#I know it’s not the same people but after the Dorne plot line….

[helaenas-bug-art]

Erasing Nettles AND Morning, my pink dragon?? I’m gagged

they would not do this *delusional*

[rynnthefangirl]

You've given me a sermon and I still think the same thing, you have no idea how a succession to the throne works, and again the responsibility for all the evils falls on Aegon and Viserys, and I will never see them as ornaments or call them usurpers, as you have done, for asking for their own.

It's not a question of me caring who Rhaenyra sleeps with or if she's married or not, but this is not the 21st century in its CONTEXT those children have no right to a throne, and it seems a little naive to me that you believe that Corlys, putting up with the horns the size of a castle that his son wore, would not assume/demand that Jace reign with the surname Velaryon.

The intentions of sending your brothers away when Joffrey and Rhaena are perfectly safe in the Vale I will always question, sorry, at best it's just stupidity, which is more than enough reason for me to believe that he would make a terrible king, even if he didn't have to be one in the first place.

Your image of Aegon and Viserys as two dead plants does not coincide with mine 🤷🏼‍♀️ and I still think the same. The responsibility of not starting a war of succession does not fall on them, but on their half-brothers, who are not required to maintain stability and think of others. Besides Aegon and Viserys being right with their claim would be guaranteeing a well-being that Jace could not, they were also intelligent and capable, they would not have such stupid ideas as giving dragons to strangers.

For your information, Aegon and Viserys are my favorite characters, ahead of their parents, and part of the reason why I support Daemyra is because of the birth of these boys who are the best thing that happened to the dynasty after years of shit. Again, the colloquium about monarchies and how bad they are was not necessary, contextualize! We are talking about a hypothetical scenario that takes place in a medieval fantasy, not our current reality, where I am not interested in what you think and you should not be interested in what I think.

Also you assume that a tremendous war would break out, and you give Aegon and Viserys the position of Aegon II in the dance.... are you serious? Particular way of liking their characters, Aegon II opposed a legitimate heir, Aegon and Viserys would oppose an illegitimate son of their mother who would not have to be in the line of succession, besides it is possible that they did not want to advocate for a war from the beginning and that they will try a peaceful approach, if Jace does not decide to step aside (knowing that he has no right to be in the line of succession, these are the rules of the game and they know it, Rhaenyra too, that's why they want to hide the sun with a finger and they do not advocate for the rights of bastards to inherit or be legitimized with their mother's surname, but they remain silent for two reasons, out of shame, because they are still people of their time, and because no one would accept a public admission that they are going to be ruled by a bastard, in addition to the fact that it would be treason) it is his responsibility, it is not comparable to the case of Rhaenyra and Aegon II, and yes dear, welcome to Westeros, it is a sexist society since you have told me something about passing the Targaryen through the maternal line counts less and blah blah blah, well yes, unfortunately that is how it is, the plot of Dorne, as you can understand...has so little to do with the rest of Westeros that I'm going to pretend I haven't read it. If a dance had not happened I see that for you Aegon and Viserys would be a random fourth and fifth son, and not the legitimate heirs to the iron throne, I suppose that those fourth and fifth sons also deal with the humiliation of an illegitimate son of your mother being ahead of you at the time of inheriting the crown.

I see them as resilient men, with determination, who think about the people but also about the good of their house, they literally tried to bring back the dragons because they knew how important they were for the Targaryen house despite their bad experiences with them, they were fair, they had a good heart but they knew how to be tough when required. To me, zero proactive characters don't seem interesting and in your eyes it's what they are, I almost have to be thankful that the dance happened, otherwise my favorite characters would have been lost in the annals of history as a random fourth and fifth son while Jace "Velaryon" keeps what belongs to them.

It is useless to make you understand the point, we simply have very different views of the matter, I blame those who keep what does not belong to them, you blame those who ask for theirs, and you like them for very different reasons than I do. We have reached the same old speech of calling me a racist in a hidden way for liking the distinctive features of the Targaryens (I do not deny it) the silver hair and the purple eyes because they give them a supernatural look that I love, but that wasn't the point, at this moment I already know that it is talking to a wall 🤷🏼‍♀️

And yes, legitimacy matters, thank you Daemon for marrying Rhaenyra and thus ensuring that your children had a safe existence in a medieval society where being a bastard is highly punished and stigmatized, with that alone you did more than the parents of the "Velaryon princes" for their success in life and so that they did not depend on the charity and silence of others, and yes, well, if it makes me a toxic Daemyra stan to prefer that they be together from the beginning, that Rhaenyra have legitimate children from the beginning that she doesn't have to lie about and that she is in a marriage that she wanted and in which she would be happy, I'm sorry (I say this for the other anon you received who can't stand the 4 fans of Aegon and Viserys who defend their place, but well, it's just that we can't stand that a brown-haired child is ahead of a silver-haired one, reductionism at its finest)

Goodbye, I have seen that we have irreconcilable positions.

You've given me a sermon and I still think the same thing

And you have replied with an even longer sermon, and I still think then same thing.

Your image of Aegon and Viserys as two dead plants does not coincide with mine 🤷🏼‍♀️

So not having ambition for the throne that they would risk starting a civil war for = dead plants?

Also you assume that a tremendous war would break out, and you give Aegon and Viserys the position of Aegon II in the dance.... are you serious?

Yeah, because every time anyone has usurped the throne, it has caused war. So in an imaginary scenario where Aegon were to crown himself after Rhaenyra's death, that at the very least risks warfare breaking out. If not between him and Jace, then their children...

And yes, the person who crowns themself against the will of the previous monarch would be doing what the Greens did. I'm not comparing them to Aegon II though because Aegon and Viserys never did such a thing.

Besides it is possible that they did not want to advocate for a war from the beginning and that they will try a peaceful approach.

I would have zero issue whatsoever if they tried a peaceful approach. The hypothetical I am disagreeing against is a violent grab for power, which I would not support no matter how "rightful" they are.

Yes dear, welcome to Westeros, it is a sexist society since you have told me something about passing the Targaryen through the maternal line counts less and blah blah blah, well yes, unfortunately that is how it is

A- you don't have to be condescending. Don't call me "dear". And honestly, it is amazing to me that you are TB. Because everything you think it just re-packaged Team Green rhetoric. Including the idea that sexism isn't something we should support changing in Westerso because that's just "how it is".

The plot of Dorne, as you can understand...has so little to do with the rest of Westeros that I'm going to pretend I haven't read it.

You mean pointing out that there is already an example of how names will pass down the female line that the Iron Throne knows of and could emulate?

And not the legitimate heirs to the iron throne, I suppose that those fourth and fifth sons also deal with the humiliation of an illegitimate son of your mother being ahead of you at the time of inheriting the crown.

See the thing is, for people that love their family more than they love the concept of blood purity and legitimacy, then it isn't actually a humiliation for your older brother to ascend the throne.

To me, zero proactive characters don't seem interesting and in your eyes it's what they are.

There are other ways to be proactive other than just caring about the throne. The throne is not everything in life, it is not the all important thing that you are an empty meaningless character if you don't pursue it at all costs.

We have reached the same old speech of calling me a racist in a hidden way for liking the distinctive features of the Targaryens (I do not deny it)

It's calling you racist to point out that blood purity appears to be an important factor for you? Is it not an important factor? Did I misunderstand?

Goodbye, I have seen that we have irreconcilable positions.

Yes, goodbye and good riddance! Though I do highly recommend you check out Team Green! They have such wonderful ideas as:

-Aegon II is justified in usurping the throne because it is his birthright and the chosen heir of the previous ruler means nothing

-Male primogeniture and sexism is just how things are in Westeros, so that means 21st century viewers don't need to be at all against it

-Having bastards is the worst thing ever and bastards are inferior and we should 100% use that against them

I think you might find some stuff you like there!

[damn-stark]

Part 8 The never changing fate & The friends who never say goodbye

Chapter 8 of The Lion and The Dragon

A/N- I’m sorry to say but after this chapter I will put this story on hiatus since it follows the show plot line :( but there is small inquiring at the end so read the story and find out :)

Warning- Violence, blood, talks of baby stuff & death, fluff, Aegon, forced marriage, swearing, ANGST

Pairing- Aemond Targaryen x fem!Lannister reader

Episode- 1x09 & 1x10

(Let me know if you want to be tagged)

————

The early breeze was bitter, but soft as it traveled through the windows creaks. There was darkness as the last candle light was blown off, leaving hints of smoke in the air. There was an unshakable solemn silence, but that was quickly broken by the cry of the baby.

You slowly open your eyes to begin trying to get up and walk to the crying babe, but before you can even push yourself off the bed, Aemond gets up first to reach her. And it seems that at the mere sight of him Visenya goes quiet, Aemond proceeds to mumble something in Valyrian before he returns to the bed to lay the baby in between him and you.

When he lays back down you meet his gaze through the darkness and offer him a small smile before he cradles your cheek and leans over to press a kiss on your forehead. He then stays there close by you, close to Visenya, and keeps you both in his arms. You close your eyes as you’re in the comfort of his embrace to try and go back to sleep, but a knock then raps on the door.

When Aemond walks over to open the door for the early morning visitor, you hear a soft yet panicked voice. “Lady Y/N is needed for an urgent council meeting by her Majesty the Queen.”

The sun is not even out yet, what could have happened that it could not wait?

Regardless, you go, no matter how early it is, and it seems all the other Lords share the same confusion when they enter the meeting room.

“You my dear niece,” your uncle Tyland says as you both walk towards the table with the other Lords. “Do you happen to know the matter for this early meeting?”

You shake your head. “No,” you answer truthfully and notice Alicent already at her seat at the end of the table; her hair is down, and theirs this look in her eyes, a sad one that makes you feel pit in your stomach.

“Good morning,” you greet her softly once you reach her side.

Alicent looks up at you and tries to offer you the best faint smile she can muster. “Good morning, y/n. I am sorry for pulling you from your bed so early.”

You scoff softly and shake your head. “Do not worry, Visenya had just woken us up.”

“Well,” she sighs. “I am happy you could make it.”

You offer her a soft smile before grabbing the orbs and giving them to each Lord that takes his seat.

“What is it that could have not waited an hour?” Your uncle asks the council. “Was Dorne invaded?”

A silence follows briefly before it is broken by the Lord Hand. “The King is dead.”

You go rigid and feel your breath catch in your throat. That’s why Alicent had such a glum look, why this meeting was called so early.

It was inevitable, the King’s death, but it doesn’t mean it’s still not sad. Mostly because Aemond just lost his father. Sure he might have not been so great to Aemond, but the King was his father nonetheless, and he was the King.

Now….

Now everything is going to change.

“We grieve for Viserys the Peaceful,” the Hand continues to say. “Our sovereign…our friend…”

You drop your head and swallow thickly.

“…But he has left us a gift. With his last breath, he impressed upon the Queen his final wish: that his son Aegon…should succeed him as Lord of the Seven Kingdoms.”

You slowly lift your head as you feel slight disbelief over this news.

It's like Aemond said, it was always the plan to make Aegon King over his sister, but one thing you knew, one thing a lot of people knew but chose to ignore is how much the King loved his first born daughter. He never changed the heir because of that same love, so why would he say that now? On his dying breath?

Did he really have some change of heart before the gods took him?

“Then we may proceed now with the full assurance of his blessing on our long laid plans,” your uncle interjects in the silence.

“Yes,” the Lord Hand answers and moves from his spot beside Alicent to walk to his seat. “There is much to be done as we've previously discussed. Now, there are two among the captains of the City Watch that remain loyal to Daemon, let us remove them. Lord Lannister.”

“The treasury is well in hand,” he answers, causing you to slightly squint your eyes in confusion since this is nothing you have heard discussed before—“the gold will be divided for safekeeping.”

“Let ravens be sent to our allies, Riverrun and Highgarden,” the Lord Hand adds.

“Am I to understand that members of the small council have been planning secretly to install my son without me?” Alicent finally asks as her own confusion and disbelief passes.

Lord Wylde at her side sighs and answers for her father. “My Queen, there was no need to sully you with darkling schemes.”

You scoff under your breath in defense for Alicent.

No need to sully her? If it’s her who has also wanted her son to be King? How pathetic of them. All of them.

“I will not have this,” Lord Beesbury interjects. “To hear that you are planning to replace the King’s chosen heir. With an imposter?”

“His firstborn son is hardly an imposter,” your uncle chimes in.

“Hundreds of Lords and landed Knights swore fealty to the Princess,” Lord Beesbury continues. As if that was going to change anyone’s mind.

“That was some twenty years ago,” your uncle argues. “Most of them now dead.”

He is right, but you also understand the old Lord's argument. Mayhaps if you had not been married to Aemond, you would have supported Princess Rhaenrya—it’s just to have a Woman on the throne? That would have been an actual dream come true, but alas you are faithful to your husband, to your new family, and to your old one, so you support them. Always.

“You heard the Lord Hand,” Lord Wylde adds. “Plot or no, the King changed his mind.”

At the sound of the comment Lord Beesbury stands up from his chair to make himself heard. “I am six-and-seventy years old, I have known Viserys longer than any of you who sit at this table. And I will not believe that he said this on his deathbed, alone, with only the-the boys mother as a witness.”

You scoff and step towards the table to narrow your gaze on the old man and then interject. “Lord Beesbury, are you calling your Queen a liar?”

Eyes snap to you, but quickly snap to the Lord to wait for what he would have to say in response.

“Th…this is seizure!” Lord Beesbury answers. “It is theft! It is treason! At the least, it is—”

“Mind your tongue, Lyman,” the Grand Maester cuts him off.

But to no avail.

“The King was well last night…”

You huff out softly and catch Ser Criston walk over behind the Lord as he continues with his ballsy accusations.

“…by all accounts. Which of you here can swear that he died of his own accord?” He asks.

You lift your head and continue to interject. “Who are you accusing of regicide Lord Beesbury?”

“Whether it was one of you, or all of you,” Lord Beesbury continues to throw out. “I care not. I will have no part—”

Before Lord Beesbury can finish Ser Criston approaches him and exclaims, “sit down!” Before he shoves the old Lord down to his seat, causing the man to hit his head against the table so hard that he instantly dies at impact.

You gasp softly and step back out of shock to what just happened, to what you just heard and saw.

And once the shock passes, Ser Harrold unsheathes his sword and points it to Ser Criston, before approaching him and making your uncle get out of his chair to get out of their way.

“Throw down your sword and remove your cloak, Ser Criston,” the Knight orders.

In response Ser Criston pulls out his sword and points to his Lord Commander.

“I am your Lord Commander, Ser Criston,” the Knight continues. “Cast down your sword.”

“I will not suffer insults to Her Grace the Queen,” Ser Criston argues.

“There was no insult to me, Ser Criston. Y-Put aside your blade,” Alicent interjects. And without a fault Ser Criston does so, letting the other Knight slowly put down his sword and return to his previous spot as he begins to protest.

“Has it come to this?”

“Lord Commander, enough,” the Lord Hand interjects, and the Knight doesn’t argue and puts away his blade, letting the Grand Maester now stand from his chair.

“Let us have Lord Beesbury removed,” he suggests.

“No,” the Lord Hand snaps. “The door remains shut until we finish our business.”

The Grand Maester meets the Hands gaze and doesn’t argue either, he sits back down and lets the meeting continue as it was before the incident.

“Storm's End is of concern,” your uncle interjects only once he has sat back down. “We may not assume the loyalty of Lord Borros.” He then meets your gaze and says, “but he does have a newborn son, the right proposal—”

“What of Rhaenyra?” Alicent cuts him off, and pulls your uncle's gaze away, but you continue to focus on your uncle, on his suggestion that you knew he meant to you with his shared look alone.

There is a s possiblity be could be referring to Helaena’s daughter, but he wouldn’t meet your gaze when he mentioned his concern and proposal. He…He wants to marry off Visenya, without even talking to you about it? She’s just a baby. She’s just a four month old baby. No. No.

No!

“You mean to imprison her?” You hear Alicent ask once you focus back on the meeting so as to not let your anger distract you right now.

“She and her family will be given the opportunity to publicly swear obeisance to the new King,” the Lord Hand explains to her, letting you in on who he was referring to right away; the Princess.

“She will never bend the knee,” Alicent argues. “Nor will Daemon, which you know.”

Her father goes silent and she sighs before grasping what you knew already.

“You plan to kill them?” Alicent asks, and no one answers. “And all of you accede to this?”

“Your father is correct, your Grace,” the Grand Maester interjects for everyone. “A living challenger invites battle and bloodshed.”

“It is unsavory, yes,” the Lord Hand chimes in. “But a sacrifice we must make to secure Aegon’s succession, and then there is Daemon to consider. The King wouldn’t wish for an unsavory—”

“The King did not wish for the murder of his daughter!” Alicent cuts him off angrily.

But he is right. As sad as it is to admit. It’s only if they’re dead that it can all happen right. But you know that they won’t go without a fight.

“He loved her. I will not have you deny this,” she continues.

“And yet—”

“One more word, and I will have you removed from this chamber and sent to the wall!” She cuts off Lord Wylde whilst she gets out of her chair, causing him to go quiet and for the room to fall in a tense silence for a brief moment before your uncle interrupts.

“What do you suggest, Your Grace?”

Alicent looks over at your uncle and just sighs in response, letting her father cut in. “Time is of the essence.”

Alicent continues not to answer, so her father continues.

“Lord Commander Westerling take your Knights to Dragonstone. Be quick and be clean.”

Yet the old Knight doesn’t leave or follow orders, he proceeds to take off his cloak and puts it on the table to resign, saying he has no place there until there is a King. However, you all knew he objected because of his loyalty, otherwise he would have done it and been faithful like Ser Criston. But alas he left with no other objection, nor an objection from anyone else.

The meeting then continued for a bit longer with talk about allies and more plans, nothing interested you more though than what your uncle tried to suggest before. He didn’t bring it up again, but you still thought back to it and hated the idea. Visenya was a baby, your baby, your only daughter she…

She can’t be matched already.

“Y/N…”

She’s just a baby…

“Y/N,” the Queen's voice breaks you from your train of thought as you walk out of the meeting room.

“Yes?” You probe and glance at her.

Alicent comes to a stop, and you mirror her action to then face her.

“Do not tell anyone besides Aemond what you heard in that chamber, all right?”

Without hesitation you nod. “Of course.”

She sighs and grabs your arm with one hand. “Please will you do me the favor of telling him? I will tell Helaena, but please tell Aemond.”

You nod softly in agreement. “I will,” you assure her. And before long you depart and go your separate ways.

The moment you get in your chambers, it’s still quiet, Aemond is awake and watching Visenya sleep in her crib. He likes to do that, watch her sleep just to make sure she’s breathing and safe. If he could he would watch her sleep for hours, that’s why he liked to have her sleep in your shared quarters, he said no one could keep her safer than him.

He’s a good father, it’s surprising and fascinating. Admirable too, considering he didn’t have such a good one.

“Aemond,” you make yourself known.

Said man turns around and meets you by the entrance of the room to grab your arms before cupping your cheek to stroke it gently. “What did the council want that could not wait?”

You slowly lower your gaze and sigh. And Aemond right away notices your conflict without having to be said anything.

“What is it?” He insists.

You slowly meet his gaze and frown deeper before grabbing his hand and pulling him out to the balcony. When you come to stop, Aemond keeps his gaze on you and waits patiently, but in concern.

“Aemond,” you finally manage to say and grab his arms. “It’s your father,” you continue slowly and quietly. “He passed away last night.”

Aemond stiffens and drops his gaze. You don’t add anything else, you give him time to process the news, you let him step back and turn to watch the sight of the town miles below the window, but stay there. You watch him grip onto the railing and drop his head, making long strands of his silver-white hair fall over his face.

Silence is such a common thing that it doesn’t usually bother you, you actually quite enjoy he’s not as loud as his brother is, or as loud as your siblings once were, you like his calm and soft spoken persona. But now? After giving him the news about his father, the long silence begins to unsettle you rather quickly even if you were willing to wait just seconds ago.

“Aemond,” you break the silence and grab his hand. “Talk to me.”

Said man let’s out a deep sigh and picks up his head. “My father…” he pauses and turns to face you. “He was never much of one to me or my siblings. No one could compare to his first born…” he pauses again and slowly meets your gaze, showing off a saddened look in his gaze. “Yet…” he trails off.

Your heartstrings churn at the sight of his look, at the sound of his soft voice, so you gently brush his hair back before caressing his cheeks and pulling him for an embrace. Aemond quickly returns the hug and balls the material of your dress in his hands, making you press a kiss on the side of his head before you squeeze him tighter.

“My mother,” he says and breaks the short silence. “Where is she?” He pulls away and grabs your arms to wait for an answer.

“With Helaena,” you tell him. “She was going to tell Helaena the news.”

He hums and breaks away to grab his eyepatch and tie his hair back, before going to Visenya and leaning down to press a kiss on her forehead.

“Do you want me to come with you?” You ask him as you walk back inside.

Aemond looks up from the crib and nods, making you bring in the handmaidens so they can take Visenya to the children’s room before you follow Aemond to Helaena’s room.

“What else was said at the meeting?” Aemond asks.

You eye the people that pass by and whisper. “I will tell you when we reach your mother. I can not say now, but I can say one thing.” You slowly come to stop and clench your hands into fists. Aemond slowly comes to a stop and turns to face you with confusion.

“What is it?” He queries.

Your eyes fill with angry tears and you have to swallow back thickly before sharing the news. “My uncle made a suggestion today at the meeting regarding Visenya.”

Aemond blinks and clenches his jaw.

“He said that in order to secure The Baratheon’s alliance,” you continue. “We should make a proposal since Lord Borros has a newborn son. My uncle didn’t say if it would be Visenya or Jaehaera, but that’s what they want to do.”

Aemond sighs and closes the gap between you to grab one arm and hold your chin. “Visenya is a princess,” he says as if he can read your mind. “It will be her duty to be married off.”

You shake your head. “She’s just a baby,” you argue.

Aemond grabs your face with both hands and leans his face closer to yours. “She will not be a baby forever.”

“But,” you try to continue inputting but he shakes his head and cuts you off.

“No, my love, let us not discuss this here. Besides it has not been decided yet, it won’t be until we have a say in it.”

You drop your gaze and don’t say anything, you just look at the ground and sigh. He takes that as a sign to drop the conversation and pulls away to continue towards his sister's room. Of course you follow, and once you reach the room, both his sister and mother immediately look up at him in pity.

“I’ve heard,” Aemond says to his mother.

Alicent gets off her seat and walks up to Aemond, whilst you walk over to Helaena at the couch.

“There is a beast beneath the boards,” she says once you sit down beside her.

You hum softly and add, “I’m sorry about your father, Helaena.”

Said girl looks up from her stitching and meets your gaze with a soft smile. “Thank you,” she says. “Do you want to see my stitching?”

You nod and lean over as she shows off the spider she’s been stitching—-“that’s excellent,” you compliment her. “I like it. You have yet to show me how to stitch a spider.”

Helaena smiles at you and puts her things on her lap. “Soon I hope, if time is in our favor,” she says.

“Y/N,” Aemond calls.

You look over at him and he points to the door with his head, making you grab Helaena’s hands to end the short conversation. “We will speak later, yes?”

Helaena nods in agreement, so you get up and bid her a goodbye before you follow Aemond to his mothers quarters to privately discuss what was said, and what happened in the early morning meeting. All whilst Alicent waited for news on Aegon’s whereabouts.

It seems he hasn’t been seen anywhere in the castle, so Alicent sent Ser Criston to investigate, and you waited with Aemond until he heard some news. And it’s the wait that made you want to discuss with Aemond about what he put on hold earlier since Alicent was in the same room. But with all the tension that there was as they waited for news, bringing up your subject didn’t seem right yet.

So instead you choose to wait in silence with them, you let Aemond take your hand as you sit by the fireplace together.

“Mother,” Aemond speaks up in their wait.

Alicent hums so Aemond can continue.

“What is this I hear about Ser Tyland wanting to match one of the girls with Lord Borro’s son?”

Or it will be discussed now.

Alicent pushes herself off her chair, and from the corner of your eye you catch her gaze—“it was brought up,” she explains. “But, I cut him off with other matters before he could finish.”

Aemond hums. “Next time I want matters about my daughter discussed with both y/n and I present. Nothing will be decided without our consent,” he says, causing you to snap your gaze towards him in slight shock.

“Of course,” Alicent doesn’t hesitate to agree.

Aemond glances over and catches your stare. He then proceeds to lift your hand to his lips to press a kiss on your knuckles. “<Do not worry,” he adds in Valyrian. “I will take care of it.>”

You let out a slow sigh and nod in comprehension.

Only seconds later there's a knock on the door before Ser Criston walks in.

“Prince Aegon’s not to be found within the castle walls. Your Grace,” Ser Criston announces as he enters. “Your father has sent Ser Erryk into the city to find him.”

“Ser Erryk knows Aegon. He has the advantage,” Alicent says before you hear her footsteps recede from where Aemond and you are. “I trust again to you, Ser Criston, and to your loyalty. Aegon must be found and he must be brought to me. The very fate of the Seven Kingdoms depends on it…”

Her voice trails off, but when you look back you see Alicent leaned in closer to Ser Criston. You try to make out what they’re saying, but Aemond then interjects.

“I’ll come with you,” he volunteers himself.

“That will not be my desire, Aemond,” his mother argues as she turns and approaches him as he gets up to meet her halfway. “If anything has happened—”

You get out of your chair and face them.

“Cole needs me, Mother,” Aemond counters. “Ser Erryk isn’t the only one who knows Aegon's doings.”

Alicent looks over at the Knight for reassurance. And you see him right away give it to her, letting Aemond turn to face you now.

“I need you, my love,” he says and walks over to grab your arms. “For whatever reason we cannot find him in the Street of Silk, I’ll need you and the information you receive from your…little birds.”

You smile with pride and gratitude. “Alright,” you assure him. “I'll take Ser Erwin with me then,”

Aemond clenches his jaw and drops his gaze as he hesitates.

“Unless you wish me to go alone,” you bring up. “I am more than happy to do so.”

Aemond’s eyes flicker up to you and he sighs. “Fine, take your Golden Knight.” He smirks. “Don’t let him get harmed,” he quips.

You grin. “I’ll keep him safe and I’ll find your brother,” you assure him even if losing Aegon wouldn’t be such a disgrace—“we will find him,” you say and look to Alicent. “I swear.”

Aemond pulls away and you both leave the room to go to your quarters and put on clothes that blend in more within the city. After you get Ser Erwin to agree, and you all begin to head out of the castle gates, there is one man who doesn’t seem so comforted by you tagging along.

“My Prince, are you sure you want your Lady Wife to come along?” Ser Criston interjects. “The city is a dangerous place.”

You scoff and Aemond immediately responds, “you need not worry, Ser Criston, you and I both know y/n is more than capable of taking care of herself.”

Ser Criston doesn’t answer with anything, he just takes in what was said and accepts Aemond’s choice as the gates of the castle open, and let you all walk out.

Before you could go your separate ways albeit, Aemond stops to address you. “We’ll meet here once we find anything,” he informs you.

You nod. “Okay, be careful.”

Aemond hums and presses a kiss on your forehead before he turns and walks off with Ser Criston, leaving you with your Golden Knight.

“Where is it you’re going first, my Lady?” Ser Erwin asks.

You begin to lead him down the street and peer over at him. “Uhm, a tavern at Flea bottom. I have friends who work there.”

“Flea bottom?” He asks if you were just jestering.

You nod. “Yes. They work at the castle too, they’re the people who you pass by without taking a second glance. People who don’t call attention to themselves, and are forgotten.” You offer him a smirk and pull your hood further over your face the further you walk down the streets of Kings Landing.

And unfortunately much to your craving for some excitement, Ser Erwin and you make it to the tavern without trouble. It seems being seen accompanied by a man doesn’t invite the attention of disgusting men.

“You can sit,” you tell Ser Erwin as you take your hood off once you’re inside the tavern. “I won’t take long.”

Ser Erwin glances around and studies each dirt covered man and woman, every person with blades attached to their hips, and spots every gawking stare.

“I’m not so sure I feel comfortable with you by yourself,” he whispers.

You lean in closer to him and offer him a mischievous smirk before assuring him. “Do not worry, no one here will hurt me. Everyone in this tavern is my friend.” You step back. “Everyone here would take a sword for me Ser, they’re fellow tourney companions, friends from the castle, and associates.”

“Is that what we are?” You hear a familiar sweet voice cut in, in her thick Dornish accent. “You wound me, Lady Lion.”

Your lips turn to a happy grin and when you turn you see your friend, Yvette; her shiny mischievous smile, her alluring dark brown eyes, and her short wavy hair that still doesn’t go past her ears.

“You know exactly that’s not we are,” you tell her right away and leave Ser Erwin’s side to approach the bar and take her forearm as she takes yours.

Yvette snickers and nods. “I was just jesting.”

“Ser!” Someone exclaims beside you in a booming and graveling voice.

You look over and see a fellow Knight over the bar. “Hedge,” you greet with a smile.

“Have you come here with your Husband?” He asks excitedly.

You shake your head. “No, he's busy today. Actually I came here for something. Eyes and ears.”

“Aw, I hoped I’d meet the great Aemond Targaryen who lets his Highborn Lady Wife wield a sword—you have a dragon yet?”

You sigh. “No, only in my dreams.”

Hedge grabs his large wooden cup from the table and stands up seven feet tall, towering over everyone inside, and walking over to you to try and offer you his cup. “Drink?”

You shake your head. “No, I’m sorry Hedge, not today.”

“Are you with child again?” Yvette asks.

You glance at her and shake your head. “No, I am not.”

Yvette scoffs and grins down at the wooden surface. “I was about to say, it’s been four months, why so eager?”

You grin and shrug innocently. “Oh, you know, not eager but my paramour and I do like to keep busy and have fun.”

Yvette smirks and gets closer to you, whilst Hedge walks over to Ser Erwin as he continues to lurk behind you.

“Do not worry, little man, y/n here is…” his words trail off as he takes the Golden Knight off to the corner of the tavern.

“Someone was asking about you,” Yvette shares in a low voice.

You snap your eyes to her and narrow your gaze out of confusion. “Who?” You probe.

Yvette sighs. “Issa did not get a name. She only said that the man’s hair was silver-white. That it stood out even in the darkness of the night. Like moonlight she said.”

A Targaryen?

Couldn’t be Aemond he was with you the entire night, and he had no reason to. Aegon wouldn't bother to be so secretive, so…Daemon Targaryen.

He’s the only man with that hair description you can think of. Only one who made sense.

“What did he want? What did they tell him?”

Yvette shrugs. “I don’t know what he wanted. Issa cut the conversation short, you know we support you down here.”

You hum and offer her a faint smile. “I will have to thank her then.”

“What do you want then, hm? You said you need information,” Yvette finally investigates.

You sigh deeply and lean closer to her to share what you need. “I need to know if anyone has seen my dear Goodbrother Aegon. He’s gone missing. The…King is dead.”

Yvette holds your gaze for a moment before she lets out a deep breath and grabs a cup of ale to take a large swig. “To the King's memory. May the Gods give him peace.”

“Don’t tell anyone. It’s a secret until it’s publicly announced.” You let her know.

Yvette nods in agreement and then shows off a half grin. “Prince Aegon has been seen around the streets. With the White Worm.” She snickers. “Even she and her little workers have grown to forget about what’s below them. Hm. Some of our friends have said that they saw her take him to the Sept. It seems the bastard wants to run away from his duties. I hoped they’d want him gone. Gods know what he’s done.”

You hum in agreement and pull out a heavy pouch of gold to hand it to her. “Thank you, I hope you can give everyone their portion….There’s also a bit more for you and your mother.” You offer her a smile, and Yvette grabs your hands to press a kiss on your knuckles before stroking your chin.

“Thank you my Sweetling. May the Gods bless you and your sweet little cub.”

You grin at her and press a kiss on her cheek before you pull away and offer her a nod. “I will see you soon enough,” you tell her.

“You better!” She exclaims. “I want to see that ass again.”

You smirk and meet Ser Erwin’s gaze to point to the door.

He understands your meaning and excuses himself from your friend Hedge.

“Leaving so soon, Ser,” Hedge shouts at you as Ser Erwin walks to you. “When will you compete again? The lads and I miss you!”

“Soon!” You throw out as Ser Erwin opens the door for you. “I promise you that!” You wave at your friend before putting on your hood again to head back to your meeting place.

“Ser,” you break your short silence once you’re a few feet away from the Tavern. “I hope my business here is kept just between you and I. I value my privacy and I would hate to lose your trust after a year together.”

Ser Erwin’s gaze lands on you, and from the corner of your eyes you can spot a certain sparkle. “Does your husband not know?”

“He is the only one who knows besides some other trusted few,” you let him know, and see him swallow thickly.

“Right,” he sighs. “Well, you can trust me, you know that.”

You smile at his comfort and pat his shoulder. “Thank you my friend. I hope I can repay your loyalty.”

“No need,” Ser Erwin continues to assure you. “It’s my honor. It really is.”

You smile softly and nod in comprehension, finding no need to argue with him since you know he’s only sincere. It’s why you continue down your path in silence, and once again, unfortunately, there’s no obstacles in the way.

Once you begin to reach your meeting point, you already spot Aemond and Ser Criston waiting for you. The moment Aemond spots you under your cloak, he breaks away from the Knight, and you break away from yours to meet each other halfway.

The moment he reaches you he grabs your shoulders and studies you first for any injuries before he meets your gaze, and cradles your cheeks. “‘Cause any trouble my love?”

You pout and shake your head. “No. Sadly. You?”

Aemond shakes his head. “No.”

You quirk your brow and hide your smirk that threatens to show. “Find anything?”

“No,” he deadpans. “You?”

You hold his gaze and begin to smirk before you lean over and whisper in his ear. “A little birdie told me they saw him being taken to the Sept by the White Worm.”

Aemond pulls back and grabs your face again to stare at you in awe for a moment before he grins at you and pulls you in for a deep kiss.

You snicker and don’t fret to kiss him back with more passion, making sure to bite his bottom lip before pulling away.

“I love you,” he tells you softly.

“I love you,” you mirror his words.

Aemond offers you one last smirk before he pulls away and begins to lead the way. “Come,” he tells the other two Knights. “My Lady Wife has found my brother.”

You side eye Ser Criston and join Aemond’s side to walk by him towards the Sept.

Luckily enough, the Sept is not far from Red Keep, so you all make it rather quickly. Yet, when you do reach the Sept, the twins are already there and with them is Aegon struggling to be let go.

The moment Aemond and Ser Criston notice they both run to the stairs, and Ser Erwin follows his fellow Knight, leaving you behind to wait.

Some words are exchanged from the top of the stairs, before Aegon suddenly shoves Ser Erryk back and snakes out of his grasp to run the opposite way of where Aemond is waiting by the flight of stairs, forcing to rush down to follow. Whilst Ser Criston and Ser Erwin stay behind to fight against Ser Erryk.

When Aegon reaches the bottom he breaks into a sprint ahead, not catching any glimpse of you until it’s too late and he’s too close. He tries to swerve, but you grab him by his arm and shove him back to Aemond as he charges at Aegon.

Aemond then tackles Aegon to the ground, but Aegon resists some. He doesn’t actually manage to fight, he just tries to struggle against his brother's hold, but fails and gets dragged back by his foot. And unsurprisingly enough Aegon begins to laugh.

“I was hoping you disappeared,” Aemond tells Aegon.

“Is our father truly dead?” Aegon asks as he continues trying to push Aemond off.

“And they’re going to make you King,” Aemond mutters.

Without hesitation Aegon pulls his head back and sucks in his cheeks before spitting at Aemond’s eye, causing him to exclaim and fall back and let Aegon go.

Aegon tries to run then, but Aemond catches him right away.

“No!” Aegon exclaims as Aemond pulls him off the ground. “Let me go! No, let me go! Let me go! Brother!” Aegon yells and continues to squirm. “Let me go! I have no wish to rule! No taste for duty! I’m not suited.”

“You’ll get no argument from me,” Aemond retorts, and Aegon manages to turn around and face Aemond.

“You let me go,” Aegon continues to try and sway Aemond as he grabs his face. “I will find a ship and sail away, never to be found.” Aegon pants and waits for Aemond’s response as he stays quiet, as if debating his proposal.

Nevertheless, Ser Criston approaches Aegon and cuts off any opportunity for an answer. “The Queen awaits.” Ser Criston grabs Aegon by the shoulder before pulling him off Aemond and dragging him back to the castle. Ser Erwin follows them when he sees you’re not moving, leaving Aemond and you behind as he lingers there for a brief second before he looks away from where his brother was and meets your gaze.

“Let’s go,” you break the silence.

“Was it a mistake?” He asks.

You sigh and close the gap between you. “Perhaps,” you can’t lie. “But this was not for you, but for her. Your mother.”

Aemond holds your gaze and hums in agreement.

——

*LATER*

“Tell me,” Aegon mutters with food in his mouth. “Sweet Goodsister...”

You pick a sleeping Visenya off Aemond’s arms and glance at Aegon sitting around the table.

“Have you ever dreamed of being Queen?”

You gently rock the baby girl in your arms as you slowly make your way to her crib and give him the honest truth. “Perhaps once when I was a child, but I have never really dreamt of it. I…” you pause and carefully place Visenya down, making sure to stroke her cheek so she could not wake up. “…I had other dreams,” you continue.

“Like?” Aegon probes.

You sigh and slowly turn away from Visenya to face Aegon’s back as he keeps eating. “Like becoming a warrior like Queen Visenya. I wished to wear ringmail, wield my own sword…” you sigh and walk towards your rack of dresses that you needed to choose from for tomorrow's coronation. “While also being a decent Lady.”

Aegon hums, and you can feel his stare as you get in his pherial view. “Well,” he says. “You’re halfway there—“ he stuffs his mouth and adds a muffled snicker. “You’re just missing the title.”

You scoff and pull out a dark black dress that in certain light seems dark green. The sleeves were long and parted in the middle so skin would show, and the sleeves hung off your shoulders. While the neckline was deep, and around the lining of it was embroidered by a golden dragon. The tail of the dress was long, but not long enough that you’d be tripping over it or have someone else do so.

There were more; red ones, green, more black ones, but the one you have in your hand called your attention, and well…it coordinated with Aemond’s outfit for tomorrow.

“I like that one,” Aegon comments.

You side-eye him and catch him smiling from ear to ear.

“Watch your tongue Aegon, I can have you locked in my closet all night.” You remark and walk over to hang the dress in your closet. “Then again it seems you’re accustomed to confined spaces so, it might feel like home.” You smirk.

Aegon chuckles. “Such a sharp little tongue,” he counters. “I like it.”

You roll your eyes.

“Aegon,” Aemond warns.

You hear a shuffle before you hear Aegon scoff and laugh. “What?” He retorts. “I am only jesting with her. She knows that. You know that. I swear I have never looked at your wife in such a manner brother.” He snickers.

“No,” you scoff and walk out the closet. “But you did look at Nyra like that.”

Aegon turns back and nods. “Nyra…Nyra,” he clicks tongue. “I liked her. It was a shame she had to go.”

You let out a deep annoyed sigh and make your way to Aemond’s chair.

“Anyway,” Aegon comments. “I’m just saying, sharp tongues make for great Queens. At least…” he pauses and takes a long sip of water since Aemond made sure to have the wine taken away. “That’s what I think. If you don’t take anyone’s shit then people will not dare cross you. They will respect you.”

You prop your arms on the chair and let your hands hang off the head of the chair. “You think?” You entertain him.

“Yes,” Aegon agrees and pushes his chair back to stand up. “I mean I know I would. I’d rejoice in having a Queen like you. I mean,” he begins to laugh and walks over to the fireplace so he could be closer to Aemond. “The way you so quickly got ready to fight Baela. Did you see it, Aemond?”

Aemond turns his head and looks at his brother. “Partially.”

Aegon snorts and stifles his laugh before he points at you. “Well you should have seen her, she was ready to join you in the fight, it’s a damn shame Rhaena held Baela off. It would have made for a great girl fight.”

Aemond scoffs. “It would not have been a fair fight. Y/N would have embarrassed Baela. She might have a dragon and a quick temper, but y/n has the training, she would have dragged Baela without breaking a sweat.”

You smile and gush whilst you squeeze his shoulder as a speechless thank you.

Aegon scoffs and nods. “See…such fiery makes a great trait for leadership.”

You roll your eyes and sigh. “We will not let you leave Aegon. You are to stay here and be crowned at dawn. That’s what your mother said.”

Aegon lets out a deep sigh and sits down. “So what?” He grumbles. “I’m going to be treated like a child until then?”

“Maybe if you stopped behaving like one you would be in your own quarters now, so,” you comment and step back from Aemond’s chair.

Aegon sinks in his chair and lets the room fall silent.

At least it was silent for a bit until Visenya began to cry. “It's okay, I’ll get her,” Aemond says before he stands from his chair and walks to Visenya to pick her up.

And right away, once in the comfort of her fathers arms, Visenya's cries begin to silence until there’s nothing but the whispers of your voice as you approach her and Aemond.

“Did you have a nightmare?” You smile at the baby girl as she rubs her eyes. You then rest your head on Aemond’s shoulder whilst you gently rub his back. “<Don’t worry Little Delight, your father is going to slay all those scary monsters.>” You comfort her in Valyrian and gently stroke her cheek with your finger.

Aemond’s lips tug to a faint smirk before he presses a kiss on your forehead.

——

*THE NEXT DAY*

“People of Kings Landing, today is the saddest of days our beloved King Viserys the Peaceful…is dead.” Lord Otto announces to the audience of people all crowded in the Dragon pit to watch Aegon’s ceremony. “But it is also the most joyous of days for as his spirit left us he whispered his final wish that his firstborn son, Aegon should succeed him.”

The crowd murmurs at the sound of the announcement moments before clapping in acceptance. However, the sound of marching Knights then cut off the short sound of celebration as they marched and lined up towards the stage.

“Halt!” One of them orders loudly, and every single one does as they’re told. “Turn!”

Trumpets then begin to sound and the announcer continues. “Present…arms!”

The sound of the trumpets goes quiet, and murmurs fill the room until there at the other side of the line of Knights is Aegon walking out. He’s slow with his steps, and as he passes every pair of Knights, they lower their blades.

“It is your great good fortune and privilege to be here to witness this a new day for our city,” the Lord Hand continues to shout as Aegon approaches. “A new day for our realm. A new King to lead us!”

Once Aegon reaches the stage, you let out a small breath and watch as his mother presses a kiss on his forehead. She proceeds to lead him back to make him get on his knees so the Septon can approach him now.

“May the warrior give him courage.” The Septon spoke as rubs oil on Aegon’s forehead. “May the Smith lend him strength to his sword and shield. May the Father defend him in his need. May the Crone lift her shining lamp and light his way to wisdom.” The Septon finishes and hands back the oil to hand Ser Criston the Crown of Aegon the Conqueror.

Once the Knight approaches Aegon, you clench your jaw.

“The crown of the Conqueror passed down through generations!” Ser Criston shouts and carefully places the crown on Aegon’s head, making you lower your head and sigh.

“Let the Seven bear witness; Aegon Targaryen is the true heir to the Iron Throne!”

There’s a moment of silence, and you lift your head to once again look over at Aegon, catching him standing up now with the crown on his head. And as the silence continues to linger, with not even the crowd murmuring, Aegon glances at each one of his family members as if looking for their comfort or showing off; and each one of them bows their heads when gazes meet.

When he meets your gaze as you stand beside Aemond, you offer Aegon a faint smirk before bowing your head.

Once he finally looks away the Septon finally exclaims, “all hail His Grace Aegon. Second of his name. King of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men! Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and protector of the Realm!”

Aegon partially turns to face the silenced crowd, and the bells toll.

“Aegon the King!” Ser Criston shouts, and finally the silence breaks as a slow clapter ensues before the people erupt in excited cheer, and louder clapping.

Aegon finally seems to break from his brooding demeanor and begins to be swayed by the support. Yet it makes you uneasy. He is family and your support is on his side, but honestly, you would rather see Aemond, or even Helaena rule. It’s disappointing really that Aegon is King.

Alas, as you clasp your hands tightly together and watch the cheering crowd, suddenly the ground beneath them erupts, making you gasp, and making Aemond instantly pull you and Helaena behind him.

Screaming breaks within the cloud of dust and then a loud dragon roar tunes it all out.

Once your own shock slightly passes, and you make sure your uncle standing behind you is fine, you grab tighter onto Aemond’s arm and look over it, managing to catch a glimpse of a red dragon and Lady Rhaenys within the cloud of dust.

She’s….

Oh...

Oh!

Your eyes widen from shock before they snap to Helaena as you remember what she had been telling you recently, “there’s a beast beneath the boards.” That’s…them, the Dragon Meleys and Lady Rhaenys.

Helaena was right, she was mumbling this incident before it happened. And all this time no one tried to understand, you didn’t.

“Open the doors!” Lord Otto exclaims. “Open the doors!”

The dragon then begins to approach closer, causing your breath to catch and your heart to pound faster, whilst Aemond steps back so you can get further away from the approaching dragon since she was unpredictable. Since she wasn’t Vhagar who’d keep you safe by Aemond’s demand, and Vhagar wasn’t here to defend him.

And as Meleys only gets closer, Aemond can only pull you further behind him before the dragon opens its mouth and lets out a loud and deafening screech that’s so powerful that it makes Aemond’s hair blow back. You on the other hand press your face against his back and grab onto him tightly as you expect the worst, as you expect flames to come out and burn everything down.

Yet, the dragon then goes quiet and flames don’t scorch a thing or melt everyone in front of her to nothing but a pile of bones. As you slowly look up you see Lady Rhaenys and her dragon turn before charging out of the dragon pit and flying off, leaving nothing behind but the disbelief that filled the room.

——

*THE NEXT DAY*

There was once a desire, a deep longing to return home once. As ignored as your father left you, as alone as you felt amongst your step-sisters, that desire to return was still deeply implanted. As time passed and the relationships you had developed, as you grew to love the husband you were forced to marry, now….now there wasn’t anything you wanted more but to stay home, with him and Visenya. That’s all.

Because as long as you had them then everything felt fine, you were happy and comforted. Safe. But now they want to take her. They want to take Visenya from you, from Aemond. They want to offer her up like livestock. All for what? For a war for some King that doesn’t deserve the title?

It can’t, they can’t take her; not from you, not from her home. Now like how they took you.

Yet….while you made your way to the council meeting, Alicent comes out of the hall you needed to turn to and immediately calls out your name as if it’s you who she had been searching for.

“Y/N.”

You slow down your pace and let her walk beside you as you’re determined to march in the room and demand every pompous Lord gathered around the table to change their word.

“Before you storm in there let us talk,” she says and grabs your arm to pull you aside to some empty room.

“What about?” You probe and glance back at the wooden door. “Aemond is waiting for me at the council meeting.”

He chose to leave earlier because of some excuse that his grandfather needed to talk to him privately. So he left you behind.

Alicent nods. “Yes. I know. We will go in a moment, let us talk first.”

You sigh and clasp your hands together in front of you. “All right.”

Alicent swallows thickly and walks over to a small round table to take a seat on one of the wooden chairs. You’re hesitant as you see that she seems to want to take her time, but time isn’t going to speed up faster if you stay up, so you let out a small breath and fix the chair beside her to be able to face her.

“Is everything okay?” You ask softly.

Alicent nods. “Yes, everything is fine…I just wanted to discuss what we will be discussing about in today's meeting.”

Oh. It should've been predictable.

You scoff and blink to watch your hands as you twist your ring around. “Did…Aemond send you to talk to me?”

Alicent sighs, and when you look at her, her lips form to a small frown. “No…he wanted to talk to you himself, but I thought that maybe it would be better if we talked.”

You drop your gaze and gently bite your lip before you huff out of your nose and jump to what this conversation is about. “Visenya is a baby. She is only four months old….” You let out a small shaky breath, and clench your jaw so you could fight back your tears.

“She’s my baby and they want to offer her away…” you pause and sniffle. “I don’t want them to take her away.”

Alicent let’s out a soft breath before you feel her hand on yours. “I know,” she whispers. “I know exactly how you feel….”

You lift your gaze and meet hers.

“…I am a mother too. I too have a daughter who was once as small as baby Visenya,” she continues. “I swear to you I know your grievance…but…you have to understand that Visenya is a Princess with Dragon Blood in her. She is a High Born Lady with Lannister Blood. She has duties that she must follow, as you did once too. As you still do.”

“I know,” you mumble. “I know that but I cannot fathom being apart from her, marrying her off to some stranger. To someone who might hurt her.”

Alicent scoffs softly as if it’s amusing. “I don't think you need to worry about her getting hurt, she already has a dragon born to her,” she tries to assure you. “With time I am sure both you and Aemond will teach her to wield a blade even if people are against it.”

The corner of your lips twitch to a smile over her words.

“She will be fierce just like her namesake, like her mother.” Alicent smiles. “And if it’s a stranger you’re worried about…Aemond and you were once strangers, and look at you now, you’re both inseparable. My son loves you. I could have not asked for a better Gooddaughter. So maybe that’s what awaits for Visenya too. If not she will be a Lady of her own home. A mighty one at that.”

Alicent lifts your hands and cradles them tighter, she leans forward to be closer, whilst you stay quiet and listen to her every word.

“She will be promised a good life, and she will not leave until she comes of age, years from now,” Alicent continues. “Aemond will not let that little girl out of her sight so young, you know that. And…think of the advantage this match could bring. This alliance might be what keeps your family safe, and bring the power we need to fight what could come.”

No one could protect her more fiercely than you and Aemond, but…

“If you do not have a desire to fight for Aegon,” she says in a whisper. “Then do it for the love you harbor for my son, for my granddaughter.”

…she’s right. About it all. Even if it pains every muscle in your heart.

“I’m sorry,” you mumble and drop your head. “I just want to keep my daughter safe….that’s all I want.” Tears escape past your eyes, but you quickly pull your hand from Alicents grasp to wipe them off.

“I understand,” Alicent interjects before she wraps you in an embrace. “I do.”

You’re caught off guard a bit by her embrace, but once the surprise passes you wrap your arms around her and sink in her arms.

She lets you stay for a moment, she lingers in the embrace as well and doesn’t pull back until a knock raps on the door. When it’s relieved who was at the door, a servant announces that The Hand is demanding her presence at the meeting, so…you both go.

You both head towards your previous destination, to the chamber full of men, all of them already lost in conversation without having the manners to wait for Alicent. They only pause once she walks in because of courtesy, but if she had been someone else, if you had walked in alone that same courtesy would have not been shared.

Albeit you must exclude Aemond from your judgment, he was sitting amongst them but was quiet, only listening to what had been discussed, and only in attendance because Visenya was going to be talked about, otherwise he wouldn’t have shown.

Then again…war is an unavoidable thing so he might be attending these meetings more often.

“We were just discussing the alliances in our midst,” Lord Otto shares once Alicent takes her seat; this time beside Aegon since he was now the head of these meetings.

You on the other hand take your spot behind her, just like how it was in every meeting since she asked you to accompany her.

Yet today there was another wine fetcher in the room, and beside Aemond was one empty seat.

“Please,” Aegon interjects with a smug smile. “Take a seat, My Lady.”

You blink in confusion and look to Alicent, who offers you a faint smile, and then to Aemond, who offers you a single assuring nod before he stands up to wait for you to take your seat.

You’re hesitant at first though and slowly approach your seat before you sit and get pushed in, joining everyone around the table this time. As one of them.

“From now on,” Aegon continues, and pulls your still slightly shocked gaze to him. “I want you to be apart of these meetings as one of my advisors. You and my brother.”

Even after all the teasing? All the banter? All the discreet side eyes and dirty glares? You? A woman?

“Thank you,” you tell Aegon in disbelief. “Truly. I am honored.”

Aegon smirks before he leans back and drinks from his cup of wine, letting the previous conversation continue.

“The houses that will stand with Rhaenyra if need be are The Starks; they’re loyal to their oaths,” Lord Otto shares. “House Arryn because of the blood they share, and of course House Velayron.”

“That leaves House HighGarden, House Tully, House Greyjoy, and House Baratheon,” Lord Wylde continues for her father.

“We will send a raven to each House, remind them of their oaths to the Crown, and tell them to pledge loyalty to Aegon,” Lord Otto says.

“Perhaps along with our message to Storms End, we can send a proposal. Lord Borros has children, all free to marry after all,” your uncle suggests. Once again. “I’m afraid Prince Jaehaerys is too young to marry his daughters, that leaves his newborn son.”

You lower your gaze and clench your jaw as you know where this is headed.

“I suggest we offer to match my niece, Princess Visenya,” your uncle continues; and you feel his stare on you. “She carries Targaryen blood as well as Lannister blood, it’s a far worthy match.”

You slowly look up and meet his gaze for a brief second; with no anger, no happiness, just…sadness and acceptance.

“Yes,” the Lord Hand agrees. “Borros won’t turn down the offer. Especially not when it’s known the princess already has bonded to her dragon.”

Alicent turns her head and looks between Aemond and you. “Aemond, y/n, what do you think?” She asks.

Aemond and you share a gaze that you both understand without needing to speak since he knew his mother had convinced you already.

“Yes,” you interject for the both of you, feeling Aemond’s gaze on you. “I agree, we should offer to match Visenya to Lord Borros' son. It should be an honor to him to receive such a highly valuable match. Besides, it would secure his alliance with Aegon.”

Aemond hums in agreement, and as you keep your hands on your lap, you suddenly feel his warm and soft hand hold yours. When you look over at him his gaze is already on you, making you smile softly in relief.

“We will go and give him the proposal in person,” Aemond adds and looks back to the members of the council without even thinking twice, or even asking about letting you accompany him.

“Yes,” his grandfather nods in agreement. “That would work excellently in our favor, it would show we value their allegiance. Aegon?”

All eyes go to him, and he slowly lowers his cup from his lips and hums before speaking, “yes, that would be great. Go, the both of you, it will be more favoring that way.”

You let out a small sigh and look between all of them, and feign a smirk. “Thank you,” you say out of courtesy. “We will not let you down.”

——

For him. For her.

You sigh and look up at the grand tower on the rock by the water. Just like Casterly Rock.

Except here the sun didn’t shine brightly, clouds covered the sky and made the day look like night. Wind thrashed violently, and the rocks that surrounded the castle seem sharper, violent.

This is Visenya’s future. This one tower.

“Oh gods,” you murmur as you walk away from Vhagar. “<This is where my daughter is going to live?” You comment in Valyrian in case there was anyone lurking nearby.

“<It’s so depressing,” Aemond adds to the judgment as well. “Perhaps her dragon will eat her betrothed in due time.>”

You hum along, and once you walk undercover Aemond stops you. “<It’s you who once told me not to let your emotions get the best of you, no?”>

You drop your gaze and slowly turn to face him.

He closes the gap that’s left between you and caresses your chin before he cradles your cheeks. “<I love our daughter, you really think I want to marry her off to some Baratheon dimwit? No. But this is what is best. It is our duty, as it will be hers. We cannot let our emotions blind us.>”

The corner of your lips twitch to a smile, and you simply nod in comprehension. Aemond holds your gaze and offers you a faint smirk before he steals a kiss from you.

When you pull apart you smile faintly at him before stroking his lips with your thumb as you hold his gaze. He proceeds to smirk and looks at you up and down before he leans in and whispers.

“<You look fucking beautiful in your riding outfit.>”

You grin and bat your lashes. “<Do I?>” You probe sweetly.

He hums.

You glance at his lips before you grab him by the back of his neck and pull him in for a deep tender kiss. Aemond grabs your face with both hands and kisses you back with more passion.

“Come on,” you say between breaths. “We shan't keep the Lord waiting.”

Aemond kisses you one more time before he meets your gaze and agrees, letting you both pull away completely and continue towards the castle gates.

Once upon them, guards come out and don’t ask who you are, they notice Aemond’s silver-white hair, his eyepatch, and step aside and open the doors to let you walk inside the cold and dimly lit castle. The moment you stride inside the Maester meets you.

“Prince Aemond,” he greets and bows his head. “Lady Lannister, welcome to Storms End. Lord Borros is waiting inside.” The man stands up straight and turns to walk the both of you to the grande hall.

And as mentioned the grand Lord Borros was already sat upon his chair, four dark haired women stood at the side, his own council stood close by, and all their eyes landed on you the moment the guard stepped up to announce your entrance.

“Prince Aemond Targaryen, son of Late King Viserys, and his Lady wife, Y/N Lannister!”

Aemond and you stride towards the Lord with confidence, without falter.

“Lord Borros,” you break the silence once you stop in front of the stairs. “Thank you for receiving us in your home on such short notice.”

Lord Borros hums and lifts his chin. “I am quite curious as to why I have the honor of receiving you today, so out with it.”

How kind.

“We are here as envoys for King Aegon,” Aemond says. “As you well know, my father passed, and in his last breaths he wished for his firstborn son to be named King. Your King. Now, hm,” he sighs and clasps his hands behind him. “It seems Rhaenyra Targaryen wants to usurp my brother's title.”

“And what?” Lord Borros quips.

You scoff. “King Aegon wants you to pledge loyalty to him, he hopes you could give your swords and bannermen to ally with him if it’s a war Princess Rhaenyra wants.” You continue for Aemond. “In exchange…” you breathe out. “We offer a proposal, when our daughter Visenya Targaryen comes of age, she shall marry your son. Let us join our houses Lord Borros.”

Lord Borros let’s out a deep breath and scoffs as he smirks. “So the Lion bows to the Stag, here I thought the day would never come. What would your father say?” He chuckles.

You scoff, and feign a soft smile. “It was my father and uncle who suggested it. So I’ll say they are quite honored, Lord Borros.”

“Hm.” He shifts in his seat and glances at Aemond. “What keeps me from accepting an alliance with the Princess if she bothers to show?”

Aemond clears his throat and steps forward. “Whatever it is you need. But I do hope you know, with our pact comes no…dishonesty,” he snickers. “When our children come of age, my daughter will be accompanied by a dragon. When they have children of their own, our grandchildren will each have one of their own. And is there no greater glory than joining three grand houses?”

You keep your eyes on the Lord and see him glance at his people for a brief moment before looking back at you.

“All right, I will accept the King's proposal, I will give my swords and bannermen, and accept the match between my son and your daughter.”

Both Aemond and you smirk, and you nod and add, “thank you, Lord Borros.”

“Did you bring the babe with you?” Lord Borros asks. “My wife might be curious to meet our daughter to be.”

You shake your head and can’t help but smile at the thought of her. “No, unfortunately. Visenya is home. Perhaps we can return another time so the children can meet.”

He scoffs, and changes the subject to matters of money and dates, and doesn’t let you even say a peep, he makes Aemond talk the entire time. Actually you’re quite lucky he actually even addressed you today and didn't just view you as Aemond’s accessory.

Regardless as they talked, sometime later an announcement then cuts them off. “Prince Lucerys Velaryon.”

You turn around and see the boy alone, surrounded by Baratheon Knights. Aemond also turns before slowly walking to your side to look over at his nephew, as he looks at him…with shock

“Son of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen,” the Knight continues.

Thunder claps in the sky and breaks Lucerys from his stupor. “Lord Borros, I brought you a message from my mother, the Queen.”

Aemond and you share a judgemental look over the boy's words.

“Yet earlier this day, I received an envoy from the King,” Lord Borros says. “Which is it? King or Queen? The House of the Dragon does not seem to know who rules it.” He proceeds to chuckle alone before finally questioning the boy's intentions. “What’s your mothers message?”

Lucerys puts out the scroll in his hand so the Knight can take it to his Lord. And once the Knight walks off, Lucerys glances over at Aemond again, as if he’s afraid your husband will just disappear to then attack him.

“Where’s the bloody maester?!” Lord Borros exclaims.

And in the wait, you see Lucerys hold his swords handle before looking ahead again as he waits.

“Remind me of my fathers oath,” Lord Borros says. “King Aegon at least came with an offer, my swords and banners for a marriage pact.” he glances over at Aemond and you, causing you both to show off a sly smirk as Lucerys looks and pieces together what the offer was, who you were matching together.

“If I do as your mother bids,” Lord Borros continues. “Which one of my daughters will you wed? Boy.”

“My Lord,” Lucerys interjects. “I am not free to marry, I'm already betrothed.”

“So you come with empty hands,” Lord Borros says. “Go home, pup. And tell your mother that the Lord of Storm’s End is not some dog that she can whistle up at need to set against her foes.”

Without any falter Lucerys responds, “I shall take your answer to the Queen, my Lord.”

Aemond sighs, and Lucerys turns to begin heading out. Yet, Aemond then stops him. “Wait. My Lord Strong.”

You glance at Aemond out of surprise and slight confusion, but don’t show it when you return your gaze to Lucerys as he turns and walks back.

“Did you really think that you could just fly about the realm trying to steal my brother's throne at no cost?” Aemond throws out.

“I will not fight you,” Lucerys tells him. “I came as a messenger, not a warrior.”

“Fight will be little challenge,” Aemond counters. “No.” He then surprises you by pulling off his eyepatch and showing off the sapphire underneath it. “I want you to put out your eye. As payment for mine.”

You stiffen at his threat and take a step closer to Aemond.

“One will serve,” Aemond continues without breaking eye contact, whilst he pulls back his coat to unsheath his dagger and throw it at the boy's feet. “I will not blind you. Mm.” He smacks his lips. “Plan to make a gift of it to my mother.”

Lucerys looks down at the blade before slowly looking back at Aemond, and snapping back, “no.”

“Then you are craven as well as a traitor,” Aemond rebuttals, making Lord Borros interject as he senses the tension rising.

“Not here.”

However, Aemond then charges at the boy as he exclaims out, “give me your eye, or I will take it, bastard!” He picks his blade off the ground and Lucerys pulls out his as Aemond continues to charge at him.

“Aemond,” you exclaim and step forward. “Not here! Not in this hall.”

Without hesitation Aemond comes to a halt a few feet away from Lucerys.

“Prince Lucerys came as an envoy to Lord Borros,” you remind him. “Not as a warrior.”

“I will not have bloodshed beneath my roof,” Lord Borros interjects. “Take Prince Lucerys back to his dragon. Now.”

Lucerys sheaths his sword and the Knights then accompany him out, letting Aemond flip his sword around in his hand before putting it away.

Yet you don’t feel at ease, you know him, you can read him now. You know this wasn’t going to stop him.

“Our apologies,” you say outloud and turn to face the Lord. “Lord Borros.”

Said man sits back down and releases a deep breath.

“We must go now,” Aemond adds. “Thank you for your loyalty. I hope we return in time so our children may meet.” Aemond turns around without adding more, and you turn after him to match his quick stride out of the castle.

“Aemond,” you call out, but to no avail. You step out into the rain and call to him again, but he continues to storm over to Vhagar. “Aemond!”

Said man stops just under the archway and turns to face you right in front of him. “Stay here,” he says and grabs your arms. “I will return.” He presses a kiss on your forehead and steps back.

“What will you do?” You ask before he can turn. “Take me with you.”

He sighs and holds your gaze. “No, my love, this is something I must do alone. I can not fathom the thought of you getting hurt—”

“Don’t,” you cut him off. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Never,” he scoffs with a playful smirk. “Just a small…jest, is all.”

You clench your jaw and huff out. “Don’t let your emotions cloud you, Aemond.”

Said man smiles and reaches you again to caress your chin before kissing you once more. “I’ll be back for you,” he assures you.

“All right,” you whisper and watch him walk to Vhagar.

From the top of the dragon Aemond looks at you one more time before he makes the she-dragon fly off high into the sky. You watch them quickly disappear into the thick storm clouds, in the sheets of rain that fell down, and between the clapping thunder.

You wait for them in the same spot he left you at and watch the sky without daring to look away out of fear. You initially thought it was because of what Aemond could do, but you quickly know that the fear is for his life.

Lucerys might not be willing to fight, but the dragons tell a different story, they don’t follow those same rules their masters do. So yes, you fear for Aemond’s life because losing him now…would be like death.

So the longer you wait, the harder you feel your heart pound, the more you fidget with each ring on your finger, the more you worry grows. Until, finally there, coming down from within the clouds is Vhagar. She comes down and lands as close as she can get, but Aemond doesn’t get down, so you climb up.

Once you reach the top, he doesn’t meet your gaze, he lets you sit in your spot behind him without even saying a word. He just keeps his gaze downcasted , and his lips formed to a pursing frown.

He doesn’t seem hurt, neither does Vhagar, so this was something else. Something else made him quieter than he was already, something else made him frown and upset.

“Are you okay?” You try to ask.

Aemond nods stiffly and then makes Vhagar fly away. And the entire flight back home was painfully quiet. Aemond didn’t speak a word about what happened between him and Lucerys, nor did you ask him in that moment. Not even when you planted your feet back on the ground. You were going to give him his time, let him talk when he wanted to.

In the meanwhile you did talk to Vhagar.

“<You are such a good lady,>” you tell the dragon as you caress the side of her face as she leans in your touch.

“Y/N,” Aemond murmurs, making you pat Vhagar one last time before turning to face Aemond.

And that’s when you finally see it, read the emotions in his gaze.

His eye is wide. He looks baffled, but deeper than that he looks scared. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth, to see him so upset.

“What is it?” You ask as you get close to him.

Aemond swallows thickly and lets out a deep sigh. “It was…Vhagar, she ate Lucerys.”

Everything in you goes rigid; your thoughts, your muscles. All you feel is disbelief, worry for what was to come from the council when they knew. Yet when you can begin to progress what Aemond said, you blink repeatedly and let out a deep breath before you close the gap between you and grab his arms.

“Okay. That’s—we will deal with it together.”

Aemond’s eye begins to cloud with a tear, and his frown seems to deepen.

“We will have to send her away,” he blurts out, referring to only one person; Visenya.

He was referring to her. Little baby Visenya.

Once again you go rigid, this time denial begins to infiltrate, as well as anger.

“She…” his words trail off as your eyes fall to the ground and you repeatedly blink in disbelief, as you swallow down his words, as you gather your thoughts.

It just he couldn’t send her away. Not her. She couldn’t leave—she needs you. She’s just a baby. She needs him. You need her. She can’t leave.

“No,” you cut him off and blink to meet his gaze. “No,” you repeat. “No!” You shove his hands off you and shoot him a burning glare. “You said she would stay! She isn’t supposed to leave me yet! She—-”

“They will demand blood for blood,” Aemond interrupts you and grabs your arms now. “Justice for what I did.”

You shake your head. “She’s a baby! She’s just a little baby! If they come for her I will kill all of them.”

Aemond sighs and grabs your face now. “Y/N. Listen to me. She cannot stay here, I will not let her stay here and risk having something happen to her. I will not allow it,”

Tears cloud your eyes as you grab onto his hands. “Then protect her. You can do it. I have friends, you’re skillful, just please don’t make me send her away.”

“My love,” he whispers softly. “My love, that is not enough. It pains me too, having to send our daughter away, but she will be safer—”

“No,” you cut him off as tears stream down your cheeks. “No place is safer than with us.”

Aemond let’s out a deep breath and doesn’t agree or get assured, he keeps his frown on, he stays looking sad. He doesn’t come up with a different plan.

“It will be with someone we can trust with our lives, someone who won’t be swayed by money or power. Someone loyal. Someone who can and will protect her with their life.” He says instead. “She cannot stay at Casterly Rock. No matter how many men your father has. She cannot go with my brother Daeron, she needs to go with someone no one will suspect.”

You slide your hands off his, drop your head and sniffle.

You know he’s right, you know it deep in your heart, but it doesn’t mean it hurts any less.

“Y/N,” he says and lifts your head so you can meet his gaze. “You—”

“I know,” you cry, “I know someone. I know…I know people, but please she’s our baby, she needs us.” You grab his face in hopes that would sway him away from his already made up mind.

“I know.” He nods. “I know. But if something happens to her because she stays here, I will never forgive myself. If I lose her I won’t be able to endure it because she is blood of my blood, because she is my delight, our daughter. So send for them, those people you trust.”

You cover your mouth and clutch onto your stomach before stepping away from him and turning around to give him your back.

“Y/N,” he whispers, “I need you to understand. Say you do.”

You let out a stifled cry and then turn back around to face him with a faltering scowl.

Yet you can’t hold it, you can’t be mad or blame him. So you drop your head and let him approach you again to cradle your face and wipe the tears off your cheeks.

“Tell me,” he says.

You let out a shaky breath and meet his gaze. “Ser Robert,” you reveal the first person, and only person who you can fully trust without a fault to protect your daughter with his life.

“And…Nyra.” She may have chosen Aegon a year ago, she might’ve been sent home because of it, but if there’s anyone you trust to take care of Visenya, to trust to not let her forget you or Aemond, it’s her. The girl who never stopped being your friend.

“I’ll summon them,” you whisper.

Aemond nods in agreement before he leans his face closer. “She will take her dragon as well. It may be a hatchling, but it will grow, it can protect her too in time.”

You draw in a deep breath and nod slowly before sighing.

Aemond then caresses your cheeks before pressing a kiss on your head and pulling you in for a tight, comforting embrace.

“Do not worry my love,” he begins to assure you confidently.

You hug him back, clutch onto him so he wouldn't go. Like if your life depends on it.

“…we will kill them all so we can be together again,” he continues, making you pull back to face him.

“You swear?” You ask him as you hold his gaze.

He smirks and presses a kiss on your forehead one more time before he presses his forehead against yours and assures you, “we will kill them all.”

.

.

.

.

A/N- since I will put this on hiatus, maybe I can write a few side stories like the baby’s first kick, stuff like that??? Yes??

Tagged: @winter-soldier-101 @whateverooooooo @xcharlottemikaelsonx @blue-serendipityy @aistheamazing @lawlerek @hydrationqueensworld @out-of-life @claudie-080102 @ameagrice @stargaryenx @joniinoj

[lya-dustin]

Shock and Delight

Chapter 16

A/N: i purposely mucked around with dates and things to fit the plot. Canon is what i say is canon in this au

Rhaenyra knows the arrival of Prince Qyle will be what spurs young Aemond into finally proposing to her daughter.

Dorne wanted a dragon and the Step Stones because the princess had chosen wrong when it came to men.

The Rogares in Lys were falling from grace because not a single member of Lysandro Rogare’s family had what it took to run his bank. Drazenko Rogare was not able to get his young bride with child and was reportedly bleeding the princess dry with his lavish living.

Even the raids into the Marches had not been able to refill their coffers as they had hoped they would.

So now after Daemon saved the Princess’ beloved uncle and Lord Admiral, Aliandra dangled the possibility of a treaty for the small cost of a dragon, the third in line for the throne and the Stepstones.

The Small Council would rather cut off their own balls and eat them before they let the first and last ones go to their lifelong enemies.

Bloodstone had been cleared and a fort would be built complete with a Dragonpit, and a Lord’s Keep to formally make it a territory of the crown. Baela and Rhaena would eventually become the Ladies of the Narrow Sea with Rhaena having the formal title of Lady of Bloodstone.

Perhaps an agreement can be made with Qyle’s or Aliandra’s hypothetical children to keep the tenuous peace once Aemma rejects him.

Aemond’s hand would ensure Otto cannot rise in Aegon’s name. Even if Aegon has already given obeisance to her and done everything in his power to be just Prince Aegon Lord of the pleasure palace he is overseeing in Summerhall, Dorne would have to freeze over before the man relents.

Rhaenyra has always been underestimated by her foes, did they really think she hadn’t been schooled in laws and traditions and trade agreements once she was named heir?

Her father had not bothered to teach her, so she taught herself. She would be queen because the Song of Ice and Fire was visible to her and her alone. The Gods of Valyria had chosen her to fix Jaehaerys’ mistakes and avenge her mother by making her Viserys’ true heir.

And when she gave birth to Visenya she was shown what would happen if she did not change the path they are on. Had Helaena not admitted to having been plagued by dragon dreams since they were children, the Princess of Dragonstone would not have heeded the Gods’ message.

But she has and now the Dragons must not Dance.

For that she needs to fix the rift between her and Alicent before they all pay for it in blood.

“Barely out of leading strings, my lord, and think yourself high enough to approach my niece?” Aemond is terrific at playing the jealous suitor.

The threat lies in his demeanor, straight as a needle and his tone as sharp as one. He is a weapon, that glimpse she had of him a fortnight ago and the way he gives it his all in the training yard proves he is wasted on tourneys. Put him under Daemon’s command and they could keep the Stepstones under their control.

“You play the jealous suitor far too well, dear uncle, are you ready to face a greater opponent than a boy of four and ten?” Aemma asks with a teasing lilt to her voice as the boy returns to his mother and sisters.

“The prince will play the same game as all the ones before them, mark my words he will tell you exactly the same things Arryn was telling Cassandra before we were so rudely interrupted.” He stands ramrod straight with a tight smile hating every second he is in court playing the perfect prince. Aemond hid his boredom well, so Aemma introduced him to her secret habit of watching people.

They had been mocking the courtship unfolding before their eyes.

Aemma owed Aemond ten silver stags because of course Joff Arryn would approach Cass by saying ‘what I have heard of your beauty pales in comparison to its reality’. Now he claims the Prince of Dorne will be as unoriginal as the Knight of the Bloody Gate.

Then Kermit, the poor soul, decided to present himself while breaking protocol by not waiting for an introduction and even worse addressing her as an equal.

He may be the heir to Riverrun, but she and Aemond were still royalty. It was just shit manners.

This little scene also had a purpose beyond scaring away suitors she doesn’t want.

A tiny show of jealousy from Aemond makes his mother find good men without Aemma having to do any of the heavy lifting. Something the two dragon riders only noticed when she asked Aemma to entertain the prince as a hostess would when introducing her to Lord Fossoway’s heir and rakish Jon Roxton didn’t work.

Come to think of it none of these young men have been given any serious thought these days. Except Jon, he was a prick with hair as black as his temper and while Aemond was as short of temper as he is, he didn’t inspire anything but disgust from her.

None were as handsome as Aemond, or well-read or even cares to know her like he does.

With Aemond she has the benefit of already knowing him, of having spent her first ten years of life with him. He was familiar and would never hurt her.

It was no wonder when given a choice some ladies choose their own kin. With a cousin or an uncle, you know the person well enough to know what a married life with them would be like and if it goes wrong, you have your family to help you out.

With a stranger you have to infer from what you see in a setting where your chaperones are there to make sure you behave or pretend to be better than you are. Elinda Massey and Teora are good chaperones, they will see a hint of danger and at once put a stop to it.

This had gotten rid of her other suitors, well, not Joffrey Arryn. Cousin Joff had just left on his own the moment he heard that Cassandra’s haughtiness had taken a blow now that Lord Baratheon had finally got the son he so desperately wanted. Cass now wanted to be the next Lady Arryn given that Joffrey is the only kinsman Jeyne does not hate.

Her grandmother and mother had mentioned a possible match between her and the Prince of Dorne, to bolster Rhaenyra’s claim and ensure a truce to hold until Aliandra Martell has children that will marry Aemma’s. Mother didn’t seem too keen on the idea, but then again, her mother believes she and Aemond are very serious about each other.

She wants to fix things, finally allowing Luke to apologize to Aemond and now wants to remedy the whole asking grandfather to have her brother tortured for what happened that night by allowing their relationship to happen.

Gods, Aemma feels terribly guilty for this.

“What sort of name is Qyle, House Martell has had many great men in its lineage who the fuck names his only son Qyle?” Aemond changes the topic of conversation as they gather to meet Prince Qyle of Dorne who comes as an emissary on behalf of his sister, the Ruling Princess of Dorne.

He was about the same age as them, soon to be eight and ten and four years younger than his sister who came into her seat at seven and ten and recently married a Lyseni of the Rogare Family.

“Oh, hush, I am sure it had some sort of meaning to his father. Like yours does.” The princess tried her best to keep quiet, not wishing to look rude when they are waiting for the bloody carriage to reach the fucking great hall, but still poking fun at Aemond’s own name.

“Ah, yes so creative that one! Daemon only with the D at the end!” Aemond scoffed and continued his mockery of the Dornish Prince’s name. “At least it’s not a weakling’s name like Qyle. Aemond the Fierce died on dragon back like a true warrior.”

Aemma cannot but roll her eyes at his words, “And a cuckold, unfortunately.”

Aemond’s mood changes and only glared at her in response. Now he was truly angry.

Her grandsire had wanted to name his son Daemon, but the scandal of him fucking mother moons before her wedding had him change his mind ---even after the whole heir for a day and the Mysaria thing--- and looking for a loophole.

Aerion Targaryen had had a younger brother named Aemond who died valiantly and his sister-wife, well, widow, Aeriana had married a Lord Darklyn a scant six moons after his demise. Some old stories claim his wife sent him to die to marry her lover and others that she needed the babe in her belly ---her only son after two or three daughters--- born on the right side of the sheets.

Aemond had been twelve when he heard Mushroom sing the bawdy shanty about the man he was named for at Aegon’s request and never forgave his father for it.

Aemma shouldn’t have reminded him of that. It would have been kinder to let him ignore the rest of Aemond the Fierce’s tales. She will apologize later, perhaps meet in his room again, she needs to return the book back to him now that she let Teora read it as well.

But that must wait, for the man of the hour has finally arrived.

Prince Qyle of Dorne is handsome, with dark curls and dark eyes and the dark olive tones of a Salty Dornishman. He is not as tall as her, but not so much that it would pose an issue. He shows enough charisma to know he could win over his enemies with ease and there is nothing to even hint at a darker nature hiding behind his wide smile.

All courtesies are observed and despite her longer standing by Aemond as she had been, he in her thoughts as if he still was.

“I am honored to finally meet the mythical Pearl of Dragonstone; all I have heard of your beauty does not come close to the reality.” Prince Qyle will never know why his words made Aemma snort like an uncouth peasant.

[something-tofightfor]

Hi! I was just wondering, is Fools Gold going to be a poly story? Like Oberyn will be with both Ellaria and the reader character?

Just wondering because it is tagged and now with them getting to Dorne.. I just wanted to know haha :)

Hey, anon! Thank you for sending this over, it's a great question. I'm going to answer under the cut just in case people want to be totally surprised.

It's going to be poly in the sense that Oberyn will go between Reader and Ellaria once they're in Dorne, yes. But Ellaria and Reader will never be with him at the same time, at least that I've plotted out or plan to show in the story. HOWEVER - this also isn't confirmation that Reader chooses to stay in Dorne permanently, because that's one surprise I won't spoil.

In my mind, Ellaria is a non-negotiable part of Oberyn's life, and he in hers - they're both willing and happy to let the other explore and develop relationships outside of their own, but if I were to use any term to describe O/E, it's soulmates, and cutting her out of his life for someone that he just met weeks earlier feels wrong and out of character.

With that being said - since none of this is from Oberyn's POV, I don't plan on writing smut for him and Ellaria - it's going to be implied, but won't be "onscreen".

I can also tell you that there won't be any ultimatums given by any of the three in regard to how the relationship/s play out. That feels wrong, too, and it wouldn't end well for anyone, which isn't what I want to do with this story, because the only person things should end terribly for is Cersei (as always).

I know that the poly stuff isn't for everyone, and that there are a lot of people that couldn't be with Oberyn if they knew he was still sleeping around (even only with Ellaria), so I hope that the choices I make with this/them make sense when you read it. That's one of the reasons that I've held off on Reader/Oberyn actually having sex - I felt like it needed to be an informed decision, and in the story, Oberyn drawing that line was meant to highlight that there's more to this (and the way he's thinking) than just immediate gratification like in the past.

The tags on the main masterlist do include Oberyn x Ellaria, but the chapters themselves will be updated to reflect that moving forward after she becomes a physical presense in the story.

I hope you have a great rest of your weekend, Anon!

[tb-gerschutz]

Three

Word Count: 2,087

Trigger Warning(s): explosive temper/extreme anger, persuasion/attempted brainwashing, verbal arguing

Summary: King Brandeth is angry that his daughter escaped from her execution and fled to Dorne.

**********

BRANDETH

How could she do such a thing to me? Out of all the things she has done, this had to be the most out-of-line. I always knew that she was an extremely spirited, headstrong individual who is the perfect mix between me and her mother, but this...this was extremely deviant. How could my daughter—my dear Anaysha—be such a deviant person like this? That is definitely not the way you ascend to the throne, my dear. That will never be the way to get to the throne. I swear on my life that if she ever tries something like this again...you know what? There will never be another chance for her because once she arrives back here, she'll be dead.

I will not make an exception for her execution just because she is my daughter.

That's when I started plotting different scenarios into my head. How could I possibly bring Anaysha back here? I know all too well that she won't be coming back any time soon, so I had to come up with a plan. A plan so impeccable that poor Anaysha would not notice a thing. Not even the tiniest detail.

I was even so lost in my thoughts that I didn't even notice my eldest quietly walking in. Why he was there was quite simple. I had called him, telling him that I simply needed to talk to him about something. Something that will most certainly affect him and his future with this kingdom.

"You wanted to see me, Father?" he questioned.

I turned away from the fireplace to face my eldest son, who was almost an exact copy of me. Sure, he had some traces of his mother in him, but he looked mostly like myself.

"Yes, I did. I needed to talk to you about something rather important."

"Whatever it is, Father, I will listen with open ears," Crodell said firmly.

I inhaled sharply before telling my son the advice that I wanted to share with him. "It's time you start learning the tips and tricks into being a good king since you'll be taking over the throne after I die."

He then joined my side, showing at least some interest in what I had to offer. I considered it crucial advice for when you're ready to take the throne, but I wasn't sure of what Crodell thought of it.

"You have to understand, Crodell, that it takes a lot of courage and guts to be a king. You have to be able to use all that pent-up power against other people. Without doing that, you simply cannot get anything," I started as I showed Crodell the seaside view on a nearby balcony. "Without power, you simply cannot gain all of this. This will all be yours someday, Crodell. But you have to have enough strength to control all this and more."

Crodell looked hesitant after I said that in such a cruel tone. "Do I really get all of this one day?" he asked.

"Of course, son. Once it is time, you shall inherit the throne and the land that comes with it. But in order to get all this, you need to be firm and demanding. Don't let others stop you on your path to greatness," I explained.

Crodell hesitated. "But do we need to use such aggressive methods all the time?"

I turned my head to Crodell, being dumbfounded by what he just asked me. Usually, my eldest would always go along with my word, obeying it down to the last detail. His question, however, indicated something different. It was like he was veering away from his typical behavior, which is something I didn't want. I expected my son—and all of my children—to obey my every command without questioning it. After the ongoing debate I have with Anaysha, I don't want the same to happen with any of my other children, especially Crodell—the heir to the throne.

"What are you talking about?"

"We don't necessarily have to use such aggression all the time," Crodell elaborated. "Sometimes, royals use diplomatic reasoning. Actually, Anaysha resorts to this usually and doesn't use aggression unless it is absolutely necessary."

My expression immediately changed. "Anaysha doesn't know any better about being a royal and shouldn't be trusted. She's a conceited brat, and you shouldn't listen to her over me."

"With all due respect, Father, Anaysha was only defending herself," Crodell answered.

"She may have tried to defend herself, but it won't last long, dear boy. Once she returns, she will immediately get beheaded for her crimes."

My son sighed. "If that's how you feel, then go ahead and do it. I simply do not have the power to stop you."

"You certainly do not, Crodell, because I am king! And you and your siblings will do exactly as I say. No exceptions!'

The doors to the throne room opened up, and in walked my highest-ranked servant, Luras Spirre. Although he was only about twenty-one years of age, this particular boy had surely and confidently flown high through the ranks and became a version of my right-hand man at quite the young age. He was an extremely gifted young boy with great intelligence in multiple areas and the confidence level of the highest-ranked royal. This young boy impressed me so much during our first initial meeting that I knew in an instant that he was going to make quite the impact in this kingdom.

"My Lord, Your Highness," he said, bowing to both me and Crodell. Such a generous boy!

Crodell and I turned to Luras to acknowledge his presence. "What is it, dear boy? Tell us the news that you bring before us."

"It's your daughter, My Lord," Luras announced quietly and somberly, as if he was afraid to tell me the news.

I yearned for more details. "I'm afraid you'll have to give more details. I have several daughters. Which one is the subject of your news?"

"Anaysha. The second eldest," Luras confirmed. "Word traveled and confirmed that Anaysha has escaped to Dorne, where she is allegedly residing in its capital of Sunspear."

Crodell turned to me. "Well, Father. You got your wish. You found out where Anaysha has fled to."

Luras had something to add on. "It gets worse, my Lord. I have yet to confirm it, but word has it that Anaysha has agreed to a courtship with Oberyn Martell, the crown prince of Dorne."

I couldn't believe what I heard, nor would I even consider believing it. I refused to believe that my insolent daughter would agree to a courtship with the most dangerous man in all of Westeros after I specifically told her not to. Granted, I tried to convince her that he was as dangerous as those claim, but she and her stubborn head wouldn't listen.

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Like I said, my Lord, I cannot confirm the news yet. I'd advise you brace yourself just in case the news turns out to be true," Luras carefully advised.

The anger inside of me burned inside of me as though gasoline was fueling a fire. Even though it was boiling up to a high climax, I managed to somehow keep this anger from riddling me whilst Luras was still in the room.

"Thank you, Luras. I will look into this matter further," I said as he departed the room rather quickly.

As soon as he shut the door behind him, I let out a high-pitched, deafening scream that could've been heard across the whole castle. By this point, my family is used to my rage-fueled screams, so they didn't worry one bit. My son was completely unphased, mainly because, like the rest of my family, he was so used to my deafening yells and screams that had an angry undertone.

"At least we know where she is now," Crodell added, trying—to no avail—to lighten the mood.

"Yes. She's off in the kingdom of Dorne, probably fucking the most dangerous man in all of Westeros," I shouted.

Crodell raised one of his eyebrows. "I highly doubt that she'll be fucking him. Anaysha is pretty adamant when it comes to her boundaries and what she wants. She's good at saying no when she isn't quite ready."

"Even if she isn't, boy, she is still dabbling with the Red Viper after I specifically told her how dangerous he is. She deliberately disobeyed me!" I snarled in such a tone full of hatred and burning rage.

I paced about the room, trying ever so hard to not unleash my frustrations and anger out on my own child. Even though I was tempted to do so with my own daughter Anaysha, I was determined not to do so on my eldest son—the heir to the throne. This was my frustration that only I had to try and resolve. Crodell shouldn't be involved unless I directed him to be.

Then, I had an idea. An awful idea that I hadn't yet thought of throughout this ordeal. Why not have someone do my dirty work, while I stay here in Pyke Castle commanding them? It'd be as if they were the puppet, and I was their puppetmaster.

"Dravor! Get in here!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

Not even a minute goes by before my highest-ranked military general Dravor Caerlight burst in. He was a giant of a man whose stature was much taller than mine. He made me feel like a meekling with his height and build, though I considered myself fairly muscular. Every moment that he unlocks his deadly stare, I tremble in the greatest fear I've ever felt.

"Yes, Your Highness?" Dravor questioned.

"Build up our military's offenses and prepare as if we're invading Dorne," I commanded with such force. "I don't want to invade Dorne quite yet, but I want to prepare our armies just in case."

Dravor nodded. "I will do just that, Your Highness."

As quickly as he emerged into the room, Dravor exited, leaving me and my son to ourselves in an atmosphere so tense and stressed.

"You're preparing the armies right now when there isn't a need to invade?" Crodell questioned.

"I am," I confirmed boldly.

"Why are you doing such a thing?"

"Oh, dear boy. I'm only doing this just in case we're threatened. I have a feeling that we will be threatened, so I'm preparing for the worst," I responded.

I could sense my son's frustrations building up to the surface, but they emerged a lot slower than mine did. "Now, who could possibly threaten the Iron Islands?"

"Anaysha, Oberyn Martell...it could be anyone," I answered.

"Anaysha is not dumb enough to do that, nor is Oberyn Martell," Crodell pointed out. "Oberyn Martell will only strike another kingdom if his kingdom of Dorne is threatened first."

I managed to suppress my anger and not unleash it on my own son. "We can't trust them. Not even your own sister."

That is when my son erupted, his anger shooting through the roof. "Why can't you just repair your relationship with Anaysha and put all of this behind?"

"I will not have a daughter that associates with the most dangerous bastard in all of Westeros, so no. I cannot and will not put this behind me."

"But, Father, she is your daughter, and she was only defending herself! Did you ever think that she is only doing this because she actually seeks comfort in someone so volatile? No, you never did! All because you're too conceited and selfish to take notice of your own children!"

"I will not have my own children supporting such a traitor like Anaysha, and that's the end of it!" I shouted, becoming so irate with what my son was possibly becoming. "Get out! Get out of here before I chop your head in place of Anaysha's!"

Crodell stormed out of the room, slamming the doors behind him. I was very irritated with him, mainly because I felt he was sympathizing with the enemy. The enemy that I saw in my own daughter. And despite her not doing anything to threaten me and her own kingdom, I was afraid of what she might do in the future, considering she now had the Red Viper in her back pocket. From this point forward, she was my enemy. The enemy that I feared. The enemy that I hoped would not be the reason for my downfall. The enemy that would, hopefully never, claim themselves to be the victorious, bigger dog in the fight. 

[raya-rhaenyra-ahsoka]

Why Daenerys Should've Stayed Longer in the North Than Attack Cersei Too Soon (Which is a dick move, really) PART 2

This is a continuation from my other post, as promised. Here’s the link to Part 1 here.

ALLIES FROM THE SOUTH

The Stormlands. With Dany recently legitimizing Robert Baratheon’s last living bastard, Gendry (Yay!), and appointed him as the new Lord of Storm’s End, I think he had pledged his loyalty and full support to her.

Now since the Baratheons are the overlords of the Stormlands, it ultimately makes the Stormlands part of Dany’s new rule in Westeros. And if the Stormmen questioned Gendry’s legitimacy, there are two people who can back him up: Ser Davos Seaworth, a landed knight, and Ser Brienne of Tarth, literally the heiress to Evenfall in Tarth Island. Both of whom are from the Stormlands and have served the late Baratheon lords, Stannis,

and Renly, respectively.

TV show-wise, Gendry had taken over Edric Storm’s plotline. Edric Storm was another one of Robert’s many bastards and it was him who Ser Davos saved from being killed by Mellisandre in the books, not Gendry. Gendry himself was grateful to Davos for saving his life and he sort of stepped up as his own parental figure. I also think Gendry reminded Davos of the son he lost during the Battle of Blackwater Bay.

As for Brienne, she and Gendry never shared a conversation in the show, but in the books, he even saved her life. Brienne came from Tarth, an island in the Stormlands, where her father Selwyn Tarth is lord and one of the many bannermen of the Baratheons of Storm’s End. Brienne came across Gendry in the Inn at the Crossroads while she was searching for the Stark girls. When she saw him, she literally thought he was Renly because of his striking resemblance to his uncle. Their exchange went something like this:

Brienne: Oh my god, Lord Renly?!

Gendry: Uh, what? Lord? Lol no, I’m just a smith.

I wished it happened in the show, it would’ve been funny.

Dorne. There isn’t much plot regarding Dorne in the show. (Again, f*ck D&D for ruining a great sub-plot of the story!) But in the books, the Martell heiress, Arianne was the ultimate feminist icon. She supported and fought for Myrcella Baratheon’s claim to the Iron throne over her younger brother, Tommen, and she hoped that the rest of Westeros would follow after Dorne’s right of inheritance regardless of gender and order of birth. But no! They disregarded that seemingly important plot that even George R.R. Martin was disappointed about the changes. (We hear you, George!) Nevertheless, Arianne would’ve supported a queen, yes. But between Daenerys and Cersei, she’d probably go with Dany mainly because of their family ties. In case you forgot, Rhaegar’s late first wife, Elia Martell, was Arianne’s aunt. Also, because of what happened to Elia and Oberyn Martell in King’s Landing, the Martells practically loathed the Lannisters. In the show, Oberyn Martell’s paramour Ellaria Sand, and his bastard daughters, the Sand Snakes, hated the Lannisters, that’s why they sided with Dany. But with all of them dead and House Martell now extinct, I think the new prince of Dorne would’ve allied himself with a tamer ruler, not one who plays with wildfire. (Note: this is when Dany stayed in the North and did not march south yet.)

Spies. In the Art of War, the use of spies implies gaining knowledge of the enemy, knowing their motive and their next move. With Lord Varys the Spider in Winterfell, who’s still serving under Daenerys, has its advantages. Vary’s networks of spies or as what he called them, his “little birds” are literally scattered across the seven kingdoms.

His little birds are actually children, and appearance-wise, cannot be easily identified as spies. With his intel, they could easily formulate a plan to defeat Cersei.

DEFENSE AT SEA

 If Cersei couldn’t do it by land, she’ll go by sea. Which, Daenerys of course, have the appropriate fleets to defend, covering both the Narrow and Sunset Seas. Here's a map:

(Source: pinterest.com)

Enemies to the East. If Cersei will be stupid enough to attack through the Narrow Sea by sea, Daenerys has the fleets to defend. The Northern fleet, a.k.a the Manderly Fleet of White Harbor and the Arryn Fleet in Gulltown in the Vale will join forces.

Enemies to the West. And if they invade through the Sunset Sea, they’d have to pass the Iron Islands, where Yara Greyjoy’s Fleet will intercept them, with the help of the Mallister Fleet in Seagard.

Who would win depends. The only other person that’s probably as good as Euron at sea is his niece, Yara. The rest of Dany’s fleet would have to get lucky or outnumber the number of ships in a fleet.

At this point, you’ll probably be like, oh, what if they steer clear from the fleets and enter the North’s weakly defended areas? Okay, that job falls to the castles nearest to their borders. The northernmost castle is the Last Hearth, the seat of House Umber, which is practically already deserted. On the south is Greywater Watch, which has the strongest defense out of all four cardinal directions. On both east and west hold the seat of two branches of House Flint, with Widow’s Watch on the east, and Flint’s Finger on the west (Again, refer to the map above). Once they see Cersei’s fleet, they’ll inform the people in Winterfell.

People tend to forget that Daenerys has the only air support with her dragons. So when she hears about this, she’ll easily burn the enemy fleet with one dracarys away.

That is, if Qyburn hadn’t installed that big-ass crossbow in one of the ships, then she’ll have to be better at dodging them. It gets better if Jon’s willing to help her with Rhaegal, but we’ll never know.

OUTNUMBERED AND SURROUNDED

The map shows the Crownlands and its neighboring kingdoms of the Vale, the Riverlands, the Reach, and the Stormlands. (Source: pinterest.com)

Territories. With Cersei sacrificing Casterly Rock to tighten her grip on the Iron Throne, she technically had also sacrificed the Westerlands, which meant everything north of King’s Landing is Dany’s territory now. With Dany’s army and territories secured, the Crownlands, where King’s Landing is, is technically surrounded by the Vale, the Riverlands, the Reach, and Stormlands. I included the Reach because, well, she roasted the Tarlys and took the remaining men to her cause with a choice, bend the knee or die in a blaze of glory.

Armies. Dany has the combined armies of North, Vale, Riverlands, Westerlands, Reach, Stormlands, and maybe Dorne, plus, the Unsullied; fleets of the North, Vale, Riverlands, and Yara’s fleet from the Iron Islands; and the only air support, her two remaining dragons. Cersei on the other hand, just had the army of the Crownlands, King’s Landing’s City Watch, the queensguard, plus, the Golden Company without elephants; and Euron Greyjoy’s fleet.

I think it’s obvious that Dany outnumbers Cersei’s army, by a lot. And at this point, Dany has enough allies to lay a siege on King’s Landing.

DAENERYS VS. CERSEI

Let’s discuss the difference in the personalities and motives of Daenerys Targaryen and Cersei Lannister.

They both have blond hair, are the only girl among three siblings, and are queens in their own right. But that’s where their similarities end.

Cersei currently sits on the iron throne, and she is loving the perks that came with it. Endless Power, which meant she can do whatever she wants and not care about what people think, like sleeping with her brother. With the news of Dany coming back to Westeros, she sees her as a threat and wanted nothing more than for Dany to disappear so she could stay in power.

Daenerys, however, claims that being the queen of the seven kingdoms is her birthright, as it was the Targaryens that reunited the whole continent of Westeros. Of course, it’s still power, but at the same time, she sees it as a responsibility as well. (With great power, comes great responsibility. Wow, I’m quoting Spiderman now.) She believes that as a queen, it’s her job to take care and provide for the needs of her subjects and even makes an effort to hold court as she listened to their demands. She also thinks that slavery is a big no-no, so she freed them.

The key to becoming a great leader is finding the balance between being loved and feared by your subjects. Cersei is more likely feared than loved. She also doesn’t care about her people, a fact that she admitted to her brother, Tyrion once. Daenerys most likely had the scale tips on balance, with her being equally loved and feared by her subjects. She’s loved because she actually takes time to listen to the people’s needs, and feared because she could take you out using her dragons with one word.

If Dany did lay siege on King’s Landing (again, we aren’t counting her major mad queen moment), the only thing Cersei can use against Dany is the people living within the city walls. Cersei might have heard that Dany’s been freeing slaves in the cities surrounding Slaver’s Bay, and figured out that she has a soft spot for the common folk.

In conclusion, if Daenerys had simply waited out and took her time planning and gathering allies and supplies against Cersei, she would’ve been successful in her campaign to retake Westeros. But then again, we aren’t the writers for this show. In the end, they had Jon battling through himself while he chooses to reply with either of his two favorite lines, She’s my queen or I don’t want it. Or that Sansa and Arya doesn’t like Dany at all and think that she’s a power-hungry, dragon-riding bitch. Or that Bran doesn’t give a f*ck about anything. So, yeah. What do you guys think?

[starksinthenorth]

Musings on ASOIAF Ladies and Ambition

I’ve noticed people use “ambition” to describe Sansa and Daenerys as if it’s a bad word or an insult (often called “power hungry”). Yet in the text of the series, neither of them are shown to be ambitious people as a core characteristic. I blame the series for a lot of this, because it failed to explore the internal dialogue of Sansa, Arya, and even Cersei, who ends up more humanized than either of them by the end (because of the maybe baby).

Cersei Lannister is the classic ambitious ASOIAF lady, whose point-of-view is introduced in perhaps the most iconic sentence of any introductory chapter:

She dreamt she sat the Iron Throne, high above them all.

I can’t think of a sentence in ASOIAF that better introduces the internal thoughts and view of its leading character.

In comparison, Sansa’s first sentence is receiving news about her father’s whereabouts, Daenerys is shown her new dress to meet Drogo, and Arya has crooked stitches again. Arya’s works to frame her relationship with Sansa and her internal struggle to fit the feminine Westerosi mold, while Sansa and Daenerys are setting up plot points. None of these interactions signal ambition, bad or good. Daenerys did not arrange her wedding, Sansa is just told the information by her Septa, and while Arya is aspiring to have straight stitches, that’s hardly an ambitious goal for a girl of nine.

Fans rarely, if ever, deny Cersei’s cruel, cold, often stupid ambition. In fact, it’s one of the reason people seem to love her. She’s internally open about what she wants - power - and when she wants it - now:

All of them are burning now, she told herself, savoring the thought. They are dead and burning, every one, with all their plots and schemes and betrayals. It is my day now. It is my castle and my kingdom.

- AFFC, Cersei III

The rule was hers; Cersei did not mean to give it up until Tommen came of age. I waited, so can he. I waited half my life. She had played the dutiful daughter, the blushing bride, the pliant wife. She had suffered . . . She had contended with Jon Arryn, Ned Stark, and her vile, treacherous, murderous dwarf brother, all the while promising herself that one day it would be her turn. If Margaery Tyrell thinks to cheat me of my hour in the sun, she had bloody well think again.

- AFFC, Cersei V

Cersei is the definition of a power hungry lady, scheming and cheating at every point. Yes, Sansa learned from her, but most of Sansa’s internalized lessons of Cersei’s were to do the exact opposite. 

"The night's first traitors," the queen [Cersei] said, "but not the last, I fear. . . . Another lesson you should learn, if you hope to sit beside my son. . . . The only way to keep your people loyal is to make certain they fear you more than they do the enemy."

"I will remember, Your Grace," said Sansa, though she had always heard that love was a surer route to the people's loyalty than fear. If I am ever a queen, I'll make them love me.

- ACOK, Sansa VI

Cersei isn’t the only POV character who views herself outside of conventional Westerosi standards and aspires to something beyond being a wife and mother. Arya Stark has ambition writ clear on the page, though it is not so cold or denying other people their rights or chances. Compared to Cersei, Arya doesn’t want everything, crown and throne and kingdom and all. She just wants something, and even that is denied to highborn women in Westeros. Even when she asks her father about her future, a man who wants to do right by his children and loves them, Eddard Stark is blinded by Westerosi patriarchy:

Arya cocked her head to one side. "Can I be a king's councillor and build castles and become the High Septon?"

"You," Ned said, kissing her lightly on the brow, "will marry a king and rule his castle, and your sons will be knights and princes and lords and, yes, perhaps even a High Septon."

- AGOT, Eddard V

With Arya in this, I see some parallels to Elaena Targaryen, who was so good at math and management she served as the secret Master of Coin while her husband carried the title. Elaena was “more willful than Rhaena, but not as beautiful as either of her sisters,” yet is also said to have been “more beautiful at age seventy than at age seventeen,” growing into herself like Arya is expected to. They both even cut their hair, Arya to hide her gender and Elaena to hide her beauty, both instances to gain freedom from captivity in the Red Keep.

Despite both these examples of ambition - Cersei’s all-encompassing, without care for how it affects the realm, and Arya’s attempt to find a place in the world outside the Westerosi model - it still becomes an insult when people speak of Daenerys and Sansa.

Critics claim Sansa is ambitious, and negatively so, because she “wants to be queen.” But this criticism misses a vital point of Sansa’s character. Unlike Cersei, she does not want to be queen because of the power and political influence, but because she will be living a song. In the start, Sansa’s got her head in the clouds, not to the dirty world of politics. Her very first chapter lays out this motivation incredibly clearly:

All she wanted was for things to be nice and pretty, the way they were in the songs.

When she thinks of Joffrey and being in love with him, it’s because he’s “handsome and gallant as any prince in the songs” (AGOT, Sansa II), 

Alternatively, it has been said that Sansa is ambitious because of her claim to Winterfell. But compare how Sansa thinks of her claim to how Big Walder Frey does. Despite being far down the inheritance line, he is certain he will someday possess the Twins. He’s likely willing to kill his family to become Lord of the Crossing, and already has killed Little Walder.

In comparison, Sansa isn’t the one who realizes her claim as heir to Winterfell, even after her two younger brothers are believed dead. It’s Dontos who mentions it, and after she still thinks that Robb will have sons to inherit.

But she had not forgotten his words, either. The heir to Winterfell, she would think as she lay abed at night. It's your claim they mean to wed. Sansa had grown up with three brothers. She never thought to have a claim, but with Bran and Rickon dead . . . It doesn't matter, there's still Robb, he's a man grown now, and soon he'll wed and have a son. Anyway, Willas Tyrell will have Highgarden, what would he want with Winterfell?

- ASOS, Sansa II

Sansa’s not ready to kill Bran and Rickon if they show up. Her arc is about taking off the rose-tinted glasses and seeing reality, but also working to make reality like a song. For example, her idea of the Tournament of the Winged Knights for Sweetrobin. It’s a song come to life, all by her making. TBD how the ending goes, of course, but it shows that trajectory.

And finally, Daenerys.

Daenerys is not driven by some lifelong desire to win and dominate. She’s forced into it, a la Brienne’s “no chance and no choice.” If Daenerys were raised in a stable environment, I have a feeling she’d be much more like Sansa: dreamy, hopeful, sweet and studious. Happy.

But instead, her eyes are open.

When she’s introduced as a character, she shows an awareness for the schemes and politics of the world. She knows her brother is called the Beggar King in the Free Cities, and is doubtful of the smallfolk’s secret toasts to Viserys III that Illyrio Mopatis claims happen across Westeros.

Like Sansa and Cersei, there’s evidence of her goals, hopes, and wishes in the very first chapter:

"I don't want to be his queen," she heard herself say in a small, thin voice. "Please, please, Viserys, I don't want to, I want to go home."

. . .

Dany had only meant their rooms in Illyrio's estate, no true home surely, though all they had, but her brother did not want to hear that. There was no home there for him. Even the big house with the red door had not been home for him.

Daenerys remembers home as the house with the red door in Braavos. It’s her brother whose only home and stability was the Red Keep, not her.

Throughout her journey of power to take back the Seven Kingdoms, she is doubtful at every turn and most of her wishes are for happiness, for peace, for stability.

Dany had no wish to reduce King's Landing to a blackened ruin full of unquiet ghosts. She had supped enough on tears. I want to make my kingdom beautiful, to fill it with fat men and pretty maids and laughing children. I want my people to smile when they see me ride by, the way Viserys said they smiled for my father.

- ACOK, Daenerys II

A queen I am, but my throne is made of burned bones, and it rests on quicksand. Without dragons, how could she hope to hold Meereen, much less win back Westeros?

- ADWD, Daenerys II

Even later, Daenerys is determined to bring peace to the lands she currently rules. She does plan to return to the Seven Kingdoms, but it’s not driven by pure ambition. And this is, notably, from a conversation when Prince Quentyn Nymeros Martell asks her to come back and claim them now, saying she has allies for that conquest. And still she turns him down, with promises that it will only happen eventually:

"Daenerys said. ". . . .One day I shall return to Westeros to claim my father's throne, and look to Dorne for help. But on this day the Yunkai'i have my city ringed in steel. I may die before I see my Seven Kingdoms. Hizdahr may die. Westeros may be swallowed by the waves."

- ADWD, Daenerys VII

And yet in both Sansa and Daenerys, these visions and hopes for the futures they might have are considered unbridled ambition, although they turn more on happiness and peace for themselves and their people, rather than the type of ambition Cersei has, which is clearly her own power and being heralded above everyone.

Daenerys’ thoughts in her sixth chapter of ADWD have the same energy as Sansa’s “I will make them love me.”:

"A queen must know the sufferings of her people."

. . .

A queen must listen to her people, Dany reminded herself. 

Daenerys has figured out how to make her people love her, by wearing her “floppy ears” and appealing to the masses, listening to them, et cetera. She’s also a bit ahead of Sansa in the realm of ruling, to be sure.

But how are these similar thoughts ambition in either of them? It’s an attempt to empathize and connect, not to throw away and disregard and rule by force and domination. Both these ladies are more nuanced, and the fandom does them a disservice by painting them as ambitious or power-hungry when at the end for both of them, it’s a desire to have a happy, stable, loving life.

[hello-nichya-here]

Ok, so what in your opinion is the WORST mistake that the showrunners for Game of Thrones made in terms of content, either it's addition or redaction?

WARNING: Looooooong post ahead

Themes are for eighth-grade book reports

This absurd quote by one of the showrunners explains why exactly the show fell appart. They wanted to make a story... without themes. Anyone with a minimally functioning brain will tell that this is impossible because every story, even the simplest and least complicated story there ever, has a theme. Even a nihilistic story has a theme "Nothing matters". Every. Story. Has. A. Theme.

But Game Of Thrones didn't, at least not after the writers ran out of books to adapt and did their own thing. Everything every character did was no longer to build a narrative, but to essentially act as click-bait. The focus was to make people keep watching, not on making any content that was worth watching.

The first four seasons had it's problems, just like the books had it's problems, but Martin's writting was so brilliant that it managed to stay good even while being handled by absolute clowns. The moment season four ended was the moment the show stopped being an adaptation and became it's own thing - and like I explained before, said thing wasn't a story.

Shock

Both the show and the books had MANY shocking, heart-breaking and downright horrifying scenes: Daenerys being raped by Drogo; Bran being pushed out the window after accidentally seeing the queen fucking her brother; the whole deal with Craster and his daughters; the Dotrakhi destroying Mirri's village and her revenge against them and Daenerys; Ned's death; Melisandre giving birth to a shadow baby that killed Renly; The Red Wedding; Jeoffrey's death; Tyrion killing his father; Theon being tortured by Ramsay...

The difference is there were REASONS behind the shocking scenes Martin created. Even when you look at things like rape and torture scenes and threats of rape/torture - Martin used those scenes to remind us that the world he created is an EXTREMELY dangerous and downright vile place, and that the characters are never truly safe, and that there are WAY worse things than just being killed.

Dumb & Dumber on the other hand, gaves us scenes like an evil, former man of the night's watch evily making an evil speech to his fellow evil men, evily drinking whine from a human skull while nameless women were being raped in the background - but little does he know that Jon Snow, the hero, is about to wreck his shit. It takes something that could realistically happen (and that did happen in the books) and takes it up to eleven because the writers think shock is the same as quality and that the audience is SO STUPID that they need to practically make the actor jump out of the TV, grab us by the shoulders and scream "I'M EVIL! I'M THE BIG BAD! ROOT FOR THE HERO TO KILL ME!"

Pretty much every bad guy became a parody of Jeoffrey, ironically enough because the writers took Jeoffrey too seriously. He was a cruel, sadistic character, who had WAY too much power - but he was also a spoiled baby whose reply to Tyrion bitch-slapping him wasn't a threat, but "I'M TELLING MOM!" Jeoffrey worked because he was only allowed to do his thing whenever smarter, more competent characters like Tyrion and Tywin where not around, meaning his actions, while inhumane, never reached the point of no longer being believable.

The horrible things that happened to the characters no longer felt "right". For instance, Sansa had just been taken to the Eerie by Little Finger, who has a weird complex in which he sees her both as the daughter he never had with Catelyn AND as a replacement for Catelyn, and she was starting to truly be a player instead of a pawn... and then the writers realized "Oh shit, we should have not cut the Jeyne Pool/Fake Arya' plot, that was important" and forced it on Sansa, making Little Finger hand her on a silver plater to Ramsay and turning her into a victim AGAIN, this time to a man that dramatically fights his enemies without a shirt own, practically saying "come at me bro"

Compare this to Ned's beheading, or Catelyn and Rob being betrayed and killed by the Freys. These moments were shocking and downright depressing - but they were earned. The writting was on the wall for anyone to see: Ned was at the mercy of Jeoffrey, and the Starks had given the Freys, who are notoriously disloyal, a reason to resent them. These twists felt completely natural, were the only logical way for the situation the characters were in to play out, AND they had consequences to plot instead of just making the audience gasp and then being forgotten about.

Plot armor

It's kind of ironic and almost tragic that the show that became famous for killing characters later became the worst type of high-stakes series, putting the characters in situations they could NOT survive, not even if a goddamn miracle happened, and having them live anyway. What's even worse is that it happened repeatedly. If I had to see Jon Snow almost die and then survive anyway one more fucking time I was going to lose my mind.

There's no bigger proof that there were just no consequences for the "main" characters anymore than watching the second, third, and fourth episodes of season either. The first sets up that this battle against the night king and his army of undead is likely going to kill the majority of them, if they're lucky... and then in the third we see the plot armor in all of it's "glory", and then in the forth we find out that the Dotrakhi, who had ALL been killed, actually still have half the numbers they had the night before, somehow. Even red-shirts weren't dying anymore.

DORNE

This disaster needed it's own session because HOLY SHIT, it's a miracle/tragedy that everyone didn't go "Fuck it, I'm never watching another episode of this stupid show."

The Dorne plot in the books isn't perfect, but what the show did to it was so fucking bad that I'm pretty sure the writers didn't even read the Dorne chapters in the books, they just looked at a wiki, wrote down the names of a few characters and then did their own shitty thing.

In the books, Doran Martel is a clever, dangerous man, who pretends to be harmless so people will understimate him and step right into his trap. In the show, Doran Martel... died. That's it. I can't remember anything else that happened to him. Add him to the list of "Brilliant characters that became stupid due to shitty writing", I'm sure Tyrion, Varys and Little Finger will love making him company.

The sand-snakes, one of the main driving force of that plot, were all distinct characters in the books, with their personalities, goals, methods and motivations - basically they were created by a writer who knew what he is was doing. In the show they were all the same "character" who could be perfectly described by that horrible, cringy, PAINFUL line one of them (I can't even remember which) said to Bron "You want a good girl, but you need the bad pussy" (Seriously, if that actress ever kills the show-runners as revenge for having to say that, she'll be 100% justifyed in doing so)

And we cannot forget the driving force behind that unwatchable shit show: Ellaria Sand. In the books, the death of Oberyn made her believe that revenge only leads to more blood-shed. In the show, his death enraged to the point of wanting to avenge him and his family, and she did this... by killing his family. If that doesn't explain how insane and stupid this plot-line was, I don't know what will.

Hype = Character assassination

Many shows are based around the conflict between the bad guys and the good guys. Game Of Thrones is not one of these shows. Or at least it wasn't. As they ran out of ideas, the writers started mutilating every single character until they could be label as "Good" or "Bad", regardless of what felt right to the story and to the point that there was nothing left of said characters. Stannis's actor, Stephen Dillane, straight up said that the only thing he got from being on the show was money and that his character's motivations and decisions were nonsense - ironically enough, that kind of brutal honesty means that the writers had THE perfect actor play Stannis, and wasted his fucking time.

Here's a list of the characters that fell victims to this horrible fate: Catelyn Stark, Tyrion Lannister, Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Jon Snow, Melisandre, Stannis, Jorah, Daenerys (bonus points for being mutilated into being both a generic, shitty "hero" and a generic, shitty "villain") Greyworm, Rhaegar Targaryen, Lyanna Stark...

Pretty much the only character who became more complex in the show than she was in the books was Cersei. While her book self was never just a "Generic Evil Queen", the show version of her was far more sympathetic, which made the stories she was part of interesting. Too bad the writers ran out of ideas of what to do with her after season six and just left her by the window drinking whine until Dany showed up to kill her. Which brings us to...

Why is this happening?

Cersei was seen as a threat in the last two seasons based on nothing but the things she HAD done. Her story just ended the very second season six did, but since she was still alive despite being one of the bad guys she had to die... I guess. She (and by extention Jaime) joined the list of characters that had nothing to do, but were still around: Davos, Theon, Yara, Melisandre, Bron, Sam, Gendry, Bran (the last one being SO unnecessary that he was cut from season five and no one noticed)

To combat that issue, the writers gave characters "motivations" that made no sense. For exemple: Sandor Clegane. His only reason to be in the show was so he could kill his brother. The problem was that Gregor was already dead. He was a walking corpse. There was nothing left of the abusive brother Sandor once knew, meaning he had no reason to fight him, and that, to keep Sandor around, the writers should have come up something new (like the redemption that book fans have been waiting for, and that has a lot of backing evidence). You might as well have had HIM be the one to randomly fly out of nowhere and kill the night king despite having no connection to him.

And since we're talking about the night king... Arya was the one to kill him. Why? Because the writers ruined Jaime's redemption arc, meaning that the only fitting ending for him was to die with Cersei, and so Arya could not kill Cersei despite wanting to, having the ability to do, AND having heard a prophecy that said she'd "Shutting brown eyes, blue eyes, and green eyes forever", the last one being the only one she had not done AND applying to Cersei. But Dumb & Dumber admitted they had no plan for this, so now that they were at the last season, they needed to do something with it, and they retconned it to mean Arya would kill the night king...

But Arya killing him meant Jon had nothing to do, so Dany had to go mad so he could kill her. To "hint" at that, they ignored all the not at all subtle foreshadowing the previous season had of Dany and Jon having a kid, and they even showed her getting jealous that he was technically the true heir... even though that made no sense since they were going to rule together anyway, and even after Dany went full "Mad Queen" she ASKED HIM TO RULE WITH HER. But anyways, he kills her and becomes king...

Except he doesn't actually become king and him being a secret Targaryen has no effect in the plot, because Bran needed to become king so there'd be a reason for him to be alive, because his magical powers turned into a plot-device. A plot-device that wasn't used at any goddamn point. Seriously, the only thing as bad as Bran becoming king was Euron's existence - dude was THE most useless villain ever AND the worst Jeoffrey parody.

A darker story (literally)

I could not end this rant without bitching about this. What is the point of spending an ungodly amount of money on sets, costumes, make-up, special effects... and then using such poor lighting that no one can see what the fucking is going on?

Anyway, this disaster of a series was so absurd it should be used as an exemple of what NOT to do.

[jackoshadows]

Is it possible that Robb's will is a red herring? That it's actually a thing or be relevant?

I do think that it will play an important role in pushing forward Jon Snow as a possible candidate for KITN. Without that decree, Jon will not in any way be relevant to the politics of the North.

IMO, the only reason Jon even became King on the show is because that’s a book plot. Considering how much Benioff and Weiss wanted Queen Sansa, considering that there is no way the North would have made bastard Jon Snow king when Ned Stark’s legitimate eldest daughter was sitting right there, and considering that the show hand-waved away both of Sansa’s marriages,  I think KITN Jon Snow is a book plot that they inserted in there without the writing to back it up.

And then there’s the things GRRM has mentioned in interviews:

I have a question, since Robb actually  legitimized Jon and named him his heir for Winterfell and the North  before the Red Wedding (granted no one knows about this and is still  alive or free, the Greatjon knows as does Edmure, but I dont see them  getting out of the Twins any time soon and Catelyn would probably die  before telling anyone) does this make Jon's rejection of Stannis' offer  moot?

Edmure and the Greatjon are prisoners, true... but you are forgetting  the envoys that Robb sent to Howland Reed... Galbart Glover, Maege  Mormont, Jason Mallister... they are all alive and free.

As to what is and is not moot... the key point is, only a =king= can legitimize a bastard......

GRRM SSM, August 06, 2000

It is GRRM who brings up that Glover, Mormont and Mallister are still out there and alive and free and were witnesses to the will. I think this implies that this point is going to be relevant.

GRRM has also stressed that at the end of the day, might is right. Meaning, whomever has the most houses and armies supporting them is who gets to be King. Robert Baratheon’s will was torn up to make Joffrey Baratheon king. The same can be done to Robb’s will. And that is even without considering that Robb was considered an enemy traitor and not a king by the Lannisters and Stannis.

I had forgotten that all the others signed and  witnessed Robb's decree. Also, wasn't Robb a King when he signed the  decree? Granted not king of much, with the North lost but he was a King  wasn't he?

He was a king in his own eyes and those of his followers... in the  eyes of the Lannisters and Stannis and =their= followers he was a rebel,  traitor, and would-be usurper.

GRRM SSM, August 06, 2000

On inheritance in Westeros:

Well, the short answer is that the laws of inheritance in the Seven  Kingdoms are modelled on those in real medieval history... which is to  say, they were vague, uncodified, subject to varying interpretations,  and often contradictory.

A man's eldest son was his heir. After that the next eldest son. Then  the next, etc. Daughters were not considered while there was a living  son, except in Dorne, where females had equal right of inheritance  according to age.

After the sons, most would say that the eldest daughter is next in  line. But there might be an argument from the dead man's brothers, say.  Does a male sibling or a female child take precedence? Each side has a  "claim."

What if there are no childen, only grandchildren and great  grandchildren. Is precedence or proximity the more important principle?  Do bastards have any rights? What about bastards who have been  legitimized, do they go in at the end after the trueborn kids, or  according to birth order? What about widows? And what about the will of  the deceased? Can a lord disinherit one son, and name a younger son as  heir? Or even a bastard?

There are no clear cut answers, either in Westeros or in real  medieval history. Things were often decided on a case by case basis. A  case might set a precedent for later cases... but as often as not, the  precedents conflicted as much as the claims.

The Wars of the Roses were fought over the issue of whether the  Lancastrian claim (deriving from the third son of Edward III in direct  male line) or the Yorkist claim (deriving from a combination of Edward's  second son, but through a female line, wed to descendants of his fourth  son, through the male) was superior. And a whole family of legitimized  bastard stock, the Beauforts, played a huge role.

The medieval world was governed by men, not by laws. You could even  make a case that the lords preferred the laws to be vague and  contradictory, since that gave them more power. In a tangle like the  Hornwood case, ultimately the lord would decide... and if some of the  more powerful claimants did not like the decision, it might come down to  force of arms.

The bottom line, I suppose, is that inheritance was decided as much  by politics as by laws. In Westeros and in medieval Europe both.

GRRM SSM, November 02, 1999

I have seen some people state that no one can be disinherited and that legitimized bastards come after legitimate children. As seen above, GRRM has left all this deliberately vague. It’s very possible, that Robb’s will disinherits Sansa and legitimizes Jon, decreeing him as Jon Stark, KITN and Lord of Winterfell - directly putting him ahead of the rest of his siblings. People can be disinherited in Westeros - the question is if being disinherited will be recognized by everyone else.

Reasons for why this is possible - Robb Stark was adamant that Tyrion should not get Winterfell through Sansa. Even Catelyn was agreed on this. Robb would not have allowed for any loop holes for this to happen in his will. And second, Catelyn was strongly against Robb legitimizing Jon and naming him heir precisely because it would put Jon ahead of her children. I can see this as a plot point in the North in the next book.

Questions with the will:

Robb assumed that Bran, Rickon and Arya were all dead when it was written. Many houses like Manderly now know that this is not true. Rickon and Arya will both be back in the North in the next book. So will Robb’s decree still hold true if it’s drawn up with false information?

It all comes down to which house supports whom. I get the feeling that with GRRM’s SSM above, that houses Glover, Mormont and Mallister may push for King Jon Snow. Manderly and others may move for Rickon. And of course there is no way that Littlefinger and Vale Lords would acknowledge or accept Sansa’s disinheritance as valid. Littlefinger does not even acknowledge Robb as king.

All this deliberate vagueness regarding inheritance would also apply to when Daenerys comes to Westeros with a claim to the Iron Throne. Whomever has the most armies and support among the houses would have the better claim. With her dragons, Dany easily wins this one.

At the end of the day, who will become King/Queen is upto whatever GRRM wants for the story - that’s why he’s left it undefined and nebulous.

[esther-dot]

This ask is critical of parts of the jonsa fandom, so I’m putting it under the cut.

I think all of us want Sansa to experience a loving relationship, anon, but people were very hurt by Jon’s actions in s7. For some fans, it was almost like Jon cheated on Sansa because the political/personal was so conflated. How D&D wrote Sansa being upset by the idea of Jon marrying in s7 and jealous of Dany in s8 feeds into the personal grievance idea, that Sansa could intellectually understand the need for dragons and armies but that Jon broke her heart. So, the desire for Sansa to have sex with someone—anyone— might be about leveling the playing field rather than a genuine, “this would be healthy and wise.” There’s an idea of fairness that’s present in a lot of romances. GoT did this by having Tormund infatuated with Brienne. Jaime had another relationship, so giving Brienne the option of one made it feel equal. After s8, a lot of people stopped shipping jonsa altogether or only read AUs because after Jon’s behavior, they didn’t want him near Sansa, but for others, they still want them together, they just don’t want Sansa to be with Jon without that “balance” that we’ve been trained to expect in romances. I didn’t see Jonsas go for the pedoships, but I know a lot of people thought she needed to develop relations with Dorne when they saw the prince in the finale.

But, the bigger issue is that a lot of us were reacting to what it felt like D&D were saying. D&D chose to write into her story rape and torture, and as a result, a lot of show Sansa fans were particularly invested in her having consensual sex to tell us that she had healed, had agency, and would be happy. I am shocked that D&D gave her rape plot (not hers in the books) and didn’t give her a romance. The fact that they shoehorned in sex scenes for two other couples in s8 even though Sansa’s arc was much more tightly tied to marriage, motherhood, and she will (by the rules of the world) have to have children to carry on the Stark line and rule after her, confounds me. I know there were non Jonsas commenting on how wrong it felt that Sansa was the only main character who didn’t get a romance, and it was adding insult to injury that the show seemed to say she never would. That’s profoundly upsetting (and gross) for a number of reasons. I doubt it would be anyone’s ideal that she just fuck a random soldier, but at the same time, it is offensive that D&D treated her the way they did and then seemed to seal her off from love/sex/marriage permanently with their “last of the Starks” bs. I can easily see why someone might exclaim in frustration/rage, “they could have at least given her consensual sex once! It doesn’t matter with who!” We were all pretty overwrought after the finale, so I may have even reblogged something like that myself even though I love sentimental romances, and that’s what I envision for Sansa. But, everyone comes up with different headcanons to help them cope with what we got. It’s all we can do.

[paulamoon1]

Danaerys warning at the end of ADWD.

“No. Hear me, Daenerys Targaryen. The glass candles are burning. Soon comes the pale mare, and after her the others. Kraken and dark flame, lion and griffin, the sun’s son and the mummer’s dragon. Trust none of them. Remember the Undying. Beware the perfumed seneschal.”

They are clearly telling her to TRUST NO ONE. Wish I totally agree. Danaerys is a foreign and the daughter of the mas king. People in Westeros will not trust her and they will allied with her but will plot her demise since she is a very dangerous enemy to any house or any crown in Westeros as long as she has her dragons alive.

It says with the pale mare. The pale mare could be the white walkers, or Arya. Arya is very connected to death and is learning to practically play with death.

The others are the potential allies Danaerys will meet along the way.

Kraken: Euron Greyjoy

Dark flame: Melisandre or Jon Snow resurrected. If Jon is brought back by Melisandre flame lord then Jon could be this.

Lion: the Lannisters (Tom men, Cersei, kaven, Jaime and Tyrion)

Griffin can be the vale. Specially Lord Harrdying. Since is posible he could become the lord reign of the vale. Which they call young falcon.

Or even Jon Connigton which is known as the Griffin.

Then comes the Sun’s son. This could be Aegon VI. Elia’s son. Which have already kind betray Danaerys since he left to Westeros and leave Danaerys to have mareen because he wants to claim the throne for himself.

Or it could be Jon. Who if is resurrected by Melisandre could be the son of the God of the light. The champion of light azor ahai. He was also born in the tower of Joy and the sun and in dorne.

And the murmer’s dragon. Mumer means actor. This could be

Aegon or Jon. They are both Danaerys nephews if Aegon is the son of Elia and Rhegar. However actor could mean that they have acted all their lives in other’s shoes and not their own.

For example Aegon was given a nicknamed by Jon connington and had his hair dyed blue to keep his identity hidden from who he truly was. So he had acted like he is young griffin but he is the heir of the seven kingdom.

The same goes for Jon. All his life he has been a dragon disguised to be a bastard. The murmer dragon could be Jon. Since he doesn’t know who he is like at all.

Danaerys grew up knowing who she was and her house and her parents. Aegon and Jon grew up with made up stories of who they were and where they came from.

And last but not least perfumed seneschal means house.

Perfumed house. Roses. House of roses. House Tyrell.

She must not trust any of them. Because none of them have good intentions with her.

And remember the undying.

When she sees the death, the whights and the white walkers to remember that this is part of her destiny.

I think Danaerys arrival to Westeros would happens mid or end of Winds of Winter. Her arrival will set motion to that old magic keeping the death behind the wall.

I believed Danaerys is the key. That is why the slavery and change of plans happened. Her trip must be delay to allow other story lines to line up before is time to play the war between the dead and the living.

I always get the feeling that Danaerys won’t be alive by the end of the books. But she is defiantly not the ultimate enemy. I believed she has a purposed to serve.

Maybe save Westeros. Like her father destroy Westeros, she is meant to save it from this immortal danger

My beautiful Dany.

I just hope she does listen and keeps this warning in her head. For those around her and the ones she will meet.

[aboveallarescuer]

GRRM interviews about (or mentioning) Dany - Part 1

I went to So Spake Martin and collected excerpts of GRRM's interviews that talked about Dany in some way. Some observations here:

I didn't have access to broken/unavailable links or newspapers that require subscription.

I didn't get video or podcast interviews, only ones that were written down.

I also added some excerpts about how he enjoys grey characters or how he wants to be "realistic" and other topics that may relate ... not necessarily to Dany's character, but to his writing in general. It may be useful for some metas, even if they should not be divorced from the actual text.

I didn't mind collecting interviews about the same topic.

Maybe I did a poor job collecting these interviews or the SSM is incomplete, but, in any case, there are still several key interviews missing; I couldn't find the ones about how GRRM relates to Dany's character or how he wishes the Targaryens were black, for instance. 

Even with these limitations in mind, there is still quite a bit to dig into here.

November 1998

The Targaryens have heavily interbred, like the Ptolemys of Egypt. As any horse or dog breeder can tell you, interbreeding accentuates both flaws and virtues, and pushes a lineage toward the extremes. Also, there's sometimes a fine line between madness and greatness. Daeron I, the boy king who led a war of conquest, and even the saintly Baelor I could also be considered "mad," if seen in a different light. ((And I must confess, I love grey characters, and those who can be interperted in many different ways. Both as a reader and a writer, I want complexity and subtlety in my fiction))

 December 1998

Was it a conscious decision to paint things in grey, killing off good guys, etc.

Definitely a conscious decision. Both as a reader and a writer, I prefer my plots to be unpredictable and my characters to be painted in shades of grey, rather than in blacks and whites.

 July 1999

Just out of being curious how a writer goes about his work -- do you generally write a certain POVs chapters in batches? Or are Dany's chapters, given how generally unconnected they are to the rest of the books as she goes along her own plot thread, easier to do that way? I suppose the momentum can help with a tough character.

Yes, I generally get in a groove on a particular character and write several chapters or chunks of chapters at once, before hitting a wall. When I do hit a wall, I switch to another character. Some characters are easier to write and some harder, however. Dany and Bran have always been toughest, maybe because they are heaviest on the magical elements... also, Bran is the youngest of POV kids, and very restricted as well because of his legs. At the other end of the spectrum, the Tyrion chapters often seem to write themselves. The same was true for Ned.

 Jon was not born "more than 1 year" before Dany... probably closer to eight or nine months or thereabouts.

November 1999

Also, just how much impact did the Rhoynar have on the modern customs of Dorne? Beyond the gender-blind inheritance laws, the couple of Rhoynish gods that smallfolk might have turned into saints or angelic-type beings, and perhaps the round shields, that is. In particular, given that Nymeria was a warrior-queen, is there a certain amazon tradition?

The Rhoynar did impact Dorne in a number of ways, some of which will be revealed in later books. Women definitely have more rights in Dorne, but I would not call it an "Amazon" tradition, necessarily. Nymeria had more in common with someone like Daenerys or Joan d'Arc than with Brienne or Xena the Warrior Princess.

September 2000

It has been my intention from the start to gradually bring up the amount of magic in each successive volume of A Song of Ice and Fire, and that will continue. I will not rule out the possibility of a certain amount of "behind the scenes" magic, either. But while sorcerous events may impact on my characters, as with Renly or Lord Beric or Dany, their choices must ultimately remain their own.

 November 2000

This third Targaryen might very well be -not- a Targaryen, to quote his exact words... "Three heads of the dragon... yes... but the third will not nessesarily BE a Targaryen..."

 He mentioned his frustration that Tranter books don't have maps since Tranter tends to describe journeys using ALL the available landmarks (I also stupidly complained about there not being a map of the landmass Dany's on in the books, and he VERY politely pointed out to me that there was one in SoS [O the shame!]). 

 December 2000

NG: A Song of Ice and Fire undergoes a very interesting progression over its first three volumes, from a relatively clear scenario of Good (the Starks) fighting Evil (the Lannisters) to a much more ambiguous one, in which the Lannisters are much better understood, and moral certainties are less easily attainable. Are you deliberately defying the conventions and assumptions of neo-Tolkienian Fantasy here?

GRRM: Guilty as charged.

The battle between good and evil is a legitimate theme for a Fantasy (or for any work of fiction, for that matter), but in real life that battle is fought chiefly in the individual human heart. Too many contemporary Fantasies take the easy way out by externalizing the struggle, so the heroic protagonists need only smite the evil minions of the dark power to win the day. And you can tell the evil minions, because they're inevitably ugly and they all wear black.

I wanted to stand much of that on its head.

In real life, the hardest aspect of the battle between good and evil is determining which is which.

 NG: You've frequently expressed admiration for Jack Vance. How Vancean is A Song of Ice and Fire in conception and style? In particular, does the narrative thread featuring the exotic wanderings of Daenerys Targaryen function in part as a tribute to Vance, to his picaresque inventiveness?

GRRM: Jack Vance is the greatest living SF writer, in my opinion, and one of the few who is also a master of Fantasy. His The Dying Earth (1950) was one of the seminal books in the history of modern Fantasy, and I would rank him right up there with Tolkien, Dunsany, Leiber, and T.H. White as one of the fathers of the genre.

All that being said, I don't think A Song of Ice and Fire is particularly Vancean. Vance has his voice and I have mine. I couldn't write like Vance even if I tried... and I did try, once. The first Haviland Tuf story, "A Beast for Norn," was my attempt to capture some of Vance's effects, and Tuf is a very Vancean hero, a distant cousin to Magnus Ridolph, perhaps. But what that experiment taught me was that only Jack Vance can write like Jack Vance

 NG: Three more volumes of A Song of Ice and Fire wait to be written. What shape do you expect them to take, and are their titles finalized as yet?

GRRM: Yes, three more volumes remain. The series could almost be considered as two linked trilogies, although I tend to think of it more as one long story. The next book, A Dance With Dragons, will focus on the return of Daenerys Targaryen to Westeros, and the conflicts that creates. After that comes The Winds of Winter. I have been calling the final volume A Time For Wolves, but I am not happy with that title and will probably change it if I can come up with one that I like better.

 You tend to write protagonists with strongly negative personality quirks, people who certainly don't fit the standard mold of a hero. People like Tuf in the Tuf Voyaging series, and Stannis and Tyrion inSong of Ice and Fire. Do you deliberately inject your characters with unattractive elements to make readers consciously think about whether they like them and why?

Martin: [Laughs.] Well, I don't know that I'd choose the word "unappealing," but I look for ways to make my characters real and to make them human, characters who have good and bad, noble and selfish, well-mixed in their natures. Yes, I do certainly want people to think about the characters, and not just react with a knee-jerk. I read too much fiction myself in which you encounter characters who are very stereotyped. They're heroic-hero and dastardly-villain, and they're completely black or completely white. And that's boring, so far as I'm concerned. It's also unreal. If you look at real human history, even the darkest villains had some good things about them. Perhaps they were courageous, or perhaps they were occasionally compassionate to an enemy. Even our greatest heroes had weaknesses and flaws.

 There seem to be two different styles competing throughout the series: historical fantasy in the Seven Kingdoms series, and a softer Roger Zelazny/Arabian Nights style for the scenes abroad. Is there a conscious split between the two for you, or is it just an aspect of the setting?

Martin: I try to vary the style to fit each of the characters. Each character should have his or her own internal voice, since we're inside their heads. But certainly the setting has great impact. Dany is moving through exotic realms that are perhaps stranger to us than Westeros, which is more based in the medieval history with which we're more familiar in the West, so perhaps those chapters seem more colorful and fanciful.

 You do tend to be very brutal to your characters.

Martin: Well, yes. But you know, I think there's a requirement, even in fantasy--it comes from a realm of the imagination and is based on fanciful worlds, but there's still a necessity to tell the truth, to try to reflect some true things about the world we live in. There's an inherent dishonesty to the sort of fantasy that too many people have done, where there's a giant war that rips the world apart, but no one that we know is ever really seriously inconvenienced by this. You see the devastated villages where unnamed peasants have lived, and they're all dead, but the heroes just breeze through, killing people at every hand, surviving those dire situations. There's a falsehood to that that troubles me. A writer can choose not to write about war. You don't have to write about war if that's not a subject that interests you, or you find it too brutal. But if you are going to write about war, I think you need to tell the truth about it, and the truth is that people die, and people die in ugly ways, and even some of the good guys die, even people who are loved.

 June 2001

I'm a bit concerned about Dany's skills as a commander. To succeed with the invasion of Westeros, I believe she will need a lot of sound military advice (both tactically and strategically). What's your thoughts on this issue?

She will need counsel, yes... she will also need to learn to tell the good counsel from the bad, which is perhaps the hardest task of all.

 Was it difficult to you when you wrote Dany's scene with the slavers in SOS? Was that one of the moments where the character spoke to you and changer their direction? Cause for me that act of Dany's seemed out of character. I know she dislikes slavery, but she must have killed an awful lot of innocent people there, plus her motives to me seemed suspect. Yes she freed the slaves, but she also got a large army for nothing. And right after she left the slavery started up again.

Dany is still very young. She has lessons to learn. That was one of them. It is not as easy to do good as it might seem, no matter how noble your intentions.

 February 2002

1. Was Mirri Maz Duur telling the truth when she told Daenerys Targaryen that the latter could never have children again?

I am sure Dany would like to know. Prophecy can be a tricky business.

 3. Is Daenerys Targaryen or anyone in her entourage able to tell whether her dragons are male or female? (Is the question relevant to dragons?)

Not yet.

 4. Daenerys Targaryen believed that her brother Rhaegar loved Lyanna Stark. Does she also believe that Lyanna Stark returned this love?

Dany is not sure what to believe.

 5. Since all of their mothers died, who gave Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen and Tyrion Lannister their names?

Mothers can name a child before birth, or during, or after, even while they are dying. Dany was most like named by her mother, Tyrion by his father, Jon by Ned.

 March 2002

3) Is your world round. I mean if Dany traveled far enough east couldnt she come to the other side of westeros?

Yes, the world is round. Might be a little larger than ours, though. I was thinking more like Vance's Big Planet.... but don't hold me to that.

 Oh, stupid fan question. I've been trying to get a visual of what the Quarth look like in my mind. In terms of what race they might be in our world. Tall and pale but I don't believe their hair color was mentioned. Would they be Western European looking? Slavic? Whenever their culture is mentioned I always think of either Persian or Indians.

I have tried to mix and match ethnic and cultural traits in creating my imaginary fantasy peoples, so there are no direct one-for-one correspodences. The Dothraki, for example, are based in part on the Mongols, the Alans, and the Huns, but their skin coloring is Amerindian. The Qartheen are an even more exotic hybrid, and offhand I don't recall where I got all the cuttings.

 April 2002

[Shaun] How do you view Dany's place in the series. She seems an heroic character to me, but the writeups on the back covers always speak of her as a villain...

[+GeorgeRRMartin] to shaun ignore the blurbs on the back cover and make up your own mind who is the hero and who is the villain

 [Erix] Dany will be betrayes 3 times. Did ser Jorah betray here once for money? so does this make it 2 betrayels so far?

[+GeorgeRRMartin] to erix no comment (twice!)

 He said that in his original plan (when he wanted to write a trilogy) the Red Wedding would take place in book one, and Dany's landing in Westeros in book two. Now he says that Dany's arrival in Westeros will take place in book 5, A Dance with Dragons.

 December 2003

Shaw: You created Jon as a bastard and an outcast from the get-go. Yet he's also one of the most attractive characters. Did you choose to make Jon a bastard to make him more attractive as an "underdog," or was his bastard birth central to the shaping of his character itself?

Martin: Almost all the characters have problems in some way. Very few of my major viewpoint characters have all the answers or have an easy path through life. They all have burdens to bear. Some of them are women in a society that doesn't necessarily value women or give them a lot of power or independence. Tyrion of course is a dwarf which has its own challenges. Dany is an exile, powerless, penniless, at the mercy of other people, and Jon is a bastard. These things shape their characters. Your experiences in life, your place in life inevitably is going to change who you are.

 Shaw: As the novels unfold, Jon becomes increasingly identified with the northern cold and ice, just as Dany is closely tied to the southern heat and fire. Will these two ultimately embody the central image of the series, Ice and Fire?

Martin: That's certainly one way to interpret it. That's for my readers to argue out. That may be one possible meaning. There may be a secondary meaning, or a tertiary meaning as well.

 Shaw: Are all the Targaryans immune to fire?

Martin: No, no Targaryans are immune to fire. The thing with Dany and the dragons, that was just a one-time magical event, very special and unique. The Targaryans can tolerate a bit more heat than most ordinary people, they like really hot baths and things like that, but that doesn't mean they're totally immune to fire, no. Dragons, on the other hand, are pretty much immune to fire.

 February 2004

Jon and Dany will be the two focal characters of AFfC (in the sort of way in which Ned was the focal character of AGoT). 

 May 2005

He doesn't feel that it's fair to call his work gratuitous. He wants the reader to live vicariously though his books (a function of fantasy writing), feel the characters emotions. If a character is at a feast, he wants the reader to smell the food, experience Dany's discomfort at being served an unappetizing dish. The same with the sex scenes-he wants his readers to feel like they are there.

Another bit of information that I found interesting- we *WILL* hear about the POVs who will not have front stage as it were, but will have it in ADwD. The reports of those chars will be somewhat garbled and messy as can be expected from any news that has travelled that distance and is that important. ex) Varys' manipulation of the Dany information, or Theon's skinning of the miller's information (we didn't know it wasn't Bran and Rickon until later). *THOSE* are the kind of reports we will see in AFFC about the missing POVs. We will get information on them, but have no idea which parts, if any, are correct.

I have some more things to add about things I asked, but I will probably trickle out things as I sober up and recall them. :p

The following will show up in ADwD:

Arya, Bran, Jon, Dany, Tyrion, and Asha (she will be in both books, as she gets involved in affairs of the North)

[Note: Spoiler POV redacted] has the most number of chapters in AFFC, while Dany has the most in ADwD. Also, the number of Tyrion chapters is going up from 4 to 7 in ADwD (his storyline is basically beinbg expanded).

 GRRM said Dany and the Wall is excluded. That removes Dany and probably Tyrion plus the Wall which presumably means Jon and Davos. 

Dragons will deal with Daenerys and the North. He decided to split by character, rather than in the middle of the story, as he wanted a complete book, rather than FfC part I and II.

This is no hoax.

I swear it by ice and fire. I swear that I will never post again should this prove false. I swear I will never touch wine again, if it is not true.

George said it is done.

But he had to make a major change. It had grown too large.

Daenerys will not appear. There will be little if any action in the North. Those chapters will be moved into the next book, which should come out shortly thereafter.

AFFC will be the size of AGoT.

 The next book will still be called aDwD. (Dany will be in it after all). 

 That being said, Dany will be presented with a map of the world from a fellow whose name I cannot remember because the pronunciation was very odd indeed.

 There was some talk about the Targaryen bloodline and how it worked when there weren't enough siblings to marry. Uncle might marry niece or aunt, nephew. There were also cousins in that family at one time. 

 Dany has more chapters than anyone. He also said that Dany's love life is going to become "extremely complex"

 Parris has proclaimed that Arya cannot die! (No, she wasn't there :( but he mentioned it when someone said that he's not allowed to kill Dany)

So yeah, in short, book not done but soon, lots of Dany, the Ironborn, and the Dornish, and Renly and Loras were INDEED knocking boots.

October 2005

The main point of discussion was the reason for the five-year wait since A Storm of Swords. I'm sure most of you know this already but, briefly, he wanted a 5-year gap between ASOS and ADWD to allow the kids to grow up. Some characters, mainly the children and Daenerys, really benefited from this, but most of the other characters suffered and the book was degenerating into a flashback-fest. After about a year he decided that wasn't working, ditched everything, and started again. 

 November 2005

His analogy is that the series is a symphony and each book is a movement, and explained that he likes each character arc to have some sort of finale in each book, whether it's on a cliffhanger, or a completion of some phase of the character's story arc (or death hehe). Ultimately, he decided to divide it geographically as you all know, since Dany's story is taking place in Martinland's China, and the rest is taking place in Martinland's England.

 One man asked whether George ever learns of people naming their kids after his characters. He pointed the guy to his website, where he even has baby pictures of Sansas, Aryas, even a Daenarys, Nymeria, Eddard, Bran, Chataya, and several Cerseis. He won't take credit for the Jons, though (hehe). It was great; someone in the audience made a crack about Cersei, and someone else said "as long as they aren't twins"). He mentioned meeting a little girl whose parents had named her Daenarys and he made a joke about how she was really going to hate spelling that when she gets to first grade. He also once got a letter from a 23-year-old girl named Lya whose mother said she was named after a character in one of his stories (A Song for Lya) and wanted to know who the heck Lya was. George sent her a copy! Hehe. He said he finds it flattering overall, but thinks it's a bad idea when the story isn't done yet and some of the characters will come to a bad end, and then those parents will be pissed with him!

 He was asked or mentioned most of the stuff that's already been covered, but one thing he talked about that I found particularly interesting was Romanticism. He said that he is a romantic, in the classical sense. He said the trouble with being a romantic is that from a very early age you keep having your face smashed into the harshness of reality. That things aren't always fair, bad things happen to good people, etc. He said it's a realists world, so romantics are burned quite often. This theme of romantic idealism conflicting with harsh reality is something he finds very dramatic and compelling, and he weaves it into his work. Specifically he mentioned that the Knight exemplifies this, as the chivalric code is one of the most idealistic out there, protection of the weak, paragon of all that is good, fighting for truth and justice. The reality was that they were people, and therefore could do horrible cruel things, rape, pillage, wanton killing, made all the more striking or horrifying because it was in complete opposition to what they were "supposed" to be. Really interesting stuff.

 At the San Diego signing, I asked GRRM at the Q&A, "Besides Dany's dragons, have all the Targaryen dragons been descendants of Aegon the Conquerors three?" GRRM answered "yes".

 And that one of the things he regrets losing from the POV split is that he was doing point and counterpoint with the Dany and Cersei scenes--showing how each was ruling in their turn.

 Q: 5-year gap?

A: It worked for characters like Arya and Dany but not so much for the adults or those who had a lot of action coming. He was writing chapters where Jon thought, "Well, not a lot has happened these past five years, it's been kinda nice." And Cersei chapters where she thought, "Well, I've had to kill sooo many people the last five years." So he ended up dropping it. He said he would have done it sooner if he hadn't told so many fans about it. And there is no gap anymore. "If a twelve-year old has to conquer the world, then so be it."

 (Petyr is just Peter, for example.)

Some he did say during the course of the evening:

Cersei = Sir-say

Jaime = Jamie (I think that was obvious but just in case)

Sansa = Sahn-sa

Tyrion = Tear-ion

Arya = Ar-Ya (Ex, Are ya?)

Daenerys = Dane-err-is

 TARGARYEN KINGS

SUBMITTED BY: AMOKA

[Note: The following information was sent to Amok for his contribution to the Fantasy Flight Games artbook.]

These are all Targaryens, of course, so there should be a strong family resemblence from portrait to portrait. All of them (except as noted) will have the purple eyes and silver-gold hair for which House Targaryen is noted. All of them should be wearing crowns... the same crown in many of the pix, though it will change once or twice along the way, as noted.

The hard part will be making each of the kings an individual, despite the similarities, and evoking each one's character through facial features, pose, clothing, background, and other elements in the portrait.

Here's the lineup:

DAENERYS I. Daenerys Stormborn. No description necessary, I assume. Show her wearing the three-headed dragon crown she was given in Qarth, as described in A CLASH OF KING. Might be good to include the three dragons in the picture. Show them very young, as hatchings, one in her lap, one wrapped around her arm and shoulder, one flying just above her.

 January 2006

He repeatedly emphasized that he prefers to write grey characters, because in real life people are complex; no one is pure evil or pure good. Fiction tends to divide people into heroes who do no wrong and villains who go home and kick their dogs and beat their wives, but that reality is much different. He cited a soldier who heroically saves his friends' lives, but then goes home and beats his wife. Which is he, hero or villain? Martin said both and that neither act cancels out the other.

 February 2006

NAERYS TARGARYEN

SUBMITTED BY: AMOKA

[Note: The following continues GRRM's series of descriptions of notable Targaryens (and Targaryen bastards) for Amoka.]

The sister of King Aegon the Unworthy and Prince Aemon the Dragonknight was beautiful as well, but hers was a very fine and delicate beauty, almost unworldy. She was a wisp of a woman, smaller even than Dany (to whom she bears a certain resemblence), very slender, with big purple eyes and fine, pale, porcelain skin, near translucent. Naerys had none of Dany's strength, however. 

 July 2006

George regrets that Cersei and Dany will not be contrasted directly. I told him of how some dedicated boarders try to defeat him and piece together a timeline. George replied that he tries to keep it vague.

He likes the extra breathing room to flesh out the characters. Bran didn't have any chapters and Dany's ending was different. Now he likes the way she ended. I think he actually may be doing more with Dany.

 SPOILER: Possible for ADWD

The second Dance of Dragons does not have to mean Dany's invasion.

Geroge stopped himself short and said he shouldn't say anymore. The response came because of my question of whether the dance would take place in ADWD because AFFC and ADWD parallel. So now my friends, speculate away.

 February 2007

Some other bits of info from Q&A: In Song, he considers Bran the hardest viewpoint character to write, while Tyrion is the easiest. The Red Wedding was partly based on a historical event in Scotland called the Black Dinner. His biggest lament in splitting A Feast for Crows from A Dance with Dragons is the parallels he was drawing between Circe and Daenerys.

 E. His dragons have no front limbs -- just rear legs and wings. He said that although the traditional depiction of dragons as six limbed creatures has become a staple of fantasy -- the fact that no animal in nature has ever evolved in such a way always bothered him. As a sci-fi writer originally, he insists on the depiction of the dragons with just four limbs. I never heard that before and though it was pretty neat.. In addition, he said that although AsoIaF dragons are intelligent, they cannot speak and will never evolve into the sort of dragons we see in Tolkien or Le Guin. Specifically he said’ Drogon is never going to share witty aphorisms with Dany. The Targaryens rule by Fire and Blood and that is what the dragons represent in the story". I guess the power icon is more Nedly for them than some of us thought when they were first rolled out back in AfoD.

 F. Cersei and Daenerys are intended as parallel characters --each exploring a different approach to how a woman would rule in a male dominated, medieval-inspired fantasy world.

 May 2007

GRRM: Well, the next book out is A Dance with Dragons, of course, and that's the fifth book of the series but in some ways it's really 4B, as those of you who follow the series knows that A Feast for Crows got so big I had to pull it in half. I split it not by chopping it right in the middle but I split it by characters. The one I'm working on now is going to have an awful lot of the characters that that aren't in A Feast for Crows, it's going to have a lot of Jon Snow, a lot of Daenerys, a fair amount of Davos, and it's going to have have a lot of "me" -- Tyrion, who is your favorite, and my favorite, so I'm enjoying writing a lot of those right now.

 And you know I got phone calls from people at the studio afterwards saying, "There is a way to make this as a feature. There's a way to do it as a movie. You could just take Jon Snow and Daenerys and just concentrate on them and get rid of some of the minor characters." And it just, it was kind of appalling because, much as I love Jon Snow and Daenerys, I didn't want to lose the other characters. I mean this is an epic and the only way we could conceive of doing it properly was to tell it as a series. And you can't do it as a series where's it interrupted every twenty minutes by a commercial for toothpaste. And you can't do it where I'd have Tyrion saying the things he says and doing the things he says, all of which network TV would have had a huge problem with.

So we really felt from the beginning that the best way to do this was on HBO or possibly Showtime. 

 August 2007

Just because I still love Popinjay and the Turtle and my other Wild Cards characters does not mean I have stopped loving Arya and Tyrion and Dany.

 April 2008

BERBERS AND DANY

[Did the unrest during the transition between Arab and Berber rule inspire Dany's storyline?]

No. Sounds fascinating, but I'm afraid I don't have enough experience with the Berbers or their history to draw on them for inspiration.

 July 2008

GRRM was asked the typical question, of where the idea for ASOIAF had come from. He replied that in the summer of 1991, when he was working as a Hollywood screenwriter, in a gap between assignments he began work on a new novel, a sf novel called Avalon ( personal note, no I would not swap it for ASOIAF, but I would have loved to have read it), set in his future history universe. And somehow, he found himself writing the first chapter of AGOT, about the direwolf pups un the snow. And after that came a second chapter and pretty soon he spent the whole summer writing AGOT.

From there he started to plan a trilogy, since there were 3 main conflicts ( Starks/Lannisters; Dany; and the Others) it felt it would neatly fit into a trilogy (ah!), but like Tolkien said, the tale grew in the telling. 

 April 2010

GRRM said he regretted mentioning the eye color of any of his characters. He also noted that as a brown-eyed person, he finds it annoying that brown-eyed characters are always portrayed as ordinary, while the doers of great deeds always have blue or hazel eyes or something - he notes that he himself was somewhat guilty of this with the violet eyes of Dany or the red eyes of Melisandre.

 (25) Any particular storyline he is enjoying right now?

He said that Dany's storyline is emerging in increasing importance. But he is struggling with the Meereenese Knot. So he can't say he is enjoying it. But he is really enjoying writing Arya's story. He could write an entire novel of it. He could write an entire YA novel about her...(at this point the audience starting clapping and calling out YES! DO IT!)...but her entire story isn't part of the greater novel. He has 12 novels worth of info for this book and its hard to fit it all in.

 February 2011

Sam Thielman: So, why did "A Dance With Dragons" take longer to write than the other books in the series?

George R. R. Martin: Well, you know, that's a good question and I'm not sure I have an easy answer for that. #1, none of the books have been exactly fast, I mean, I'm a slow writer, I've always been a slow writer, and the books are huge. I mean, they're three, four, five times the size of most novels being published. And they have extremely complex interweaving storylines. I remember back when I did the first book, 'A Game of Thrones,' Asimov's Magazine wanted to publish an excerpt and I pulled out the Daenerys storyline from the first book, and they published that as an excerpt, and after I pulled out all the Daenerys chapters and put them together for Asimov's, I did a word count and discovered, technically, I had a novel, just about Daenerys. I'm never gonna be one of those writers who has a book a year, or two books a year like some of my colleagues do. I simply can't write that fast. I do a lot of polishing and revising, and it's a big task.

 July 2011

Tad: Question: Do you purposely start a character as bad so you can later kill them?

GRRM: No. What is bad? Bad is a label. We are human beings with heroism and self-interest and avarice in us and any human is capable of great good or great wrong. In Poland a couple of weeks ago I was reading about the history of Auschwitz – there were startling interviews with the people there. The guards had done unthinkable atrocities, but these were ordinary people. What allowed them to do this kind of evil? Then you read accounts of acts of outrageous heroism, yet the people are criminals or swindlers, one crime or another, but when forced to make a choice they make a heroic choice. This is what fascinated me about the human animal. A lot of fantasy turns on good and evil – but my take on it is that it’s fought within the human heart every day, and that’s the more interesting take. I don’t think life is that simple.

 Tad: All of us work with multiple viewpoints – I hear this next question a lot: with story-driven plots, how do you decide which character viewpoint to write from – do you write several characters, taste them, then decide?

GRRM: No, not several, at least not intentionally. I had more choice early in the series, I frequently had situations where 2 or 3 were present at the same time. But as it’s progressed they have dispersed, so I need to be in the viewpoint of whoever’s there. There are some cases when I have a choice and in that case, I weigh which one. Without talking exactly about "The Mereenese Knot" – I’m not going to talk exactly about it, but but [there was a time when] a number of viewpoints were coming together in Mereen for a number of events, and I was wrestling with order and viewpoint. The different points-of-view had different sources of knowledge and I never could quite solve it. I was rewriting the same chapter over and over again – this, that, viewpoint? – spinning my wheels. It was one of the more troublesome thickets I encountered. There’s a resolution not to introduce new viewpoint characters, but the way I finally dealt with things was with Barristan, I introduced him as a viewpoint character as though he’d been there all along. That enabled me to clear away some of the brush.

 Tad: Question: do you choose characters because they will provide you with a viewpoint or something characterful?

GRRM: Actually, no. I try to give each viewpoint character an arc of his own, and ideally I would like to think that you could pull the material out – in the early books I was able to pull out the Daenerys chapters and publish them separately as a novella, and I won a Hugo Award for that. It'd be great if I could pull out each [character-arc] and it would resemble a story. In some cases a character died and that was a very short story. My prologue and epilogue characters always die but even then I try to give them a story.

 Your books, especially recently, are full of women trying to exert power in a male dominated world who have to compromise themselves along the way. Are you trying to make a feminist statement?

You could certainly interpret it that way. I don't presume to say I'm making a statement of this type or that type. But it is certainly a patriarchal society, I am trying to explore some of the ramifications of that. I try to write women as people, just as I try to write any other characters. Strong and weak, and brave and cowardly, and noble and selfish. It has been very gratifying to me how many women read my work and how much they like at least some of my female characters.

 The one thing I must confess to being frustrated by is the first Tyion chapter where you set up this expectation that he’s going to meet Dany, and I got excited. Then about 600 pages later I’m realizing, “OK, that’s not gonna happen, at least not in this book.”

Yeah, it’s the “kind of bring ’em together but don’t give them the confirmation.” In some ways it’s not so different than the sexual tension in TV shows — are Catherine and Vincent [on Beauty and the Beast] finally going to kiss? Same philosophy. This is the kind of stuff I wrestle with. I could have ended the next chapter: Tyrion gets off the boat and there’s Dany. But the journey itself has its own interest.

 There’s a point in the series where you feel like you’re reading a bunch of separate stories. Toward the end of Dance, you feel the threads starting to come back together. Is that accurate?

That’s certainly the intent, and always was the intent. Tolkien was my great model for much of this. Although I differ from Tolkien in important ways, I’m second to no one in my respect for him. If you look at Lord of the Rings, it begins with a tight focus and all the characters are together. Then by end of the first book the Fellowship splits up and they have different adventures. I did the same thing. Everybody is at Winterfell in the beginning except for Dany, then they split up into groups, and ultimately those split up too. The intent was to fan out, then curve and come back together. Finding the point where that turn begins has been one of the issues I’ve wrestled with.

 There was a fair amount of explicit sex in the series and some fans of the books were taken aback.

One of the reasons I wanted to do this with HBO is that I wanted to keep the sex. We had some real problems because Dany is only 13 in the books, and that’s based on medieval history. They didn’t have this concept of adolescence or the teenage years. You were a child or you were an adult. And the onset of sexual maturity meant you were an adult. So I reflected that in the books. But then when you go to film it you run into people going crazy about child pornography and there’s actual laws about how you can’t depict a 13 year old having sex even if you have an 18 year old acting the part — it’s illegal in the United Kingdom. So we ended up with a 22 year old portraying an 18 year old, instead of an 18 year old portraying a 13 year old. If we decided to lose the sex we could have kept the original ages. And once you change the age of one character you have to change the ages of all the characters, and change the date of the war [that dethroned the Mad King]. The fact we made all these changes indicates how important we thought sex was.

 References the chapbook with the first three Dany chapters from 2005 and that it offers insight as to how much the book has changed since then.

 There's been an interesting discussion on our forum concerning "orientalism" as it's expressed in your work, and one question it's led to among readers is whether you've ever considered a foreign point of view characters in Essos, to give a different window into events there.

No, this story is about Westeros. Those other lands are important only as they reflect on Westeros.

 Part of the difficulty of this particular novel was what you called the "Meereenese Knot", trying to get everything to happen in just the right order, pulling various plot strands together in one place, and part of the solution was the addition of another point of view character. Was this something where you tried writing it from a number of different point of views before settling on a new one? Did you actively resist adding a new character?

The Meerenese Knot related to everyone reaching Dany. There's a series of events that have to occur in Meereen, things that are significant. She has various problems to deal with at the start: dealing with the slavers, threats of war, the Sons of the Harpy, and so on. At the same time, there's all of these characters trying to get to her. So the problem was to figure out who should reach her and in what order, and what events should happen by the time they've reached her. I kept coming up with different answers and I kept having to rewrite different versions and then not being satisfied with the dynamics until I found something that was satisfactory. I thought that solution worked well, but it was not my first choice.

There's a Dany scene in the book which is actually one of the oldest chapters in the book that goes back almost ten years now. When I was contemplating the five year gap [Martin laughs here, with some chagrin], that chapter was supposed to be the first Daenerys chapter in the book. Then it became the second chapter, and then the third chapter, and it kept getting pushed back as I inserted more things into it. I've rewritten that chapter so much that it ended in many different ways.

There's a certain time frame of the chronology where you can compare to A Feast for Crows and even A Storm of Swords and figure out when they would reach Meereen and the relative time frames of each departure and each arrival. But that doesn't necessarily lead to the most dramatic story. So you look at it and try and figure out how to do it. I also wanted to get across how difficult and dangerous it was to travel like this. There are many storms that will wreck your ship, there are dangerous lands in between where there are pirates and corsairs, and all that stuff. It's not like hopping on a 747, where you get on and then step off the plane a few hours later. So all of these considerations went into the Meereenese Knot.

Then there's showing things after [an important event], which proved to be very difficult. I tried it with one point of view character, but this was an outsider who could only guess at what was going on, and then I tried it with a different character and it was also difficult. The big solution was when I hit on adding a new point of view character who could give the perspective this part of the story needed.

March 2012

If you listen to the CBC interview which you'll see the link for under General ASOIAF, much of what he said was repeated tonight. He admitted Tyrion was his favourite, and if he was having dinner with 3 characters, they would be Tyrion, Maester Aemon and then he thought of Arya, but feared she would throw food at him, so he'd go with Dany, because she's hot!

 June 2012

Near the end of the signing, a man presented Martin with two books and his daughter. “This is Daenerys,” he told Martin, “I sent you a letter about her five years ago.” Daenerys, a squirmy blonde in a pink jacket, looked about five years old. “Hello there,” Martin said, “do you like dragons?” She nodded, and they made room for the next fan.

Now that we know how the "Meereenese knot" played out, what was the problem with this? For example, was it the order in which Dany met various characters, or who, when, and how someone would try to take the dragons?

Now I can explain things. It was a confluence of many, many factors: lets start with the offer from Xaro to give Dany ships, the refusal of which then leads to Qarth's declaration of war. Then there's the marriage of Daenerys to pacify the city. Then there's the arrival of the Yunkish army at the gates of Meereen, there's the order of arrival of various people going her way (Tyrion, Quentyn, Victarion, Aegon, Marwyn, etc.), and then there's Daario, this dangerous sellsword and the question of whether Dany really wants him or not, there's hte plague, there's Drogon's return to Meereen...

All of these things were balls I had thrown up into the air, and they're all linked and chronologically entwined. The return of Drogon to the city was something I explored as happening at different times. For example, I wrote three different versions of Quentyn's arrival at Meereen: one where he arrived long before Dany's marriage, one where he arrived much later, and one where he arrived just the day before the marriage (which is how it ended up being in the novel). And I had to write all three versions to be able to compare and see how these different arrival points affected the stories of the other characters. Including the story of a character who actually hasn't arrived yet.

 October 2012

What's exciting to me about this session is that in this conversation, Martin talks at length about craft. He's been in the business of telling stories for many decades -- as a television writer and as a writer of fiction -- and he has a great deal to say about what works and what doesn't in different mediums. How is information conveyed to the audience (or the reader)? How do you keep sophisticated audiences on their toes? How do you create worlds in which most characters have to choose between the best of many bad options? How do you examine power from the perspective of outsiders, rejects and those who are constrained by conventional wisdom? Martin shared the insights of someone who has been contemplating these questions -- practically and philosophically -- for a very long time.

About midway through the podcast, there's a interesting discussion of his use of "close third person" narration and why that's effective in the creation of memorable characters. It's also interesting to note that he doesn't write the chapters in the order in which they appear in the books, and that he may write four or five Tyrion chapters before stopping and switching to another character. (Another fun fact that emerged -- and I'm sure hardcore "ASoIaF" fans already knew this -- Martin originally signed a contract for a book trilogy. I'm betting his publishers aren't sad he's now working on the sixth book in that "trilogy.")

Eventually, Martin zeroes in on his least favorite thing in any story: Predictability. But he admits that it's "very hard" to shake up the audience, which has grown more sophisticated with every passing decade. When he was writing for the revived "Twilight Zone" in the '80s, for example, network executives wanted the producers to end episodes with a twist of some kind, as the original Rod Serling series had often done. But the audience "could see all these twist endings coming a mile away," Martin said.

He also spoke about his fascination with power and with hierarchies that appear stable but are actually anything but. He mentioned reading a history of Jerusalem in which a mad ruler began killing dozens of courtiers and ordering the hands chopped off the women of the court.

"Why doesn't the captain of the guard say to the sergeant, 'This guy is [expletive] nuts?'" Martin said. "'We have swords! Why don't we kill him instead?'"

But loyalties -- clan loyalties, family loyalties, strategic alliances -- are powerful influences in the lives of Martin's characters, and their personal desires and their traditional duties or roles are often in conflict. And those kinds of unresolvable dilemmas are at the heart of what makes his stories resonate with those of us who didn't begin fighting with swords as children.

Paraphrasing Faulkner, Martin said "the only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself." And that's a scenario that is very familiar to anyone who's ever visited Westeros, either as a reader or a viewer of the HBO drama.

 Is A Song of Ice and Fire a parallelism or a criticism to our society?

No. My work is not an allegory to our days. If I wanted to write about the financial crisis or the conflict in Syria, I would write about the financial crisis or the conflict in Syria, without any metaphor. However, it’s true that in my novels appear several elements which we can find in world history. Things such as power, sex, pain… I have grown up as a science fiction reader, and it was my first love, even before fantasy. But science fiction, then, presented an idealistic world: the space, a bright future, but unluckily that optimism disappeared very quickly and the future wasn’t as good as we had expected. Nowadays, science fiction is very pessimistic and talks about dystopias: about a polluted world, about a rotten world… Of course I would prefer to be part of another world; a better world, but I can’t. Perhaps winter is not coming only to Winterfell, but in the real world.

 March 2013

The readers are unhappy with leaving out the five-year gap?

Well no, some of the storylines from Feast for Crows. I get complaints sometimes that nothing happens — but they're defining "nothing," I think, differently than I am. I don't think it all has to battles and sword fights and assassinations. Character development and [people] changing is good, and there are some tough things in there that I think a lot of writers skip over. I'm glad I didn't skip over these things.

[For example], things that Arya is learning. The things Bran is learning. Learning is not inherently an interesting thing to write about. It's not an easy thing to write about. In the movies, they always handle it with a montage. Rocky can't run very fast. He can't catch the chicken. But then you do a montage, and you cut a lot of images together, and now only a minute later in the film, Rocky is really strong and he is catching the chicken.

It’s a lot harder [in real life]. Sometimes in my own life, I wish I could play a montage of my life. I want to get in shape now. So let’s do a montage, and boom — I'll be fifty pounds lighter and in good shape, and it will only take me a minute with some montage of me lifting weights and running, shoving away the steak and having a salad. But of course in real life, you don't get to montage. You have to go through it day by day.

And that has been interesting, you know. Jon Snow as Lord Commander. Dany as Queen, struggling with rule. So many books don't do that. There is a sense when you're writing something in high fantasy, you're in a dialogue with all the other high fantasy writers that have written. And there is always this presumption that if you are a good man, you will be a good king. [Like] Tolkien — in Return of the King, Aragorn comes back and becomes king, and then [we read that] "he ruled wisely for three hundred years." Okay, fine. It is easy to write that sentence, “He ruled wisely”.

What does that mean, he ruled wisely? What were his tax policies? What did he do when two lords were making war on each other? Or barbarians were coming in from the North? What was his immigration policy? What about equal rights for Orcs? I mean did he just pursue a genocidal policy, "Let’s kill all these fucking Orcs who are still left over"? Or did he try to redeem them? You never actually see the nitty-gritty of ruling.

I guess there is an element of fantasy readers that don't want to see that. I find that fascinating. Seeing someone like Dany actually trying to deal with the vestments of being a queen and getting factions and guilds and [managing the] economy. They burnt all the fields [in Meereen]. They've got nothing to import any more. They're not getting any money. I find this stuff interesting. And fortunately, enough of my readers who love the books do as well.

 And meanwhile, you've got Daenerys visiting more Eurasian and Middle Eastern cultures.

And that has generated its controversy too. I answer that one to in my blog. I know some of the people who are coming at this from a political or racial angle just seem to completely disregard the logistics of the thing here. I talk about what's in the books. The books are what I write. What I’m responsible for.

Slavery in the ancient world, and slavery in the medieval world, was not race-based. You could lose a war if you were a Spartan, and if you lost a war you could end up a slave in Athens, or vice versa. You could get in debt, and wind up a slave. And that’s what I tried to depict, in my books, that kind of slavery.

So the people that Dany frees in the slaver cities are of many different ethnicities, and that’s been fairly explicit in the books. But of course when David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss] and his crew are filming that scene [of Daenerys being carried by freed slaves], they are filming it in Morocco, and they put out a call for 800 extras. That’s a lot of extras. They hired the people who turned up. Extras don't get paid very much. I did an extra gig once, and got like $40 a day.

It's probably actually less in Morocco since you don't have to pay quite the same rate. If you're giving 800 Moroccans 40 bucks each, you're not going to fly in 100 Irishman just to balance the racial background here. We had enough trouble meeting our budget anyway.

I know for some readers, they don’t care about this shit. But these things are about budget and realism, and things you can actually do. You are shooting the scene in a day. You don't have a lot of time to [worry] about that, and as someone who has worked in television this kind of stuff is very important to me. I don't know if that is answer or not. I made that answer, and some people weren't pleased with that answer, I know. They are very upset about that.

 August 2013

Amid reports of a dramatic uptrend in babies named “Khaleesi” and tourism to Dubrovnik, Croatia (aka King's Landing), we're guessing George R. R. Martin doesn’t need much of an introduction.

 AC: How do you decide what you're going to work on, whose voice you're going to work in today?

GM: Well, I don't write the chapters in the order in which you read them. I get into a character’s voice. It's always difficult to switch gears, actually. When I do make that transition from one character to another, I usually struggle for a few days trying to get back the voice of the character I'm just returning to after some hiatus. But once I get into it, I tend to write not just one chapter by that character, but three or four. So I'll be writing Jon Snow chapters, and I'll carry that Jon Snow sequence as far as I can. And then at some point, maybe I'll get stuck or not be sure what I should do next, or maybe I've just gotten way ahead of all of the other characters in the books, so I need to sort of rein myself in and make myself switch from Jon Snow to Sansa or Daenerys or somebody like that.

 November 2013

We can't leave Martin without pressing him for his thoughts on which of his characters keeps the best table. Would it be the wealthy, sun-loving Martell family with their Mediterranean-leaning flatbreads, olives and spiced snake? The sensualist Tyrion Lannister? Or the moveable feast of the court of Daenerys Targaryen with its duck eggs and dog sausage?

"Oh, Illyrio Mopatis, the magister, no question. Just watch out for the mushrooms."

 March 2014

Was it a big shift for you, when you were writing the scenes that take place at Winterfell and suddenly you have the Daenerys scene, with an entirely different location?

Pretty early on, in the summer of ‘91, I had the Daenerys stuff. I knew she was on another continent. I think I had already drawn a map by then – and she wasn’t on it. I’d just drawn the map of the one continent that would come to be called Westeros. But she was in exile, and I knew that, and that was sort of the one departure from the structure. It’s something I borrowed from Tolkien, in terms of the initial structure of the book. If you look at Lord of the Rings, everything begins in the Shire with Bilbo’s birthday party. You have a very small focus. You have a map of the Shire right in the beginning of the book – you think it’s the entire world. And then they get outside it. They cross the Shire, which seems epic in itself. And then the world keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. And then they add more and more characters, and then those characters split up. I essentially looked at the master there and adopted the same structure. Everything in AGame of Thrones begins in Winterfell. Everybody is together there and then you meet more people and, ultimately, they’re split apart and they go in different directions. But the one departure from that, right from the first, was Daenerys, who was always separate. It’s almost as if Tolkien, in addition to having Bilbo, had thrown in an occasional Faramir chapter, right from the beginning of the book.

 Although Daenerys is hooked into Winterfell, because we hear talk of her family, the Targaryen family, early on.

You see overlaps. Daenerys is getting married, and Robert gets the report that Daenerys has just gotten married and reacts to that and the threat that it poses.

 Fortunately, the books were best sellers, I didn’t need the money, you know, so I could just say no. Other people wanted to take the approach of, there are so many characters, so many stories, we have to settle on one. Let’s make it all about Jon Snow. Or Dany. Or Tyrion. Or Bran. But that didn’t work, either, because the stories are all inter-related. They separate but they come together again. But it did get me thinking about it, and it got me thinking about how this could be done, and the answer I came up with is – it can be done for television. It can’t be done as a feature film or a series of feature films. So television. But not network television. I’d worked in television. The Twilight Zone. Beauty and the Beast. I knew what was in these books, the sex scenes, the violence, the beheadings, the massacres. They’re not going to put that on Friday night at eight o’clock, where they always stick fantasies. Both of the shows that I was on, Twilight Zone and Beauty and the Beast, Friday night at eight o’clock. They think, "Fantasy? Kids!" So I wasn’t going to do a network show. But I’d been watching HBO. The Sopranos. Rome. Deadwood. It seemed to me an HBO show, a series where each book was an entire season, was the way to do it. So when I sat down with David and Dan at that meeting at the Palm, which started out as a lunch meeting and turned into a dinner meeting, and they said the same thing, then I suddenly knew we’re on the same wavelength here.

 June 2014

Q: What can you tell us about a warg dragon rider?

A: There is no history/precedent for someone warging a dragon. There is a rich history of the mythical bond between dragon and rider.  There have been instances of dragons responding to their riders even from very far away (hmm) which shows it is a true and very strong bond. We will learn more about this. Keep reading (we hear “keep writing” from the back of the room).

 Q:  What is your favorite line in ASOIAF?

A: I can’t single out one line but my favorite passage is Septon Meribald’s speech about war in… what was it?  (crowd yells out Feast for Crows).

 November 2014

For people who are not familiar with your work, the series takes place in an imaginary world. There is a struggle for control of the kingdom. This dynastic war is essentially one of three main plot lines. There are the other plot lines involving these sort of superhuman characters, and then there’s the exiled Targaryen daughter who seeks the return of her ancient throne. Why those three main plot lines?

Well, of course, the two outlying ones — the things going on north of the Wall, and then there is Targaryen on the other continent with her dragons — are of course the ice and fire of the title, “A Song of Ice and Fire.” The central stuff — the stuff that’s happening in the middle, in King’s Landing, the capital of the seven kingdoms — is much more based on historical events, historical fiction. 

 Pop culture has grabbed “Game of Thrones.” It’s been featured in “The Simpsons” and “South Park.” What goes through your mind when you see these references?

Well, I think it’s tremendously cool, of course. It’s nice to be doing something that everybody is so aware of and that has entered the cultural zeitgeist in that manner. The only aspect of it that really astonishes me is not that the characters and the story is being parodied or referenced in these various places but the extent at which I personally am. I mean, when I see myself as a character on “South Park” or I see Bobby Moynihan imitating me with the suspenders and the hat on “Saturday Night Live,” when I see companies selling Halloween costumes, not Halloween costumes to be Jon Snow or Daenerys but Halloween costumes to be me, that’s pretty freaky. That’s something I could never have anticipated, and I just don’t know what to think of it. 

 May 2015

Still, it’s only natural that there’s a few characters Martin would have liked to have seen on the show that did not make it in.

“Strong Belwas, who was part of Dany’s entourage,” Martin said. “I understand why he was cut, but I kind of miss him.” In the books, the massive eunuch warrior is a former pit fighter who joins Dany in Qarth. Belwas’ story elements have essentially been combined with the character of Daario, who is arguably more essential to Dany’s journey.

  June 2015

I explained that in my own head, Yandel is in King's Landing, clutching his book, showing up each day for an audience with the king... and each day being told perhaps the next day. Except on those occasions where, you know, they tell him the king's getting married today, and then whoops, Joffrey is dead, etc.

I also noted that of course, given how he wrote about the reign of Aerys and and the rebellion, that if Aegon or Daenerys take King's Landing he may indeed end up having his head chopped off... George seemed interested in the idea, I think. :P

 May 2016

4. GRRM and Picacio both made the joke about "you need to pay the artist" and such regarding general fan fiction. And then GRRM said he has issued some sub-licenses to things like art and games, etc. GRRM also mentioned that HBO owns the rights to the exact likenesses of the tv version of the story, meaning, no art can be made where Dany looks like Emilia. He was very careful in avoiding a real link in feeling between him and HBO even though he was asked about it twice. Then GRRM mentioned, and Picacio joined in, how GRRM knew the show would overtake the books. Not too much new.

Reactions after the episode

c. Dany on Drogon seemed random and a repeat of previous seasons.

d. Others loved Dany on Drogon.

 December 2016

And the most revealing: he said that for Winds, Winter is the darkest time 'where things die' and many characters will go dark places.

 At last I was able to ask him the question I had sent for the tombola. I have always been fascinated by how ASOIAF embodies the theories put forward by Acemoglu and Robinson about countries with extractive institutions (which hamper development). So my question was: Why do you think the political institutions in the Seven Kingdoms are so weak? His answer: the Kingdom was unified with dragons, so the Targaryen's flaw was to create an absolute monarchy highly dependent on them, with the small council not designed to be a real check and balance. So, without dragons it took a sneeze, a wildly incompetent and megalomaniac king, a love struck prince, a brutal civil war, a dissolute king that didn't really know what to do with the throne and then chaos. Interesting answer.

 July 2017

To a certain degree, also, it’s so intertwined, tragically and unfortunately, with the character histories. Daenerys doesn’t get to where she is unless she’s sold as a child bride, effectively a slave.

And I should point out, and you probably know this if you’ve read the books and watched the show, Daenerys’ wedding night is quite different than it was portrayed in the books. Again, indeed, we had an original pilot where the part of Daenerys was recast, and what we filmed the first time, when Tamzin Merchant was playing the role, it was much more true to the books. It was the scene as written in the books. So that got changed between the original pilot and the later pilot. You’d have to talk to David and Dan about that.

 I had all these meetings saying, “There’s too many characters, it’s too big — Jon Snow is the central character. We’ll eliminate all the other characters and we’ll make it about Jon Snow.” Or “Daenerys is the central character. We’ll eliminate everyone else and make the movie about Daenerys.” And I turned down all those deals.

 When you’re walking down the street in Santa Fe, do new character or historical details just pop into your head?

Sometimes it happens to me on long-distance drives. When I was younger I loved to take road trips, and get in the car and drive for two days to get to L.A. or Kansas City or St. Louis or Texas. And on the road, I would think a lot about that. In 1993, I think it was, I visited France for the first time. I had begunGame of Thrones two years before in ‘91 and I had to put it aside because television was happening. And for some reason, I had rented a car, I was driving all around Brittany and the roads of France to these little medieval villages and I was seeing castles, and somehow that just got me going again. I was thinking about Tyrion and Jon Snow and Daenerys and my head was full of Game of Thrones stuff.

 You’re in unusual territory, with your characters very much still in your hands but also out in the world being interpreted for TV. Are you able to have walls in your mind such that your Daenerys, say, is your Daenerys, and Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys is hers and the show’s?

I’ve arrived at that point. The walls are up in my mind. I don’t know that I was necessarily there from the beginning. At some points, when David and Dan and I had discussions about what way we should go in, I would always favor sticking with the books, while they would favor making changes. I think one of the biggest ones would probably be when they made the decision not to bring Catelyn Stark back as Lady Stoneheart. That was probably the first major diversion of the show from the books and, you know, I argued against that, and David and Dan made that decision.

In my version of the story, Catelyn Stark is re-imbued with a kind of life and becomes this vengeful wight who galvanizes a group of people around her and is trying to exact her revenge on the riverlands. David and Dan made a decision not to go in that direction in their story, pursuing other threads. But both of them are equally valid, I think, because Catelyn Stark is a fictional character and she doesn’t exist. You can tell either story about her.

 Is there anything we didn’t get to talk about?

I suppose there are issues we could have explored more with the whole question of sexual violence and women — it’s a complicated and fraught issue. To re-address that point a little, I do a lot of book signings, and I think I have probably more women readers than male readers right now. Only slightly, but it’s probably 55 percent, 45 percent, but I see women readers at things and they love my women characters. I’m very proud of the creation of Arya and Catelyn and Sansa and Brienne and Daenerys and Cersei and all of them. It’s one of the things that gives me the most satisfaction, that they’ve been so well-received as characters, especially by women readers who are often not served.

 August 2017

- My question about Daenerys was chosen as the third question (I was lucky!) but he refused to answer it lol … I asked “How old was Daenerys when she left the house with the red door, and was it located close to the palace of the Sealord of Braavos?” (thanks Butterfly for suggesting it to me) I don’t know why he refused to answer about her age, but about the house with the red door he said there will be more revelations about it in future books.

- He was asked to comment about the differences between the book and show characters, particularly Daenerys. GRRM ignored all the other characters and talked only about Daenerys - he said that the show one is older because there are laws in USA that prevent minors from having sex scenes so the decision was made to age Daenerys. Otherwise, book Daenerys and show Daenerys “are very similar” and “Emilia Clarke did a fantastic job”. (I guess he can’t really say negative things about the show, can he?)

- “Will Jorah ever get out of the friendzone?” (side-eyeing the person who asked this). GRRM: “I would not bet on it.”

 August 2018

Q: if you did have a child what would you name him or her?

A: “I don’t know... probably Not Daenerys”

 November 2018

“I have tried to make it explicit in the novels that the dragons are destructive forces, and Dany (Daenerys Targaryen) has found that out as she tried to rule the city of Meereen and be queen there.

“She has the power to destroy, she can wipe out entire cities, and we certainly see that in Fire and Blood, we see the dragons wiping out entire armies, wiping out towns and cities, destroying them, but that doesn’t necessarily enable you to rule — it just enables you to destroy.”

[...] “If you read Fire and Blood, you’ll know there’s definitely a bond between the dragons and their riders and the dragons will not accept just any rider,” says Martin. “Some people try to take a dragon wind up being eaten or burned to death instead, so the dragons are terribly fussy about who rides them.”

[...] The prince defeated the threat in the North by driving his sword through his wife’s heart. Will Jon have to do the same to Daenerys? Or is she the prince, Azor Ahai, reborn? Martin suggests all may not be as it seems.

“The Targaryens have certain gifts and yes, taking the dragons and dragon riding and dragon breeding was one of them,” he says. “But the other gift was an occasional Targaryen had prophetic powers and could see glimpses of the future, which they didn’t always necessarily properly interpret because, you know, they were fragmentary and sometimes symbolic.

“But to what extent did they share those gifts, what did he see, what prompted him to do all this? These are things I find really interesting to ponder.

 What was interesting from The Guardian interview you did, is this book — as daunting as it would seem for most authors to attempt, and as tough as Winds has been for you — this was curiously easy for you to write. Yes. Partly because it’s linear. Although it covers 150 years or so, it’s very straightforward — here’s what happened in the year 30, here’s what happened in 25. In Winds, I have like 10 different novels and I’m juggling the timeline — here’s what’s happening to Tyrion, here’s what’s happening to Dany, and how they intersect. That’s far more complicated. 

 August 2019

On the fame thing, does it ever feel surreal to stop and think about the reach that your work has had? I mean, couples meet through Game of Thrones, there are Thrones-themed wedding ceremonies, and babies are named after your characters. Is that something you ever dwell on and think to yourself  'God, my work has had this massive effect on people?'

It's very gratifying when you get letters, emails, and hear stories like that. They definitely do name children after my characters and send me pictures of their babies.

People also name their dogs, cats, iguanas, after my characters. Sometimes, it’s a little surreal. I often wonder about all the young Daenerys’ out there because kindergarten teachers will hate me because they have to spell it!

[calliecat93]

ST: TNG Watchthrough Episodes 17-20.

Home Soil: So from what I’ve read, this would be Gene Roddenberry’s final episode as showrunner before getting replaced by writer Maurice Hurly. I won’t comment on the behind the scenes drama and such that caused it because it was decades ago and not relevant for a First Watchthrough post, but since this is the last I wanted to make note of it. My thoughts? It was okay. This is very much borrowing from the TOS episode Devil in the Dark (the one with the Horta) with the plot being of an alien presence killing humans... but only because the humans were unknowingly causing it harm. It’s done fine enough, not being any better or worst than when TOS did it, but that’s about it. It does executed it a little differently with the events and the alien is FAR less willing to comply than the Horta was at first and ends with the alien backing down, but refusing contact with humans for three centuries, which DOES make it a nice contrast to how Devil in the Dark ended. It’s not great. It’s not horrible. It’s just okay with the biggest criticism being pulling too much from TOS again. Look, I love TOS and so far TNG hasn’t passed it. I outright have a 30 disc Blu-Ray set coming in the next few days of all the TOS material, including TAS and the films. If I want to revisit TOS, I’ll go watch it or read fanfiction or heck, go watch AOS. TNG has remained painfully average or not good at this point because it’s trying to retain what TOS had, despite it being over 20 years later and even the TOS films had changed how it did things compared to the show. Whatever one feels about Roddenberry, his removal I hope helped push TNG away from TOS and let it carve it’s own identity while still honoring what TOS had stood for, and according to history it did. Not sure if we’ll see the quality go up in these final few S1 episodes, but still. Sorry, felt appropriate to finally get this out here. Going back to the episode, it’s perfectly fine and it delivers it’s message well, and hey it’s not always a bad idea to showcase the same themes as the previous incarnation in a spinoff especially fi a relevant one/gets shown to viewers who hadn’t seen that TOS episode. Not the best, not the worst, and that’s not such a bad way to end up. 3/5.

Coming of Age: Alright Wesley, it took a bit but you’re starting to grow on me. So we have Wesley going through a test to get into the Academy while Picard and the crew are dealing with some rough interrogations and Picard being painted as an incompetent captain by the interrogator. They don’t seem that connected, but infact the latter is a test for Picard to determine if e’s ready for a promotion. I like how they bring up Picard’s actions in past continuity that WOULD present him as at least fallible to major error, ignoring certain conditions that caused it to begin with and how he got them out of the situation. Like I said, this was one of Wesley’s better episodes. While doing well with testing, his worry about the psyche test and not knowing his own fear and therefore worried about what the test will unleash upon him is very relatable. Heck his talk with Worf was a really nice scene, especially with Worf outright stating that only fools fear nothing which in turns add more depth and dimensions to the Klingons. The reveal fo his greatest fear, while I wish he had hesitated a little bit more, made perfect sense and he acted as a true Starfleet Officer. Which since this was before Undiscovered Country, is a VERY positive development. Picard guiding a kid who made a stupid decision was also good and shows why he’s a good captain, and his talk to him as well as encouraging a disappointed Wesley at the end was a nice moment to cap the episode off with. As far as Wesley goes, he may still be presented as too competent and intelligent, but he is more likeable and the testing setting allows him to shine like this without, again, affecting the adult characters. Plus text anxiety is super relatable haha. Now of course due to Status Quo is God, Wesley fails, but he takes it well and proved that he will be ready for it in the future. It was a pretty nice episode all in all. Nothing spectacular, but I enjoyed it, neither plot overpowered the other, had a good theme of one’s integrity as a person/doing your best, good use of past continuity, and it really shows the best in characters like Picard, Wesley, and the crew’s loyalty to the former. 4/5.

Heart of Glory: Back in TOS, the Klingons were depicted as war-loving jerks. They weren’t without some depth and episodes like Day of the Dove did attempt to give them a bit more positive limelight, but it wasn’t enough to overpower the one-dimensional characterization. The films were a bit better, Undiscovered Country especialy, but that one hadn’t been made yet and they still stuck with the ruthless characterization, just changed up the makeup to make them look more alien like. It was weird sicne whenever I ddi watch TNG back when that’s all I knew of Star Trek, Worf never came across like a ruthless warmonger but like an honorable warrior which made him stand-out amongst the cast for me (that and because I freakin’ love Michael Dorn due to his animation voice over work, anyone else remember I.M. Weasel? XD). So now we get an episode where Worf gets to interact with other Klingons. I lift a brow at Worf not knowing about most Klingon customs when he seemed perfectly knowledgeable about i in past episodes. Maybe that wad due tot he shift after getting rid of Roddenberry/ IDK, but these kinds of retcons happens sometimes. This was an interesting one for sure. The Klingons are much better presented here than the entirety of TOS, showing more of their culture/customs and compared to Worf, who was raised by humans and therefore not fully in touch with his people and their ways. This is probably one of, if not the first time he’s interacted with his full culture and naturally he’d want to interact with them and learn more now that he has the chance. There’s the themes of one growing in another culture, how they adapt while still trying to be part of that culture, and finding one’s own path. There is the question on why Worf wans’t just returned tot he Klingons as a child and IDK if they address it down the line, but that type of life and struggle with identity/culture clash due to upbringing IS real and VERY relatable. I’m really glad to see the Klingons fleshed out past their TOS depiction and it’s overall respected by the cast, showing how far things have come since Kirk’s time. It fleshes out Worf’s character a great deal and makes him more likable/relatable and giving him a very realistic struggle, and in the end he stands by his beliefs and even gets the respect and offer to serve with Klingons in the future by Klingon Captain K’Nera. Very much glad that I watched this one~ 4/5.

The Arsenal of Freedom: Oh boy, war machines that killed everything! That theme never gets old! I’m not joking, with how modern warfare and technology are growing and being sold for profit, it feels like it just keeps getting more and more relevant. There’s a lot of tension in this one with Yar, Data, and Riker dealing with the arsenal that is intelligent and they’re unable to be beamed up, the ship getting attacked with Geordi in command and the Chief Engineer (they seem to go through a LOT of those this season, guess they couldn’t handle the strain of acting as miracle workers like Scotty) being an asshole to him, and Crusher injured with Picard trying to keep her alive and not get killed. Seriously, I loved Geordi here for being an effective acting commanding officer during a VERY intense situation AND telling off the Chief Engineer without even so much as raising is voice while encouraging the other officers. Badass and admirable. The away team scenes were also good with everyone being plain awesome~ Crusher having to explain to Picard how to treat her injuries while she’s in obvious pain was really good character stuff and Thank God that they avoided indulging in the obvious shipping fodder. I know they’ve hinted a little at Picard/Crusher... but I’m not really interested in it int he romantic sense at least currently. It comes off as a Captain and CMO trusting the other (not quite the same as say... Kirk and McCoy, but the trust is very much strong here plus Picard and Crusher should be allowed to form their own dynamic) and that’s the kind of interaction I live for~! It feels like everyone got a moment to shine, even Troi checking on Geordi’s mental well-being and letting him express some of his nervousness was really nice. And of course the arsenal having destroyed their own creators... like I said, a theme that just seems to grow more and more in relevance. Like I said above, some themes are necessary to repeat, and this one very much qualifies. But yeah this was great for it’s tensions, the characters being all great especially Geordi, and it’s themes (even fi IDK how intentional it was) being a huge reminder of the dangers of modernized warfare/using warfare for profit. It doesn’t go well. 4.5/5.

Okay, it’s late in the season, but we are FINALLY getting somewhere! The characters have truly grown on me and their characterizations are getting better (i.e. Picard is still a serious captain, but is very much warming up and not as cold as he was early on), the stories are steadily improving, and even with what I said about the first one, I really enjoyed this batch of episodes! Only five remain in the season, and the plan is to knock ‘em all out tomorrow. Might take a day or two off before tarting Season 2, but golly I’m finally feeling excited~!

[theyruinedeuron]

So I’m rewatching GoT for the first time, with my girlfriend, because she hasn’t watched it before. 

When I first watched all of these episodes, I did so without a critical eye. I used to think, “Hey, they’re just trying to finish a story and George didn’t help them out. I’ll live with these decisions.” Then s7 and s8 happened and I couldn’t excuse it anymore. So now that I’m watching more critically, here’s a little thing I typed up. It deals mostly with s5, which fucking sucks. It does, people. Don’t let That One Good ACtion Sequence fool you. Because that’s what the show became, slowly starting in s4, expanding in 5, and taking full hold in 6. It was writing to get from one Big Event to the next. The stuff in between was just filler. 

The show really takes a downturn when they started writing their own original story lines. They're fairly bad writers. They don't care about logical consistency at all. For instance, multiple times in season 5, once by Littlefinger, and once by Benioff himself, Stannis is referred to as having one of the finest military minds in Westeros. And yet he does nothing to show that at all, and in fact, by letting RAmsay Bolton destroy all of his shit with 20 men and then letting Ramsay just surround him on the field of battle, looks like one of the dumbest military minds in Westeros. When they chose to only do 7 1/2 seasons it obviously meant story lines had to be cut and various side character plots had to be given to main characters. But the problem is, they SUCKED at doing it in a logical manner. Here are all of the absolutely dumb fucking story lines in 5: 1. Sansa being sold to the Boltons. Now, perhaps it makes some logical sense for Littlefinger to make his move on the Throne, what with Twyin dead, Tommen being a weak ruler, Cersei doing everything she possibly can to fuck over the Tyrells, and the Freys essentially taking command of the Riverlands. Ally the Vale with the Boltons and Freys, and you might be able to march South. But Littlefinger specifically says to Sansa that he would put his money on..STANNIS WINNING. Let me say that again, Littlefinger tells Sansa that he thinks STANNIS WILL BEAT THE BOLTONS. So then, why would you ally with the Boltons if you think they're about to lose the fucking war? Now, I get it that Littlefinger probably figures he has no shot at allying himself with Stannis, what with what happened at the Blackwater. But there are other options out there...like, ya know, the Tyrells, whom Littlefinger already has a relationship with. Or the Martells, who despise the Lannisters entirely. 2. Dorne is just a total mess. I wasn't a huge fan of Dorne in the books, and I understand not wanting to introduce 8 Sand Sankes, Arianne, Quentyn, and a Prince Doran who is a much larger player in the books. That's a lot of new characters for a TV show 5 seasons in. Ok. So we have to condense the story and they chose to use the woman who we've already met in season 4. Fine. But, holy fuck is it stupid. First of all, every scene that involves the Sand Snakes is just cringe. But the real issue, and its the issue that plagues the entire season, and eventually the rest of the series going forward, is the total lack of political consequences in any meaningful way. George doesn't let that happen, and when they're following George, you got to see that. JOffrey sucks as a ruler and is believed to be the child of incest? Alright, well here comes a crowd riot wherein Sansa almost gets raped. Ned telling Cersei he knows she fucks Jaime, ordering Twyin to the Capital and the arrest of the Mountain, and then not seizing the Throne to prevent Cersei and Joffrey from taking him out? Ok, there goes his head. Same with Robb. But here, Elia and the Sand Snakes kill the Prince of Dorne and his son and...nothing. THey just...take over. With four people. The entire Dornish army just follows them w/o question. No political consequences at all in Dorne. We're just supposed to assume that assassinations and coups are just easy peasy, over and done. Which flies totally in the face of what we know about assassinating beloved leaders. Littlefinger killed Lysa because she couldn't keep her mouth shut about John ARryn. Had people found out, they'd have executed Littlefinger in the Vale. But Elia? Nah, who cares bro... Then, when they try to still have some semblance of a political drama as opposed to a series based around 3-4 Major Action Sequences a season with various annoying plot points in between, you get the stupidity of Jon being killed. So, they kill him for allowing Wildlings in...after letting the Wildlings in??????? Like....they're already in. Thorne LET THEM IN. In the books, they kill him because he's about to take a Wildling Army South and fight for Winterfell, clearly violating his oaths. By killing him, they actually stop that action. Here..they stop nothing. They do nothing. All of the Wildlings are already fucking south of the wall. Too late. This continues into the later seasons. Cersei, after being found out as a incestuous, not only resumes her role as Queen w/o so much as a peep from the commoners or Lords, but she then kills off 1) Mace, Margaery and Loras Tyrell. One is the head of a beloved House who feeds the capital. His daughter is a beloved Queen who goes out of her way to help the poor and the other is a popular swordsmen who was won multiple tourneys. 2) The High Sparrow, a religious revolutionary who has captured the hearts of the city and the faith 3) Kevan Lannister, the eldest stateman of House Lannister and countless others. And what happens to her? Well, Varys talks a little about how she's hated by the common folk but...that's it. I mean sure, Dorne and Highgarden join her enemy, but they die in the span of two episodes. Totally and completely. And when Cersei loses, it has zip to do with her poor ass decision making. Randomly killing off your allies, your very rich allies (when you're House is actually now broke), is a terrible idea. But she pays no price. She lost for the same reason whoever loses to Daenerys in the books will lose. Whether that's Cersei or fAegon or even Stannis on the Throne when she gets to Westeros. George has beaten us over the head time and time and time again: they'll lose because Daenerys has dragons and they don't. Cersei never paid once for her shitty decisions. Which makes their decision to focus the end of the series on the political element truly disastrous. They stopped giving a fuck about showing any real political ramifications in season 5. Also, I used to be a fan of keeping Beric and not bringing in Lady Stoneheart. I didn't like the character. But, seeing how they had no idea whatsoever how to use Jaime if he wasn't tied to Cersei (and probably just making the decision to keep Jaime with Cersei because they liked Lena too much), I'd have rather had Lady Stoneheart and the plot from the books. Because when they have to get Jaime out of KL for Cersei to 1) Beclown herself and get arrested by the Faith and 2) Blow up the Sept, causing the death of their son, they do so in the clumsiest, most boring ways possible. First, was this Dornish mission, that sucks ass. Later, it's the pointless Siege of RIverrun. Then you've got the really idiotic shit Jaime puts up with. Like, ok dude, you love her even though she cheated on you with Lancel. But, um, she just caused YOUR SON to jump out of the window......and you're still fucking her? What a waste of a character arc.

[fromtheboundlesssea]

Celiaverse fics and ideas (Part One)

Jaime Lannister x Celia Tully

Title: Family, Duty, Honor

Summary: In order to bear some responsibility for the murder of the Mad King, Jaime Lannister is stripped from his position of the Kingsguard and reinstated as his father’s heir. In order to better solidify the alliances between all the rebelling families, Jaime is married to the youngest Tully girl, Celia.

While navigating the new dynasty and the ghosts of the Targaryen reign, Celia finds herself alone in the lion’s den with little love from her husband and her only comfort is her children. When Celia learns a life altering secret, she must do what she can to protect her children and the broken man she has come to care for.

Ned Stark x Celia Tully

Title: The Pack Survives

Summary: Celia Tully married Ned Stark at the end of Robert’s Rebellion. Although she knows he is and always will be in love with Ashara Dayne, Celia attempts to live a peaceful life with the man she Loved and their family, but plots and treasons from the South and dangers of ice from the North and fire in the East, Celia must do what she can to protect her family.

Ned Stark loves his wife but does what he can to protect the last remanent he has of his little sister. When the death of the man who raised him reveals a horrible secret, Ned must make the choice to do what is honorable, or to keep his head in the sand.

Robert Baratheon x Celia Tully

Title: Beautiful Ghosts or Ours is a Silent Fury

Summary One: She was never meant to be queen. Celia was the third daughter of a Riverlord who never wished to step into King’s Landing ever again. But when duty calls she must step forward and hope to help mend the fractured kingdom from the war that took her innocence.

Robert has never wanted to be king. Yet, there he stood amongst the cheering crowd with a girl he does not love, the girl he wanted dead and buried under the cold stone of Winterfell. Robert never wanted to be king, but there he stood. Will one wrong word cost him his only hope of happiness?

Summary Two: Lyanna Stark lives, but with a bastard son on her hip and forever denied to Robert. He loathes the boy but let’s him live for the sake of his dear Lyanna who loathes him more for the death of her Rhaegar. Saddled with a position he never wanted, Robert comes to terms with the life he must lead with his new wife his only hope of redemption.

Celia knows her husband does not love her, caught up in the ghost of a woman who still breathes. As she begins to help the mending of a torn kingdom, Celia must come to love her king as the father of their people and children, but she must also come to love herself.

Stannis Baratheon x Celia Tully

Title: But Not Forgotten

Summary: As the new lord of Dragonstone, Stannis finds no comfort in being denied his right of Storm’s End. As plots in the capital begin to take root, Stannis longs for his older brother’s approval. But perhaps it is not his brother he needed to find his worth.

As the lady Dragonstone, Celia is haunted by the ghosts of the children she once cared for. Her house words are family, duty, honor. But who is her family? To whom does she owe her duty? Where must she place her honor? A storm is brewing on the horizon as winds of winter grow more fierce.

Older!Viserys Targaryen x Celia Tully

Title: We are the Shepards

Summary: As rebellion tears the kingdom apart, Viserys finds himself on the opposite side of the conflict, pitting him against his father and brother. As people begin to rally behind the Young Dragon, Viserys must balance his love for his brother, the love for his people, and the love of the girl making her way into his heart.

As the rebellion rises, Celia Tully finds herself on the field, not as a soldier or knight, but as a healer, trying to mend what little she can of the crumbling world she grew up in. Finding herself under the direct command of the Young Dragon, Celia finds that he is just as human as the rest of them.

Arianne Martell x Viserys Targaryen x Celia Tully (daughter of Brynden Tully)

Title: Of Stars and Moon and Sun

Summary: Horrified by the deaths of the innocent Princess Elia and her children as well as the lack of punishment to House Lannister, Houses Martell, Tully, and Stark attempt to find the last Targaryen prince, Viserys after he fled with his newborn sister into the night. To once more connect the Targaryens with the rest of their kingdoms, Celia Tully is sent to foster in Dorne where she is raised alongside her future sister-wife Arianne Martell. Viserys is found after losing his sister and attempting to sell his mother’s crown to find her. He is smuggled into Dorne with the promise that his sister will be found.

Arianne dreams of more than queenship. She dreams of adventure and the lands outside the Dornish borders. However, with war approaching, Arianne must put her family first and comes to learn that her greatest challenge will be to protect the growing family from those who would harm them.

Celia wants nothing more than for her best friend, Arianne, and their husband, Viserys, to be safe and happy. But happiness is a hard war won when there are lions and stags and hungry dragons inching their way closer to destroy everything they have built. As their family grows, so do the dangers.

Viserys grows up with the two girls he eventually marries, the lively Arianne and the sweet Celia. As he gets older, he comes to learn there is more at stake than an ugly chair. Dragons plant no trees, so perhaps it is time for House Targaryen to be reborn.

Arthur Dayne x Celia Tully

Title: Fault in Our Stars

Summary: They never asked for this, this attraction that could lead them nowhere but heartbreak. He was sworn to take no wife and bear no children. She was a hostage to keep her father in line. As whispers of rebellion echo across the horizon, Arthur and Celia find themselves caught in a game they never wanted to play.

Tywin Lannister x Celia Tully

Title: I Too Can Command the Wind, Ser

Summary: It was not for love that she married, but duty. Celia finds herself the stepmother of two children older than her and one as old as her younger brother. Caught in the politics of King’s Landing and the lions den, Celia must navigate it all to protect her children, even if it means protecting them from their family.

Oberyn Martell x Celia Tully

Title: Sun and Spear

Summary: Able to smuggle Princess Rhaenys and Prince Aegon away from King’s Landing, Celia finds herself in Dorne and forced to marry Prince Oberyn to keep the children safe. She knows her husband loves her and the daughter she gives him, but she is too much like his sister that he fears he might break her as the world broke her. Celia was content to never step foot in King’s Landing again, but once more she and Oberyn are pulled into the game of thrones with the true king, Aegon Targaryen rising to meet the cries of the people with his love, Visenya Martell, and sister, Rhaenys at his side, he comes not as a conqueror, but a savior for winter is coming and the night will be long.

Jorah Mormont x Celia Tully

Title: Here We Stand

Summary: Celia has not seen her husband in almost a decade since he abandoned her and their daughter, Sansa, on Bear Island all those years ago. Now, he has returned, once more bringing a woman who will take everything Celia, and now her daughter, hold dear. As the Long Night draws nearer, can the old bear find absolution for the crimes against his wife and daughter, or is he doomed to make the same mistake once more.

Part Two