk frat bro who dies first in a horror movie by doing something insanely stupid, like opening the door for the zombies or thinking that he can fight the monster himself. He would also be a character to purposefully hide his infection/bite/whatever, thus dicking over the other characters.

Asha Greyjoy - 8/10

She knows that she's in a horror film and takes it all in her stride. Most likely character to quip. If she doesn't survive, then she'll be killed in the big climatic action scene at the end, weakening the monster enough so that the last person standing now has a chance to defeat them.

Stannis Baratheon - 0/10

Authority figure who angrily refuses to acknowledge the strange goings on in this town and refuses to do anything about it as "ghosts aren't real." Is one of the first ones to die.

Loras Tyrell - 10/10*

*Loras survives by sheer technicality. Ten years ago he would have been killed for sure but now the writers are worried about being cancelled for using the bury your gays trope, so instead of killing him they write him out of the story so it doesn't technically count.

[visenyaism]

I think people interpret the “it was her 14th nameday scene” very differently. I’ve always seen it as horrifying, that it’s supposed to make you feel uncomfortable, supposed to be a condemnation of the norms of planetos without actually stating it outright. But I’ve seen people state that it is actually one of their biggest issues of the series, that the sexual horror of Dany’s story is never textually addressed as wrong. I personally disagree, I think that ending the chapter with that line is all the signs we need that GRRM wasn’t trying to brush over the issues of that storyline, but addressing it. But do you have any other thoughts? If you don’t mind.

I think it’s definitely supposed to be horrific you are supposed to feel shocked and appalled. like a lot of darker elements in ASOIAF, its inclusion is not an endorsement of what’s happening, but a way of starting to deconstruct it as the multilayered act of gender horror and violence that it is. but also george does go off the rails at times especially in fire and blood and do the same trope but color it as just “eh it’s those wacky targaryens are just up to that sort of thing” so like. what gives

[racefortheironthrone]

As I guess the majority here I started to follow you for your aSoIaF content but your many recent posts about The Locked Tomb are making me wonder, should I start a new fantasy series? Care to give a couple good reasons to decide oneself into it? Thank you for your content :)

I'll start with a pitch for the Locked Tomb series. It is one of the few fantasy series that I've ever wanted to re-read and write about as much as I do with ASOIAF, because the writing has this fantastic onion-skin quality where you keep finding new layers every time you re-read the books.

Indeed, I would recommend not just reading it, but I think you kind of have to re-read it - because you learn stuff by the end of the first book that completely recontextualizes everything and makes you see things very differently the second time you read it, and then the second book does the same thing both to itself and to the first book, and so on for the third book and the interstitial short stories.

That, together with some really audacious moves in terms of narration and prose styles, speaks to one of my favorite things about the series: the sheer ambition of the author. Tamsyn Muir does not rest on her laurels, but is constantly trying to top herself with each new installment. It's a very impressive juggling act, and so far she hasn't dropped a single club.

But that's not all! I've been trying to branch out recently and read some new fantasy novels and I have enjoyed some of them quite a bit.

Christopher Buehlman who mostly does fantasy-themed horror novels has a new, more straightforward fantasy novel titled The Blacktongue Thief which is supposed to be the first in a new series. It's a low fantasy story about a rogue who's deeply in debt to the thieves' guild and who agrees to shadow a lady knight errant engaged in a dangerous quest in order to clear his debt, and I really liked the subtle world-building and the snarky narrator, and the magic system is quite innovative. The prequel, The Daughters' War, is coming out this June.

I was a bit unsure about Travis Baldree's Legends & Lattes series, which is very much inspired by the coffee shop AU trope and very popular on booktok and the like. However, I decided to give it a try on a recent flight, and I found myself rather charmed by the story of an experienced adventurer who's sick and tired of the itinerant life and is starting to have lower back problems, so she decides to retire and open a coffee shop. As advertised, it's a very low stakes narrative about someone trying to change their life and build something of value to the community, rather than just raid for gold and glory.

[hamliet]

I saw your post about Glass Onion, can you talk more about it? What do you think of the movie? Do you prefer it or Knives Out?

I love both movies and will not choose. They are both excellent, hilarious, and extremely well-written where almost every detail comes back to be relevant. Basically, peak writing.

Fun fact: the estate where Knives Out was filmed is actually 5 minutes from where I grew up. I went there all the time. Surreal. Also, I've often walked through the town area that was filmed too.

Glass Onion also does twins well; it's a twist, but it's very obvious Andi and Helen are different people with their own individual goals. So, I was pleased.

Glass Onion might be literally crafted around a metaphor for something appearing to have a lot of layers yet being very simple, but the movie itself has a lot of layers even if the metaphor is an apt description of the plot. Knives Out also has these layers of symbolism and foreshadowing. Essentially, each story can be interpreted as a social quasi-allegory in some ways (Knives Out for immigration and Glass Onion for oppressive structures and systems), as a thematic study on what ultimately matters to humans, as a commentary on money and power, and as a deconstruction (in the HxH or ASOIAF sense of deconstructing, which is to say taking a genre and breaking it apart to examine its tropes and see what works and what doesn't--out of love, not contempt--which generally means arriving at the beating heart at the core of the genre and ultimately affirming it) of cozy mysteries.

Why do humans like mysteries? Put aside puzzles and games and excitement thereof, and think about the core of murder mysteries. They have similar appeal to horror, but also appeal to people because they address several universal questions: how do we live knowing we are all going to die? what is the value of a life? doesn't everyone--which means we ourselves, too--matter? will there be justice?

The justice idea is why these movies are somewhat socio-political allegories, or at the very least address these issues. We're crying out for justice in this world in so many respects. It feels cathartic to see Marta get the house, and keep her kind heart. It feels satisfying to see Helen truly disrupt a vile idiot who doesn't deserve the prestige he gets just for having money.

As for the value of life: compassion is the primary motivation for Marta, and love for Helen. These are values that society in theory holds up as good, but doesn't actually practice even where they should be practiced--see, the Thrombey family, who can't stand each other, and the Disrupters, who have an extremely utilitarian idea of friendship. Society doesn't actually assign sociopolitical value to compassion or love, not even in societal structures like family or friends where you'd think it'd exist, because sociopolitical movements by their nature need power to accomplish anything. That's not inherently a bad thing either, but human nature tends to lose sight of compassion in favor of power.

So then, how do we live knowing there will be death, that justice won't always come in the real world, that not all lives are valued the same by power structures? Each movie offers a different answer for different situations, because there is nuance. Each movie does this, however, through the same metaphor: a game.

Marta wins because of playing the game her "way, not Harlan's way," to quote Benoit Blanc. Her way is the way she wins the game of Go with Harlan right before she's tricked into thinking she's hurt him. She's not focused on trying to beat Harlan. She's trying to make a beautiful pattern.

Helen wins not by playing Miles' game that no one person can solve on their own, but by refusing to play entirely and smashing it apart. Which is also how she wins against Miles in the end of the film, too: smashing the Glass Onion apart.

I genuinely think these are both absolutely brilliant films, and highly recommend the Youtube channel PillarofGarbage, who has created some truly amazing video essays on both movies.

[andorerso]

Answer the Questions and Tag 5 Fanfic Authors

thanks for the tag @mosylufanfic <3

1. How did you get into writing fanfiction?

I started reading fanfiction when I was very young, maybe 10-11? and it pretty much immediately made me want to write my own stories. early attempts were... unsuccessful, but I always had a lot of ideas and I just wanted to get them out there... so I did

2. How many fandoms have you written in?

in reverse chronological order: Rogue One/Andor, GoT/ASOIAF, She-Ra, Grisha-verse/Nikolai Series, The Raven Cycle, American Horror Story, Reign, Pretty Little Liars, The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, Twilight

and some I have never published but did write for: The Witcher, Dishonored, Magnificent Century: Kösem

so that's 14 fandoms total

3. How many years have you been writing fanfiction?

well, my first attempt was at 14 but I pretty much immediately abandoned that story after posting. I tried again at 16 and have been writing pretty consistently ever since. so it's been more than ten years, almost fifteen

4. Do you read or write more fanfiction?

lately I'm writing more than I'm reading, however in general over the years, it's definitely read. I've consumed so many!

5. What is one way you’ve improved as a writer?

I think my action has gotten better recently? it's still far from my strength but being forced to write some action scenes in recent stories definitely improved that area... who would have thought?

6. What’s the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

I've researched many weird stuff over the years but idk, I'm blanking on specifics

7. What’s your favorite type of comment to receive on your work?

I love it when people yell and curse at me <33

8. What’s the most fringe trope/topic you write about?

idk if I've ever written something truly fringe... actually maybe the dildo fic?

9. What is the hardest type of story for you to write?

smut! which is funny because I've spent the last month writing nothing but that. but smut is hardddddd

10. What is the easiest type?

I'm seconding modern AUs, that's my comfort genre, and I'm also very well-versed in anything paranormal

11. Where do you do your writing? What platform? When?

I switched from Word to Scrivener a few years ago, and I haven't looked back. Word would probably still work, but Scrivener is just very convenient, I can have all the things in one place, and it makes things so easy

12. What is something you’ve been too nervous/intimidated to write, but would love to write one day?

well, sex pollen belonged to this category, but I've just gotten over that! other than that, I've been going back and forth about this apocalypse/zombie exes to lovers longfic for months now, because it's intimidating as hell for many reasons, and it would be a lot of work which I may not have the time for currently, but there's so many parts of it that I love and want to write. mainly this very specific scene that will not leave my brain, but absolutely would not work without the proper background and build-up.... sigh

13. What made you choose your username?

here or on ao3? on ao3, it's wintersend (winter's end) and like. I can't even remember why I picked it. it's so random, I've never used it before and never since. I think it may have had something to do with the fact that I'm a winter child, and I was also into GoT at the time... I genuinely don't know

and here.... hmmm idk if I should tell you guys.... it's very niche, you wouldn't get it

tagging @frostbitepandaaaaa @quarantineddreamer @fulcrumstardust @flythesail @luciechat

[esther-dot]

Hot take but Asha bores me. She’s another one of GRRM’s action girls where he can’t be bothered to give them flaws (unlikable, fatal flaws). She’s not at all some brand new and revolutionary character the way fandom hypes her up to be. She exhibits almost all the tropes you’d expect her to and is a pretty conventional character all things considered.

If she were truly any better than the other Ironborn in any kind of conventionally moral sense, none of them would have respected her. She’s clearly fine leading the Ironmen to rape, invade, and pillage up and down the coasts of Westeros. She completely absorbed the Ironborn lifestyle and loves it. She was complicit with the culture for years. It’s expected (justly and with good reason) for Theon to grapple with the horror and immorality of reaving, and his own role in it. But Asha kind of gets away with it. She contemplates its prudence and sustainability, but readers are never fully faced with the reality of what she does, and are arguably invited to see her as Supercool Kickass Feminist Warrior instead.

Me: my anons are clearly working as a group to get me kicked out of the fandom

Also me: Outrageous. I’ll be damned if I’m the slacker in this group project! 😂

I wasn't aware that Asha was that hyped! She seemed to be Martin's attempt to have someone of the culture be a little more reasonable/not as bloodthirsty

"And if I shout your name?" Harmund demanded. "What then?"

"Peace," said Asha. "Land. Victory. I'll give you Sea Dragon Point and the Stony Shore, black earth and tall trees and stones enough for every younger son to build a hall. We'll have the northmen too . . . as friends, to stand with us against the Iron Throne. Your choice is simple. Crown me, for peace and victory. Or crown my nuncle, for more war and more defeat." She sheathed her dirk again. "What will you have, ironmen?"

"VICTORY!" shouted Rodrik the Reader, his hands cupped about his mouth. "Victory, and Asha!" (AFFC, The Drowned Man)

so I think she's meant to be a nuance within the framework of the Ironborn, but I see what you're saying. Pointing out the practicality of something is not commentary on morality or a sign that she would be able to completely change things. You’re probably right that the kind of fantasy tropes she hits help her go uncriticized.

Now that I think about it though, the trope may be old, but she is written in an interesting way within the context of ASOIAF. Asha would pursue a practical peace where Dany can't quite manage, Asha has ambition that Sansa totally lacks, she does not have the romantic nature that both Sansa and Dany have, and she is certainly not as evil as Cersei, but some of her lines comment on sexism in a similar way. So she is potentially a way to round out the female POVs if we read it generously. She will never go as far as Dany or Cersei, she will never be as compassionate as Sansa.

I suppose more importantly, Asha has one of those lines that seem significant as far as understanding the war v peace struggle and where a character falls:

A throwing axe was in her hand. She tossed it in the air and caught it deftly. "Here is my husband, Nuncle. Any man who wants me should take it up with him." (AFFC, The Iron Captain)

Some time ago I wrote about this moment for Robb:

Again the shouting began. Catelyn sat despairing. She had come so close, she thought. They had almost listened, almost … but the moment was gone. There would be no peace, no chance to heal, no safety. She looked at her son, watched him as he listened to the lords debate, frowning, troubled, yet wedded to his war. He had pledged himself to marry a daughter of Walder Frey, but she saw his true bride plain before her now: the sword he had laid on the table." (AGOT Catelyn, XI)

Robb was undone by a series of choices, his own and others, but I think Martin is consistent and insistent on his anti war stance, and it is this moment that Robb's fate was sealed, the moment he chose the sword.

As sympathetic as we are to Robb's cause, we're clearly meant to have realized that Cat was right. (link)

and we have all pointed to Dany's "bride of fire" as a worrying sign. However, Bran is wed to the trees, so it is possible there will be later opportunities for each of the remaining characters to choose a path, and perhaps that will be the moment where Asha fully becomes aware of what they've been doing.

I was gonna just leave this ask there, but I skimmed some of her chapters again because I couldn’t remember them that well, and Robb is actually mentioned to support her plan for peace, so she’s an interesting blend of what Robb chose and Cat’s good instinct. This part also strikes me. She isn’t obsessed with the title, she wants power to achieve a certain end, one that’s presented as a good option compared to the others

So, even if she isn’t reformed, we’re meant to see value in her stance. She also does have this moment which may be pointing to a change in her thinking, it at least indicates a certain awareness of what they’ve done

and I thought this was a rather poignant moment that Martin could play forward.

So, I agree with you that she’s presented as a sexy badass, and I’ll take your word for it that fandom doesn’t fully register her complicity in the crimes of the Ironborn, but there is, or at the very least, is the potential, for her story to grow in an interesting direction.

I understand your frustration though. It’s tiring to have every flaw of Sansa’s exaggerated until half the fandom is convinced she’s a murderess while the characters who do worse things are celebrated as feminist queens. 😐

[selkiewife]

8, 17, 25 please and thank you

Thanks @owlsinathens my love!

8. You hope more people will come to appreciate ___ (a ship, a trope, an episode, etc.)

Oh my god I have so MANY! lol. This won't be all of them but I'm trying not to overthink these: A Song of Ice and Fire: More appreciation for the potential of Theon surviving and for Theon eventually gaining some FREEDOM in LIFE. More appreciation for the Theon Sea Reek symbolism (How the Sea Reek was a giant sea monster) More appreciation for Theon's prophetic dream (And how it parallels Jon's Dream.) More appreciation for Theon's connection to Euron and Bran. More appreciation for the symbolism of characters receiving a kind of weirwood stigmata (like when Dany eats the heart- bloody hands and mouth and then losing her hair to the flames, Catelyn Stark after saving bran, Theon- bloody mouth and hands, red leaf falling on his head, etc etc.) More appreciation for Tysha & Tyrion. More people tagging her as Tysha Lannister because FUCK YOU TYWIN. More appreciation for the Tysha is the Sailor's Wife theory. Tysha & Tyrion forever. More appreciation for the parallels between Theon & Jeyne and Tyrion & Tysha. More appreciation for Tyrion ships in general. More appreciation for Tyrion's dragon dreams that he STOPPED HAVING after his trauma and then the contrast with Daenerys beginning her dragon dreams as a response to her trauma. Daenerys x Tyrion as a ship. More appreciation for Mance's band (like literal band lol) of spearwives. Game of Thrones: The acting. I'm serious. I want there to be more analysis about it- I want to go into the tag and see paragraphs dissecting the minutia of Michelle Fairley's Red Wedding Performance, Alfie Allen as Theon performing Reek performing Theon, etc. Tyrion's trial. But also the actors that don't get as much appreciation for the early seasons- like Issac as Bran when Ser Rodrik was executed etc. Also more (or any lol) appreciation for the Reek foreshadowing in Theon's scenes in season 1 and 2. I'll do a gifset eventually about this. Appreciation and analysis of the 4 episodes GRRM wrote (I am actually going to do this myself soon and also make some gifsets of the scenes from these episodes.) More appreciation for the music and Ramin Djawadi. Not just the beauty of it, but the use of certain instruments for certain characters, the META of certain characters sharing a theme- like with Jon and Theon. Also, I would love it if there was a mass movement in the fandom- a petition or something for Ramin to write music to The Seasons of My Love. More appreciation for THE FIX IT FICS! More appreciation for the idea of Daenerys x Missandei x Greyworm as the show's three heads of the dragon. Got/Asoiaf: More appreciation for combining canons in fics, art, and other fan creations. More appreciation and understanding of gifmakers who take scenes from the show out of the show context to depict scenes from the books. Fire and Blood: The Sylvessie ship (Essie x Sylvenna Sand) Gaemoms forever. The conquerers as a TRUE threesome, with Visenya and Rhaenys in love with each other as well. (I would give anything if they portrayed it this way in the show adaptation.) HOTD: More appreciation for AEGON'S DREAM! I really love the exploration of the Targaryen Dreamers. Also more appreciation for Aemma Targaryen's birth scene. I can write more about this later but I loved the way they showed the horror that birth can be- especially when choice is taken away. Harlots: I hope people come to appreciate all of Harlots IN GENERAL. The whole thing. Watch Harlots, Love Harlots, Obsess about Harlots. Also, I would like more people to appreciation the ship Birchlace (Nancy Birch x Emily Lacey.) Seriously if you look at their interactions over the entirety of Harlots it makes SO. MUCH. SENSE. as subtext for a ship. I know it wasn't meant that way but. It is delicious. I really do still need to write this fic. Black Sails: More appreciation for Jack/Anne/Mark Read- and more appreciation of the transition of Charles Vane/Jack/Anne to Jack/Anne/Max to Jack/Mark/Anne.

17. The thing in canon that everyone loves and that you also love.

asoiaf: Theon's Godswood scene. The old gods, they know me. They know my name. Shoot that scene directly into my veins. Carve that monologue onto my gravestone. Harlots: "I loved your ma, you silly cunt." the line heard around the Harlots fandom said by the iconic Nancy fucking Birch! Black Sails: A STORY IS TRUE A STORY IS UNTRUE. And all the other amazing writing that makes my brain unravel. Madi's multitudes, Silver's speech about having no story. Flint's there is freedom in the dark once someone has illuminated it. I have CHILLS.

25. a piece of advice for taking care of yourself in fandom spaces

Concentrate on what YOU love and don't feel bad about it. I'm serious. I have problems with this as well and it's hard NOT to care about what people think because part of seeking out a fandom for something you love is finding community in your enjoyment of something. But believe me, you will find your niche of fellow fans if you just fearlessly enjoy what you enjoy. And personally, I wouldn't even give what you don't enjoy any time at all. And really try to cultivate not getting upset if other fans are enjoying a headcanon or ship you hate or a character in a way you disagree with. And cultivate putting more of what YOU enjoy out there instead. (This is all advice I give myself too everyday and I don't do this well so I'm not trying to be all wise about it. It is just what I am trying to do and when I succeed it really makes everything more enjoyable.)

[15-lizards]

ASOIAF blogs on here are so smart talking about never ending cycles of suffering and the masterful subversion of character arcs/tropes and the inherent horror of being in this hierarchal society no matter if you’re at the top or the bottom while I’m like what if Dolorous Edd was on antidepressants and Theon Greyjoy was a girl

[aboutdragons]

Hello, thank you for answering my questions. If you are open to sharing, do you have any tips to write an isekai in the Asoiaf universe and to write an interesting oc?

Hi, you're welcome!

As for tips... When you're looking for inspiration, it's good to reach for works of the genre that interests you. If you want to write isekai, go read some isekai (japanese mangas and korean manhwas are the best for this) and see which of the tropes you like, which you dislike, and which you think are most interesting to tackle. Then you pick the one you like best/think would suit the story you want to tell best/both, and roll with it.

Personally, I write isekai as pure escapism, so I heavily stray away from giving my MCs any possibility of returning to their original world, or having them have a good enough reason to try. Ability to physically cross between worlds could be interesting, but really isn't my cup of tea. I prefer leaving 21st century reality behind me in the burning dumpster where it rightfully belongs.

When it comes to ASOIAF specifically, the setting has its own magic and stuff, so you can take that (take an existing concept, make shit up, or go somewhere in-between like I have) to make the transition between worlds plausible and ta-dah! Valyrian Gods are a good go-to if you want to be fucking around with the Valyrians, but I think R'hllor and his whole rebirth shtick or even the Drowned God could be an interesting option. Opens a way for interesting worldbuilding & making the MC particularly attuned to the magical side of the world.

Or something Eldritch! Damn, I love eldritch fuckery so much, unspeakable cosmic horror and all.

Beware! Ramble ahead!

As for writing an interesting OC... Honestly, gonna sound super basic as everyone will probably say the same, but make them as close to a person as you can. Give them multiple personality traits, flaws and all - conflicting personality traits are fun, too. Give them quirks and ticks and interests and hangups and make them consistent, but also allow them to grow. We all live through character arcs, and your characters should too. Their views can be changed or reinforced, they can be forced to go against those views for the sake of themselves or others. They can (and should) hold grudges, even about the silliest things. Give them a pet or a hobby (or both), show us how they interact with those things, how they care, how they grieve, and how they seethe. Who are their friends, what kind of people do they gravitate towards, how do they interact with those people? How do those people view them? How close are they to the truth?

Does the character show a different them to the world than they truly are? Why? Why not? Do they exaggerate their traits? Why? Why not? What are their limitations, social and physical, and how do they get around them?

How do they influence others? Do they stay on the sidelines or make a menace of themselves, or something in-between? What motivates them? Are there lines they will never cross? If so, what are those, and why? Make them react realistically, based on the information they have and the things they feel. Make them face the consequences of their actions, the good, the bad, the entertaining!

It's also very important - essential - to decide where your character will end before you even begin. You as the writer need to have an end goal with them. Who they are at the start, and who they will become by the end, and that's where you need to gradually take them. Having the points in the middle down helps too.

Their journey is important, but so is their relationship with the world and others. Don't overdo it, but make the audience care. Put them in a situation and ask yourself, what would I most likely do here? Would they do the same, or would they do something different?

There's many facets to writing characters, but the baseline always is; make them human. A little fucked up, a little weird, trying their best. Or utter fucking menaces. Or both! Or something else!

Also give them demons. Give them issues! And then make them deal with them! I give a lot of my OCs depression because I suffer from it myself, and then I have them slowly work through it in lieu of therapy. It helps me, and it makes for a compelling internal struggle that many can identify with. Or imposter syndrome. Or mommy issues.

Explore themes with them, those that interest you, those that pertain to them.

Of course, adapt character traits accordingly to how you want the characters to be perceived, too. Don't give them too much of a trait of which perception you don't want; save being judgmental or hateful for the antagonists, don't overdo on chivalry, don't overdo on badassery. Let them fuck up. Let them fall down. Let them need help. Let them succeed too, of course. Few like misery porn, but fewer like the feeling of emptiness that comes from unearned victories.

And that goes without saying: don't make them right all the time, or successful all the time, or infallible. Kick their ass sometimes! It's for their own good, I promise!

But ultimately write the character that brings you joy. It's easier to write a compelling character when you, too, want to know what happens next, what kind of trouble they get into, how do they get out of it.

Most of all, have fun with it. If you do, others will, too.

[ladyimaginarium]

1. Favorite Anime? Naruto, GANGSTA., Black Lagoon, Michiko to Hatchin, Ergo Proxy, Death Note, No.6, Shingeki no Kyojin would've made this list if it was written by Jewish writers bc my& mixed native jewish ass is conflicted w/ this one, Deadman Wonderland, I& haven't finished Tokyo Ghoul yet but it's really good, I& didn't finish Kuroshitsuji either but i& rly vibed w/ the aesthetic, BNHA was... ehhhh, okay, didn't really vibe w/ the whole ableist trope of "disabled coded character magically gets new powers or becomes abled" so I& dropped it, I& know for a fact that the animated ASOIAF stuff coming up is gonna make me& reverse shit myself&. all i& know is that if the books were animated that would fix me&. 2. Your Worst Anime? Can't rly think of any tbh, I'm& picky, the closest I& could think of was the Boruto series. Mostly bc it basically destroyed any kind of development in Shippuden & shit just doesn't make sense & not to mention it slaughters Sasuke's character & just the entire female cast as a whole which im& not even gonna get into for the sake of my& own sanity. lmao 3. Do you read the Manga that go with the Anime you watch? Usually yeah but I like to keep these separate tbh. I read the manga only if I know that the anime won’t get a second season and I’m still interested in what happens next. Anyway, in short, I bother with the manga only if I really love the anime ie gangsta & naruto but I& can't watch or read long series anymore due to adhd & spoonie reasons lmao 4. Favorite Genres? action, supernatural, fantasy, science fiction, comedy, horror, psychological. 5. Least Favorite Genres? Harem mostly bc the dudes are so lame & basic lmao 6. Favorite Character? Erica ( GANGSTA. ), Beretta ( GANGSTA. ), the Benriya trio ( GANGSTA. ), basically the entire Second & Third Destroyers regiments ( GANGSTA. ), basically the entire Akatsuki ( Naruto ), basically any of the founders ( Naruto ), any of the jinchuriki & tailed beasts/bijuu ( my& plural ass vibed w/ them so hard & i& didnt even know i& was plural at the time lmao ), Michiko Malandro ( what do u think lmao ), Nezumi ( No.6 ), Uchiha Madara ( Naruto; he really is That Black Air Force Energy Icon ) Eren Jaeger (snk; LISTEN HE'S MY& INSYS BF IM& CHEATING OKAY ), Mihael Kheel / Mello ( Death Note; g-d he's so fucking iconic ), Misa Amane ( Death Note ), L Lawliet ( Death Note; aro autistic mf represent ) Marco Adriano ( GANGSTA. ), Rebecca Lee / Revy ( Black Lagoon; she could beat my& ass & i'd& thank her lmao ), Eda ( Black Lagoon; smth about a nun w/ a gun who dresses up like a bimbo at night but is actually a cia agent makes me& go WOOF WOOF BARK BARK ). others im& def forgetting lmao 7. Least Favorite Character? bitch idk 8. Qualities you like in a Character? Kindhearted, caring, badass, strong-willed, cheeky, has deadpan sense of humor. women who can beat my& ass. poor little meow meows. 9. Short or Long anime? Short these days. I& litcherally Cannot watch longer anime. naruto was my& first long anime & it'll likely be my& last lmao 10. Anime or Manga? I procrastinate both but I guess manga, mostly because I can read it without fearing that the plot will go to shit  11. How do you choose the anime you watch? If it has pretty art, if the aesthetic is pretty, if my& friends watch it 12. Skip or listen to Intros/Outros? I usually always listen. I& literally never skip Naruto, Black Lagoon or the GANGSTA. openings & EDs 13. How do you cope if your friends or family don’t like you watching anime? most ppl around me& like anime but if they don't i& dont give a fuck?? like. why the fuck should i& care what other ppl think lmfao 14. Do you stop an anime midway if you don’t like it? I& sometimes drop anime for no reason whatsoever. lmao It’s a waste of time if it doesn’t hold your attention, let alone if you don’t like it. it's somewhat what happened w/ bnha as explained above. i& just really dislike that trope as a disabled & neurodivergent system lmao 15. Who are you tagging to do this? @librastrai @dethqveen @abri-chan & whoever else wants to do this !!

[strangesmallbard]

okay here are the asoiaf ocs rotating in my mind. they’re all a little half-baked because i haven’t actually written any fic, but i love them:

daella “venya” targaryen

“alysanne waters”

tybalt hill

dara stark

daella “venya” targaryen:

au where baelon is a girl who survives with congenital heart issues, leading to chronic illness as she ages. rhaenyra pushed for her to be named visenya regardless, but otto was like “the realm is already super mad that she’s a weakling girl and may view naming her visenya as an insult” lmao as if the smallfolk care. regardless, rhaenyra tells daella her true name is visenya targaryen and she’s the blood of the dragon who will take what’s hers with fire and blood. you know how it goes with these guys.

eventually, everyone in the red keep calls her venya as a compromise, except viserys (who usually feels too guilty to refer to her at all) and otto (misogyny). venya is very close with rhaenyra during her childhood and doesn’t like to be parted with her under any circumstances. she knows she’s resented by everyone but rhaenyra and clings hard. venya herself is like. passionate and stalwart but also vain and petty and bitter; she wants and wants and wants. *stores all the disability-related bitterness in the asoiaf oc* rhaenyra is initially very indulgent but like. eventually she has her own children and needs to start prioritizing her ascension, and venya never really forgives her.

on the outside, however, venya maintains a veneer of gentleness and grace. she learns the harp, she reads scriptures, she daydreams about running her own household, knowing that she might not live long enough to marry, even if anyone would marry her. (which is proving hard but like. she probably would get married to secure an alliance.)

anyway, venya defiantly stays at the red keep when rhaenyra moves to dragonstone. but now she’s just alone most of the time—except for queen alicent, who visits out of guilt or her own loneliness for rhaenyra. (once upon a time, alicent told rhaenyra that venya would never be alone as long as they’re both with her,) but venya resents how weak alicent seems to her. she’s really visenyaism distilled. as the stress in the red keep mounts, her symptoms worsen, and eventually she dies very suddenly during a heart attack.

in his final act of faildadding and with the last of his energy, viserys uses some valyrian blood magic to uhhhhh sacrifice his life and raise venya from the dead! it works a little too well and with many consequences. venya is back with a lot more energy than before, but she still has the same heart condition—only now she like. can’t really die? like she can, but not from her condition. we don’t know much about valyrian blood magic so i’m making this up as i go along.

venya is uhhhhhhhhhh okay. well. what if you combined aemond, maegor, and visenya into one person? Princess Daella the Terror of the Realm is here babey! and she wants revenge! on everyone, including herself for her perceived weakness! she steals a dragon and attempts to steal the crown for herself. she could be a good queen—she certainly has studied the part more than rhaenyra or aegon! but the visenyaism cursed babey. this entire oc is also just an examination of westeros’ ableism and misogyny + an interrogation of the "disabled people get magically cured" trope.

alysanne waters:

actually jaehaera targaryen after rhaena scoops her out of the red keep and fakes her death, but she counts as an oc. alysanne has a fairly peaceful life, all things considering. she’s never quite free of the horrors, but absolutely no one is pressuring her to be anyone at all, so she’s kind of free to be whoever she wants within westeros’ extremely limited imagination for women. she serves as a companion for rhaena’s trueborn daughter, embroiders, and explores the ancient stone underneath the hightower. normal behavior. i think she gets into magical history after rhaena’s daughters leave the hightower to get married, but no one’s too worried. that’s kind of normal for hightowers anyway.

alysanne also compartmentalizes her two lives—she thinks of jaehaera as an entirely separate person who’s body she used to inhabit, basically. is this healthy? probably not! but westeros has the opposite of therapy, so she DIYs her own coping mechanisms. she doesn’t resent princess jaehaera at all, however; she feels this almost sisterly protectiveness over her memory. in a hypothetical fic, king aegon iii visits the hightower and she undergoes an identity crisis/exploration moment.

tybalt hill:

actually the youngest son of ned/cat and twin brother of dara in my “cat is pregnant during the war of the five kings and exchanges herself for sansa au.” he never has any other name besides tybalt hill. to cover cersei’s political blunder, tywin only announced the birth of dara, killed the midwife who delivered the twins, and shipped baby boy stark to casterly rock to masquerade as kevan’s bastard. (this, of course, ruined any happiness in kevan’s marriage, but anything for the lannister family.)

tybalt has red hair and grey eyes, meaning he stands out at casterly rock in the worst way and loathes his appearance. he might have been a sweet kid, if a bit conceited, in other circumstances, but now his capacity for loyalty is 100% directed toward the lannisters. he's raised a bit like jon, but a thousand percent worse in every way. he’ll prove he’s a lion whatever the cost. oh no!

dara stark/"alayne stone":

short for eddara; the youngest daughter of ned/cat and twin to tybalt hill in the same au. dara got to stay with cat in the red keep, but has no memories of living there. at 14 months, littlefinger spirited her and cat away; dara became alayne stone and catelyn her mute septa. oh no! (catelyn is mute because she cuts her own throat to prevent the lannisters from punishing dara or sansa, now imprisoned at the twins, when joff is poisoned. she doesn’t die, but her voice box is fucked up now. i enjoy making canon divergent aus parallel the og story when possible.)

like her twin brother, dara has red hair and grey eyes. unlike her brother, she has a mostly carefree childhood. she’s a lot like both her sisters: high-spirited and friendly, with a huge rebellious streak and a love for fine dresses. catelyn shelters her as much as possible and is very, very strict with her. she wants dara to survive any world where she could end up alone. dara suspects catelyn is her mother, but never asks—they’re a bit like elphaba and liir from the wicked books.

petyr loves pretending dara/alayne is his own daughter lmao. it’s still creepy, but not as creepy as petyr was with sansa; this time cat is still alive, if “damaged” in petyr’s self-centered, misogynistic pov and dara looks enough like ned that petyr can’t project his obsession in the same way, although he still yearns (ew) for that idealized version of young catelyn. he’s also possessive of his fake dad role + rebukes any ideas from catelyn to have dara eventually marry a northern lord so she can take back winterfell.

this au basically becomes a fucked up parent trap because tybalt ends up visiting the vale with kevan at some point on a red keep venture. petyr kept dara and cat pretty well-hidden so dara and tybalt have a real spider-man pointing.png moment in the godswood.

[stagbled]

#STAGBLED     :         the    BLACK HERETIC,        general kirigan,        the    starless saint.     make me your villain.   an    independent,        private,     head-canon   based,   low   activity     &      mutuals        only      ❛❛     ALEKSANDER MOROZOVA, AKA THE DARKLING       ❜❜    of    shadow & bone:        a    study    in    dark versus light,        loneliness,    power & the temptation in the dark,  martyr & sacrifice,        redemption,      koschei the deathless,        and    the byronic hero.    18+    and triggering themes.      affiliated with stagflood.     dissected   by   syl.  BLOG IS A WIP. CARRD COMING SOON. INTEREST TRACKER.

other requestable muses include: will graham from nbc's hannibal, bunny corcoran from the secret history, glenn rhee from twd & more below.

rules (carrd tba) 01. just don't be a dick. if you don't like the nuance of a villain that showcases both morally grey actions plus the exploration of humanity within that, then don't follow! this goes without saying but muse does not equate mun. the darkling is a villain and all his relationships will be affected by that. his beliefs and trauma do not justify his actions - he is interesting because he thinks they do.

02. low activity. mutuals only. plot-heavy. duplicate friendly. multi and oc friendly as well. canon-divergent.

03. i will explore the ship darklina - including all the abusive and toxic elements that shroud it. it's important to the darkling and an interesting relationship to explore, as alina is his foil and obsession. i do not expect anyone to reciprocate shipping or desire it - just that i am simply open to exploration of a complicated relationship, wherever it may go. otherwise, chemistry is the must for anything. will tag '/darklina' and '/nsfw' in any posts that contain it. i am open to shipping with other charactres/ocs/the like as long as there is something there worth exploring.

04. that being said: dark topics will be explored. i do not support the idea of censorship of any form of art. however, i do ask that you tag anything that has to do heavily with grooming/csa/domestic abuse. if something i write needs a tag, just hop in my ims. i'm pretty easy to talk to and willing to accommodate those that ask.

05. still getting through the books so please be patient with me! that being said, alot of what i write will be headcanon, canon-divergent, and influenced by personal interpretation. some influences that will incorporate will be general gothic tropes of the byronic hero and being enticed by the dark. the tale of koschei the deathless may also be present and a reoccurring motif.

06. i reject the ending given to aleksander. while i am fine with his death (though, consider that null here) i do not follow the events of him being resurrected at all unless redeveloped via plotting. i will instead be following a canon-divergent path to be fleshed out soon. though the general idea is that aleksander lives and chooses to do so, facing his loneliness, wherever that leads him.

mun: hi, i'm syl! i'm a twenty-six year old literature and classics (greek focus) major. i adore tragedies, gothic horror and fantasy. i collect moth taxidermy and i love morbid things.

this is a tentative list of muses that will also make occasional appearance on this blog. feel free to request any of them: allison argent from teen wolf. adrian ivashkov from vampire academy. *bunny corcoran from the secret history. daemon targaryen from house of dragon/asoiaf. dorian gray from the picture of dorian gray. *glenn rhee from the walking dead. hannibal lecter from nbc's hannibal. jem carstairs from the infernal devices. love quinn from you. *maggie greene from the walking dead. patroclus from mythology + a song of achilles. *theon greyjoy from game of thrones. *will graham from nbc's hannibal. * = high muse. verses to come for aleksander: tlou, modern, canon divergences, twd, asoiaf, shadowhunters, vampire.

[fedonciadale]

Beyond set-up for the red wedding and for foreshadowing Manderly’s actions before Jeyne’s wedding to Ramsey, where is the story of the Rat Cook going? Like it’s in Bran’s POV, so shouldn’t it ultimately tie-in to his story? Or is it going to be more something that affects him as he looks through the weir woods (like with Stannis and Rose)? Sorry if this is something that you’re not interested in, but I enjoy your metas and thought that you might have some insight.

(From the same anon with the ask about Bran and “Rat Cook”) - I feel like it’s in the same vein as the other fairy tale references so he is going to somehow bring it to a close or deconstruct/reconstruct it… like invert the story (or is that already Craster?) or show that Old Nan’s stories are all true to some degree…? I just feel like he’s building to something larger. Do you think the fairy/horror stories will be wrapped up together or separate?

Hi there!

I always have the feeling that we can't be satisfied with an interpretation of GRRM unless we decipher it at least three times - Just joking. And tales might be introduced in one PoV but might be relevant to other PoVs and the PoV they were introduced in.

Anyway, the in-world fairy tales and legends are quite interesting and involve huge foreshadowing - as well as the allusions to fairy tales from our world. I just mention the fairy tale of the pig boy, Bearskin, Allerleirauh from Grimm that have parallels to Jonsa and play an important part.

In world the stories of Florian and Jonquil and Aemon and Naerys are huge give aways for Jonsa.

I think the darker tales like the legend of the Night King, the last Hero, the Rat Cook etc. foreshadow important events that are related to the major opponents of the Starks, i.e. Fire (Dany), Ice (the Others) and to a certain degree the Lannisters.

Now Rat Cook was indeed used twice: Red Wedding (the betrayal of guest right) and the Ramsay - Jeyne marriage (the Frey pie). Of course it is twisted, because the Rat Cook is Walder Frey who executes his right for revenge by violating guest right and gets punished for it (although he doesn't know that yet), and the Rat Cook is Lord Manderly who serves pie made from Freys and lets the Freys eat them. There are theories around that the story will come to play a part in Bran's arc. It has been theorized that the paste Bran ate in his last chapter is 'Jojen paste'. That his friend literally gave his life so that Bran can 'ascend' to his magic. This would be the third time the Rat Cook gets a nod. I think this is disgusting but still might be something GRRM would do. I think Bran still has a bit of a dark path in front of him before the disentangles himself from Bloodraven and realizes that he has been played. He will then flee the cave and that is probably the moment when the 'Hold the door' moment happens.

This sort of ties in into an idea we talked about recently when we discussed Bran's arc and his possible election as king in the end: That to become a king that is not creepily omniscient Bran would have to give up at least part of his magic. If he acquired magic via human sacrifice (even if he did not know about it) this would certainly be an incentive to give it up.

I think in the end it will be about responsibility. How to make good what was ill done. How to find a balance again. That to save the world Bran might have to let go of his dream of flying. Old Nan said that the Night King of legends (who is not the same person as on the show) was a Stark. The Last hero who contacts the Children of the Forest and his lone journey to them gives off Bran vibes. So Bran might end up losing all his friends like the Last hero of legend. And he might end up giving up his magic.

I don't know if this is what you mean, when you talk about the stories wrapping up. I think that the 'romantic' tales will wrap up/come together with Jonsa, while the 'horror' tales give us a hint at what will happen with Bran. By the end Jon and Sansa will have re-enacted the romantic tales of their world, of the Grimm fairy tales and of famous other fantasy couples (like Beren and Luthien from Tolkien) as well as some couples from literature as well, because GRRM is just that extra with Jonsa.

Bran will have re-enacted some tropes of the 'horror' legends of his world, but also some of fantasy tropes like 'hidden heir', 'responsible magic users' and others. This is how it will tie up I think.

Thanks for the ask(s).

[perfervvidus]

in  the  time  of  dragons , AEREA  TARGARYEN  is  entering  the  game  of  thrones  .  said  to  be  endearing  +  perceptive  ,  we  can  only  hope  that  is  the  case  as  regrettably  they  are  also  well  known  to  be  self - willed  +  uncommitted  .  when  asked  about  them  ,  people  are  always  reminded  of  dark  amethyst  droplets  around  a  lithe  neck,  reflecting  the  spark  of  her  own  purple  gaze  / always  over  stretching  your  hand,  careless  of  burn  or  scratch  / the  light  step  of  a  dragon  wary  of  shackles,  ready  to  take  flight .  though  they  are  the  PRINCESS  OF  WESTEROS  ,  their  true  loyalties  lie  with  house  targaryen  and  rumour  has  it  that  if  given  the  choice  they  are  indecisive  over  whom  would  support  house  targaryen  .  those  of  us  in  the  shadows  wish  them  luck  and  can  only  hope  they  will  survive  what  is  to  come. 

— STATISTICS

full name :  aerea targaryen. alias / nickname : rea. age & date of birth : four and twenty; the 14th day of the last moon of the year of 391 a.c. place of birth :  the red keep, king’s landing, the crownlands. gender and pronouns : ciswoman and she / her. orientation : bisexual, demiromantic. title / occupation : princess of westeros; briefly a lady of lys. father : lucerys targaryen. mother : visenya celtigar ( d. 416 ). siblings : daemon, aegon, vasila, rhaegar ( all older ). relationship status : widowed. significant other :

matteno haen ( w. 413 a.c - w. the second day of the year of 415 a.c ); 

aster tyrell ( c. 411 - 413 a.c. / c. early 416 a.c )

dragon : 

elaena is cream - gold coat, with rose gold scales and black eyes. her egg was golden freckled, thus she was named after baelor the blessed’s babiest sister; aerea and her brother, rhaegar shared a crib with both their eggs, and they hatched around the same time, on the royals’ infancy, making the dragons around 20 years old. despite being not of rideable size ( for anyone over the age of five ), she is robust ( aerea feeds her way too much ), and rather affectionate ( accepts physical affection from humans and at times nibbles and nuzzles back ), but not particularly even tempered, prone to biting and burning strangers or anyone when she’s in one of her moods ( aerea’s siblings have teased that the she - dragon is the princess in dragon form, of which she is very proud of ); she doesn’t like being trapped, and has been accostumed by aerea to roam “freely” as long as she is accompanied, by either human or dragon. 

[ tw : war, murder, war crimes. ] as of the destruction of the red keep, elaena has developed a taste for larger preys ( especially humans, though aerea attempts on grounding her often for it ), and has gained a ferocity that was in part increased by her participation on the destruction of the arryns ( aerea was not present, but the she - dragon tagged along her dragon siblings and rhaegar. )

religion : the faith of the seven, though she is not particularly religious. languages : the common tongue, high valyrian, bastard valyrian ( lyseni, bravoosi ).

faceclaim :  hannah dodd. height  : 171 cm / 5' 7.5". hair : platinum, with golden undertones. a bit of a mane that frames her face, but falls in rings to her mid back & is usually wore loose. eye : dark purple, almost black, like an obsidian.

positive : attentive, enthraling, passionate, venturesome, doting. negative : spoiled, manipulative, self - serving, ill - tempered, headstrong. zodiac : sagittarius sun, gemini moon, gemini rising ( full chart ). character alignment : true neutral, bordeline neutral evil. tv tropes : annoying younger sibling, deadpan snarker, hidden depths, at least i admit it, brilliant but lazy, the charmer, conditioned to accept horror, it’s all about me, obfuscating stupidity, daddy’s girl, royal brat. inspirations : mary tudor, queen of france, kathryn howard and young elizabeth tudor ( history ), shaera, saera and daena targaryen ( asoiaf ), claude ( reign ), bianca stradford ( 10 things i hate about you ), roman roy ( succession ).

— BACKGROUND

tw : childbirth, infertility, death.

an attention seeker through and through — it is what would be said of aerea for years to come, even as her mother pushed her out into this world. she was born early, a moon or so, during the end of the year’s festivities, and instead of lively music, the red keep’s habitants had to contend with hearing the queen’s screams, until aerea’s joined her. though premature, she was sturdy and loud, and despite her plead for attention, the eyes and hands were on the queen, who bled heavily. it was managed and the matriarch would come out of confinement within the estimated time, but aerea would be the last babe visenya would be able to conceive — a blessing in disguise it is said, for the king and queen were fed up of one another, and were more than glad to see an end to their duty to the marriage bed.

with two growing twin boys, a little princess and another baby boy still in his swaddles, aerea is almost inconsequential to the dynasty and, for a while, treated as such. she has a hard time accepting it though, so she does whatever she can to get attention, from biting her nursemaids to throwing tantrums to breaking things. she’d only ever quieten under the guidance of one of her relatives, preferably father, at whose lap she’d turn pliant, playing with his rings and being gently jostled by his knees whenever he had the patience to keep her at his council chambers. at this point, she learns that by being sweet, she gets to retain more attention time, and so she begins speaking honeyed when she wants things, or to get out of things; she also lends her own attention to father, and indulges him with compliments and sweet kisses that her elder siblings have grown out of, by then. it is a dulcet beginning that would settle the base for her relationship with her father and sovereign — if he was horrible to others ( including to daemon and aegon at times, and to mother ), he wasn’t to her, and that mattered; she learned how to overlook his flaws, as long as he kept her pleased and spoiled rotten, which, for most part, he did ( and even when he didn’t, for a long time, aerea learned how to convince herself otherwise ).

if father is disarmed from his characteristic nastiness by her dazzling smiles, well - rehearsed cries or prompt pouts, she becomes almost everyone else’s terror child. with freedom granted by order of birth and indulgence by her elders, it seems there is little she can’t get away with, and she thoroughly takes advantage of that, whimful going through interests and people; she enjoys following her older siblings, drinking on their pastimes, and so she picks a little from each of them. daemon gives her first drink of unwatered wine, aegon lets her touch and tend to rhaellara, she shares all of saerya’s tutors and tries to emulate her grace, and rhaegar is her most constant companion ( also the one she allows beating her up with wooden swords when he is learning his arms and the twins doesn’t want to train with him ).

she is an avid learner, even if it doesn’t appear so at first sight, with her tantrums and low running patience but she is underhanded at it, listening and seeing and swallowing it, acting almost as if it isn’t there. it is a good trait for women, mistress dayne tells her, and aerea learns that while she enjoys attention, however it may come, if by scolding or otherwise, she rather likes praise too, and at times it is worthy to work for it. for most part, however, she much prefers to keep up the silly girl front, enjoying glittering things and rare treats and every other fanciful thing a most wealthy noblewoman is afforded.

at the age of one and twenty, some moons away from her name day, she receives a proposition — she would not call it anything but that, even if lucerys means less of an option and more of an imposition — from across the sea. lys, much as all of the free cities had always proved themselves enticing to her, and if she had been able to travel across westeros, essos was too far away. so the prospect of that is a calling, yet for a fortnight she remains opposed to a match so far away from everything that she’s known, from her family. in a stroke of patience — aerea would consider it fatherly affection — lucerys calls on her and announces that if the match was to receive an unfortunate ending ( may the gods not allow it so, and lucerys is certain it would not, as her husband - to - be was a strapping young lordling in his prime ), he’d allow her to do as she wished. the promise coming from someone she foolishly held in such esteem is enough for her to acquiesce to the match.

if she enjoys lys, she can not say the same for her husband. perhaps it is because her heart yearns for someone else, but although as she, for once, does her duty as she must, it is clear that aerea is more focused on other things than making it a joyous marriage. with her trousseau, she had brought a dragon egg of her own, that she had much longed to have hatched since she was a teenager, and, uninterested on actual children, she takes care of it instead. if her womb remains still for the year and something she remains married, the egg begins to quick and hatch around her three and twenty nameday. so entranced by her she - dragon, she pays even less attention to her husband, though she knows to feign big droplets of tears when the news is broken to her.

there is change in the red keep — or in her — when she returns home. not only has laena perished in a manner that few speak of, there seems to be a rush of something else she can not quite name. though she keeps her ears attentive to it all, she does not quite partake in much of the scheming — if she speaks fondly of house rogare, in - laws to her husband’s family back in lys, she is just talking for the sake of it, and she isn’t certain father pays any mind to it — instead keeping to her mourning and biding her time, much of it is spent falling back to her old routine of attending to her family and her whimful nature.

— TIDBITS

very energetic, she enjoys keeping herself moving and considers herself one of the most competent guides of king’s landing and the crownlands — is it true? i don’t know but don’t tell her otherwise. 

she’s a poor singer but good enough with the flute. she enjoys music and theather and dance and all things merry.

besides exploring, gambling, dancing, riding, hunting, sailing and all sorts of things that require movement, she very much enjoys animals. besides spending time on the stables, has likely picked up strays and snuck them in the palace for years, and has only stopped doing so for the sake of the younger dragons, rhaegor, daenys and elaena, as she enjoys having them around and they can be even more of a menace than she is. she has always liked them — even the bigger ones, even when she begrudgingly kept away for her own safety — and to have one of her own has been a dream come true, and oftentimes she cares for elaena ( and daenys, when she allows her ) herself, feeding her from the hand, bringing her around perched on the princess and then following her around, with the occasional cough leaving the hems of her gowns and some people’s shoes scorched.

aerea favors shades of reds and purples: so her outfit usually goes from pinks to reds and maroons to purples and violets to black; she often sneaks in some white gowns as well, though they are all beautifully embroidered ( not by her ). for the past year, she has kept to black, for cerimonial’s sake only, but for the past moon, she has resumed colors and finds the lyseni bolder fashion rather appealing.

frankly, doesn’t like the word no or denial in general. as a child, this would cause her to explode in shrieking tantrums until she was indulged on, but as an adult, she’s learned to keep her temper barely contained, simmering under surface — it’s probably one of the reasons she’s not very attached to some of her material belongings, because she has a habit of taking it out on them, screaming and breaking and destroying things when she’s alone.

her love language is something between physical affection and gifts, and those she loves or seeks to endear herself to are often constant recipients of that. i pity the person in charge of her finances ( definitely not her ) because she’s always getting random lil treats to show affection — that when she’s not smacking her siblings’ arms or kissing their cheeks or holding hands with her ladies.

she’s learned how to fight with her brothers, but she holds no love for arms nor martial arts. she is a good shot, however, and often uses the crossbow for hunting though she just likes to throw things, really.

some of the most seasoned nursemaids used to joke that the targaryen couple started out with a horrible child, and ended it with another horrible child, and that is becoming of how aerea and daemon get along — between the twins, they are most alike than her and aegon, and while she may favor daemon ( and with her own history of a foreign, valyrian matrimony ), she is yet to choose a side. likewise, she is very fond of her sister - in - law daella, with the summerhall babies as the most lovely ones in the seven kingdoms ( and the only ones she enjoys ), so it only adds to the splitting mindset. ultimately, she knows she will choose whoever favors her and her whims the most, so she is keeping them both on her good side for now, hoping to reap the results later on.

— WANTED CONNECTIONS

people she’s met on essos : she spent a year and sumething around lys, and has also been to braavos ( or...wherevers closer. awoiaf i’m coming for you soon ) 

king’s landing regulars and non - regulars : she’s lived there her whole life so she knows enough people and places, and for those who don’t know, she’s more than happy to introduce them and hope they’ll fall in love with the city as much as she has.

friends, enemies, ex - lovers, allies, people interested or scared of her pink dragon, anything goes!