#TO FUCKING WAR?!?!?!! AGAINST MELEYS?!?;?;!;!!;;!!!???

[maya-tl]

THEY BUTCHERED MY BOY

[entitled-fangirl]

Chance. (P2)

Aemond Targaryen x Baratheon!reader; Aegon x wife!reader

Summary: Aemond finds that his ploy is having the opposite effect- driving her away from him slowly.

Part 1, Part 3

Masterlist

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In the days that followed, Aemond had managed to lure the poor doe from Aegon's room. 

She now took walks with him daily, something he found himself enjoying more than he thought he initially would.

Like now.

"Against Caraxes?" She asked with a slight grin. "I thought both Caraxes and Meleys have seen war."

"They have. But I believe Meleys would win."

"I believe Vhagar would best them both." 

He felt a warm feeling go through his heart at that. "That was not the hypothetical scenario that I stated though, was it?"

"No, but it is the truth. Vhagar is a formidable creature."

His head tilted, "Vhagar is quite… kind, actually."

She stopped walking to look at him. "Is she?"

He hummed, "Very gentle in spirit. She must make up for my lack thereof."

Her lips pulled into a teasing grin, "You're quite gentle when you wish to be."

"I suppose so." He reasoned, "I just do not wish to be very often."

…

"THAT BASTARD!" Aemond roared as he entered his mother's chambers. 

Alicent turned and stood, "Aemond, what are-"

"Did you know about this?" He seethed.

She stared. "About what?"

"The marriage. A fucking marriage."

"What marriage?" She asked. "What are you talking about?"

"That slimy bastard will have his hands all over her," he spoke through gritted teeth. "And I must let him."

"Speak plainly, Aemond. You're confusing me."

He forced himself to take a deep breath and lower his voice, "My brother denied my betrothal. And now he takes my place in it."

Alicent tilted her head, "He wishes to marry her?"

"He does not love her." Aemond's fist clenched. "He will not love her as I can."

"That's what this is about then," she said. "A brotherly feud?"

"He only wishes to make my life harder, mother. And you let him."

He stormed out the door, kicking a chair on his way, not caring for the loud clattering sound of it against the floor.

…

"How does he fair today, my queen?" Aemond asked.

She looked up from Aegon to the prince, "Better. He's… better, I suppose."

"He does not look it."

She let out a frustrated huff, "Anything is better than the state you brought him to me in."

He smirks, "Do watch your tongue, doe."

She tilted her head curiously, "Why? Don't misconstrue my words, my prince. I only mean to say that you returned without a mere scratch and our king is…" She paused as she look to him, "…beyond repair."

"That was the will of the gods, not mine own. Remember that."

"And yet they named you regent. Didn't they?"

Aemond's jaw clenched and he took steady steps to the foot of the bed she sat on, "I am a worthy candidate for the crown, am I not?"

"Your mother ruled in your father's stead. Should I not rule now?"

"No, pretty doe. You're to care for the king. He needs a… woman's touch."

Her eyes flitted down to the dagger Aemond possessed. 

He continued, "Do watch who enters here. You never know who you can trust."

She looked back up to him a new look in her eyes, "Right."

…

Something began to stir in the girl as she thought about Aemond as the regent now. 

Some things just didn't add up.

And it seemed Alicent thought the same. 

Y/n spotted Alicent walking down the halls and decided to catch up to her. "My lady?"

Alicent turned, seeing the girl, "Is Aegon alright?"

"Yes," she found herself now nervous under the older woman's gaze. "I found myself needing advice, is all."

"Oh. Um." Alicent hums, stumped. "Let us take a walk then, I suppose."

"I'd like that."

…

Y/n called in the knock that sounded at her door.

Aemond entered and she stood at his entrance, "My prince."

He shook his head, "Please don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Act so formerly. As if we were not betrothed only hours ago."

She sighed and sat back down. "I do not know what you wish for me to say."

"That you're upset, perhaps?" He scoffed.

She huffed back, "I have had no say this entire time. Why would I just now be upset?"

"Because you know what Aegon is."

"I do."

His jaw clenched, "And still nothing?"

"My prince, my life was bargained for before I was out of my mother's womb. I am used to the feeling of disappointment."

He sighed and moved towards her, sitting on another chair. "He'll mistreat you."

She stared at the flames of the fireplace, "So be it."

Aemond studied her with his one eye, "You'll wed yourself to a whoremonger that would rather spend his nights drunk in a cold, dark alley than sober with his wife in a warm bed?"

Her eyes watered. "Do not remind me."

Silence filled the room as he considered what to say next. 

But she spoke first, "You may not be my husband, but you will be a caring brother-by-law. I know."

He smiled, "I won't abandon you."

…

"As a woman, it must be hard to truly now who your allies are."

Alicent nodded, "It is. Men only want thing in life, and that is anything that gets them hard."

She hummed, a trait she no doubt picked up from her recent time with Aemond, "But how can you be certain?"

The queen regent frowned, "Is there someone you fear as of now?"

"Not I. I fear more for Aegon."

Alicent sighed. "I do as well."

Y/n began to step, leading the two more into the garden. "I cannot protect him all of the time."

"Nor do we all expect you to."

Her jaw clenched, "And yet I find myself protecting a man who cares not for my own wellbeing."

"That's not entirely tru-"

"IT IS!" She cried. "Aegon married me for nothing! I am nothing to him but a whore he can impregnate-"

Her head jerked to the side with a loud slap and a sudden hot pain spread across her cheek.

Alicent had slapped her.

"Do not," the queen regent sneered. "Say those words again."

A shaky hand came up to her cheek, the cold of her palm soothing the pain. "I thought you an ally. But you're not."

Alicent scoffed mockingly, "Silly girl. There are no real allies in this game. Only mutual interests for a common end."

"It seems we wish for different endings then."

"Does it matter anymore?"

When she didn't answer, Alicent began to walk away.

"Alicent-"

She whipped around, "Do not call me that."

Y/n's head shot up with a new look of determination, "I am the queen. Not you. I will call you what I wish."

…

The next day, she met Aemond as always to walk the gardens.

He moved to hold his arm out, but immediately stopped himself. "What befell you?"

Her brows furrowed, "I'm sorry?"

His hand gently brushed her cheek and she flinched at the contact. "My queen. Has someone laid a hand on you?"

She shook her head. "I was being reckless."

His eye studied her closely. "I don't believe you."

She pushed his hand away lightly, "Then don't."

He bent his head down closer to her, "Is someone a threat to you? Must I fix something for you?"

"There is nothing to fix. I wish to go on our walk so I may return to my husband."

My husband.

The words still burned him worse than dragon fire.

He hummed and held his arm out once again, staring their walk. 

"I am curious, if you allow me to be so," she began.

He nodded.

"You've dismissed Cole as hand-"

"-And you wish to know his replacement?"

Her head tilted to the side, "I do."

He let out a low breath as he looked down at their path, "I'm assigning it to my grandsire, Otto Hightower. He's done it twice before."

"In a time of peace, that is."

"I suppose that's true. Then again, not many others are good enough even in times of peace, my queen."

"Sitting on the Iron Throne is no easy task, Aemond."

He chewed on his bottom lip as they walked, unsure of what she really wanted to say.

She pulled away from him at the sight of a certain flower. She knelt down at it, touching it with a gentle calmness to her.

She could be such a good queen if Aegon had just given her the chance.

Aemond promised he would.

…

"Dismissed. Except for my mother."

The council members one by one left the table and out the door, save for Alicent who sat with a curious look.

Aemond stood, rounding the table to stand behind her chair, "You dare strike her?"

Alicent took a deep breath, "Aemond, this does not concern you."

"Concern me? Indeed it does." He moved next to her chair, leaning against the table now, "You believed that you could strike her and I would not notice?"

"I did not think she would tell you."

"And alas, she did not."

Alicent's eyes widened at that. "Then how-"

"You've just confirmed it."

Aemond crouched down to her level, practically spitting venom, "I'm removing you from the small council. You're of no use to us and the kingdom anymore if you cannot even keep your hands to yourself, mother."

…

Y/n walked down the halls of the castle, going to Aegon's room as she always did. 

Upon entering it, she was surprised to find Lord Larys Strong there. 

He pushed himself to stand, "My queen."

She frowned, "My lord."

He turned to Aegon, "I am grateful for your recovery, your grace."

Lord Strong limped by, stopping next to her and speaking in her ear, "If you're in need of an ally, I can be of assistance, my queen."

Her eyes studied Aegon, noting the watery look in his eye. Her jaw clenched, "I believe I am tired of alliances, my lord. They do nothing for me."

He hummed, "Very well, your grace. My offer stands if you change your mind."

She turned her head to him with disdain, "I won't."

His jaw set but he nodded and left without another word. 

Upon the door closing, she moved to Aegon's side, exactly where Lord Strong had been moments before. "There you are."

His hand moved towards the bedside table, clearly reaching for something. 

She looked, noting the cup of the milk of the poppy that sat there untouched.

She quickly took the cup in her hands, "Relax yourself, my king." 

He moved back, a small tear in his eye.

She leaned down, wiping it from his cheek with a gentle smile. "You foolish man. What's wrong?"

He coughed a bit, "Ae…aemond…"

Her brows furrowed, "Aemond? What of Aemond?"

His hand grabbed her wrist, yanking her to him with what little strength he had. He cried as he did so, "Do not…"

She studied him with a worried gaze, "Do not...?"

The door opened, and she quickly looked over her shoulder. 

Aemond himself stood in the doorway. 

"How is his grace?"

She looked back to Aegon who looked ready to cry again. "He's doing alright. He'll be resting again soon enough."

Aemond hummed, stepping to the other side of the bed to watch the two.

Her hand moved to the back of Aegon's head, leaning him up to sip from the cup in her other hand.

He carefully took in the liquid, sighing as he finished. 

The woman leaned forward and kissed his forehead, "Sleep well."

She stood up and abandoned the cup with her focus now on Aemond, "Let us leave him in peace for a while."

"Yes," he said absent-mindedly. "We should."

But his mind was far from absent. In fact, it only thought one thing.

What had Aegon told her?

..................................................

part 3

taglist: p45510n4f4shi0n, darktrashsoulbear

[vanilleandclove]

the meadow in which you lay | 7

ser erryk cargyll x arryn!reader | chapter seven: body and soul

Tensions rise in Dragonstone as Rhaenyra took off in search for Lucerys's corpse, the only vice being the husband she left behind whom has a shorter temper than that of a child.

word count: 1.5k | warnings: strangulation (daemon you cunt), non-sexual nudity, oral sex (f recieving), ERRYK IS A MUNCH! grief. | a/n: two more parts perhaps, until we are all wishing the worst on criston cole himself.

previous - next

taglist: @wolvestitches @holb32 @callsignwidow @fwaeriys @hummusxx @erysione @snixx2088 @opheliax98 @celestialstar111

"Ser Lorent, have you seen Daemon?" you asked Ser Lorent as you strutted down the steps in Dragonstone leading into the war room, Erryk opened his arm for you to balance onto as courtesy, you earned a bow from Erryk; Rhaenyra named you "Hand of the Queen" just before she set forth to look endlessly for Luke's body, nearly several days ago.

"Last I have seen the Prince, he was dressing into his armor, very set on the words 'a son for a son'" Lorent answered you, giving Erryk a slight nod, "I believe he is in the Dragon's quarters my Lady Hand".

"Please, just call me Lady" you smiled dimly, Erryk was pleased to see you smile, you had not in days upon hearing of Luke's death. Every single night filled your chambers with violent sobs and screams, Erryk having to restrain you in order for you to gain your composure once more, making sure you were hydrated upon the hour, and combing through your hair to soothe you, cooing in your ear like a mother does a babe.

You looked at Erryk and nodded as well, signaling to him that you were sound, able to walk to Dragonstone's Dragon pit on your own to confront Daemon; upon arrival it seemed Rhaenys had already finished the job. Though, it never hurt to weigh in, especially to a hot-tempered man like Daemon.

"Where were you off to?" you questioned the Prince, "Thank you Rhaenys, may you and Meleys rest, your efforts are great" you then celebrated the Princess, earning a whisper from her.

"Give him hell".

"You forget it is the Queen whom makes the decisions in war Daemon" you continued, Daemon looking like a near child whom was patronized by their parents.

"You forget your ranking Lady Arryn, as well as Valyrian blood. Had this been my war-".

"Had it be your war, you'd turn the realm against itself, the kingdoms receding from your Valyrian blood. I may not be Targaryen nor a fucking Prince, but I am the one the Queen entrusted with her hand" you told him sternly, hearing the steps of Erryk and Lorent enter the corridor.

"Who knows perhaps we may hear of House Arryn usurping the throne next. You forget yourself Y/n, there is always a reason Alicent ostracized you from conversation to get into Rhaenyra's head, you were the only one with sense; granted I believe now that you know how it is to have a cock inside you, you've lost it" Daemon insulted, looking to both you and Erryk.

You lost your temper at the insult, smacking the prince blankly in the face, "Your wife's son is dead! You do not wish to kill Aemond to avenge Lucerys's death you wish and desire for power, it kills you from the inside that your kin was slain not in the manner of grief but in the manner of ego!" you shouted, only earning a distressful look from the prince before he began to size you up, quickly wrapping his hand around your neck. Hearing a sword drawn from behind you as well seeing Daemon punched in the face, the sword of Lorent was drawn, the fist belonged to Erryk.

Upon the hour, you stood in your chambers to rest, Erryk had joined you. He examined your neck and the light bruising that painted your skin, now tender and ached.

"I would have killed him had I not sworn an oath to the Queen" Erryk spoke with venom laced in his tone, "Forgive me".

"For what?" you questioned, you had sat down on your bed as Erryk was standing between your legs, looking up at him.

"I fear loving me comes at an expensive price as the days pass seeing that it is not just oaths that prevent us from loving each other- body and soul".

You scoffed lightly before bringing the knight to his knees in order to be at eye-level with you, "I would take thousands of strangulations and petty insults to love you Erryk- body and soul", you kissed his lips once you saw the twinkle in his eye, only to be interrupted by the roars of Syrax, distinctive they were, signaling your cousin's return.

As Erryk and yourself hurried down into the war room, seeing everyone gather around the map of Westeros, Erryk taking his post and you taking your place on council. "Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen, the first of her name, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lady of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm" Erryk begun to announce as Rhaenyra made her way into the room. Daemon being the first to greet her, asking if she had found solace and purpose now that she had found Luke, just as Syrax found Arrax, grieving mothers they were.

"I want Aemond Targaryen" were the only words your cousin spoke, pure hatred and anger laced in her voice to the near sound of her brother's name, as you all bowed, you had quickly followed your cousin to her chambers.

"Let's wash you up" you spoke softly, looking to Erryk who was walking strides behind you, you nodded, once again signaling that you both were sound.

Opening the door to Rhaenyra's chambers, you were met with the handmaids who had already drawn a warm bath. You quickly shut the door and began to help your cousin undress, her lightly shuddered, her jaw clenching and unclenching repeatedly, slight sobs left her mouth and goosebumps cascaded along her body. You looked to Elinda, simply entrusting her to handle your cousin from there. Speaking up to say, "I will be in my chambers, okay? Alert anyone if you wish to see me, I will be here immediately".

You walked out of your cousin's chambers, being met with Erryk who was taking the time to sharpen his sword. "May you help me?" you startled the knight by breaking the thick silence.

"Always, what is it my love?" he immediately responded without second thought.

You quickly guided him to your chambers, undressing as the water now grew ice cold from the bath the ladies drew for you hours ago. "I need you here, with me" you pointed to the water, "Please".

The knight looked uncertain before seeing your eyes coated in tears, he nodded before beginning to strip of his armor and his undergarments, your eyes seeing the scars that riddled his body clearer. Allowing him to enter the bath first before he guided and aided you to enter the water, his warm body helped ease you into the bath. His arms wrapped around your body as you went slack against him, the water painted your body like varnish, how beautiful you gleamed under the moonlight that peaked through your chambers. Your scent intoxicated him but, he did cloud his judgement, allowing himself to begin cleaning you, not missing any spot or curve of your body. You took the liberty to pepper kisses along his neck and chest, before choosing to kiss his lips yearningly.

With enough time having passed that of your love holding you, Erryk removed the soap with ease from your body before standing up and holding you securely to his chest, carrying you out of the water, your nipples perked and body shuddering from the coldness. He gently set you down on your bed before looking up at you, "Let me please you tonight my love", earning a nod of consent from you. His lips laid kisses along your body, his beard tickling parts of you that you were not aware could be tickled.

As his mouth made its way further down, the growing heat within your body soared as the knight then was met with your cunt. Kissing the inner portion of your thighs gracefully, earning a whine from your vocals, he saw it as an invitation to kiss the bud that sent blissful pleasure to your body all over. He quickly felt your cunt become wetter and wetter by the second, easing himself to licking your cunt with vigor, nibbling at your clit slightly to send yourself to disrepair. Moans left your mouth, you reached for Erryk's hand that laid on your stomach, as both of his arms secured themselves around your hips to prevent you from squirming. His beard sending you over the edge, as his nose teased the upper portion of your cunt and his tongue worked masterfully on your cunt. You reached your peak upon minutes, seeing white and a combination of stars. The man had known to pleasure you, body and soul.

[rise-my-angel]

"# have many thoughts on why they adapted Rhaenys the way they did and all of them strip what makes her so cool and i hate it"

I'd actually love to read your thoughts, I have some of my own but they boil down to turning her into a bizarre mouth piece for the writers (which is what most of the female characters in HOTD feel like) and not allowing her to potentially outshine Rhaenyra which is why all the women on TB lack personalities, it's easier to write for one or 2 women than it is to write for a whole cast.

Rhaenys in the book and Rhaenys in the show are basically two completely different characters.

Princess Rhaenys in the show is not my friend. Princess Rhaenys in the book is cool as all hell and a true Baratheon under it all.

Under a read more, I wrote you a fucking essay I am so sorry.

There isn't as much about Princess Rhaenys in the book due to the narrative style of Fire and Blood, but what we do know paints a drastically different picture. Rhaenys has the purple eyes, and she flies Meleys, but thats all about her that is distinctly Targaryean.

She was born to King Jaeherys firstborn son and heir Aemon, and her mother was Jocelyn Baratheon. So she has the long, straight black hair of a Baratheon with a streaks of white throughout from her age, she was a great beauty but never described in ways that other Targaryean women are, more in a way that she is a great beauty in terms of a Baratheon.

She was a woman who was very clever, very quick witted, but she was also known to be fearless, she had a red hot fiery temper and much like her mothers house words, she was a fierce woman with a fury within her.

As Aemons only child, she was seen by many to be his heir when he became King. Queen Alysanne even calling her their "Queen to be". Alysanne and Jaehaerys often did trips around Westeros called progresses, which was personally going to a Lords castle or keep, spending time with them, holding court, solving local issues and using that time to bond with his highest subjects, which was part of why he held such a long reign of peace, he used his dragons pruposley to make travel easy and personally visited the homes of his people.

Rhaenys would join him on this after she claimed Meleys, going on some progresses around Westeros and she became a very popular royal figure amongst the nobility, notably in the Dustins, Manderlys, Blackwoods, Celtigars, and the Starks.

Now, yes Rhaenys was up for a claim at the great council, but she was actually rejected early on because she was a woman. She then persuaded these lords on her side to push for her sons claim, Laenor, and it is Laenor who lost in the final vote to Viserys, not Rhaenys. Rhaenys and Laena were both rejected and so she pushed for her son without a second thought, she was fine not being Queen, she was the eldest sons firstborn child and she put her firstborn son up to be King.

After word came that Lucerys was dead, it was she and Corlys who were actually in command of the Black Council at the start of the war because Rhaenyra was too in greif to rule.

Then her greatest moment, Rhaenyra was the one who ordered Rhaenys to Rooks Rest and without any reinforcement. Rhaenys of course, listened to her Queen, but the fight is different.

In the books, Criston Cole has set a trap. Lure a dragonrider out, and when they arrived, they would be ambushed by Aemond on Vhagar and Aegon on Sunfyre knwoing the two against one dragon would be enough to defeat them.

"Princess Rhaenys made no attempt to flee. With a glad cry and a crack of her whip, she turned Meleys towards the foe."

Rhaenys realizes she has rode into a trap.

She knows if it were Sunfyre or Vhagar alone she might stand a chance, but against both of them she knew she was doomed. She had time though, she could try and turn to leave. But, Rhaenys is in her blood, a Baratheon. Baratheons don't run from such dangerous odds, even when facing certain doom, she never let herself be controlled by that fear. She did what Baratheons do, and she turned around and fought with fury. With my favourite line about her describing her perfectly:

So, what are the main differences here from the show that are so wrong? Lets talk the two big ones:

Rhaenys being given the Targaryean look instead of the Baratheon look is an attempt to give the feeling that she is a true Targaryean and thats why she is such a fearsome dragonrider. But, in the books, she looks Baratheon, and her personality is textbook Baratheon. By stripping her of the Baratheon look, she show is propping her up more as a Targaryean which feeds into this show's strange relationship with Targaryeans being divine and special. By taking away the fact that Rhaenys was the first and only Baratheon born dragonrider, it downplays the fact that Rhaenys did not fit into the typical Targaryean dragonrider persona which most were at the time. It makes her look like a Targaryean alone, and it severs that relationship in Fire and Blood of the less of a Targaryean someone appears does not equate to being less capable of the feats they claim only they are special enough to do. Rhaenys isn't the books biggest example of that, but she is the big start of it.

By making the final vote at the Great Council come down to Rhaenys vs Viserys, it paints the man vs woman image. Rhaenys and Laena were rejected very fast, and it was Laenor, her son, who Viserys won against. Not Rhaenys. The entire show though, follows this idea. That Rhaenys lost because she was a woman and that dictates so much going forward. It dicates everything she pushes for, women in power, not being in service to men, but Rhaenys was never like that. Rhaenys did not fight against the world she grew up in, she navigated it despite of it. She did not promote this woman in power idea just because she was rejected. She was Jaeherys grandaughter, and he was a man who did not treat the women in his life as equals. She would be used to being passed over for men, her grandfather did it with almost every woman in his family to the point it drove his wife away. Rhaenys in the books didn't stand for anything. She didn't do what she did because she wanted to stand with a woman over a man. It wasn't about that. In the books, her and Corlys essentially pick the lesser of two evils. In their minds, standing with the Greens means her family and grandaughters will be at the mercy of Rhaenyra and Daemon, but standing with the blacks, she is at the mercy of Alient and Aegon. One of those two is a more dangerous foe to her family, and she sides with the family that gives her granddaughters a safer chance. It had nothing to do with anything and the show doesnt even establiush why she chooses Rhaenyra, she just does and then starts promoting the idea that Rhaenyra is the woman who wants peace not the men startingg war and it turns her into a mess who is onyl here to lecture the audience that the men are bad.

Really, my biggest gripe is, Rhaenys as a Baratheon dragonrider has a lot of potential. Due to the structure of Fire and Blood we don't spend a lot of time with her, but we do know that the relationship between the Baratheons and the Targaryeans is extremely tenuous and sore. The Baratheons have long since resented the Targaryeans, and Princess Rhaenys literally was supposed to be the bridge between the families.

Queen Alysanne married Aemon to Jocelyn Baratheon so that the Baratheons can have an heir one day on the Iron Throne and hopefully stop the fighting and resentment the Stormlords had towards them. But by rejecting her and her family at the Great Council, it reopens that old wound. And the Baratheons become disillusioned more and more when Viserys makes no effort to mend that bridge.

Rhaenys is a Targaryean raised dragonrider, who was distinctly Baratheon looking with the feirce personality of a Baratheon, and that contends a lot with what the Targaryeans all stood for especially at the time and it could make for a lot of great scenes revolving around what is wrong with the Targaryean legacy. The more like a Baratheon Rhaenys was, the more the Targaryeans stood out as people who were doomed to destory each other.

Rhaenys was born to be the child that mended the bridge between the Targaryeans treating the Baratheons like lesser then, when they had once been their strongest ally. By making Rhaenys just another Targaryean, it erases that conversation of why the Targaryens were bound to lose. That even when they married the Baratheons into the family, they still screwed it up because they couldn't get over their biases of looking down on the Stags.

Rhaenys had potentiol to showcase a time in history that foreshadows whats to come. For decades before the dance the Baratheons resented the Targaryeans, and after the dance, that resentment will continue to grow until it explodes during Roberts Rebellion.

By erasing her as a Baratheon, it erases the potential of showing why the Targaryeans were doomed to lose. They always treated their Baratheon allies as war fodder, just like throwing Rhaenys into battle without any backup, and her personality and looks standing out against the Targaryeans could have shown why the conflict of Roberts Rebellion was inevitable.

The Baratheons were always going to fight back against the Targaryeans one day, and hotd lost its chance to use Rhaenys to lay the first stones and show why.

But, that paints the Targaryeans in a more negative light, because the Baratheons are in the right to hate the Targaryeans. So, they erased everything about Rhaenys that stood out.

Even her death. A very Baratheon move, refusing to flee from certain death, because she was a woman with fury who was willing to face her enemy head on no matter what it was about to cost her.

Instead, she has a confusing death where her going back is framed as brave, but its not. Rhaenys in the books knew she might have stood a chance against Vhagar alone. So in the show, shes just turning back for a battle that she might win. In the books, shes against Vhagar and Sunfyre. Shes turning back towards a battle she knows she will lose, but she does not run, because she is a Baratheon, and they do not run from their enemies. They face them even towards certain death.

Also, book Rhaenys never exploded hundreds of smallfolk with her fucking dragon. She never did that.

[princeblue]

As a lucemond enjoyer I’m so tired of people uwu-ifying luke.

As if this boy wasn’t ready to throw hands every five seconds, as if his genes didn’t come from HARWIN “BREAK-BONES” STRONG and as if he wasn’t raised by DAEMON “THE ROUGE PRINCE” TARGARYEN.

He’s not some petite omega who will fly away if the breeze is slightly too strong, he did not hesitate one second to cut out Aemond’s eye, he LAUGHED in Aemonds one fucking eye because there was a ROASTED PIG and even X amount of years later, he still remembers the joke he, Jace and Aegon made when they were kids.

Not to mention he was going to throw hands when the fight broke out at the feast in s1 but the only reason he didn’t is because Aegon jumped him too quickly.

HELL the only reason he didn’t sword fight Aemond at storms end is because they weren’t allowed to fight bc of mr. Illiterate-can’t-read-what’s-his-face.

The only time that Luke ever showed fear against Aemond is when they were at an UNFAIR ADVANTAGE with a seasoned war beast Dragon Vs. a 15/16 year old dragon that had never experienced war before.

AND EVEN THEN Luke and Arrax held their own really well, they were an amazing pair of fliers and once again, the only reason Aemond got them is because he sneak attacked them, just like he did with Rhaenys and Meleys.

Kid was fucking feral and not afraid to throw hands and I will not play into this fanon characterization that he’s some helpless bean because the ultimate peak lucemond dynamic is lovers & enemies where they’re covered in each others blood and make out while trying to kill each other. Said what I said.

[lemonhemlock]

The episode where Rhaenys busts through the floor and murders countless smallfolk and it having absolutely no narrative consequences on the story or condemnation of Rhaenys' character, and the episode where Aegon murders the ratcatchers causing Otto to crash out have this whole monlogue about Aegon being The Worst being written by the same writer really tells you all you need to know about HOTD. And before you ask, yes, they were both written by Sara Hess lmao.

Yeah, I know there was discourse a while ago, because this dissatisfaction regressed into racist and misogynistic attacks directed at Sara Hess. Obviously, that's vile and people should, first of all, rid themselves of this despicable framework of viewing the world (because, as always, this is absolutely just another opportunity to dunk on a woman - these people don't care about good storytelling) and, secondly, learn how to actually formulate an argument that doesn't sound like the ramblings of a basement-dweller.

That being said, she is categorically not a good writer, there's no other way to put it. She can come up with some good ideas (or, at least, a glimmer of good ideas - for example, the daemyra argument in S02E02 was good - one of the season's highlights, actually) and her line-level writing is... adequate. But, on the whole, her record on House of the Dragon is littered with inaccuracies and logical fallacies. I haven't seen her other shows, but I decidedly have no desire to and will be actively avoiding if I see her name. And I am including Ryan Condal in this mess, too, because he has the ultimate say-so on how the scripts look. These two together truly are the blind leading the deaf.

I think the ratcatcher pity party was, in a way, a reaction to all the backlash she received for the Meleys dragonpit scene. But, instead of fixing her mistake and making it work in the context of what she had already written, she made some absolutely abysmal storytelling choices that defy common sense and contradict her own text. A very easy fix to this would have been to show the population of King's Landing become very anti- Meleys, Rhaenys and, by extension, Rhaenyra. But, of course, the wider narrative set by her genius colleagues was that KL couldn't possible have any negative feelings towards Rhaenyra, so it's completely swept under the rug and the commoners are made to consider Meleys' death a bad omen.

But, naturally, they had to do something about all the criticisms that they are not focusing on the negative effects this war has on the population. However, instead of showing that in a balanced way, they decided to pile all these evils on the greens again. Rhaenyra faces no backlash from the low-born for any of her actions. She does sacrifice them to Vermithor, essentially, by preventing their exit and it's framed as the beginning of her moral compromises and falling into self-aggrandizing behaviour. Yes. But where are the consequences to this? There are no consequences. These dragonseeds don't seem to have any family who are asking questions about them or blaming Rhaenyra for setting them on fire, basically. Not even one noble person hears of this and goes "hmmm that's kind of fucked up actually". Larys, the literal Master of Spies, who might have reasonably be shown to have found out this inside information via his network of spies, might have had some lines informing the green council about this awful thing Rhaenyra has done. Might have even informed the population, in order to turn them against her. But no, of course not, we can't have anyone actually be anti-Rhaenyra.

Meanwhile, we have close-ups of the fucking dog longing for the ratcatcher who literally kicked it in a previous scene. How do you even qualify the framing decision to invite the audience to feel sorry for a child-murderer? To feel more sorry for him than for the actual mother of said murdered child? We have Otto, of all people, lecturing Aegon about how over-the-top he is acting, because he executed a couple of ratcatchers. Otto, who, by the way, is shown in S01E09 to be executing people because they would not bend the knee to Aegon. Otto does not value commoner lives more than noble-borns (last season, he refuses to outlaw child pit fighting and, even in the previous episode, he gets annoyed by Aegon ruling too much in the smallfolk's favour), but he grows a temporary conscience for the purpose of this one scene, because we have to engineer another situation in which Aegon looks cruel or stupid (or both, preferably). Alicent's entire household was purged by Larys for supposedly being Mysaria's spies, the brothel was even set on fire and she gave zero fucks about that, but Aegon's ratcatcher execution is somehow one step too far.

I have said this before, but just thinking "civilians don't matter" in the ASOIAF universe betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the themes and message. Can you ultimately be anything other than a "bad" writer if you miss the point to such a degree? And you can tell that's her true opinion about all this, because she can't write a storyline in which civilians do matter to save her life. The suffering of the lower classes only matters in her stories just as far as she can instrumentalize it to demonize the greens. She's not interested in any kind of systemic exploration, because that would also involve the blacks and it would interfere with Rhaenyra's hero framing. Like Ryan Condal, she doesn't have the chops to write beyond the hero-villain binary, hence all the flip-flopping and the retconning and the logical fallacies. And, at the end of the day, I can just watch a Marvel movie for that, you know?

[nrilliree]

https://www.tumblr.com/bluebardblogs/748466535784497152/people-picking-sides-in-the-dance-is?source=share

These types of arguments are stupid. Yes, the dance cost dragons. But because of whom there was the dance?! The Greens. So I'm tired of seeing people claim that since the war killed the dragons, well both sides were bad. No. That's not how it works. The Blacks first responded with words. They didn't want to involve the dragons in the first place. They wage war with words first. It's once again the Greens who ruined everything. I would really like to understand the logic of people saying that the Blacks are at the same level as the Greens under the pretext that they reacted to the usurpation?! Like, if you defend yourself, aren't you better than your attacker? This is literally victim blaming reasoning and it pisses me off. The dragons would have still been alive if the Greens had stayed in their place for fuck's sake. I don't know how it works in these people's heads. What, they say to themselves that the Blacks should have just let the Greens steal what was theirs to be better? This is completely stupid.

Yes, I agree with that. If the Greens hadn't stolen the throne, they wouldn't have started the war, there would have been no Dance and the dragons would have lived. TG claim that "the rebellion would break out anyway because Westeros would not accept Rhaenyra on the throne" (which, as we know, is nonsense, because 2/3 of the kingdom supported her, and there would be more), but even if that were the case, what to be an obstacle to a united House of the Dragon? They would have all the dragons on one side if the Greens had not decided to be usurpers and traitors to the crown. Rhaenyra and Daemon would have had no reason to kill the Targaryens and dragonriders if they had pledged allegiance to the crown instead of conspiring against it for decades. Also - sorry, but which side started using dragons to kill first? Which side killed the dragons first? Which side used dragons to terrorize the kingdom and burn innocents, fostering fear and hatred of dragons? How can you say that the destruction of the dragons is Rhaenyra's fault when the TGs caused it with their decisions? Arrax, Meleys, Moondancer, Stormcolud, Vermax, Seasmoke, Vermithor, Tessarion, Gray Ghost, Sunfyre, Caraxes and Vhagar. These dragons died in a war caused by the TG's greed, because they had to have the throne.

[pterodactylterrace]

*less than two months ago*

Beloved? You sure about that Condal? Just… forgot about the mass murder at the coronation? Never happened? Not one of those small folk remembered when she killed hundreds of them for absolutely no reason other than to stare at Aegon and then fly off?

If you were going for a more realistic reaction, they would have been cheering that the dragon and dragon rider that slaughtered so many of them answered for their crimes.

So, according to Condal, hanging a dozen rat catchers (I believe?) to ensure no other assassination attempts befell the royal family would turn all the small folk against Aegon, but the dragon that killed HUNDREDS of them was “beloved”? Did Aegon not meet the quota for small folk slaughter to be beloved or something? Is that it? You have to kill at least 200 before they go from hating you to loving you?

Someone get Condal’s dumbass out of the writing room. Let like 3 hardcore fans take his place. One TB, one TG, one Team Smallfolk. They will make a MUCH better and balanced show. And maybe something interesting will happen. I mean, do we really need five episodes of Rhaenyra’s council not listening? And huge chunks of those episodes just being a bunch of old men squabbling about “women can’t!” While Rhaenyra continues doing fuck all but getting upset about it?

Jesus, show us Aemond decimating the blockade with Vhagar now that Meleys’ patrolling isn’t an issue. Show us Sunfyre’s wounds and the men left to guard him! FFS, stop just standing around talking about what they should do and actually DO something already! Fuck, after Jaehaerys assassination why didn’t they all jump on their dragons and just burn down Dragonstone in the middle of the night? Riders without their dragons are just people. Dragon fire can cook them through the stone walls (see Harrenhal) but nooooooo. Just have a bunch of scenes of people blaming each other and doing nothing about it. Super compelling TV.

Season 1 I rewatched several times because there was usually something going on. Season 2, I was able to catch husband up on the entire season in under two minutes. “Aegon wants to be a good king, his son gets killed by assassins, Rhaenyra grieves the loss of her son, Daemon left for Harrenhal after Rhaenyra found out he sent the assassins. Cole leads an army through the crown lands, sets a trap at Rook’s Rest, Aegon drunkenly interferes and ends up getting roasted by Vhagar. Aemond is now regent.” Tada, five episodes summed up. Hit all the major plot points. Most of which weren’t even impactful.

The only two major events have been B&C and RR. We are over halfway through the season, and we have had less action and interesting things happening than the last three episodes of season 1.

We were promised all out war. Is the all out war in the room with us?

[low-budget-korra]

Comments on House of the Dragon S02E04

- I'm so fucking pissed... WHY THE WRITERS CAN'T GIVE SOMETHING TO THE BLACKS????? It's so unprofessional that is infuriating.

Rhaenys and Meleys fought bravely against two dragons, one of them being Vhagar and she almost won. She almost kill Aegon II. Her death is the definition of going out in a blaze of glory.

Not only did they make her look like a traitor sometimes, giving terrible ideas to Rhaenyra (that could get the queen killed), but also sometimes it felt she was with tb just because it was convenient not because she actually believed in their claim. Now they even took away her amazing and heroic death? What was the reason for her suicidal attack on Vhagar??

The writers could spend those 4 episodes showing us how she felt guilty for not killing and ending Aegon II bloodline in the coronation scene, something that would stop the war that was coming. But no, they instead gave us two unnecessary Alicole sex scenes.

They want Aemond to burn Aegon? Fine. Lets do a scene, showing Rhaenys experience as a rider and warrior. Let's make her swing and redirect Vhagar's attack on Sunfyre.

It's not that hard! Omg seriously.

For the writers, everything is for team green. Only they can be "cool" and "developed" and here is one more proof. Again taking something from team black and giving it to the greens.

-The writing of HOTD it's giving season 7 and 8 of GOT and if it continues like that we all know how it's gonna end. They are choosing unnecessary sex scenes, cgi and spectacular action sequences over decent writing. And guess what, even spectacular action sequences can look dumb without decent writing (just look at the Long Night episode from GOT)

And the "funny" part is that the majority of the audience don't give a shit about writing anymore. Which makes me think that if Game of Thrones had come out today, it would be cancelled after 2 or 3 seasons.

- Aemond high valyrian improved a little, while Aegon's sucks.

-I love that Lord Darklyn insulted Cole. That's what that whinny bastard deserves.

-Jace pulling Daemon's mannerism is so cool to see. He has every right to be angry at his mom but also he is too anxious to fight, fight for their claim and his family. This and his inexperience in battle is what will lead him to his death

-Aegon II is a pathetic drunk, dude is bored with the war he helped start. He was always so anxious for the war, talking like it was a simple game, something that contrasts with Rhaenyra doing everything she can to prevent a war that already had started.

-Is Alicent already starting to lose her mind?

[atopvisenyashill]

What if Laena Velaryon survived?

I'm addicted to bullet pointing my answers so let's goooo-

There's a few spots that Laena living really impacts the plot and the Dance overall:

Laenor potentially lives - if Qarl was in fact paid to kill Laenor by one of the blacks, the reasoning for this no longer makes sense because daemon and rhaenyra can't marry if laena is still alive. if qarl was genuinely just pissed laenor may have been cheating on him, or it was someone else that paid qarl, well, he's fucked i guess. but odds seem better!

Vhagar is still on tb's side - not only does she have the biggest and oldest dragon not chomping on her kids, but by the time Viserys dies, Rhaenyra has all but one (1) of the mature dragons on her side. that's HUGE. even otto, imo, is not stupid enough to decide to up against caraxes, meleys, syrax, vhagar, AND potentially even seasmoke, not to mention arrax and vermax. against what? ONLY sunfyre and dreamfyre? are they sending helaena out into the riverlands??

Aemond is defanged - outside of otto himself, aemond is the most war mongering, bloodthirsty on that side. it's not just killing luke, it's the mini genocide in the riverlands, it's taking out caraxes & meleys, it's his fascination with some superman v batman bullshit he wants to have with daemon, on and on. If Vhagar can't be claimed by him, he is only as capable as the army he is leading, and there's no dragons to worry about roaming Westeros except Tessarion, and Daeron can't really cover the Riverlands when he's so occupied in the Reach. Even if the war gets set off at the exact same time, getting rid of Vhagar/Aemond eliminates an entire front of the war.

Butterfly Effecting Away Aegon and Vis the Youngers - Daemon can't set Laena aside (they have clearly consummated), and they risk a complete rebellion by the faith if they do some bigamy stuff, and even if Daemon is stupid enough to pull that, Corlys and Rhaenys will kick his fucking ASS if he is married to Rhaenyra and Laena at the same time. Never mind someone paying Qarl to kill Laenor, Rhaenys won't even bother lighting Daemon on fire, she's just going to throttle him with her bare hands. This means that either Rhaenyra remarries who she wants as a political match (not a bad decision to make) or she simply remains unmarried (also, imo, not a bad decision to make since she's doubling down on the Velaryon boys being legitimate). In which case - if she has Daemon's kids, they will be publicly acclaimed as bastards OR they will be Laenor's legally, the same as Jace, Luke, and Joff.

There are some things I think might still happen - I think there's a chance Aemond makes a play for Vermithor if he can't have Vhagar, maybe Silverwing, but that's so much riskier because he'd have to travel alone as a child/teenager to Dragonstone, which is the seat of a political enemy, find where Vermithor has made his nest, get there safely, and then claim him without losing a limb. There's a lot of ifs there, vs Vhagar who was already hanging out nearby because of the funeral and very recently losing Laena. Laenor living is best case scenario for Rhaenyra because she keeps that cover for her sons - it's really hard to Vaemond, Alicent, or Otto to press on the Velaryon boys being illegitimate if Laenor is standing right there swearing they are his and fighting for their rights! But even if Laenor dies, Laena is not just going away - she's Rhaenys' last living child, she's Rhaenyra's girlfriend dear friend, she's the rider of Vhagar. Daemon cannot - and would not, in my opinion - just cast her aside the way he tries with Rhea Royce (and notable that his attempt to cast Rhea aside failed). Rhaenyra being single or politically married off would help her a lot just from a propaganda standpoint but she likely has more allies/has alienated less allies by the time Viserys dies.

Now, I think it's likely there's still a small war - Otto is in the capital and Rhaenyra is on dragonstone, so Otto will still attempt to take the capital but once she retakes it? With a war that is much less bloody, with her oldest sons likely still alive, without the loss of baby Visenya, she's not only mentally in a much better place, but politically as well. Hell, if she stays unmarried until she takes the throne, then dangles being Prince Consort in front of some lord's face, promising him that their children will marry Jace and Baela's child to sit the Iron Throne? Does Rhaenys even lose at Rook's Rest if she's only going up against Sunfyre, or going up against Sunfyre and Vermithor? I think in that case, Rhaenys & Meleys' experience and maturity trumps Aegon and Aemond's anger.

Anyways, I think Rhaenyra is just objectively better off with Laena around. Laena has a bit of reputation in fandom of being kind of useless narratively but the truth is, she has to die in order for Rhaenyra to lose so soundly. Laena is integral to Rhaenyra keeping her shit together because they are so close and because of Vhagar. If Rhaenyra keeps Laena as an ally, the war looks much different. Probably there's still a war, but I think it stays "a war of words and wings" for longer, and remains more or less bloodless. More similar to the third blackfyre rebellion, where the fighting isn't particularly bad and mostly localized, than the mess it winds up being.

[centrally-unplanned]

House of the Dragon "peace arc" was generally cringe though with a bright spot at the core. Rhaenys came off the worst for it; sitting in a council meeting getting news that the enemy has marched an army, taken two of their castles, and sacked a city and calling those wanting to respond to that warmongering idiots is an amateur hour moment. It isn't like Rhaenyra was heading to King's Landing to surrender or anything, she wanted a negotiated peace. To get that, you need a position of strength - otherwise your enemy is less likely to make peace with you, as the cost of killing you is so low. "War begets war" is an aphorism, not an iron law; this cowardice in the name of conflict avoidance serves neither peace nor their war. Smack their advancing army with a squad of dragons and show them "hey, this is what More War is gonna bring - let's give peace a chance hm?" You only make peace with your enemies, after all, reminding them of that fact is not the barrier to peace naive instinct thinks it is. And then you also aren't telling your own vassals you are going to ditch them in the face of fire, bonus!

The way she seems haughtily superior to the "squabblings of men" while making a fool or herself is a real directorial fail, it is almost accidentally sexist - poor wimmins can't understand Clausewitz. Though I gotta give the actress Eve Best some unintentional credit:

I guess she fucking nailed it.

While I am bashing Rhaenys, the framing of the Vhagar/Meraxes fight is very strange - Rhaenys has clearly won the battle, because Sunfyre is pretty much dead, and you would likely bet Aegon with him, and the way it is shot strongly suggests Rhaenys successfully retreated while Aemond is not at all in pursuit. The whole battle was clearly a trap that she had just dodged. Then she doubles back anyway against a much stronger foe and loses while dealing no apparent damage. Why do that dumb thing? It's both way too risky and also strategically foolish - Meleys as the Black's strongest dragon is highly needed as a deterrent force. It would be more reasonable if Rhaenys was a proud warrior type, proud warriors do that kind of thing ("I can't abandon Rook's Rest!"), but she was defined by her caution up until she chose suicide-by-dracarys.

In the books she is ambushed by a cooperative Aegon/Aemond and dies fighting, easy peasy. The logic is sound, it is a weird change to make.

Speaking of bad tactics, why only send one dragon? If the other dragons were busy that would be one thing, but they mainly aren't, they are doing nothing of note at the time, you have like 4 of them. In the book Rhaenyra is being a bad leader, too grief-stricken or cowardly to go herself, and too possessive of her sons to let them fight; it is shown as a mistake. In this show it is shown as a moment of Rhaenys's courage; she is like "I will go your grace" and everyone is like "oooh" and the question of why this is a solo mission just gets swept aside. Again, you know Vhagar is stronger than you, teamwork is the only real chance you have, while having more dragons is your primary advantage. The Blacks can and should make mistakes, but it has to be framed as mistakes by the show.

This is of course downstream of the "make Rhaenyra the Good Guy" decision; but beyond the Rhaenys idiocy I think this worked great for her here. She didn't hesitate to help her allies; the moment she returned from her failed peace mission, she got right to work. Trying to make peace was idealistic but people are sometimes. And meanwhile I continue to support the Aegon's Dream choice - it really does give her this solid motivation beyond power for her commitment to her inheritance. It is framed really well - like she herself only half believes the prophecy. She is choosing to believe it because she is stuck now and needs moral certainty for the choices she is going to make. That is a very human thing to do, and insightful to essentially admit her own biases out the gate. It makes her likeable without giving her a moral pass for anything.

I do think the show has tipped a bit too far into the "greens = bad guys" camp in comparison though. I would have fixed that by making Rhaenyra more directly complicit in past crimes like killing those who called her children bastards, show she is too committed to this whole "law & prophecy above all" bit, and that the Greens have some legitimate grievances against her. But we may see her get corrupted by the war yet; hopefully they have the courage when it matters most.

[thephantomcasebook]

Heard anything about tgc and ewan on set?

What I've heard is that Aegon will be at a brothel during the funeral getting fucked up on a bender. Aemond will be torturing "Blood" to get information - apparently we'll see an incredibly dark side to Aemond in those scenes ... which he is more than justified in letting loose on the piece of shit.

Alicent will give the Eulogy but falter half way and that Criston takes over and gives a vengeful speech as he holds her which turns both Jaehaerys and Helaena into martyrs that the entire city will rally around and when Criston and Aemond return with Meleys's head they'll be cheered as heroes of the realm.

Daeron is - rumored - to be in the Riverlands leading a guerilla war against Daemon and the Blackwoods that Alys is helping - apparently Alys will learn of Aemond from talking with Daeron around the Outlaw/Rebel campfires. Also, Daeron for some unknown reason is exiled from court by order of Otto and is forbidden from returning to King's Landing - Even though it's not revealed why ... apparently it'll be obvious when we see the casting and appearance of Daeron. (A+C=D?)

Also, we'll learn that you don't have to be a Targaryen to ride a dragon, which leads to a conflict and falling out between Daemon and Rhaenyra, because, Daemon thinks that if that knowledge gets out then the Targaryen power will be in jeopardy but Rhaenyra is scarred emotionally by losing decisively at Rook's Rest and the fact that Criston and Aemond have seized Harrenhal (With Daeron and Alys help) and have nearly won the war. So she tells him that they need all the dragon riders they can get to survive.

That's the stuff I heard, but who knows if its true. There's about six different rumors flying around reddit, and about a dozen around various discords and all about the same shit, so who knows. Maybe they're all wrong.

[divinesolas]

Hey sweetie I miss u. I was seeing the small trailer for tomorrow's episode and something came to my mind.

The greens are fucking stupid.

The war started cause Alicent is dumb enough to believe a senil death bed man who never knowledged (???not sure about this word but I'm going through with it) her children as his suddenly changed his mind AFTER calling her Aemma.

Then, Aegon in the dumbest way possible believed that his mother who never gave a fuck about him would love him if he were a king, going against what he truly wished for himself (that's actually sad)

And then NOW the next episode they are showing around Meleys head to people who the only reason they don't go against the mighty Targeryens is because they believe the dragons are immortal beings or something like that. Thus, showing dragons and therefore themselves aren’t indestructible.

Not a single person in that side have the brains to think.

Said that I miss talking to u

UR SO REAL alicent finally getting the karma of her decision in the new ep feels soooo good

[nashiriel]

Hi! So I’ve been following this since chapter 2 and I cannot tell you how blown away I am at how you managed to capture everyone's personalities so perfectly. Your writing is so in depth with the characters and how they’re feeling, it actually sounds like them. The story has such a grounding feel to it that it’s refreshing. Your writing is beautiful and I hope you know that.

I truly admire the bond that is being cultivated between Luke and the Cannibal. It has a sweetly twisted tone to it and I can’t wait to see what else you add to it. I feel like “I’m Still Standing” would be a good song for them, or at least for Luke.

Slightly concerned with the faceless men tactic the Greens might go for, but given that these assassins are also a cult that worships death, and Luke was brought back by a version of death… 

To be honest I have really strong feelings about how after everything, the chase, Arrax’s death, Luke’s near death and resurrection, and the feast, Aemond still thinks that he is owed a debt. Even if it’s just his way of scraping for any connection to Luke, it’s completely asinine. I cannot wait to read the reaction Aemond has to seeing Luke atop the severely underestimated Cannibal, coming to collect their own debt. Aemond trying to get Luke to understand that he didn’t mean to take Arrax away while Luke is gunning for him is going to be a mess for sure and I’m really looking forward to reading it.

If there's the chance, I would love to see Aemond try to do his “fight me” stance against Cannibal, like what he did with Meleys in ep 9. Emphasis on try. 

Got a few questions if you don’t mind. Last chapter, what was going through Cannibal’s mind when he sensed Luke was in danger?

Currently, how would you say the relationship between Cannibal and Moondancer is? To me it seems like they are in the early stages of developing a camaraderie. 

How would you describe Luke’s new armor? Is it like Daemon’s or is it a completely different style?

I’m curious about what will happen when Luke is confronted by Vhagar once more and if he might get some ptsd flashbacks, triggering Cannibal’s protective side. 

These are just my thoughts and I hope you like them. Eagerly awaiting the next chapter!!!

I’m pretty sure I woke up my neighbours with my excited squeal when I saw this lovely ask! I’m so happy that you’ve stuck with the story for so long (despite the wait between chapters) and that you like the writing. I absolutely love getting to hear people’s thoughts and questions on it, so without further ado:

I truly admire the bond that is being cultivated between Luke and the Cannibal. It has a sweetly twisted tone to it and I can’t wait to see what else you add to it. I feel like “I’m Still Standing” would be a good song for them, or at least for Luke.

The bond between Luke and the Cannibal isn’t healthy, but it’s certainly filled with affection on both parts! As I said to another commentator, the Cannibal is essentially acting in many ways as Luke’s emotional support animal for his eldritch-induced PTSD - it’s just that his support tends to involve mayhem and murder. 

And you're right - those lyrics do apply pretty well to Luke!

Slightly concerned with the faceless men tactic the Greens might go for, but given that these assassins are also a cult that worships death, and Luke was brought back by a version of death… 

Now that they’ve been rattled by the prospective PR nightmare that is Arryk’s failure + Rhaenyra’s son claiming a second dragon, the Greens are going to try being a bit more proactive on certain points than in canon (such as not letting Borros take his armies and fuck off for a good portion of the war). So making use of Hightower gold to splash on supernatural assassins when the other side boasts more firebreathing monsters is certainly on the table.  Alas for Luke, he never seems to get any benefits or respect from his deluxe Drowned God experience, so the Blacks might want to stay on guard…

If there's the chance, I would love to see Aemond try to do his “fight me” stance against Cannibal, like what he did with Meleys in ep 9. Emphasis on try. 

Aemond’s rather convoluted logic probably follows the line that Luke still has the net total of 1 dragon, whereas he’s -1 eye, but you’re right - it doesn’t really square up when you see how much grief and trauma Luke still carries. Whether Aemond would still carry that attitude after actually interacting with Luke remains to be seen, but he’s certainly got a lot to work through for Luke to regard him with anything other than murderous rage right now. 

Aemond squaring up to the Cannibal alone certainly would be an amusing image, not least because the Cannibal is basically a clingy, jealous housecat who can’t bear anyone getting close to his human and would beef with anyone daring to assume they had any kind of claim on Luke.

Got a few questions if you don’t mind. Last chapter, what was going through Cannibal’s mind when he sensed Luke was in danger?

The Cannibal freaked the fuck out when he sensed Luke fighting for his life; he was ready to blast a squire into kindling simply for landing a blow in a friendly bout, so Luke being in genuine terror is enough to trigger a fairly cataclysmic response. Because their bond is so close, and because the Cannibal is so unused to having any kind of connection with another creature, he tends to often perceive Luke’s stronger emotions as his own. As the Cannibal is largely unused to feeling pain or terror, his response is generally murderous rage and termination with extreme prejudice of anyone involved.

Bit weird, really, that he didn’t immediately come rampaging over to the weirwood when Luke was driven to a near panic attack by Alys’ comments…

Currently, how would you say the relationship between Cannibal and Moondancer is? To me it seems like they are in the early stages of developing a camaraderie. 

Moondancer isn’t entirely blind to the danger that the Cannibal poses and would freak out like Arrax if the Cannibal actively exhibited warning signs like growling and snapping at her (Cannibal however has the nasty habit of giving absolutely zero warning before he strikes). So long as he’s calm however, she’s young enough to be quite playful and inquisitive around him, and doesn’t have the raging hostility that Syrax exhibits towards him.

The Cannibal, as Luke notes, would have absolutely no compunction about eating Moondancer still if he thought Luke would let him get away with it. However, he did actually enjoy the flight, if only for the time spent with Luke; there is a positive memory associated with Baela and Moondancer now, which is certainly interesting for him. The Cannibal is also developing a dim awareness that there is a ‘Them’ group (all the other wild dragons + the Green dragons when he meets them) and an ‘Us’ group of dragons - and when he’s with the ‘Us’ Group, he’s often either playing around with Luke or about to tear into some enemies, so there’s definitely a lot of positive reinforcement being built into his socialisation there!

How would you describe Luke’s new armor? Is it like Daemon’s or is it a completely different style?

Luke’s armour is actually closest to Rhaenys’ - but plain black with no embellishments, which certainly doesn’t really add much to his image in the unimpressed eyes of lords who haven’t seen him in action. Rest assured however that Corlys has already commissioned the glitziest, gaudiest armour Westeros has ever seen for his precious, precious heir. Jewelled seahorses and elaborate onyx black dragons in abundance, if Luke can ever be pinned down long enough to get forced into it! 

I’m curious about what will happen when Luke is confronted by Vhagar once more and if he might get some ptsd flashbacks, triggering Cannibal’s protective side. 

Luke’s PTSD and its effects is currently a major vulnerability for him, and he is likely severely underestimating how big an impact seeing Vhagar again would have. The Cannibal’s protective side (fairly indistinguishable from his murderous side) would certainly have him seeking to remedy that problem quickly, but there’s certainly a slight issue if Luke’s frozen by his trauma and the one making battlefield decisions is the omnicidal carnivore who currently only gives a fuck about himself and his rider. 

And now that I've just dumped that essay in your lap, a huge thanks again for the ask! Really made my day.

[prince-aegon-targaryen]

Ranking all the dragons in asoiaf (spoilers) just my opinion and this is mostly jokes

Sunfyre - My feral beautiful child. Had a beast mode. Took punches standing up.

Balerion - The legend. The only.

Caraxes - The felon of the group somehow. I just feel it. Also, destroyed Vhagar in a battle.

Vhagar - Grandma would have been higher if not for her loss against the croaking fire snake

Silverwing - Fought in the war and then went and fucked off. I respect that

Vermithor - He died in battle but made a bloody mess beforehand

Seasmoke - Went down swinging and swinging WELL

Tessarion - Didn't slack off. Went to fight riderless

Moondancer - Gave it their all in the fight with Sunfyre. May not have won, but the damage done to Sunfyre was severe.

Sheepstealer - had to be bribed with sheep. I like it.

Meraxes - Should have been higher, maybe, but it died from a bolt. The ones that actually fought in dragon battles deserve to be higher than this chump.

Dreamfyre - I'm still debating on moving her above Meraxes. One of the prettiest as well as mommy to Daenerys' dragons

Drogon - Already kicking ass and is the established leader of the pack basically (behind Daenerys of course)

Rhaegal - part of the pack

Viserion - also hangs around

Cannibal - EATS DRAGONS. Firmly in the middle because I don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing

Meleys - Honestly, a pretty good dragon. Not their fault they got jumped

Stormcloud - A baby that saved their rider

Quicksilver - Now, what was he supposed to do against Balerion? He didn't have a chance

Arrax - Same goes for this little lad. What was he supposed to do against Vhagar?

Morning - I like the name and it sounds pretty :)

Tyraxes - I'm sure it would have done a better fucking job than Syrax

Morghul - A baby. :( Didn't deserve what happened. Cool name. Means death

Shyrkos - Also a baby

Grey Ghost - Got eaten by Sunfyre lmao

Vermax - Dropped its rider. At least it was trying when compared to SOMEONE

Syrax - This is someone. Did nothing in the war except murder its rider's child. 0/10

[theredqueenandthebloodwyrm]

Hatching (Catching) up on House of the Dragon Episode 5 rn!

(I know I didn’t do a post for episode 4, don’t @ me I think I had a draft but it got deleted and I was so over writing at that time).

Spoilers for Episode Five, Season Two, of House of The Dragon

Initial thoughts: Jace & Baela are the best couple, I love them so so much.

More Caraxes & Daemon, slight annoyance at the fact that the dragons look so dull their scales should be shining and bright! Full of color!

Why do we need to have Rhaena & Lady Jayne Arryn fight? This feels like more unnecessary conflict for the sake of character conflict like in the previous episodes.

I do like how the Small Council (once again) called Rhaenyra out for trying to rush headfirst into battle against Vhagar of all dragons! She can’t risk her life like that because she’s the Queen! This isn’t to say I wouldn’t want her to ever fight on dragonback but if she must, it has to be alongside other dragonriders (such as Daemon & Caraxes). I mean seriously if Meleys and Rhaenys couldn’t beat Vhagar (*granted Meleys was already wounded in the fight against Sunfyre + Vhagar’s second ambush from behind the castle of Rook’s Rest) solo, then Rhaenyra and her tiny Syrax definitely wouldn��t no matter how tired Vhagar might be. At least she’s admitting to Mysaria that “I’m the Sovereign, I can’t fuck off to do whatever especially if it’s a hazard to my life” (*see what happened to drunk as fuck Aegon riding Sunfyre into the battle of Rook’s Rest). I know that might sound like I’m contradicting myself in earlier posts about “Hey, it’s not the time for peace anymore Rhaenyra, stop fucking around with Alicent”, but there’s a difference between preparing for war, gathering a army, directing the war efforts vs fighting yourself in the frontlines. Not every leader fights in the battles, and this is especially a dangerous war to risk your livelihood as the other major claimant when your enemies have dragons. Ah see Mysaria says it herself, “There is more than one way to fight a war”.

Felt bad for the servant who Rhaenyra snapped at, was that Elinda Massey? (Couldn’t tell) I do relate to the whole ‘standing around anxiously waiting to try and ask a question’ only to get yelled at/snapped at.

WAIT ARE WE ACTUALLY GETTING SOME SCENES OF RHAENYRA AND BAELA BONDING / INTERACTING? LET’S GOOOOOOOOOO! that small snippet at the council was not enough at allll!

Poor Daemon, he is tripping hard af. I mean seriously, the worst intrusive thoughts / hallucinations ever. I do like the Maesters noting Aegon’s injuries and alluding to the existence of internal injuries, so that bit of medical knowledge (internal injuries, to what extent they know of them) is known canonically in the show-universe.

Laughing my ass off watching Alicent stand up (and sort of sway back and forth on her feet, holding onto to the table) as she declares they need a regent like she genuinely thinks she’s the one for the role of regent and that they (the green’s council) would accept her as Regent! Larys spells it out for us directly “what would it say if in response to Rhaenyra’s crowning, we raised up a woman of our own”. Rhaenyra’s usurpation by the Greens was solely based on misogyny. Alicent had no problem playing along with the rules of the patriarchy, of levying insults against Rhaenyra based on the fact that she was a woman (and a woman who didn’t suffer endlessly in a marriage and instead found her own love and solace) and Rhaenyra’s first husband Laenor based on the fact that he was gay. Yet she has the audacity to feel enraged that the council is denying her power? She had already lost any power she once had when Aegon took the throne because of how she raised her children, excused their actions, etc.

I know I’m SUPPOSED to care about Hugh and his family, sick dying kid and all that. But I really don’t? Granted this may be because I’ve read the wiki/know the book spoilers so…? Same with Ulf, I just can’t muster any ounce of fucks to care. I’m enjoying Alys Rivers though, fr!

Alicent’s getting on my nerves so much, “You know what he [Aemond] is, what he has somehow become.” Like she hasn’t raised him? Lived with him? Encouraged and excused his actions? How is she so shocked when she not only a few episodes ago was exuding her son’s murder of Lucerys (a child on a much smaller dragon, who was acting as a messenger protected by customs and who had honorably refused to fight Aemond).

VERMAX! JACE AND VERMAX! JACE DOING MORE DIPLOMACY LET’S GOOOOO! FAVORITE PRINCE AND HEIR TO THE IRON THRONE! Jace channeling that inner Daemon “You fear a dragon leagues away when mine own sits outside your walls?”

Small tangent: digging the costume designs for whoever that Lady Frey is, costume designers go hard in this season seriously.

I don’t dig the characterization of Daemon being all “I want the throne for myself and Rhaenyra will rule beside me”. Call it bias towards a character I like, but the previous episodes of Daemon being all “call me king not prince, was heavy handed and over done, and technically speaking he’s been officially recognized as King consort by Ser Simon Strong so we know that his title was presumed to end up being King Consort to the ruling Queen, so requesting to be called King isn’t necessarily some far fetched ploy for power and to undermine Rhaenyra—it’s just an expected title. We know that he’s supporting Rhaenyra (even in their marital spat), that he’ll dirty his hands to get revenge for her (avenging Lucerys’ death in a manner he saw fit—which put him at odds with Rhaenyra but he was doing it for her however misguided). We already had their conflict established in episode two, that Daemon’s actions made Rhaenyra unable to fully trust him, he was hurt by that and ran off to Harrenhal, hasn’t returned her letters, etc. I don’t think we needed more of a “Boohoo I still want the throne and boohoo Viserys” from Daemon. Even Ser Alfred doesn’t think Daemon would raise a host for himself. I’m not saying we shouldn’t have a cunning grey character, I mean that’s what Daemon is, but I don’t see why we couldn’t have him completely loyal to Rhaenyra (show-wise).

Baela and Corlys’ scene is so good. Baela being all “My grandmother is a Targaryen Princess and dragonrider”

“I am blood and fire” is an iconic line, like yeah Baela you are a Targaryen by name, by father, by dragonrider. Seriously digging seeing more Baela & Jacaerys.

Ser Willem Blackwood is an utter fool, I swear. Daemon was rather clear in his wording that there are some things the crown must not be seen doing, implying that “hey if you wanna fuck up the Brackens go ahead, just don’t say I gave you the green light” (therefore that means no flying the Queen’s banners!).

There’s an interesting implication in the line in which Rhaenyra says Rhaena nearly lost her life in the last attempt to claim a dragon, was she trying to claim Vermithor? Silverwing? Clever Jacaerys working with his momma to get some new dragonriders! Love his smug little face.