#also what they did with Doran

[tiger-moran]

When Harris's Moriarty is getting beaten in that poll even by a fucking cartoon rat

[catofoldstones]

The essence of the series - so eloquently put by ms ellaria sand

[throwawayasoiafaccount]

god tywin lannister deserved worse

just remembering elias death and i wanna puke and the way tywin talks about elia and what happened is so damn gross

but rip tommen and myrcella we all know what’s about to happen in the next book :/

the cycle of violence just keeps spinning and damn you tywin for beginning it

(i got a bit crazy in the tags 💀)

[francy-sketches]

The asoiaf character sorter is way harder for me than it should be istg. like it’ll ask me to pick between two characters I've never thought about in relation to one another and I'm like well I dont fucking know also this is the hardest decision I've ever made

[visenyaism]

Sorry if you’ve been asked this but what do you think of all the rot in asoiaf? Obv some of it is related to the problems with monarchy but I feel like a lot of it isn’t and it just leaves me curious. Like cold hands or people killed by the others idk what that symbolizes there. Jon is in a land in which rot is in stasis from the cold and it’s creepy as shit. And then there’s stuff that could have multiple interpretations like dany by proxy of selmy experiencing bio warfare with the corpses like I know some people see it as the fall of old ghis but I wondered if maybe it was a sign to dany about breaking the wheel and doing as her ancestors did. Idk I know it’s a nasty series and sometimes grrm is just doing stuff so that it’s gross but I feel like rot comes up SO much and I people are usually talking online about like Tywin when it comes to rot.

Oh one of my favorite things about the asoiaf series is how heavy-handed george rr martin is with the rot symbolism. and (at the risk of sounding like an mfa vomited on my keyboard) the way that the political, pestilential, societal, and climatological aspects of the rot symbolism all interconnect.

In a society founded on so many feudal evils that has perpetuated for centuries, something has to give. It is a recurring theme in these books that violations of human decency under feudalism cause cataclysmic societal collapse represented through literal and metaphorical pestilence.

There’s the sociopolitical collapse in the riverlands caused by war of human decency and norms like guest right and prohibitions on kinslaying or cannibalism just dedicating away as times get hard. broken men. bodies left to rot in the sun for the crows to feast on. There’s the fermenting wildfire under every major street in Kings Landing. There’s the familial/relational decay of incest especially the targaryens and the lannisters. The people who hold power and that society rot, despite everyone’s best efforts at keeping up appearances: Robert Baratheon the “war hero” dies of a very nasty festering stomach wound he got in a drunken hunting accident, Tywin gets shot on the privy and his corpse putefies in the sept.

The climate stuff is also very salient. The series starts during late summer and as things get worse and worse in the world declines into the autumn where the summer fruit and all of the abundance is literally rotting through the hands of the characters. (see: renly’s peach vs doran’s blood oranges!) The cold up at the wall keeps the rot at bay for a while, but it does not entirely stop it. Coldhands’ hands are still blackening. Things are still unraveling at the hinges of the world. that’s pretty representative of the way that the violence of the border wall and the penal colony stationed there to patrol it are not sustainable. The decline of the night’s watch from a once proud order to a penal colony full of cruel and often impoverished convicts dropped off there by circumstance is a symptom of the society that sends people up there. But something still has to give. The wall will fall down and the existential crisis will come, it’s just slowed.

Critically, there is also the forgotten parable of Old Valyria: a society founded on extreme cruelty and slavery which eventually experiences cataclysm coming up from the very tunnels they send the enslaved into to die for the empire. A lot of what Daenerys experiences in Essos is an extension of that commentary on slave societies to me. Like. as the slavers try and reconquer places dany has liberated, people fleeing the violence, bring disease like the bloody flux with them. The rot creeps back. (important: disease and rot in the series is not always something people get for being morally bad. it often happens to people who just have no choice but to live in these places.)

But that’s why I think the way Volantis is described really ties a lot of those elements of the rot symbolism together. This is a society that has founded itself up from out of the corpse of old valyria. The city maintains some veneer of old glory, but the fountains are dry and the paint is chipping. The people there eat food that is so sweet it literally causes your teeth to rot out if you were to consume it every day. In terms of climate, I think it’s relevant that it is described as extremely, almost disgustingly, humid, and everything is excessively perfumed to cover up a tangible smell of decay.The air is quite literally cloying and difficult to breathe. You feel dirty after walking through it. The evil of slavery is rotting the city to its core in the same way that the evil of feudalism and the wars for the iron throne is affecting the city of king’s landing.

To wrap allllll this up. Rot is a signal that obviously societal collapse is coming, but it’s also transitional: the empire of old ghis brought about its downfall, and then valyria found itself on the same principles which brought about its own downfall, and then the Targaryen went to westeros and engineered their collapse in Kings Landing while the freehold did the same essos. I think the climatological and disease aspects of it are really heavy-handed symbolism that something has to give in the societies and we’re at the point in the series where that’s about to happen.

I think the ultimate arc of the series ends in some form of significant societal collapse, but instead of building upon a rotten foundation again people are going to have try and hope for something new and gather the courage to build that.,quite literally dreaming of the spring.

[nightswatchdisbandmentera]

Prince Rhaegar as a character often gets some deserved criticism - and a lot of underserved hate. And one of the things that I think he unfairly gets blamed for is Elia Martell's tragedy. Elia's death is one of the primary objections people have towards Rhaegar and Lyanna being depicted as a romance, with readers believing that if they were just tragic lovers, then that diminishes Elia's own tragedy.

I...disagree. It is understandable (and honestly right) that readers would rally behind Elia. Not only was she horribly brutalized and murdered, but her children suffered absolutely terrible fates as well.

However, in trying to center Rhaegar and Lyanna's doomed dalliance in this, a lot of readers are missing the answer that has been already provided to us within the narrative. Not only that, but this line of thinking also ignores the key context in which Elia's senseless murder is portrayed.

As far as the text goes, Elia’s death is laid squarely at the feet of Tywin Lannister and his men, Ser Gregor Clegane and Ser Amory Lorch. It's House Lannister's burden to bear.

Doran for one, Elia's brother, directly blames Tywin Lannister:

“You mistake patience for forbearance. I have worked at the downfall of Tywin Lannister since the day they told me of Elia and her children.”

The Princess in the Tower, AFFC

Even Oberyn agrees:

“Dwarf,” said the Red Viper, in a tone grown markedly less cordial, “spare me your Lannister lies. Is it sheep you take us for, or fools? My brother is not a bloodthirsty man, but neither has he been asleep for sixteen years. Jon Arryn came to Sunspear the year after Robert took the throne, and you can be sure that he was questioned closely. Him, and a hundred more. I did not come for some mummer’s show of an inquiry. I came for justice for Elia and her children, and I will have it. Starting with this lummox Gregor Clegane … but not, I think, ending there. Before he dies, the Enormity That Rides will tell me whence came his orders, please assure your lord father of that.” He smiled. “An old septon once claimed I was living proof of the goodness of the gods. Do you know why that is, Imp?”

Tyrion IV, ASOS

“Is that the game we are playing?” Tyrion rubbed at his scarred nose. He had nothing to lose by telling Oberyn the truth. “There was a bear at Harrenhal, and it did kill Ser Amory Lorch.” “How sad for him,” said the Red Viper. “And for you. Do all noseless men lie so badly, I wonder?” “I am not lying. Ser Amory dragged Princess Rhaenys out from under her father’s bed and stabbed her to death. He had some men-at-arms with him, but I do not know their names.” He leaned forward. “It was Ser Gregor Clegane who smashed Prince Aegon’s head against a wall and raped your sister Elia with his blood and brains still on his hands.” “What is this, now? Truth, from a Lannister?” Oberyn smiled coldly. “Your father gave the commands, yes?” “No.” He spoke the lie without hesitation, and never stopped to ask himself why he should. The Dornishman raised one thin black eyebrow. “Such a dutiful son. And such a very feeble lie. It was Lord Tywin who presented my sister’s children to King Robert all wrapped up in crimson Lannister cloaks.”

Tyrion IX, ASOS

“Elia Martell, Princess of Dorne,” the Red Viper hissed. “You raped her. You murdered her. You killed her children…“I came to hear you confess.”

Tyrion X, ASOS

Varys and Tyrion both understand that House Martell (but more specifically Doran) hates the Lannisters.

“The Dornishmen thus far have held aloof from these wars. Doran Martell has called his banners, but no more. His hatred for House Lannister is well known, and it is commonly thought he will join Lord Renly. You wish to dissuade him.” “All this is obvious,” said Tyrion. “The only puzzle is what you might have offered for his allegiance. The prince is a sentimental man, and he still mourns his sister Elia and her sweet babe.” “My father once told me that a lord never lets sentiment get in the way of ambition … and it happens we have an empty seat on the small council, now that Lord Janos has taken the black.” “A council seat is not to be despised,” Varys admitted, “yet will it be enough to make a proud man forget his sister’s murder?” “Why forget?” Tyrion smiled. “I’ve promised to deliver his sister’s killers, alive or dead, as he prefers. After the war is done, to be sure.” Varys gave him a shrewd look. “My little birds tell me that Princess Elia cried a … certain name … when they came for her.” “Is a secret still a secret if everyone knows it?” In Casterly Rock, it was common knowledge that Gregor Clegane had killed Elia and her babe. They said he had raped the princess with her son’s blood and brains still on his hands. “This secret is your lord father’s sworn man.” “My father would be the first to tell you that fifty thousand Dornishmen are worth one rabid dog.” Varys stroked a powdered cheek. “And if Prince Doran demands the blood of the lord who gave the command as well as the knight who did the deed …” “Robert Baratheon led the rebellion. All commands came from him, in the end.” “Robert was not at King’s Landing.” “Neither was Doran Martell.”

Tyrion IV, ACOK

Really, all the nobles know where to look at when assigning blame for Elia's murder. Tywin.

“Prince Doran comes at my son’s invitation,” Lord Tywin said calmly, “not only to join in our celebration, but to claim his seat on this council, and the justice Robert denied him for the murder of his sister Elia and her children.” Tyrion watched the faces of the Lords Tyrell, Redwyne, and Rowan, wondering if any of the three would be bold enough to say, “But Lord Tywin, wasn’t it you who presented the bodies to Robert, all wrapped up in Lannister cloaks?” None of them did, but it was there on their faces all the same. Redwyne does not give a fig, he thought, but Rowan looks fit to gag.

Tywin, for the most part, quite shamelessly tries to disassociate himself from his own moral failings; this is nothing new, because he follows this same MO with squarely blaming the Freys for the Red Wedding even though he played an integral part in planning for it.

“Then why did the Mountain kill her?” “Because I did not tell him to spare her. I doubt I mentioned her at all. I had more pressing concerns. Ned Stark’s van was rushing south from the Trident, and I feared it might come to swords between us. And it was in Aerys to murder Jaime, with no more cause than spite. That was the thing I feared most. That, and what Jaime himself might do.” He closed a fist. “Nor did I yet grasp what I had in Gregor Clegane, only that he was huge and terrible in battle. The rape … even you will not accuse me of giving that command, I would hope. Ser Amory was almost as bestial with Rhaenys. I asked him afterward why it had required half a hundred thrusts to kill a girl of … two? Three? He said she’d kicked him and would not stop screaming. If Lorch had half the wits the gods gave a turnip, he would have calmed her with a few sweet words and used a soft silk pillow.” His mouth twisted in distaste. “The blood was in him.”

Tyrion VI, ASOS

“And when Oberyn demands the justice he’s come for?” “I will tell him that Ser Amory Lorch killed Elia and her children,” Lord Tywin said calmly. “So will you, if he asks.” “Ser Amory Lorch is dead,” Tyrion said flatly. “Precisely. Vargo Hoat had Ser Amory torn apart by a bear after the fall of Harrenhal. That ought to be sufficiently grisly to appease even Oberyn Martell.” “You may call that justice …” “It is justice. It was Ser Amory who brought me the girl’s body, if you must know. He found her hiding under her father’s bed, as if she believed Rhaegar could still protect her. Princess Elia and the babe were in the nursery a floor below.”

Tyrion VI, ASOS

Tywin tries to alleviate himself of any responsibility by blaming his men, but the narrative actively calls bullshit on this (through Tywin's own son no less).

So the narrative shows through multiple POVs that Elia's murder is contextualized exclusively as a failing on Tywin Lannister and his men; not only was it a moral failing, but Tyrion also questions if it was politically necessary in the first place. It's also important to note that ASOS is when we really dive into the matter of Elia and her children (mostly through Oberyn), but we also have to remember that this is the same book as the Red Wedding. The Red Wedding, another one of Tywin's senseless massacres that he tries to postulate as politically necessary.

So, we have agreed that the blame and context for Elia's (and her children's) murder is presented through the lens of Tywin as an immoral politician who often makes politically unnecessary moves. But then we ask ourselves, can the responsibility of this tragedy be extended? Well, yes it can. And it has been in the text.

Ser Barristan extends this tragedy beyond Tywin and his men

...to King Robert.

“Prince Rhaegar had two children,” Ser Barristan told him. “Rhaenys was a little girl, Aegon a babe in arms. When Tywin Lannister took King’s Landing, his men killed both of them. He served the bloody bodies up in crimson cloaks, a gift for the new king.” And what did Robert say when he saw them? Did he smile? Barristan Selmy had been badly wounded on the Trident, so he had been spared the sight of Lord Tywin’s gift, but oft he wondered. If I had seen him smile over the red ruins of Rhaegar’s children, no army on this earth could have stopped me from killing him. “I will not suffer the murder of children. Accept that, or I’ll have no part of this.”

The Kingbreaker, ADWD

Ned Stark does as well.

Ned did not feign surprise; Robert’s hatred of the Targaryens was a madness in him. He remembered the angry words they had exchanged when Tywin Lannister had presented Robert with the corpses of Rhaegar’s wife and children as a token of fealty. Ned had named that murder; Robert called it war. When he had protested that the young prince and princess were no more than babes, his new-made king had replied, “I see no babes. Only dragonspawn.” Not even Jon Arryn had been able to calm that storm. Eddard Stark had ridden out that very day in a cold rage, to fight the last battles of the war alone in the south. It had taken another death to reconcile them; Lyanna’s death, and the grief they had shared over her passing.

Eddard II, AGOT

And so does Tywin, who uses Robert's tacit approval as justification for this senseless act.

Lord Tywin stared at him as if he had lost his wits. “You deserve that motley, then. We had come late to Robert’s cause. It was necessary to demonstrate our loyalty. When I laid those bodies before the throne, no man could doubt that we had forsaken House Targaryen forever. And Robert’s relief was palpable. As stupid as he was, even he knew that Rhaegar’s children had to die if his throne was ever to be secure. Yet he saw himself as a hero, and heroes do not kill children.” His father shrugged. “I grant you, it was done too brutally. Elia need not have been harmed at all, that was sheer folly. By herself she was nothing.”

Tyrion VI, ASOS

So if we can't extend the blame to Rhaegar, because the narrative doesn't do so either, what can we hold him responsible for? Let's take a step back and look at Rhaegar's culpability in this whole thing.

Was Rhaegar (and Lyanna) responsible for starting the war that would eventually lead to Elia's murder?

No. GRRM doesn't think so. The war actually started when King Aerys murdered the Lord of Winterfell and his heir, a bunch of other northern nobles, and then called for the heads of Robert Baratheon (Lord of Storm's End) and Ned Stark (the new Lord of Winterfell). Aerys broke the feudal contract, and so Jon Arryn declared war.

I don't think I would have stayed loyal to the Mad King. Do I think they were justified? Yes, and no. [...] There was no doubt that the Mad King was mad. He was paranoid and he was abusing his power. And Westeros has no Magna Carta or anything like that. There was no way to handle this within the rule of law. But was what they do justified? Especially when you consider that it was triggered by a personal grievance. The execution of Ned's father and brother was really a thing that radicalized Ned and put him in opposition to it. Robert was just rolling for a fight and didn't like the fact that he'd lost his girlfriend. So you know, the personal informs the political.

source

Rhaegar and Lyanna's disappearance was merely the spark - it led to a misunderstanding that caused Brandon Stark to ride to Kingslanding. What really caused the war was Aerys' Targaryens subsequent actions as the king. So if we want to blame someone for causing the chain of events that led to Elia's death as well as her children's, the author himself says to blame Aerys; even though I don't think this is right either because we once again stray from the necessary (and sole) context of Elia's murder - Tywin's bloody hands.

Fine. Rhaegar was not responsible for the war. But surely he is responsible for leaving Elia in King's Landing, right in the clutches of Mad King Aerys. Well, this again, is not true. As far as Rhaegar knew, Elia was in Dragonstone with Aegon and Rhaenys where he left them.

As cold winds hammered the city, King Aerys II turned to his pyromancers, charging them to drive the winter off with their magics. Huge green fires burned along the walls of the Red Keep for a moon’s turn. Prince Rhaegar was not in the city to observe them, however. Nor could he be found in Dragonstone with Princess Elia and their young son, Aegon.

“The Year of the False Spring”, The World of Ice and Fire

At some point, Elia was called to King's Landing. And it was Aerys who kept her hostage there as insurance against possible Dornish betrayal (remember, he was paranoid).

Side Note: Aerys kept another important political hostage in King's Landing along with Elia - Jaime Lannister; this is to deter anyone from trying to blame Jaime for doing nothing. He was a teenager and a hostage himself!

“My Sworn Brothers were all away, you see, but Aerys liked to keep me close. I was my father’s son, so he did not trust me. He wanted me where Varys could watch me, day and night. So I heard it all.” He remembered how Rossart’s eyes would shine when he unrolled his maps to show where the substance must be placed. Garigus and Belis were the same. “Rhaegar met Robert on the Trident, and you know what happened there. When the word reached court, Aerys packed the queen off to Dragonstone with Prince Viserys. Princess Elia would have gone as well, but he forbade it. Somehow he had gotten it in his head that Prince Lewyn must have betrayed Rhaegar on the Trident, but he thought he could keep Dorne loyal so long as he kept Elia and Aegon by his side. The traitors want my city, I heard him tell Rossart, but I’ll give them naught but ashes. Let Robert be king over charred bones and cooked meat. The Targaryens never bury their dead, they burn them. Aerys meant to have the greatest funeral pyre of them all. Though if truth be told, I do not believe he truly expected to die. Like Aerion Brightfire before him, Aerys thought the fire would transform him … that he would rise again, reborn as a dragon, and turn all his enemies to ash.

Jaime V, ASOS

Ok, fine. So Rhaegar did not abandon her with Aerys then run off to Lyanna. But he should have done something when he came back, right? Why didn't he leave more Kings Guard with Elia and the children?

Well....this is a war. The knights of the KG are important assets on the battle field. Kings Landing, at the time, was not the most dangerous location. The KG were better off at the Trident, as a victory there would protect those who were left behind in KL.

And it's not that Rhaegar didn't do anything. Beyond going off to lead the battle himself, he tried to make moves that would help those who were back in KL (Elia and the children included).

He floated in heat, in memory. “After dancing griffins lost the Battle of the Bells, Aerys exiled him.” Why am I telling this absurd ugly child? “He had finally realized that Robert was no mere outlaw lord to be crushed at whim, but the greatest threat House Targaryen had faced since Daemon Blackfyre. The king reminded Lewyn Martell gracelessly that he held Elia and sent him to take command of the ten thousand Dornishmen coming up the kingsroad. Jon Darry and Barristan Selmy rode to Stoney Sept to rally what they could of griffins’ men, and Prince Rhaegar returned from the south and persuaded his father to swallow his pride and summon my father. But no raven returned from Casterly Rock, and that made the king even more afraid. He saw traitors everywhere, and Varys was always there to point out any he might have missed. So His Grace commanded his alchemists to place caches of wildfire all over King’s Landing. Beneath Baelor’s Sept and the hovels of Flea Bottom, under stables and storehouses, at all seven gates, even in the cellars of the Red Keep itself.

Jaime V ASOS

And Jaime's POV once again shows us that Rhaegar banked on victory at the Trident, and was fully expecting to come back to KL and amend the fraught political situation.

The day had been windy when he said farewell to Rhaegar, in the yard of the Red Keep. The prince had donned his night-black armor, with the three-headed dragon picked out in rubies on his breastplate. “Your Grace,” Jaime had pleaded, “let Darry stay to guard the king this once, or Ser Barristan. Their cloaks are as white as mine.” Prince Rhaegar shook his head. “My royal sire fears your father more than he does our cousin Robert. He wants you close, so Lord Tywin cannot harm him. I dare not take that crutch away from him at such an hour.” Jaime’s anger had risen up in his throat. “I am not a crutch. I am a knight of the Kingsguard.” “Then guard the king,” Ser Jon Darry snapped at him. “When you donned that cloak, you promised to obey.” Rhaegar had put his hand on Jaime’s shoulder. “When this battle’s done I mean to call a council. Changes will be made. I meant to do it long ago, but … well, it does no good to speak of roads not taken. We shall talk when I return.”

Jaime I, AFFC

So Rhaegar wasn't leaving with no care about what happened back in King's Landing. We don't know what he wanted to do with Aerys, Elia, Lyanna, and the aftermath of the war because he died at the Trident. But we do know that he, at the very least, was planning to do something.

So we can't blame Rhaegar (and Lyanna) for starting the war and we can't blame him either for abandoning Elia in King's Landing with no care about what happens next. So, again, what can we blame him for?

“It's not entirely correct that the Martells stayed out of the war. Rhaegar had Dornish troops with him on the Trident, under the command of Prince Lewyn of the Kingsguard. However, the Dornishmen did not support him as strongly as they might have, in part because of anger at his treatment of Elia, in part because of Prince Doran's innate caution.”

SSM, 09/11/1999

GRRM states that Dorne was angry about Rhaegar's treatment of Elia. What is this treatment, though?

Ned remembered the moment when all the smiles died, when Prince Rhaegar Targaryen urged his horse past his own wife, the Dornish princess Elia Martell, to lay the queen of beauty’s laurel in Lyanna’s lap.

Eddard XV, AGOT

Specifically, Rhaegar riding past Elia to crown Lyanna the Queen of Love and Beauty. Yes, that is a humiliation. And it's undeniable that no one was happy.

The crowning of the Stark girl, who was by all reports a wild and boyish young thing with none of the Princess Elia’s delicate beauty, could only have been meant to win the allegiance of Winterfell to Prince Rhaegar’s cause…Yet if this were true, why did Lady Lyanna’s brothers seem so distraught at the honor the prince had bestowed upon her? Brandon Stark, the heir to Winterfell, had to be restrained from confronting Rhaegar at what he took as a slight upon his sister’s honor…Eddard Stark, Brandon’s younger brother and a close friend to Lord Robert, was calmer but no more pleased.

“The Year of the False Spring”, The World of Ice and Fire

But, humiliating Elia is not the same thing as being responsible for her death. The narrative never equates these two things in any way. Elia's death is about Tywin's immoral and blood thirsty political actions. It's about Dorne's desire for justice (or is it vengeance?) which they know they will not get from the Lannister regime. House Lannister's downfall in King's Landing will be brought about by Prince Aegon's rise - Aegon who is proclaiming to be the long lost son of Prince Rhaegar, and who is being supported by House Martell as of now.

We can criticize Rhaegar for some things, but Elia's death is surely not one of them.

[thebadboyfanclub]

The Lover Of The Seven Kingdoms (Tywin x Reader)

First of all, I’m sorry but you cannot tell me anything when it comes to Tom hiddleston being the perfect young Tywin Lannister. Second, I love writing morally grey female characters and I wrote grant maester pycelle and mushroom in cause I wanted to show how a lot of male historians portray women in one way cause it’s just easier.

The lover of the seven Kingdoms” grant maester Pycelle had used as a description of (y/n) Martell, the second wife of Tywin Lannister, the symbol of femininity for a plethora of men in kings Landing, the mother of lord Ezra Lannister and lady Asena, the scandalous twins and one of the few bastards that later became legitimate and inherited Lannisport, then they had three more, lady Nymeria, Lady Zara and Lord Sorin, (y/n) was the secret passion of Tywin since she stepped foot at court, she was to be Joanna’s lady in waiting.

Her appearance was one carved by the Gods, long dark raven hair that curled down to her waist, olive skin, and almost black eyes, her lips thick, and a body as juicy as the fruits of her land, her twin brother Dorian had sent her to Kings landing as a way to show respect and also expand her horizons.

“Princess (Y/n) had relations with one of the bastards of house Dayne when she denied him the man gutted himself in front of her, Doran sends her away to avoid more scandals caused by her lustful appetite”

Mushroom note, Joanna liked her, she was smart and endearing, and she knew how to play her part, however, what Joanna had not taken in mind is that (y/n) stopped at nothing to get what she wants, in this case, it was the young Tywin Lannister, the tall man with muscles everywhere, blue eyes and blonde hair was the subject of desire for a plethora of ladies, none of them had the guts to go after him, (y/n) was not like them, she had her eyes set and the game had begun.

“My lord”

(Y/n) called for Tywin, the hour was quite late but Tywin was the hand of the king, the hour did not matter when they were things he needed to pay attention to, papers to be signed and payments to be settled.

(Y/n) had studied his schedule, Joanna was already in bed and Tywin was free, most of the servants were dismissed so they were no prowling eyes to catch her.

Tywin halted and turned to look at the girl that called for him, she wore a rather sheer dress which was unlikely of hers, Dornish people were always costumed to very light choices in clothing, still, this was a step further, if the candles burned a bit brighter Tywin would have been able to see… well everything.

“Princess (y/n), is there something wrong?”

“No, not exactly, I was hoping to talk to you, in private”

Tywin hesitated, (y/n) was just outside her chamber, she was holding the door open which meant that her choice of privacy was her room, still, curiosity about what it could be that needed to be discussed in such a secretive way was enough for his feet to go one and then the other inside.

(Y/n) closed the door before she spun to rest her back on the wood, a smirk playing on her lips as her plan was going smoother than she expected, the room was decorated in cherry red and gold colors, some orange as well and the intense smell of vanilla and musk took over Tywins senses.

“So, I would prefer it if you started talking”

“Do you like being the hand of the king?”

“You summoned me to ask me if you like my occupation?”

“No, I summoned you because I have a pair of eyes, eyes clear enough to see that something has been bothering you”

“Well I am flattered that the princess cares to ask for my well-being, however, I must go”

“You can’t lie to me Tywin, if it’s not your duty then it has something to do with me, you have been avoiding me, you can’t even look me in the eye”

Tywin once again chose to not speak he only made a b line for the door to which (y/n) was resting, she had managed to think of everything down to reaching for the handle when he did, making their hands touch, Tywin did not pull his away, he let it rest on top of hers as he towered over her and she looked up at him with doe eyes.

“Is it me, my lord? It is my presence that is bothering you?”

“No”

“No? You are breathing quite heavily, your eyes travel below my lips, and… dare I say you could have moved me if you truly wanted to, no one is here, my lord, you can confess to me”

“(Y/n)-“

“Go on, confess”

Her voice was barely above a whisper as she gawked at Tywin with lustful eyes with a hint of innocence, she had done this before, Tywin was a mere puppet, a bug that got caught in the spiders' web and was now waiting to experience her poisonous bite.

Her kiss could be described as venom, it made his entire body feel like it was burning and her touch was the only remedy, his addiction started and ended with her, he had been fantasizing about her every night, haunting him like a succubus and stealing the life out of him, at an instant he forgot everything, his wife, his status, his entire life would crumble if someone were to find them, none of it mattered, all that he cared about was to see her, take her.

He took her right on her window, some servants had even reported that they could see the young princess bareback as her moans grew some attention, alas none of them thought something of it, most of the castle had seen a generous amount of men go in and out of (y/n)s chamber at all hours of the night.

Tywin was in utter awe with (y/n), he almost felt like he would faint as he reached his high, it was the only time Tywin considered that (y/n) was a practitioner of dark magic. No other woman had held such power over him in this act.

“My lion”

She had whispered in his ear before she kissed him,(Y/n) was the perfect lover, every night he would slip from his chamber and knock on her door, she would be waiting for him, take him up to the sky, and wrap him with her fire that burned as bright as dragon fire.

Tywin was entirely himself around her, she allowed him to be in control and gave him the euphoric theatrics of prowling on her, which made (y/n) giggle a little, it was refreshing and borderline hilarious to move the strings in the background while Tywin thought he was moving them only because she let him touch them.

“I have exciting news”

“Which is?”

“Princess (y/n) is pregnant, how lovely would it be if we get to marry our children? We could secure Dorne and bind my friendship with her”

“We will do no such thing”

“Tywin, think about it if we-“

“You are forgetting an important thing Joanna, the princess is not married, who knows who the father of that bastard is, my child will not marry anyone of such low status”

What else could he have said? We can’t marry them cause they are siblings? Joanna would be crushed, Tywin had run to her chamber that night, not even bothering to knock as he burst into the room startling her, still once she laid her eyes on him she smiled, she dared to smile as if nothing has happened.

“How dare you announce your pregnancy without even telling me first”

“I thought you had noticed”

“No, I hadn’t and Joanna wants to marry your child with one of our children”

“I am sure we will find a way around it”

“Find a way around it? How are you so calm when the world is crumbling on your feet? You are not married nor betrothed, this child will be declared a bastard”

“This child will be my firstborn, a child created by you and me if you remember, that is all that matters to me”

“Not to the rest of the realm”

“I do not care about the rest of the realm Tywin, that is your problem, it will be royalty in Dorne, I do not care what they call my child here”

“Some said she bathed in goats blood every full moon, she would burn candles and speak in foreign languages to make Tywin stay by her side”

Mushroom claimed, it could be true or just whispers since no one understood the powerful hold that she had on the young lord, Tywin was a fearsome man, calculated and ambitious, yet (y/n) could sway him in any direction she wished with a bat of an eyelash.

It was such a peculiar moment, (y/n) gave birth to twins four moons after her lady Joanna, Ezra and Asena, both of them had their fathers' eyes, sapphires that shined in the light of the sun as (y/n) fed them from her breasts, Tywin had held Asena first, she looked nothing like Cersei still something in him knew that the two girls were born to be each others nemesis, fate had played him like a fiddle.

“I was thinking of going back to Dorne”

“Why?”

“My brother said it is not safe for us, people will talk and I do not want my children to grow up in a venomous environment”

“No, no you will stay, Ezra and Asena Hill has a nice ring to it”

“They are Martells, my love, they shall be called that”

(Y/n) was not ashamed of her children, on the contrary, she adored them and kept them by her side at all times, she taught them how to walk, talk, sing, and dance, a endearing mother with a backbone made of Valyrian steel, a combination made straight out of the seven rings of hell.

“Push, my lady”

“I can’t, (y/n) please make it stop”

“Maester, what is taking so long?”

“The babe has breached, it will not let me pull it out”

“It hurts (y/n)”

“I know, my lady, just one more push”

Joanna fought tooth and nail to survive, unfortunately, her labor did not harvest any fruit for her, the son survived but Lady Joanna did not even get to hold him, grant Maester pycelle held Tyrion and presented him to lord Tywin who was utterly disgusted by the ugly creature.

“That is no son of mine, throw him in the river”

“You will do no such thing”

“This matter does not concern you, princess”

“It does, you may be excused maester”

Pycelle only nodded and left them alone, a strange aura surrounded both of them, Joanna was gone, a deformed babe had taken her life, and (y/n)s belly was ready to pop any minute, what was to be done now?

“Does cruelty excite you?”

“Cersei and Jaime are both healthy and Lannister featured, that… thing could not have been created by me”

“It was not the babes' fault, so I have to remind you that you are also guilty of the thing you are accusing a dead woman of?”

Tywin was a man but that meant little to nothing, if Tyrion was a bastard then there was no difference between him and (y/n)s children, Tywin was in no place to frown upon such an act since he was having another child on the way, a bastard.

“Listen to me, my love, I know you loved Joanna and I loved her too, but the babe survived, it’s the last thing we have from her, grief is a strong emotion, but we have each other to lean on, don’t you want this for us Tywin? for me?”

There it was, her secret weapon, that sweet voice that dripped of honey and the big doe eyes, she knew how to play the damsel in distress down to every detail, Tywin put his lips in before he shook his head in defeat, his wife had departed but his mistress stood before him, demanding a place at his table and life, which he was willing to give her.

-

Cersei was frantic, the announcement of her father's betrothal to the princess (y/n) and the reaffirmation of her bastard children had brought her to an utmost stage of rage that she was going around her room like a hurricane, she was throwing things and cursing as loud as her lungs allowed it.

How could he do this to her? To her family? That woman had slithered her way into their life like a snake and was now feasting over her mother's dead body, this was just plain disrespectful to her mother.

Tywin found Cerseis handmaidens outside her chamber as the sounds that came from it could put to shame any wild animal, the ladies looked frightened and not one of them dared to go in, however, all of them tried to warn him in leaving the lady be, suggesting that this has probably happened before.

“What do you think you are doing?”

“Get out”

“Young lady I advise you-“

“Shut up! I don’t want to listen to you! How could you marry her?! How could you do this to my mother?”

That was the last thing she said before a harsh slap landed on Cerseis's cheek, the girl was taken back by the act since her father had never hit her, he would discipline her but mostly by raising his voice or finding peculiar tricks of punishment, for Tywin to get physical with his daughter meant that she had gone too far.

“You do not get to judge my decisions, you will welcome your brother and sisters and you will be nice to my wife whether you like it or not, did I make myself clear?”

Silence only looks that could kill were exchanged

“Did I make myself clear?”

“Yes Father”

“My love?”

(Y/n) walked into the room, she had heard everything although she chose to reside in the act of being clueless, Tywin had turned away from his daughter and walked to his soon-to-be wife’s side, his hand found hers and brought it up to his lips, (y/n) smiled fondly before she scanned the room with her eyes, a puzzled look on her face as the room was upside down.

“What has happened? Is the young lady alright? The handmaidens were stuttering when I asked about the noises”

“Yes, no need to worry, my dear, Cersei was just redecorating”

“Oh, well if she wishes I can help with that”

“No, no, Cersei is quite specific, she prefers doing things her way, hence this scenery, we should live her”

“As the young lioness wishes, but before we leave”

(Y/n) took a few steps so she can stand ahead of Cersei, Cersei truly felt like a lioness, one that was trapped in a cage to be exact, as much as Cersei wanted to believe she could outsmart anyone (y/n) had years up on the horse, so naturally she was now trotting past Cersei with her caring smile and eyes that lit up, Cersei was left to looking like a kid that threw a tantrum whilst (y/n) looked like a mother that did her best to keep the peace.

“I know you are angry at me, I would be too, I will not try to be your mother, I do however hope that one day you will view me as your ally or your friend even”

(Y/n) went to caress Cerseis cheek which Cersei flinched away from that earned her a cold hard stare from her father, (y/n) only bit her lip in defeat, then it was replaced by a smile of hope, (y/n) genuinely wanted things to go as smooth as possible, to keep all of Joanna's children close to her, it was the least she could do she wasn’t a complete monster, as much as Cersei liked to think of her as one.

“Perhaps it’s too soon, I am asking way too much of you, I hope you have a great day, sweetling”

“Put everything back in its place, now”

Tywin instructed in a stern voice before they exited the chamber that Hurricane Cersei was occupying, Tywin was sure that she would throw something at the door once it was closed and he stood correct when a loud bang was heard.

“She is a young girl that lost her mother, having an attitude with me is inevitable”

“Cersei is not a normal young girl, she has a superiority complex over everyone, our children will not interact with her yet”

“That won’t be a problem, Asena is not… fond of Cersei either”

“I wonder why, let us not think of Cersei right now, it is time for Nymeria to be fed”

“See how beautiful it sounds when it rolls off the tongue? And you wanted to name her Lydia”

Since this babe was the first legitimate child of Tywin and (y/n) he had the suggestion of picking the name of the beloved girl, on the contrary (y/n) was not budging, she was adamant on naming her daughter after the biggest warrior queen Dorne has ever known, her precious Nymeria.

“The princess never wanted to marry lord Tywin, she was far more interested in keeping their relationship private, howbeit Lord Tywin was too consumed by his emotions for her to consider the fact that the princess could have been wed, she simply chose not to”

Grant maester Pycelle added when asked about their wedding. (Y/n) did not care about her children being legitimate or owning land, Dorne was her home, her brother had congratulated her on the birth of her twins and even offered to have them in Dorne, and her family was delighted by (y/n) bringing forth new heirs for the Martells, it was only Tywin that wanted to make it official, to let everyone know that the princess was now cloaked by the lion, her life as the lady of the rock had begun and Dorne had entered a land that they never really thought of earning.

“In a day you will be my wife, therefore, my children’s good mother, I expect them to treat you as such”

“I do not, Tywin they are in mourning, you cannot expect them to make it easy for me”

“I am not dimly witted my dearest, I know they will have some thoughts over our marriage, albeit I will make sure they keep it to themselves”

Requests are open!

[themotherofblood]

CHAPTER 1| RIVER OF GOLD |

The Lady | T.L x READER |

series masterlist | main masterlist

~ and if I was a child, did matter? If you got to wash your hands. ~

“He scares me, just a little. Not a violent way I suppose but as if he knows everything about me, though he might if he paid for spies. I am to be his wife, never thought I’d lay with a Lannister and yet here I am. Father has forbade me from writing to Doran, he would be mad at me. Lannisters and us have had a bitter history, my sweet aunt lost at the cost of war but perhaps this would be my first taste of power. I would be his wife, I would hold the sword.”

Grey, the skies were grey in the Westerlands. Black adorned every noble lord and lady's bodies as they stood by the falls. Five children stood as they mourned the death of their mother, along with many other houses who had only come to pay respects; out of obligation. Only five young bodies knew the truth of what had happened.

"Our princess took a terrible fall." the Maesters and handmaidens said, a truth laced with an ugly lie.

Our mother killed herself

The silk that wrapped the former princess's body held the further truth, if one peaked in they would see her bashed left cheek from the impact, a little lower they would see her crushed collar bone and even lower they would see blackened bruises from the fall. They would also see scars, yellowing bruises and fingerprints all over her skin, the testament to the brutality she had to suffer at the hand of her lord husband.

She was gone, and a candle that all five children held in the storm; blew out with her. The oldest boy Jeagir stood with his arm around his sister, you. Her hands rested on the shoulders of her two younger sisters Ellia and Nyela and their Maester Crasden, that stood next to them with an asleep toddler in his arms; the youngest Loren.

While the younger girls wept silently, their older siblings silently boiled in rage. All four children were handed torches as they walked to the four corners of the pyre their mother laid on, a Dornish priest went on with words that were muffled in the noble children's ears. While some remembered the screams from that night, some could only hear the crackling fire in their hands. In unison they lit the four corners of their mother's final rest. She would be safer now, nobody would hurt her now.

Your mother had written to you six moons ago, "Fly back to me, child." She had written. Her Martell uncles had managed to get her on a ship within the next day of the letter's arrival. The ship flung the banner of House Martell and delights filled the cargo of the ship for their dear sister.

"Give her my love." Doran Martell had said as he kissed the top his niece's head, a girl he had raised as his own for the past twelve years.

The morning you arrived to Lannisport, your receiver and long friend Fredrick also brought the doomed message.

"Princess Elina took a terrible fall."

One look at your mother's dead body and the guilt in your mother's handmaiden's eyes, the horrified sullen eyes of your sisters and the rage in your brothers eyes. You knew.

Your mother killed herself.

Lannisport was controlled by the most powerful family in the Westerlands, the Lannisters. More specifically Tywin Lannister. That man knew everything that went on in his lands and surely a Dornish ship with Martell sails entering his harbour was to be brought to his attention. He had ridden out that day, as he did every other day to visit Lannistown and the port. Mostly to set his own eyes upon the visitors from Dorne, he had taken extra guards as a welcome party.

He watched from high ground as the ship docked itself, five boats emerged from the ship. One with a golden pavilion shade, harbouring most likely a person of noble decent. He wondered if the Martells finally had come for his head, but out emerged a young lady at best in a pink Dornish dress, you.

His brother Kevan had rode down to the ports to enquire about the arriving party before riding back to his brother. Tywin watched as a man stood with the banner of his sworn house Maerilys, he watched as the man greeted you dressed in pink, then he watched you speak and for a moment all the colour drained from your face. It seemed as though everyone around you had frozen too, then he watched as your hand came up to your forehead, your lips widen as all the men and women that came with you hung their head low. A message came for him too, a rider rode out from Casterly Rock with the message.

"Princess Elina Martell of House Maerilys has passed."

Kevan too returned from the ports.

"That's Lord Maerilys's eldest daughter."

Tywin had arrived to Deep Den after the funeral, he had known Princess Elina personally having been a close companion to his late lady wife Joanna, the woman wasn't much older than him but he knew wits when he saw it, though he never liked the man she married. Lord Loren Maerilys, clearly named after his ancestor but Tywin knew that man held no kingly qualities. The house provided a good chuck of the Lannister fleet and armies, siege weapons and other labour personnel to Casterly Rock.

Lord Maerilys was a cruel man, the Mad King had his own reasons but Maerilys was another kind of evil, he flaunted his affairs in his lady wife's face, he beat her and humiliated her. Princess Elina on the other hand suffered through it all, many never understood why, she was Dornish. If she had written about the true brutality of her husband to her brothers. They would have landed an army right at her front gates to take her home. She never did, she suffered it all.

When you were born to the household, Lord Maerilys was not pleased, had it not been for his advisors and Maesters, he would have thrown your babbling form into the sea to wash off your existence, to another father you may have been a delight, a gorgeous little girl. But to your father, you were weakness, you couldn't carry their house's name.

Maester Crasden protected you as alittle girl as best he could, keeping you for longer lessons or away from your father's sight most times. However she you fell in the trap of your father's violence, instead of staying in your bedchambers one night as your mother's muffled wails rang through the halls, you hid a dagger stolen from the armoury in your skirts and walked into your parents chambers. Your little hands were ineffective, the blade you wielded ended up giving you a bigger cut than her father and a swollen bruise to her cheek from a backhanded slap.

"You insolent cunt! I could have your head for this." He screamed like a mad man as the little girl's glare never left him. That night her mother wrote to her brothers for help for the first time. She urged them to take her daughter, to raise her as their own with her nieces and nephews.

"Protect my girl, do not let her flame die." She had written.

Tywin had strayed from his riding party for a while, he rarely got to breathe in the country and the serenity of its views. He wanted to tarry a bit, as his riding party prepped for his arrival. The Old Lion had taken a guard along with him, surely he was learned enough to know that he was safe no where. There was a faint rush of water from the great falls in the mountains by Deep Den, the birds sang their songs as the air in the forest remained thick and humid, and Tywin walked through it all like he owned the forests. He had taken a long deep breath, closing his eyes as his head lifted upwards, allowing himself to unravel for just a moment. Though his moment of peace was interrupted by the whoosh of an arrow that nearly missed him and lodged itself onto the tree trunk behind him.

His guard drew their swords, at alert as Tywin sat strong on his horse. All of them looking around to find the source of the attack, a rustle in the bushes and most of them were prepared to fight. Until from the bushes and vines emerged your figure dressed in commoner rags, out of breath and sharp as you looked around before your eyes widened at the men with their swords out. You hands instinctively held tighter on your bow as your chest heaved, looking at all three men skeptically; until the armour they wore gave their true identity away. Lannisters.

You dropped the bow, raising your hands in defence. Gulping at the glare, the lord had fixated on you. If you weren't mistaken, you stood in the presence of Tywin Lannister. Comely and stern looking man.

"Forgive me, my lord. I thought you were a deer," you looked at him apprehensively, as you prayed to the gods, that this man knew nothing of your identity.

"Clearly not," He nodded at his men to sheath their steel.

Tywin didn't trust the girl, and the only way he knew that he would make out of these woods without killing you, was to take you with him. You were clean, too clean for a commoner. Your posture and nimble fingers, too relaxed to be an assassin. You looked familiar and yet he couldn't quite put a name to the face.

"Who are you girl?" Tywin commanded, his eyes capturing every detail of the sweet maiden before him. The velvet of your dress pointed that you were no mere peasant girl, though your unruly hair and mud over your hands would unlikely make you of noble birth.

"I am a kitchen wench, from the Den my lord," you tried to hold his gaze to not seem as if you were lying through your teeth. The lord gave you a grunt of answer before turning his horse around.

"Come along then. No girl like you should be out here alone." He ordered but you stood your ground

"Forgive me my lord, strange men offering escort in the middle of the woods, not exactly reliable," you made your case "I can find my own way home." With that you ran, abandoning your weapon. You ran through the very well known forests as the Lannister guards wandered deeper into the forest with no avail.

You huffed in exhaustion as you returned home, sweaty and covered in dirt. What was to be a trip to clear your head turned out to be a rat chase. The maids all looked scared for their Lady, for surely if Lord Maerilys saw his daughter in this condition, not only would he have your head but also the gaurds that were supposed to be escorting you.

"You must change, before your father sees you my lady." A man called out, Fredrick Serrert. When you had left the shore he was merely a boy but when he came to receive you, he stood a man grown at nearly six foot three.

Down in the Deep Den's hall, Lord Maerilys. A stubbed, and disgruntled old man greeted their liege lord. Both lord exchanged words of formality before Tywin walked himself to the rear gardens, where a burnt out pyre of ashes remained, still gusts of simmering smoke emitted from it. There laid Princess Elina, he still remembered her face, how young him and his betrothed were when his father had brought him along to their wedding. An elaborate affair, the Dornish princess was set to marry the older Maerilys brother, yet tragedy struck Daven Maerilys and her "condition" (the birth of your brother) left her in choice but to wed the younger brother Loren Maerilys instead.

"They say you look for a wife, Lord Tywin." Lord Maerilys asked, the old lion just nodded in reply.

"I have three. The older one just returned from Dorne, and my two younger one's are yet to bleed but should be of cause my lord." Tywin's face scrunched up in disgust, though his face looked away from Loren, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Sure Tywin had imposed a marriage on his daughter, but sell out your daughters that young. Then out of the blue, it hit Tywin.

"Kitchen wench." He scoffed under his breath. He hadn't been outsmarted in a while but surely he was looking forward to meeting this Lady as he put a name to the familiar face. He remembered you from the docks

All the Maerilys kids poured out one by one. Olyvar came first, head held high and the spitting Dornish image of his mother, behind him trailed the two younger girls, Nyela and Ellia. They stood in a line as Tywin was introduced to them, he shook the oldest boy's hands and charmingly complimented the little girls on their hair. Then burst through the doors was another, your hurried feet found you standing next to your little sisters, with a toddler in your arms. You gracefully bowed.

"This is my eldest daughter." your father introduced you, every cursed word you could think of you used on yourself internally. You prayed that he would keep his mouth shut about earlier, and thank the gods he did.

"And who might this be?" Tywin gestured at the child wriggling in your arms, your sweet brother you had only seen painted palm prints off in your mother's correspondences

"Harolld Maerilys, my lord." you voice spoke up, a lot gentler then earlier, almost a whisper as you tried to not startle the child.

Tywin that night thought of the proposition Lord Maerilys put forth, there was something about this girl that just made you tick. Tywin wasn't a child that merely beauty would sway him, though you were quite a sight he had seen in a while, full lips, expressive eyes. There was something commanding about you, the way your eyes never left his, your head held high even admist all this sorrow. He saw a gain in this too, an alliance between Martells and Lannisters, you were important enough for them to send you home with Martell sails.

The next morning he made his wishes heard, he would court you for the week he was to reside at Deep Den, and leave with a bride by him.

You were having none of it, a screaming match broke out in the hall. As servants and soldiers turned a deaf ear to them yet again. You had nothing against this wedding but you refused to leave you little sisters behind at the hands of a monster.

"The girls will leave with me to Dorne!" You yelled over your father's voice

"You watch it girl, I could sell you and sisters for a lump sum and no one would bat an eye!" Your father threw back, menacingly nearing your proximity. However you weren't a child anymore, you stood your ground glaring up at your father. His hand shot forward, yanking your head up from the root of your hair making you yelp out in pain.

"Hurt me, go on. My uncles will cut your hands off if I tell them about this." your words were laced in venom and yet the truth. Doran Martell, was viciously protective over you and Oberyn, your sweet uncle Oberyn. You were his sunshine, though he may never see you more than just his little niece, your heart once yearned for more with your Uncle Oberyn. Many whispered at Sunspear that you had given your maidenhead to him and how you wished that were true.

"My lord." Maester Crasden's voice made Lord Maerilys push his angry daughter away, as tears threatened to roll down your face. You sat on the chair with your head on the table, rubbing the spot your father had held onto. Crasden came over, his fingers gently parting your hair to check for injury, you sweet lady would be fine.

"Marry him child." you scoffed at Crasden but he looked at you as if he wasn't finished, he sat down next to you.

"You would be the Lady of Casterly Rock, our liege lady," he cleared his throat before going on "you could order your sisters away to Dorne." His hand patted your cheek "You would hold power, I could not help your mother child. Let me help you."

The old maester's words had sunk deep within you as you began to ponder on the topic of your marriage and finally gave in, other than Tywin's cruelty on the battlefield and politics, there was no account of him ever imposing himself on women, you began to think of if you'd be safe and the only way to confirm your queries would be from the source itself.

You and Lord Tywin had found yourselves in your mothers gardens, you had called for him yourself and Tywin was curious to hear what you had to say.

"I realise how auspicious of a union this is, however I have questions and terms of my own before I agree to this." you kept your voice strong as you voiced yourr feelings on the matter.

"Go on then, my lady." Tywin walked past you to sit down.

"I truly hope that you know my disdain isn't toward you my lord, but merely a worry for my prospects." you stated as you sat down across from him, you didn't want to elaborate further, not wanting to slander your father in front of his liege lord.

"I am aware, my lady" Tywin's stress on the word made you look away. If your mother's troubles had been so known, how come none of these vast noble lords come to her aid.

"You needn't worry about me imposing myself on you" He suggested making you look at him, grateful and confused

"You would be well looked after and eventually sponsored for when the time came for your duties at Casterly Rock." He elaborated further.

"I knew your mother, I have a debt that still needs to be paid." The mere mention of your mother made the your eyes gloss over.

"And I would be safe?" There was a gentle crack to your voice.

"You would be safe." He reassured you, the green of his eyes glinting against the sun.

So it was setttled, Lady Maerilys was to wed Lord Tywin Lannister, ravens flew from Deep Den to Castley Rock, The Red Keep and to Sunspear. The news of this alliance spread through both families, both his children and the Martells were furious at about the wedding but it was done. A small affair at the Great Hall, you wore your mother's ivory dress that was fit to your sizing, that morning your mind nearly changed again as you tried to make a break for the ports but was stopped by Olyvar. If not for yourself then you performed her duties to protect her sisters.

"Father."

"Smith."

"Warrior."

"Mother."

"Maiden."

"Crone."

"Stranger."

"I am hers and she is mine."

"I am his and he is mine."

"From this day until my last day."

A chaste kiss between the two sealed this union. You were now Lady Lannister of Castley Rock, and hell was to pay if anyone tried to hurt you.

next chapter

[dalekofchaos]

If Ned Stark became King

Hypothetically speaking. Let's say Robert and Rhaegar killed each other in the Battle of The Trident and Ned had no choice but to take the Iron Throne because The Rebellion expected it of him. Here is how I could see things going.

Tywin lannister would have been sentenced to death do to his part in the deaths of Ella Martell, Rhaenys and baby Aegon.

Jamie has three options. He killed the King he was sworn to protect which should mean either a death sentence or a sentence to the wall. If he could convenience Ned that he did the right and honorable thing by keeping the city from being burned maybe he could have lived and be Lord of Casterly Rock.

If Jamie died, Tyrion would have become Lord of Casterly Rock.

He would send for Queen Rhaella and Viserys and baby Daenerys in peace promising safety. Rhaella would have been allowed to live and raise Daenerys possibly in the capital or on Dragon Stone. Viserys would have been sent to the Eryie as a ward of Lord Jon Arryn. ( Ned had fond memories of being warded there, a good place for a confused young child).

Now for Jon, this is my belief of what would have happened. Jon would have been named Prince and heir and betrothed to Ned's first born daughter, in this case Sansa. This would unite both the rebellion and House Targaryen uniting the kingdom again.

Stannis would have been given temporary lordship over Dragonstone, holding it for Viserys. And would still be Lord of Storms End.

The Martells would be happy because they would have been given the Mountain and Tywin would've been executed for his crimes. I could see Ned also fostering Jon there. By all rights Jon is sort of related to the Martells. Its unknown if Ella knew that Rhaegar was going to remarry or not, if she knew and told her family I could see them opening their arms to Jon.

Now for Winterfell, with Ned at Kings Landing, Benjen would be the stark in the north. Its unknown why Benjen joined the Nights watch, I think he just plain wanted to. Ned would ask Benjen to hold Winterfell for a time before he joins, till either Robb is ready to take over, or Ned leaves the thrown for Jon.

Since the Eddard-Catelyn marriage had already been arranged it would not change. Marriages would be vastly different however.

Eddard and Cats marriage ensures an alliance between the Tullys and Starks.

Robb would then be promised to Margaery Tyrell when they both came of age thereby ensuring an alliance between the Tyrells and Starks.

Jaime Lannister and Lysa Tully would be betrothed thereby ensuring an alliance with The Westerlands and the Riverlands and, by extension, the Crown.

Because Jon Arryn had no heirs and was getting older he would be wed as well but since he was already Lord Paramount of the Vale his bride would be from a lesser vassal house from the Reach.

Prince Oberyn would be wed to Cersei hereby ensuring an alliance with Dorne and the Westerlands.

Arya Stark and Quentyn Martell

Arianne Martell and Theon Greyjoy

Viserys and Shireen

Daenerys and Willas

Varys and Baelish would be summarily dismissed from their services in the capital. They would be given holdfasts somewhere far away and forever be barred from the capital or from raising armies.

Grand Maester Pycelle would be sent to the Citadel for reassignment elsewhere. An election for a new Grand Maester would take place then (as is the Citadels way).

Small Council members:

Hand of the King: Jon Arryn

Grand Maester: Marwyn

Master of Coin: Olenna Tyrell

Master of Ships: Balon Greyjoy (bring him into the fold)

Lord Commander of the King’s Guard: Barristan Selmy

Master of Whispers: Prince Doran of Dorne (Bringing Dorne into the Fold as well)

Master of Laws: Brynden Tully

Lord Commander of the City Watch: Mace Tyrell

One of Ned’s first and continuing acts would be to repair the damage, both physical and emotional from Robert’s Rebellion and to repair the relations and trust between the common people and the Crown.

All soldiers that fought against Robert and Eddard during the campaign would be forgiven and pardoned and allowed to return to their homes without consequence. Their leaders, depending on their level of loyalty, would be offered a chance to swear fealty to the Starks. Any that refused would be sent to the Wall and their lands, estates, and positions would be given to loyal nobles.

Ned understood that the job of a noble is to help the people (he considers them his children), and he would immediately order all noble houses of a certain wealth to pay a one-time reparation tax to lift the poor out of poverty and to secure a positive working relationship with them.

Because so many noble houses have been killed off and there is a lack of trueborn individuals left in the kingdom tournaments would be held throughout the kingdom that would be open to the common man, the winners of which would receive a large reward of coin, be allowed to squire with the guarantee of knighthood, and a holdfast. These new nobles would be extremely loyal to the house that allowed them knighthood as well as the crown that elevated their status. These tournaments would also serve to lift the spirits of the common people.

If Ned took the throne the world would be a lot different and ultimately the story would be considerably more boring because the “game” would never happen.

[agattthaa]

Rain

Paring: Unrequited Ram/Deviya; Doran/Deviya

Word count: 1.016

Warnings: unrequited feelings

Summary: Until it was the time for change, Ram would continue to simply watch as the rain fell down.

Rating: T

A gift to my dearest Tanu. I hope this was what you wished for. Thank you for all the amazing arts you always do for me, I hope this make you half as happy as your edits make me.

Tagging: @rc-catalog @ratanslily

The death of Mrs. Doran Basu was received like a rain to all the dozen members.

Some were sad for the lost of a Basu family member as some got sad for the lost of the sunshine when the sky was completely covered by the heavy and dark rain clouds.

Some were indifferent to it, as it didn’t change much in their lives since the ceiling of their houses covered their heads and the fact they didn’t know the woman made her loss a simple fact to flown down with the rain.

Some others, the smallest parcel, got hopeful with the news. Like people got hopeful that the rain would bring renovation to the earth, that the rain would bring abundance and fertility to the land, that a Basu was now a free man again, one that could get be married again.

And everyone who had eyes to see could notice that Deviya Sharma was a part of the smaller group. And Ram had two very functional eyes.

Of course he knew. He knew Deviya better than anyone else. Their lives had been tied together although only his heart had been tied to hers. So ever since the first time he had been in the same room as Mr. Basu and Deviya he knew.

That particular shine on her eyes only existed around the older man. Not around her tiger, not around her friends, not around Ram. Only around Doran Basu. Only for him and no one else. And that knowledge should not be able to hurt Ram, not as much as it did.

But it did.

Even if his feelings were reciprocated, he highly doubted that his brother would have allowed him to marry Deviya. His responsibility for the Doobay Family and for the temple of The Dark Mother were greater than any second son could ever even imagine. But that responsibility, that honor, was also an obligation, something that prevented him for doing the things that he wanted, to reaching for the things and for the one that he so desperately craved for.

But that responsibility was not the thing keeping him apart from Deviya.

Deviya was the one doing that.

She and the love that she caried. The love for another man.

Another man that could now be married to her. Another man that could give her everything that Ram never could. Another man, the one she actually loved and that so clearly loved her back.

Because, how could he not?

How could someone ever look into her eyes and not love her? How could someone ever see her smile and not be ready to move mountains on her name? How could someone hear her laugh or hold her on their arms and not be ready to give her anything she asked for? How could someone be around her almost all the time and not be ready to die for her? How could someone not love Deviya Sharma?

With the silly jokes she made when she was bored on meetings or the way every time she was telling a funny story she always was the first one to start laughing, even before she got into the funny part. With the way she was always ready to fight or sacrifice anything for her friends, even for him, even for Ram. With the way she defended the Sharma Family name, putting it above her own goals and happiness as if she was born to protect it. With the way she had been ready to die and be born again to protect their people, their country, to free them.

So how could someone not love Deviya Sharma? How could someone who had the honor, the blessing, of being loved by her, not love her back?

Simply. They couldn’t.

Because Doran Basu loved her back, and that was the worst part.

If he didn’t, maybe in a couple of years Deviya could forget about Doran Basu. Maybe she could accept Ram’s love without needing to give it back, and that would’ve been more than enough for him. Because he could care enough for the both of them, because he could love her enough for the both of them. Maybe one day she could even love her back.

But now that was an impossible destiny. Their fates had been sealed.

Deviya was the head of her house. No one could stop her from doing as she seemed fit. And no one would even try. Marrying with a Basu was the best alliance anyone could make, and surely the new head of the Basu family would not get in the way for that union, she would even be happy about it. About the happiness of her friend. The happiness that Deviya seemed to emanate ever since the news arrived.

The couple would probably only wait until after Holi to get married, although knowing Deviya and how she liked to do things as soon as possible, they could get married on the next day after Doran’s mourning period was over. And then, on that day, Ram would be the one to marry the only one he had ever loved to someone else.

What could ever be more torturous than that? Than watching the one you loved fall in love with someone else? Than having to see that that love grow each day more? Than being the one to make that love official for the entire world?

One day he would have to watch that.

One day he would be forced by his obligation to marry Deviya to the man she actually loved. He would be forced to watch the happiness she would feel to be called Doran’s wife for the first time. He would watch her children grow from afar, looking like the perfect mix between Deviya and the one she actually loved. He would watch as she grows old on another man’s side and as she was thankful for an entire life on his side.

One that he would.

But until that day arrived, he continued to watch as the rain fell down, bringing to him nothing but despair.

[elia-nymmeros]

""A start?" said Ellaria Sand, incredulous. "Gods forbid. I would it were a finish. Tywin Lannister is dead. So are Robert Baratheon, Amory Lorch, and now Gregor Clegane, all those who had a hand in murdering Elia and her children. Even Joffrey, who was not yet born when Elia died. I saw the boy perish with mine own eyes, clawing at his throat as he tried to draw a breath. Who else is there to kill? Do Myrcella and Tommen need to die so the shades of Rhaenys and Aegon can be at rest? Where does it end?" "It ends in blood, as it began," said Lady Nym. "It ends when Casterly Rock is cracked open, so the sun can shine on the maggots and the worms within. It ends with the utter ruin of Tywin Lannister and all his works."" The Watcher, ADwD

Rereading ADwD, one of the most interesting aspects of the Dorne plot for me is that constantly, over and over again, the elder Sand Snakes mock Doran for his perceived weakness, for being slow to act, for planning and disguising and lying instead of outright fighting, claiming that he was a lesser man compared to Oberyn, and yet part of me wonders what they thought/might've thought of Elia while she lived, especially when Gregor's head was brought back to Dorne and the Sand Snakes demanded vengeance not only for Oberyn, but also for Elia and her children.

"Her sister Tyene gave answer. "What he always does," she purred. "Delay, obscure, prevaricate. Oh, no one does that half so well as our brave uncle."" The Watcher, ADwD

It's hard to know because we only have second-handed accounts, but we've been told that Elia was someone agreeable, kind, with a good heart, someone precisely like Doran and very unlike Oberyn. No account of Elia presents her as a bold, outspoken, bloodthirsty, or vengeful woman, which of course doesn't mean that she wasn't, but it means that she didn't choose to present herself as one in front of Dorne and King's Landing court; in fact, some people even remember her as "drab" and "frail". It's very poignant to see the Sand Snakes asking to spill blood and kill innocent people in the name of a woman dead some 17 years ago who, as a matter of fact, probably never wanted to see the entirety of Casterly Rock and Oldtown destroyed and slain, children and smallfolk included.

"Princess Elia was a good woman, Your Grace. She was kind and clever, with a gentle heart and a sweet wit." ADwD, Daenerys IV

""We could kill him, to be sure," said Tyene, "but then we would need to kill the rest of his party too, even those sweet young squires. That would be … oh, so messy."" ADwD, The Watcher

It's interesting for me that they learned this bloodthirsty attitude from Oberyn, who of course had almost two decades of virulent resentment because the brutal rape and murder of his sister and her children went unpunished, but who was also the man who probably knew Elia the best and what ideas she held about retribution, not some idealized version of a woman who they probably don't remember. Part of me wonders if the Sand Snakes wouldn't have found Elia cowardly and weak and useless too, simply because she displayed the same ideas about politics and power than Doran, because all accounts of Elia (all three of them) shows us a genuinely gentle and easy-going person who did not murder and poison her way to power as it is common in the royal court.

"I am not blind, nor deaf. I know that you all believe me weak, frightened, feeble. Your father knew me better (...)" The Watcher, ADwD

"It must have been the madness that led Aerys to refuse Lord Tywin's daughter and take his son instead, whilst marrying his own son to a feeble Dornish princess with black eyes and a flat chest." AFfC, Cersei V

I'm not saying that Elia wouldn't have wanted The Mountain dead or that the Sand Snakes were in the wrong for wanting their family members avenged, because Tywin Lannister and his lackeys were evil men who committed several crimes against the Martells and faced no direct repercussions, but the extreme level of hatred that the Sand Snakes show towards everyone who happens to be named Lannister, their willingness to go to a war they cannot hope to win with allies they aren't sure they can trust without any kind of well-thought plan, and the constant derision they show towards Doran and his attitudes... part of me feels like Elia has already been forgotten by them, replaced by an empty figurehead who they can rally around and use to justify their cruelty, while at the same time disdaining the same attitudes that Elia herself was known for...

"Written? If you were half the man my father was—" AFfC, The Captain of Guards.

""Obara would make Oldtown our father's funeral pyre, but I am not so greedy. Four lives will suffice for me. Lord Tywin's golden twins, as payment for Elia's children. The old lion, for Elia herself. And last of all the little king, for my father." "The boy has never wronged us."" AFfC, The Captain of Guards.

Something something about letting vengeance and senseless violence consume you, about a woman dead so many years ago and yet still loved by her people and her family, about the attitudes we teach our children and how they might end up twisted without a specific contextualization in time and space...

[eretzyisrael]

Mike Doran’s assessment of why Israel attacked the Houthis (July 21, 2024 on X)

====================

The Biden Doctrine shaped today’s strike by Israel on the Houthis. What is the Biden Doctrine? The principle that Iran is free, either directly or indirectly through its proxies, to attack Israel, but Israel must not attack Iran. “Take the win,” Biden told Netanyahu after Iran, on April 12-13, attacked Israel with the largest ballistic missile barrage in history.

In deference to Biden and his team of Obama staffers, the Israelis restrained themselves in response to Iran. The IDF made due with a demonstration of capabilities rather than launching a counterattack that would have taken from the Iranians something they hold dear.

Supreme Leader Khamenei thanked Team Obama-Biden in its characteristic fashion, namely, by green lighting escalations against Israel by Hezbollah and the Houthis.

The last two weeks on Israel’s northern border have been tough ones for Israel, and then came the Houthi drone attack on Tel Aviv yesterday. The attack killed only one man, but it had a massive psychological impact. It showed the world that Tel Aviv was in range, and that the drones that Iran supplies to the Houthis and Hezbollah can pass through Israeli defenses undetected.

Judging by the size of the massive crowd in Sana’a yesterday, braying for Jewish and American blood, the psychological impact was as big there as it was in Jerusalem. Prime Minister Netanyahu and his military advisors therefore decided today to launch a significant counterattack.

They chose their target not just to deter the Houthis but also to send messages to Nasrallah, Khamenei, and Obama — pardon me, Biden. The Israeli targeteers selected the Houthis' oil facilities. Why?

First, psychology. The flames are huge. Everyone in the world will see that the Israelis mean business. This isn’t a quiet signal to decision makers: it’s a message to the world.

Second, it causes the Houthis real pain. They are poor. They have few exports besides terrorism and a relatively limited oil production. The Americans and British, until now, have limited their counterattacks to pinprick strikes against missile launchers, etc. That is to say that the American-British counterattacks have been just big enough to allow officials in Washjngton and London to answer critics by saying that they aren’t taking the Houthi attacks on shipping sitting down, but not actually big enough to deter the Houthis, let alone Iran.

Third, this attack tells Nasrallah and all his Lebanese enablers: “Those Iranian missile Hezbollah stores next to the duty free cognac at the Beirut airport, the Lebanon’s electric grid, its oil storage depots — they and all other elements of critical national infrastructure are all fair game.

Fourth, the operation tells the Iranians not to get too comfortable under the shelter of the Biden Doctrine. “Yes, Mr. Khamanei, Biden did restrain us in April, but we do not intend to let the Americans turn us into your punching bag. Today the Houthis’ oil; tomorrow, yours.” The distance the planes flew between Israel and Yemen is similar to the distance to Iran.

Fifth, the attack tells Team Obama-Biden this is not, at root, an Israeli-Palestinian war. Properly understood it is an asymmetric war against the U.S. launched by Iran. This message sets the stage nicely for Netanyahu’s speech before both houses of Congress on Wednesday.

[aq2003]

I've had a vague urge to get more into Shakespeare for years; what are the top 3-5 plays you'd recommend that AREN'T Hamlet or Much Ado? And what version of each is your favorite?

(sorry for omitting two god tier ones but I've already seen David Tennant in each of those and I surmise that you're insane about both so I'm looking for some new plays)

gonna be some basic bitch answers but here:

macbeth - the tragedy of macbeth (2021) movie adaptation starring denzel washington. this movie is fucking stunning and the way they did the witches was SO good. also i have the throne of blood (kurosawa's adaptation) also on my watchlist since i've heard REALLY good things about it

richard ii - 2013 rsc production w/ david tennant (link). he gives me catastrophic gender envy, i need to become more masculine to become more feminine etc. ben whishaw in the hollow crown series (link) is great too

romeo and juliet - romeo + juliet (1996) movie adaptation directed by baz luhrmann. this is like, the most well known romeo and juliet and you might've watched it already but i'm listing this anyway because there will never be a better mercutio and the way they did the setting is SO fucking funny and inspired

twelfth night - so far only saw this one Outside On The Grass Where They Performed This At My College but i liked it a lot... reccing the 2012 globe production with mark rylance (part 1 / part 2) (his hamlet was one of dt's favorites as an aspiring actor) (i'm putting my faith in letterboxd and david's taste for this one)

coriolanus - 2014 donmar production w/ tom hiddleston (on archive.org). this is directed by josie rourke, who also directed dt/ct's 2011 much ado! the staging and the effects are fucking awesomeeee (also peter de jersey and elliot levey are in this, i love them)

also shoutout to the ones i want to watch:

the 2016 production of a midsummer night's dream w/ ncuti gatwa (i have found nowhere to pirate it and i might just crack and pay the 10 dollars to watch it)

the 2015 production of the love's labour's lost w/ edward bennett (he played laertes in hamlet (2009) and he's REALLY underrated, i love his benedick SO FUCKING MUCH even if that production overall was a little dull)

either hollow crown's or greg doran's henry iv (it's two whole plays i need so much time to watch that. and ideally i want to watch both lol)

kurosawa's ran (1985), an adaptation of king lear set in 1500s japan

vishal bhardwaj's omkara (2006), an adaptation of othello set in india

[toomanystoriessolittletime]

Bonded

Summary: All your life you were prepared to get married to a lord. Obedient and quiet was all you had learned to be. But Oberyn knew there was so much more you could be if you just had the time to be free and happy.

Pairing: Oberyn Martell x fem. Reader

Wordcount: 3.6k

Rating: G

Warnings: arranged marriage, big age gap, angst, supportive Oberyn (even though he's kind of a dick in the beginning), fluff, discussions of lovers, talk about brothels

Masterlist

“If you walk out of that door, you will lose your title,” Doran’s voice hissed from across the room, making Oberyn stop in his tracks. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. 

“It’s how things work. You know this,” Doran continued. 

“You should know I don’t really care for the way things work,” Oberyn grumbled as he turned around to face his brother. 

“This marriage will unite our kingdoms. Just charme her, rumours say she is one of the most beautiful women of the realm.”

Oberyn huffed. 

“Beauty alone doesn’t say anything about someone.”

Doran rolled his eyes. 

“She’s about to arrive. You should go meet her.”

“I will meet her at the altar tomorrow. For now, I have somewhere to be,” Oberyn turned around, leaving the room. 

“Spare some of your seed for your bride, brother,” Doran called after him and Oberyn rolled his eyes. 

You weren’t very fond of the sea. 

Never had been. 

But it had been drilled into you that boat rides were necessary for your future. Who would want a wife that couldn’t travel or spent the whole ride sick?

You fought the nausea, closing your eyes and taking deep, slow breaths.

You had no idea what would wait for you in the Kingdom of Dorne. 

Your father didn’t even bother to travel with you.

Not that you thought he would.

You were his sixth daughter to be married off and not even his favourite. He never made a big secret out of it either. 

But still you did everything in your power to please him. 

“We’ll be arriving soon,” you just nodded at whoever informed you, keeping your gaze out of the sea where you could already see land. 

You were alone. Alone and lonely like you had been all your life. 

You didn’t allow yourself to dream that maybe your life finally would have some purpose. 

You would become a wife tomorrow. 

To a man you had never met before, but read about. 

Prince Oberyn Martell.

The red viper. 

You knew he was much older than you. By almost twenty years. 

You knew he was a great fighter. 

And that he had lovers both male and female throughout the realm. 

When you were younger you dreamed of falling in love one day. With a man of your choosing. To have a loving family. And children. 

But you learned pretty quickly that this wasn’t in your future. That your only purpose was to be pretty and then spread your legs for the husband your father would choose for you. 

You would do obey your husband, do everything he asked of you with a smile. You would endure everything he did to you with a smile. 

You would be the perfect wife. 

Obedient and quiet. Just like you had been taught. 

It’s not like you had a choice in that matter. 

Oberyn was… fashionably late to his own wedding. He ignored the glare from his brother as he made his way down the aisle.

He had to admit it was beautifully decorated. The whole palace garden in bloom, the sun setting behind the arch decorated with sunflowers he was standing in front. He had just so gotten dressed in his official robes before he made his way outside.

He was positively exhausted. 

He had made sure to not step back into the palace to be there when his future wife arrived. He still wasn’t fond of the idea of getting married. 

But he also knew he could not talk his way out of this. 

He had said no many many times to a marriage. 

Because he wanted to marry for love not for obligation. Call him a romantic, but a marriage shouldn’t just serve a purpose. It shouldn’t be a political arrangement. It should be a union between two people who were in love. Who couldn’t live without each other. 

Doran would have married him off years ago if he had found someone suitable enough.

He couldn’t say no now. Not with this little time to get out of it. 

Not with war on the horizon.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when music started playing. He took a deep breath, looking at his brother before his eyes focused on the woman walking towards him. 

You tried to not be too disappointed that your husband to be did not even want to meet you before you were to marry him. 

You had been welcomed by Prince Doran who welcomed you to the family before you were brought to your chambers where you spent the hours until dinner. 

You thought you might meet the prince then, but he did not show his face. 

Instead you met the whole rest of your new family, trying to keep up with all the names and faces. You had waited until after dinner to excuse yourself, trying to smile through the disappointment of Prince Oberyn not joining the rest of this family. 

You wondered if you did something wrong, shaking your head to yourself immediately. 

You couldn’t have done anything wrong, you hadn’t met the prince.

Not yet anyway. 

So you feel in a restless sleep, allowing the tears you had been holding in ever since leaving your home to fall against the soft pillow you were resting on.

You were woken up by a servant, Olya, she told you was her name. She was a beautiful young woman and she informed you that she was to be your handmaiden. You smiled at her before she went to the bathing suite to prepare a bath for you. 

She stayed with you the whole day. Braiding your hair, massaging oils into your skin that smelled so good you asked her to keep them stocked. 

She helped you get dressed in the most beautiful dress you had ever seen. 

It was white, golden lace with the dornish suns stitched into the sheer fabric.

You looked so grown up when you saw yourself. It showed so much skin you were a little uneasy, asking Olya for your maiden cloak. 

She had put it around your shoulder, the green of the cloak not looking right to you. 

You shook your head, taking the cloak off, looking at yourself. 

Taking a deep breath you asked her to put the cloak away, deciding that you wouldn’t wear it. 

If your father did not care to attend your wedding, why should you care to wear the cloak?

Things went fast after that. 

You were led out of your room, Olya informing you that your things would be brought to your new chambers, the Prince’s chambers. 

You took a deep breath, asking for something to drink just before you were due to walk outside. Olya brought you some wine and you asked if you could have a moment to yourself at the fountain. 

You emptied the wine, setting the cup down in front of the fountain as you tried to fight the tears. 

It was just the first day. It would be okay. You would settle in and you would learn to love it here. You would learn…

Footsteps came down the stairs and you hurried to hide behind the fountain. 

A man rushed down the stairs, dressed in a golden robe, his skin tanned from the sun. You frowned, stepping out from your hiding spot when you saw Olya approaching you. 

“Are you ready?” she asked and you nodded.

“I have to be,” you whispered, missing the sad smile Olya gave you as you walked past her. 

The gardens were beautiful. 

They were so beautiful they helped you over the sorrow that nobody you knew, nobody who cared about you was attending your wedding. The music started playing and you gulped, taking a deep breath. 

You did not even have someone to walk you down the aisle. 

So you kept your head up high as you slowly walked down the aisle, finally getting that first look at your husband you had wanted for so long. You were surprised it was the man who had rushed past you by the fountain. 

The closer you got the harder your heart was beating. 

He looked kind. A smile on his face.

You couldn’t make out if it was genuine, but you hoped it was. Stopping in front of Doran you bowed once before turning and walked towards the prince. 

He nodded at you as you stood in front of him, looking quickly away from him as the ceremony began.

Doran had been right, you were beautiful.

Even more beautiful than Oberyn could have imagined.

But you were also young. So very young. 

You only glanced at him and in this moment he saw how nervous you were. A smile was on your face but your eyes. Your eyes told a different story. 

Oberyn felt guilty he hadn’t at least tried to give you a better welcome. 

He was snapped out of his thoughts when the vows were to be spoken. He repeated the words, listened to you repeating them too before you were announced as the Princess of dorne. 

His wife. 

He risked a glance at his brother seeing his approving nod and Oberyn fought against the eyeroll he wanted to give him. 

The guests were applauding and Oberyn reached his hand out for you, turning his palm up. You looked at him, then at his hand before you hesitantly took it.

Usually you would kiss now but he did not feel comfortable kissing you without your consent. Instead he smiled at you and brought your hand up so he could kiss you there. 

He felt you squeeze his hand, before you walked back down the aisle and back into the palace.

He found you after food had been served. 

“May I have a moment?” Prince Oberyn asked as you were standing on a balcony, looking over the garden. 

“Of course, your highness,” you said, giving him a small smile. 

“I am your husband, I think you can call me by my first name,” he teased and you nodded. 

He came to stand beside you and you felt his warmth against your arm.

“I am sorry I was unable to meet you when you arrived,” he began. “I could lie to you and tell you I was busy but I don’t want to start this union on a lie. You deserve better than that.”

“You don’t know me…” you said and he turned so he could look at you. 

“That is true. But I hope with time I will get to know you.”

You took a deep breath as you looked up at him. 

“I was angry. That is why I wasn’t there to meet you,” Oberyn said. 

“Angry at me?” you whispered. 

“In a way. But let me explain. My brother only informed you of our union yesterday when you were about to arrive. He has been nagging me about getting married for a long time but I… I never found the right partner.”

“You only learned about this yesterday?” you asked in surprise. He nodded. 

“How long have you known?”

“A month at least.”

He sighed before he chuckled.

“If I had known a month ago you would not be standing here. I would have found a way to get out of this again,” he hummed, more to himself. 

You looked away from him, not sure what to feel. 

“I… I will see you for the bedding ceremony,” you whispered, about to turn away when you felt his hand on your wrist, stopping you. 

“There will be no bedding ceremony. We do not follow these barbaric traditions in Dorne,” he said and you looked at him. Confused.

“But how… I thought…” you shook your head and the Prince took a step towards you, tilting your chin up. 

“I do not force myself on lovers. And I surely won’t myself on my wife tonight or ever. You don’t have to share the bed with me at all. I want you to be happy. This is now your home.”

“But it’s my duty…”

He stopped you.

“Fuck duty. If I would care for duty I’d be married for more than twenty years already and probably look more like my brother,” he joked and you couldn’t help but smile.

The first genuine smile you had smiled in years. 

“Oberyn?” you asked and he nodded. 

“Thank you,” you said. Deep down you had been freaking out about this night, but now a weight had been lifted off your shoulders. You hadn’t been forced to marry a brute. Maybe… Maybe with time you could become friends. 

“You are most welcome princess.”

The prince, Oberyn, was gone most of the day. 

You didn’t know where, and you did not ask. But he made sure to be in your chambers for dinner almost every night 

He became a friend. Your best friend. 

Almost six months after the wedding Dorne finally felt like home. 

Though it had been complicated in the beginning. 

All your life you had been taught that you had tasks and duties after you got married. That the most important task would be to produce an heir. 

But here in Dorne?

You got to live. To be free. To find yourself. 

Of course you had your duties. But they were few.

Most of the days you spend the mornings in the library, reading as many books as you could. Occasionally Oberyn would join you and recommend a book for you to read. 

After the library you would find his eldest daughters Obara and Nymeria to have lunch with before you would leave to visit either the orphanage or the gardens. You would ride out with Olya when it wasn’t too hot outside. 

You would spend time in the kitchen with the cooks, letting them teach you how to cook and bake. Something you always had wanted, but weren’t allowed to when you grew up because a lady did not have to know how to prepare her own food. 

Oberyn noticed the changes in you too. 

You started to smile more. The shyness of the beginning wears off pretty quickly. You had asked him only days after the wedding if it would be okay to have your own chambers, after you noticed that he did not spend much time in his while you were there. 

You were now living in the chambers next to his with a door connecting it that was only rarely closed. 

You picked up painting. He caught you one evening after coming back from the brothel as you were sitting outside in only your robe, your skin still wet as you painted the sun sinking behind the gardens. 

“Back early today, husband?” you asked after you noticed him and he gave you a sheepish smile as he came closer. 

“I found myself yearning to spend some time with my wife,” he said and you chuckled. He sat down on the chair to your right, watching you as you continued to paint. 

“I…” you took a deep breath, “I have a question.”

“Ask away,” he smiled, turning his head to give you his full attention. You set the brush down, and turned towards him. 

“Would you kiss me?” you asked and Oberyn was rarely surprised, but in this case he was. 

“You wish for me to kiss you?” he asked. You nodded slowly. 

“I… I want to know how it feels and… you’re my husband so I should be asking you, shouldn’t I?” you sucked your bottom lip in. 

Oberyn smiled and took a deep breath.

“My sun, you shouldn’t be asking me just because I am your husband. Your first kiss should be with someone you chose because you’re…. You want to be with them. In every way possible. Because you long for them. Not because you feel like it has to be me. Not that I don’t want to kiss you.”

“Oh…” you said, feeling a little silly.

“Do you have someone that makes you feel that way?” he asked. He could see you flustered, and a small smile sneaked to his face. 

“Tell me about them.”

And so you did. You told him about one of the stable boys, and how you came to spend most of your time with him. He taught you how to brush the horses and how to tend to them. 

“I like him,” you said, reaching over to take Oberyn’s hand. “But I also like spending time with you. You have become my closest friend. You are my husband after all. And… I know I haven’t been what you are looking for in a wife. I know where you… go because I don’t…” 

“I don’t go to see my lovers because you are not a good wife. I go to them because I want to be with them. And if you chose to take a lover or more I am more than okay with that. I don’t believe only one person can satisfy all your needs, be it physical or spiritual. Or maybe I haven’t found the person yet.”

“Do you want to be with me like that?” you asked quietly, not daring to look at him. 

You felt his fingers under your chin and he smiled softly at you. 

“I love you. I did not see it coming, but I find myself happy that you came into my life. But I won’t stand in the way of you being able to explore what you really want. We are married, but that does not mean we have to live by antiquated rules someone made thousands of years ago.”

He leaned in and kissed your forehead before he got up. 

“I ask for only one thing,” he said and you looked up at him. 

“Tell me about everything,” he said with a smirk and you chuckled.

“Will you tell me too?” you asked. 

“All you have to do is ask,” he winked, before he walked out of your chambers and into his. 

It was a couple of days later.

You were walking through the gardens, picking flowers when you saw Oberyn playing with his youngest, throwing her in the air before he caught her, the girl laughing so loudly she surely could be heard though the whole kingdom. 

You smiled as you approached them. 

“Paapaaaa,” the girl giggled and you gave the flowers to one of the servants with a smile who nodded and walked back inside the palace. 

“Look who it is, little Sandsnake,” Oberyn said with a warm smile, setting Loreza down who walked towards you, her arms wide open. You got on your knees, opening your arms and she jumped at you, making you almost lose your balance with a laugh as you picked her up. 

“Have you been playing with your Papa?” you asked and she nodded, immediately telling you about every little thing they had done together today. You nodded and listened to her.

“I think it’s time for your nap, Loreza,” one of the servants said as she approached you. Loreza pouted. 

“If you take a nap now, maybe we can help bake some cake in the kitchens later?”

“Can we?” she asked with big eyes. You looked at Oberyn who only nodded with a smile.

“Of course we can. I’ll find you after your nap, okay?”

She threw her little arms around your neck, giving you a big wet kiss on your cheek before you set her down, the servants leaving you and Oberyn alone. 

You began to walk deeper into the gardens, Oberyn by your side.

“My children love you,” he said and you looked up at him. 

“I love them too. They are so much like you,” you smiled. 

You walked in silence for a while.

“I kissed the stable boy. Well.. I kissed Bolerio. I think I should know his name.”

You did not dare to look at Oberyn. 

“How was it?” he asked and you sighed. 

“I don’t know. Either I have read too many books about how a kiss should feel or it… just wasn’t good.”

Oberyn chuckled next to you and you stopped walking. 

“Are you laughing about me?” you narrowed your eyes and he turned around to you. 

“I am not. I am merely surprised at your choice of lecture. I only see you reading books about science and Dorne.”

You flustered as he took a step towards you. 

“Oberyn,” you gulped and took a step closer. Hesitantly you brought one hand up to rest on his chest, looking up at him. A smile was playing in the corner of his lips and you felt one of his hands come to rest on your cheek, his thumb brushing over your skin. 

“Please kiss me,” you whispered.

He tipped your face up as he leaned down, his other hand coming to rest on your hip. He looked at you, as if to make sure that this was indeed what you wanted before he crossed the small distance between you and his lips found yours. 

You closed your eyes moving your lips against his as goosebumps erupted over your whole body. A shudder running down your spine and you brought your other hand up to rest on his shoulder, your knees feeling weaker, the longer he kissed you. 

Parting from your lips he rested his forehead against yours, both out of breath. 

“That… That was…. Better. That was much better….” you mumbled and he huffed a laugh.

“Can we do that again?” you asked and he smiled at you. 

“That and so much more, my princess,” he said before he kissed you again. 

[diamondperfumes]

@saltywinteradult I don't know why you blocked me before screenshotting my post and reposting it to, I suppose, "refute" my post amongst your followers, but I welcome open discussion at any time! I don't like this back and forth of screenshotting. You definitely don't need to censor my username either, as I stand by what I said and don't see any problem with it. If your followers have issues with what I said too, they can easily reply to the post I wrote, or send me an ask (I'm pretty sure my inbox is open; please let me know if not).

That said, I think this post is a good encapsulation of the reasoning fans have for hating Daenerys, but also an encapsulation of why I love her:

Murder is horrific. That applies as much to Dany burning Mirri alive in a magical ritual as it does to Mirri murdering Dany's baby in her womb. And you are absolutely entitled to finding Dany a horrifying character for murdering an enslaved woman. What I love about Dany, though, is that she is not a hypocrite or an aestheticized martyr. She refuses to let bad things happen to her loved ones without reprisal. She will not accept the death of her child blithely. Just as any other parent or family member who seeks vengeance for their loved ones, be it Robb Stark, Lady Stoneheart, the Sand Snakes, Doran Martell, and more, Dany will not forgive the woman who murdered her son. Her son is her bottom line, just as he was when Viserys threatened his life, making Dany finally accept that he was no longer her brother. And I would much rather that Dany do the "horrible thing," an act of vengeance and blood magic, than forgive Mirri. Forgiving Mirri would not have been a realistic or human response. Above all, GRRM writes well fleshed out, human characters. I relate to the Dany who loves her children so much that she'll forgive pain to herself (for example, she bears no ill will toward Mirri for causing her the exruciating physical pain of a miscarriage) but not to her children, people, or loved ones. I relate to the Dany who is angry at those who harm her loved ones, and is ruthless and furious rather than passive and docile in the face of that pain and suffering. I relate to the Dany who, as a teenage bridal slave pit against another slave, made an arguably selfish decision. I want my female characters to make at times selfish, at times horrific choices, in the name of love, family, motherhood. GRRM created a beautifully multidimensional female character in breaking from the "passive recipient of violence" mold for so many fantasy women––violence is done unto Dany, but she will not be the submissive, obedient, demure martyr who dies or suffers to make others comfortable. Her baby had meaning to her. Her baby was her home. And she avenged that loss, as I'd expect any realistic, human mother to.

In a feudalist setting, any character who did what Mirri did would've been executed. Mirri expected to be executed to, and in fact goaded Dany with that intent. I would love if you, or anyone else, would name someone who'd forgive Mirri and let her go in this situation! I genuinely am curious to see if you can come up with anyone. If Mirri was going to be executed anyway, I much prefer Dany's mentality––"She told herself that there were powers stronger than hatred, and spells older and truer than any the maegi had learned in Asshai. The night was black and moonless, but overhead a million stars burned bright. She took that for an omen."––than just pure hatred. Dany creates life out of death. As Mirri teaches her, "if life was meaningless, what was death?" "only death may pay for life." She could have beheaded Mirri in one go, and such violence may have satiated her anger, but what would be left? The cycle of life and death is ever present in Dany's arc, and I find it fascinating. Most of the characters who behead or murder people, even innocents, like Ned Stark with Gared (the starting action of AGOT), have no interest in creating life from death. They emphasize the finality of death; Dany transcends it.

If it was just enough for Dany to burn Mirri, then I myself wouldn't praise the act as much. All the loss Dany experienced, the upheaval and pain and suffering, went into the birth of the dragons. She had to follow the clues left behind in her blood and dreams to understand that the ultimate key to the ritual was her own sacrifice. Dany did not just stand by and watch as Mirri burned. She walked into that funeral pyre herself, with, yes, bravery in her heart (I noticed that some people were mocking that phrase of mine in the tags of my post, but does it not take bravery to walk into fire?). If she didn't sacrifice her own life and self, the dragons would not have hatched. Thus you may argue that Dany is a hypocrite for burning Mirri, but Dany involved her own being in the ritual too. She paid the price for the ritual and suffered its consequences in the loss of Rhaego and the splintering of the Khalasar.

Mirri is not innocent in the act of murdering Rhaego. One of the clever aspects of GRRM's writing is that characters like Mirri and Penny serve to problematize the overall heroism of characters like Dany and Tyrion. Dany and Tyrion are still heroes (though of course, for most of the fandom, they are villains, and I'm sure for you they are both villains as well). Very rarely do authors give characters like Mirri agency. And it's not as if George has given all of those positioned characters that agency. Jeyne Poole, Gilly, Lollys and Falyse Stokeworth, Pia, they don't get these kinds of emotionally charged, high tension moments with their respective POV characters. They get emotional moments, yes, but the space to call out the POV characters? Mirri and Penny get that. Mirri has the textual agency to express her motivations, act on her motivations, and explain them to Dany. She is an intelligent woman. Trying to take away her culpability in Rhaego's murder is not a progressive or feminist reading, in my view; it strips her of her agency and her motivations. Now, if you want to argue that she had every right to murder Rhaego, that is a separate conclusion! But as to whether or not she did murder Rhaego, it's undeniable. And even if you don't believe me, or Dany, both the official ASOIAF app and the ASOIAF appendices list her as the murderer.

I would love if someone sent this to @saltywinteradult! I enjoy healthy debate (I put that post in the ASOIAF tag for a reason). What I don't like is back-and-forth screenshotting. If you don't want to have a conversation with me that's no problem, but I find it odd to screenshot someone you have blocked and discuss her post. Why don't we have a free discussion? That's why I made a tumblr account, to discuss ASOIAF. Please let me know your thoughts!

[anxiousnerdwritings]

How do you think Oberyn and Ellaria would react for the Joanna! Lookalike reader was poisoned? Would Oberyn still fight for Tyrion?

If we’re going off Joanna!lookalike being the child of Tywin and Joanna in this scenario and having married Oberyn and joined his and Ellaria’s relationship then they would both be extremely overcome at the death of their darling. They both would immediately rush to their darling’s side at the first sign of something being wrong. Given that he trained to be a maester at one point, Oberyn would be doing everything in his power to try and save the Reader.

Ellaria would be absolutely distraught as she clutches onto her and Oberyn’s darling’s lifeless body. She doesn’t want to let go, she doesn’t want to have to leave her love behind. It takes Oberyn having to forcefully pull her away from their darling for her to finally let go. But Ellaria isn’t the only one who’s reeling from what’s just taken place, Oberyn is very much just as distraught and broken. It takes everything in him not to just absolutely lose it in front of everyone in attendance.

Oberyn would not only be overwhelmed with grief but he’s also riddled with anger at who took his darling away from him and Ellaria. Someone poisoned their lover, their wife and he wanted to know who. He and his brother have been planning the revenge of Elia for so long, there’s no doubt he wouldn’t want to avenge his darling too. The only difference is that he would be much more impulsive about it, not waiting for Doran to come up with a long, strung out plan, rather instead allowing his emotions to rule him. If the Mountain had been in attendance and was hovering over Joanna!lookalike given his own attachment for the Reader, Oberyn would have most definitely picked a fight with him right then and there.

Oberyn has never had any liking for any members of House Lannister, his darling being the only exception. In the state he and Ellaria are in, neither can bring themself to defend Tyrion or refute Cersei’s accusations knowing that Joanna!lookalike would do just that given the chance. Even though they’re aware of how close he and the Reader were, that Tyrion would never do such thing (especially not to Joanna!lookalike of all people), Oberyn in particular can’t bring himself to do anything but stay by both his lovers’ sides. He may even be considering whether Tyrion would have actually committed such a heinous act against the Reader. Honestly, Oberyn wouldn’t be surprised if it was true, he doesn’t hold any of the remaining Lannisters to any high regard after all. In his eyes the only good one just died in his and Ellaria’s arms.

I’m torn whether Oberyn would go through with fighting for Tyrion or not. I could see him doing either honestly but I’m leaning more towards he wouldn’t, more so due to Ellaria begging him not to out of fear of losing him too after having just lost their darling. If Oberyn were to fight for Tyrion I think we would only do so to get revenge for Elia of course but also to protect his darling’s brother in her honor cause that’s what she would have done, and this time he’ll aim to kill the Mountain with or without his confession for what happened to Elia. This time around the fight between the Red Viper and the Mountain would be a lot more intense given both their fervent emotions regarding the Reader’s death.

Imagine the Sand Snakes reactions to Joanna!lookalike’s death? They would be plotting the demise of everyone involved with House Lannister given that they most definitely blame the Reader’s family for their death. Whether they think one of the family members did it themself or that it was in retaliation from any of the Lannisters many enemies, either way the Reader’s family won’t be safe from the wrath of the Sand Snakes. Especially if Oberyn ended up dying fighting for Tyrion too. Ellaria would be lucky enough to get out of King’s landing alive in that scenario, there’s no doubt that Cersei would want Ellaria dead too if she had it her way, but then again if she lost Oberyn and the Reader altogether than she’d have a real hard time finding the will to go on if it weren’t for all their children. Especially, if the Reader had a child with Oberyn too then Ellaria would do right by both her lovers and raise all their children with all the love and care she can muster.

Given that Joanna!lookalike would probably end up befriending all of House Martell there’s no doubt that Doran would want to avenge his brothers wife too, especially if Oberyn doesn’t end up fighting for Tyrion and returns home with Ellaria, both completely and absolutely destroyed by the loss of their darling. They wouldn’t even be allowed to bring their darling’s body with them to lay to rest in Dorne. Even Arianne is grief stricken after hearing the news about her beloved new aunt who came to be an important person to her, becoming more akin to a best friend. The only thing left is who’s going to tell Myrcella?