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spacerockfloater · 5 months ago

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hi! i noticed you learnt about what ryan condal said regarding blood and cheese. it was…something. i would like to know your thoughts on the matter. though it would be completely understandable if you need sometime to gather them together or if you would rather not at all! thank you and bye!

Hello beloved, thank you so much for asking me! I’d love to share my opinion!

If anyone’s wondering, @rhaenelle is referring to this interview where Ryan Condal essentially says he believes that Blood & Cheese’s brutality and heinousness was exaggerated by the Greens in a propagandistic attempt to convince their subjects that Rhaenyra and Daemon are the worst villains ever born, hence why he toned the event down; to show us what he thinks is the accurate version of Jaehaerys’ murder.

Now, I am aware that Condal had already warned us that HOTD was going to be a feminist retelling of the events of F&B, which practically means that his plan has always been to whitewash the everlasting fuck out of Rhaenyra. So what do I think about this?

Well, for starters, I think that Ryan Condal is an excellent businessman. He knows what kind of tropes are going to make the audience engage with his show. He understands that people need a hero to cheer for and a villain to hate, therefore he removed the moral ambiguity from all of the characters and divided them into two categories: the Blacks, enlightened revolutionaries full of passion, deserving of admiration and correct in everything they do, and the Greens, pious fools with a moral superiority complex who are stack in the ways of the past and commit despicable crimes. The average viewer does not possess the intelligence to comprehend that both parties have their good and bad moments, and that they’re both correct in fighting for what each believes is rightfully theirs. Simultaneously, he benefits from the modern trends that want women in media to take revenge when they are wronged and emerge as triumphant girlbosses, because of course a white upper class woman’s suffering in a western world (or Westeros) society has everything to do with her gender and nothing to do with her personality or decisions (even if this works solely for Rhaenyra, because Alicent seems to be held accountable for every single one of her actions). Finally, it is obvious that Condal is trying to appease disgruntled Daenerys fans, so he has rebuilt Rhaenyra into this tortured martyr that wishes to change the world for the better in an attempt to make her resemble her great granddaughter six times removed.

For all of these reasons, I find it very logical that he is going out of his way to minimise the tragedy the Greens experience. It just doesn’t make Rhaenyra look good and honestly, who wants that? The producers saw how unhappy Danny’s stans were when they made her lose her shit; they��re not going to make the same mistake twice. They don’t want their show to tank like the last season of GOT did, so they’ll do everything in their power to keep the audience happy. And it’s working! What’s the last thing Condal says in this clip? “You kinda start rooting for [Blood and Cheese]!�� and boy oh boy, the TB stans sure do! Literally hundreds of memes that rejoiced at Jaehaerys’ death were posted on X this week, with tens of thousands of likes. But when Lucerys died, it was presented as the most foul thing to ever happen in the ASOIAF universe. It is the TB supporters that dictate which child murder is good and which is bad, and that decision usually depends on which child came out Rhaenyra’s womb, not let’s say, the fact that one kid was a toddler that could barely walk, while the other was a teenager that laughed at the disabled person he mutilated himself.

It’s all just marketing

That being said, I want to clarify that I understand why Condal and the HOTD producers do what they do, but being a good entrepreneur does not necessarily make you a literary genius. Now, I’m not gonna explain why stripping Rhaenyra off of every character trait that made her interesting is a bad decision and that in their attempt to remove the blame from her so that they can elevate her as this righteous patron of feminism, they’re accidentally removing all of her agency and turning her simply into a victim, because I have a whole blog dedicated to that. But let’s just say that presenting Rhaenyra as this sexually liberated idol that’s incapable of evil, when in fact she’s an entitled aristocrat who’s completely at the mercy of men around her, from her father to her husbuncle, is the most performative activism move ever pulled in recent TV history, as well as pushing the narrative that Alicent suffers from internalised misogyny because duh, a woman can only be good and a feminist if she supports Rhaenyra, not when she pursues her own interests.

Ultimately, I think we just have to accept that this show is not meant for TG fans. We are not going to find any satisfaction in it. Everything that was unique and admirable about the Greens in the book has vanished. Their family dynamic is fucked up, Alicent’s children hate her, Aegon and Halaena cannot stand one another, Alicent is constantly a victim and never someone that chases her own ambitions, Halaena is very vague, Aemond appears to be more angsty than angry, Aegon is a stupid rapist, Jaehaerys’ death was turned into a mockery, Alicole was weaponised in order to make us shit on Alicent and Criston even more and so on. This show barely caters to us because we’re not making them any money.

The reason that there are more TB than TG stans is because (I’m gonna get so much fucking hate for this) most people who watch TV are fucking morons. I swear, when F&B came out 6 years ago, no one gave a flying fuck about Rhaenyra, because we all understood that everyone involved in the Dance of the Dragons was fucked up in their own way and that the message of this story, just like the general message of ASOIAF, is that nobody deserves to sit on that fucking throne. We were all in agreement about that. But then this fucking show came along and all the oblivious simpletons that swallowed whatever the producers shoved down their throats, grabbed the book and decided that “Woah, this book is obviously a critique on patriarchy and Rhaenyra is obviously the victim of the story”! As if GRRM, the man who said that he doesn’t sit down and think “Oh, I’m going to write a woman now” but instead he believes women to be people just like men, with complex personalities, would ever do that. And they just can’t believe that it is possible for book!Rhaenyra to be an evil racist classist full of entitlement! Surely it must be because the Greens are rewriting history! There’s no way GRRM, the man that created Cersei fucking Lannister, would ever make a female character that’s vicious and crazy just because she feels like it! Y’all need to sit down for a moment. I say this as a radical feminist that supports the 4B movement: you’re projecting your own ideas onto George’s work. Not all the media we consume has to reflect our ideologies, but if you think that it has to, then this book isn’t the anti misogynistic masterpiece you wish it was.

Like, when it comes to F&B, I am firmly anti Targaryen and did not wish for any side to win. I wanted them all wiped out to be honest. But when it comes to HOTD, I’m TG basically out of spite at this point.

All in all, I just think that things are going to go downhill for us from this point on. They’ll just keep glorifying the Blacks until the very end.

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the-heartlines · 3 months ago

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real, genuine question…how are so many of my fellow shippers okay with dead dove helaemond in fanfic but not in the show? because that’s hypocritical as fuck. lmao.

because as someone who adores dead dove, i am living for the direction they’re taking helaemond. listen, linda…

*hotd leaks/spoilers*

aemond is not a nice person. he is slowly losing his grasp on things because he saw the dragon power rhaenyra has gained and he’s also a targaryen prince. he is desperate, pathetic, arrogant, prideful, in a patriarchal society where his godlike hubris has manifested after claiming a dragon, along with the hate that has lived, grew inside him ever since getting his eye taken and a father who turned his eyes from his sons, to never pour affection or literally care for him at all lbr.

the way in which he grabbed helaena so carelessly and harshly, not daring to give her feelings, her pain a second thought, to drag her into a war with him that they’re losing. (that she knows they’re going to lose)

“aemond is abusive for grabbing helaena like that.” i do not believe he is inherently abusive towards helaena. if he continues to act this way towards her, which i seriously doubt after she clocked his ass, (silence, omega!) then yes. but…an absolute dickhead of a brother going mad who acted rashly and stupidly that should get bitch-slapped? yes 1000%, because he’s so desperate, realizing that he fucked up royally burning aegon and sunfyre, that he cannot face multiple dragons alone. (lmao my idiot sandwich son 💀😭)

he’s always felt like a god after claiming vhagar, feeling superior to others because of his dragonblood, but here’s thing. helaena has predicted everything that has happened to him. they are interlinked because she has seen all that will befall him. and he’s beyond terrified here. the scene on the balcony where he confronts her post grabbing her so brutally, showing his hand ghosting hers, how his goddamn voice goes quiet, begging her to lay waste to their enemy—daemon—almost in a meekly genuine tone which we have never heard?! the little boy begging his big sister for help. “the heed to a truer calling” what he’s been taught all his life, that his blood is superior. and then he has tears in his eyes which get even more glassy with more tears of terror when she reveals her dragon dreams, knowing he burnt their brother, telling him of his death, that what he does won’t change anything. aemond’s threats of having her put to death are empty, and lmao worthy because he pretty much just came begging on his hands and knees to ask her to fight. but pookie don’t give a fuck. she knows how this will end and that the death of her family, aemond, the dragons, is the only way to ensure peace in the realm.

my beautiful fucked up doomed tragic sibling duo. i do believe helaemond in s3 will be something delicious if they decide to have aemond work with helaena and expand her dreamer arc, because they’re paralleling her with alys. especially since alys told daemon that he would die in the beginning of the szn and now helaena telling aemond how he’ll die in the finale, after he begs her to fly to harrenhal with him. the daemond x daelys x helaemond x helys parallels be paralleling.

#helaemond #hotd spoilers #hotd leaks #helaena targaryen #aemond targaryen #house of the dragon #personal

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asumofwords · 1 year ago

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Smoke, Fire and Ash

Warnings: This fic includes noncon, dubcon, manipulation, violence, death, forced marriage, and inc3st. Tags will be added as the fic goes on. Blood, gore, major character deaths.

This is a dark!fic. 18+ only. Read at your own discretion. Please read the warnings before continuing.

Summary: You are the eldest daughter of Rhaenyra and Daemon Targaryen. You are forced to navigate the difficult surroundings of your upbringing and the eventual disintegration between your family and the Hightower's relationship. What will happen when your older and estranged uncle suddenly takes a more sinister interest in you? (Dark!Aemond x Reader)

Masterlist

Characters: Aemond Targaryen X Reader, HOTD characters.

Note: Oh my god.... Everything is happening ARGH! I'm actually going to try and post updates daily now for this, bar Sunday for the next Sublet chapter. I am just so excited to finish this series! Hahaha, anyway, I've loved seeing all your reactions and theories!! <3

Chapter 102: Envoys to Dragonstone

When you had returned to your chambers, it was a blur of movements and thoughts, but one in particular seemed to absorb all the rest. Its dark tendrils wrapped around the others, pulling them into the dark with it, thus making its size almost immeasurable until all other thoughts were devoured by it, gone from the light, and all that was left was it.

War was coming.

With shaky hands you grasped a piece of parchment and sat at the table. With the ink pot and quill, you rolled the parchment flat beneath your palm and began to write.

You wrote as though your life depended on it.

Because it did.

And with each swift flick of your script, a blaring word in particular seemed to have broken loose from the feeling of hopelessness. A word which had been whispered and cried. Spoken and sneered. A word that had fuelled your hope, and created your despair. A word that you knew, now more than ever, was a need to act.

Dracarys.

And so you wrote until the page was full, and tears leaked from your eyes at knowing what was to come next.

Loss.

‘Mother and Father,

To write to you under the present circumstances does little to steady my beating heart, but it is something that I know will ensure that it keeps doing just that. Beating.

Aegon is dead. Slain at the hands of Aemond.

And now he is King. And I, Queen.

The treaty is lost, and at the risk of another war coming to take us all, I must beg you, bend the knee.

Bend the knee to Aemond.

If you swear him as King, he has said that he will allow you to live on Dragonstone and carry out your days there safely and happily.

If you do not bend the knee, war will break, and I will not survive it.

You will not survive it.

None of us will.

My only consolation is that if you do, we shall all live, and that I will be able to see you again soon.

I suspect I am with child, Aemond’s child. And if the promise of your own flesh and blood upon the throne does not satiate your need to rule, then know I hold no grievances towards you. It is your birthright, just as it is mine.

If you do not bend the knee, you must send star fruit to the Keep so that I know of your decision, and may feel its sweet nectar upon my tongue once more before war breaks out. It is the only way I will survive this all, and it is the only way that I will know that you do not hate me for asking you of this.

It was not my wish to depose my mother of the throne, nor my father, or my dearest brother Jacaerys. I beg for your forgiveness. I shall go to the Godswood and pray that you will forgive such an offence, and pray that the Gods will forgive my sins too.

Until then, I wait to hear of your acquiesce to Aemond and I's rule, or the delivery of star fruit to the keep in barrels full.

Yours forever,

Queen Y/n.’

Tears slipped past your eyes, and you had not even heard Aemond enter the chambers, nor sense him standing behind you as he read your letter. It was only until he touched a lock of your hair at the back of your head did you know that he was there.

“Are you ready?” He asked softly, cool patience in his tone.

You turned your head to look up at him.

Were you ready?

Would you ever be ready for what was to come?

If your parents bent the knee, that meant you would rule as Queen, like you had always wanted, and at the side of Aemond.

But if they didn’t?

No.

They would come.

Just as you asked.

More tears fell, and Aemond swiped them away gently with his thumb, “Issa iā qopsa geralbar bona ilagon gō īlva. Yn nyke gīmigon bona hēnkirī, hae mēre, kosti.” It is a difficult road that lays before us. But I know that together, as one, we can.

“Iksan nāpāsagon ñuha lentor.” I am betraying my family, You sniffed, another tear trailing down your cheek hotly.

Aemond frowned sadly at you, helping you to stand.

“Iksis ziry drēje?” Is it true? He asked quietly, “Issi ao lēda riña?” Are you with child?

You knew in your bones that you were.

Although there were not many symptoms but the inklings of sore breasts, you just knew. You knew instinctually that it was true. That the Gods had given you and Aemond another chance of being parents, and you would not lose that opportunity again.

You nodded, another tear rolling down your cheek, one of sorrow and joy.

Aemond bent his head down to kiss you gently, lips brushing against your own in reverence, but his hands upon your face showed the true excitement that he held back. They were firm, and tight, and almost tingled against your skin.

“I am scared.” You breathed.

“I will keep you and my child safe.” Aemond looked you in the eye, sincerity on his face, a hand coming to press gently at your stomach.

You smiled sadly at him, “Not if war breaks.”

“Even then. I will not lose you, or our child. You are the most precious thing in the world to me, my one and only love. Not even the Gods could take you from me.” He promised.

Your heart soared as you nodded up at him, rising on your tiptoes to capture his lips once more. He whispered an apology against your lips, and you couldn’t help the small sob that escaped.

“Please do not make me choose.” You whispered, hands holding the sides of his face, stubble brushing against the scar of your palm, the reminder of your union and love always there.

“You have already made your choice. Now they must make theirs.”

Aemond left you in the chambers alone to deliver your letter to Otto Hightower and Ser Criston Cole, who readied themselves to leave by ship that very evening. They would arrive to Dragonstone by morning.

And you would get your answer from the skies.

DRAGONSTONE POV

The morning broke the same way that it had before.

The sun rose above the waters surrounding Dragonstone, and cast the volcanic island in a glow of golden light. There was a light breeze that morning as the maids had opened the windows and balcony doors to Queen Rhaenyra and King Daemon’s quarters.

They had been dressed and readied, and broke their fast together. Little Viserys and Aegon the Younger tottered around their chambers, playing with tiny toy dragons that had been carved from wood.

The couple eventually made their way down to the study, Rhaenyra having gotten word from the men at the Red Fork that a certain war dragon had been spotted in the skies, and not seen to have left until almost a dozen days later.

As Rhaenyra shifted the letters at the large desk and Daemon sat lazily before the fir with one leg crossed over the other as Little Viserys sat on his knee, stories being whispered into the young boys ear as Aegon the younger sat on the floor playing with his toys, the door to the chambers were rapt by knuckles thrice in quick succession.

“Come.” Rhaenyra beckoned, and watched as the doors were opened swiftly by a Ser Erryk Cargyll.

The twin gave a short nod in greeting before apologising for his intrusion, “Your, Grace, there is a ship, just west of Dragonstone.”

Rhaenyra stiffened in her chair, and Daemon snapped his head to the man, quietening his whispers.

“It flies the banner of your brother.”

Rhaenyra stood from her seat slowly, Daemon going her with his son in his arms, the boy nestled against his side.

There had not been a ship to Dragonstone since the day Otto had come to watch her daughter be wed to her half-brother.

“Notify the council, have them be ready.” Rhaenyra commanded, and Ser Erryk bowed his head, leaving the chambers at once.

Rhaenyra and Daemon stared at each other, Viserys fussing in Daemon’s arms, sensing the tension that mounted in the room like a storm.

“Do you think it’s a trap?” Daemon breathed heavily, smoothing hair away from his sons head as two of Rhaenyra’s maids entered the chambers.

Daemon kissed the top of the boys forehead before handing him to one of the girls, the other scooping Aegon the Younger into her arms before exiting the chambers.

Rhaenyra moved around the desk, coming to stand in front of Daemon, “I believe we should be ready for it.”

By the time the two entered the Chambers of the Painted Table, the Small Council of Queen Rhaenyra were already standing around it in wait. Jacaerys stood off to the side, his Lady Wife, Baela beside him.

Lord Corlys stood to the side of Baela with Princess Rhaenys and their other granddaughter Rhaena, all who wore black and red, with hints of blue, as was their new and old House colours.

All other Lords and Maester’s stood at the other end.

“When should they arrive to shore?” Rhaenyra asked, forgoing a greeting as she walked swiftly to the head of the table with her husband.

“Within the hour, Your Grace.” Came the response of Maester Gerardys.

Rhaenyra nodded, looking amongst the table before she jumped into action.

“We need to be ready for whatever my brother Aegon has planned. Patrol the skies and the sea. Have men at the ready for anything.”

Jacaerys stepped forward, “I shall ride Vermax.”

Rhaenyra nodded, though her heart raced in her chest.

The last time she had allowed her children to take to the skies, only one came back.

“I’ll take Moondancer, Your Grace.” Princess Baela declared.

Rhaenyra gave the girl a small smile, “Good.” She turned to face Rhaenys, “Take Meleys to the sky. If Aegon or Aemond are to come on the backs of their dragons, we will need numbers and you are one of our best.”

Daemon was the next to speak, “I shall take Caraxes-”

“-No.” Rhaenyra argued, “You will stay with me. I need you at my side.” Turning to Lord Corlys, she requested the presence of his ships, “Have four of your ships ready at port.”

The older man nodded, moving swiftly out of the chambers to command them.

“You said there was only one ship?” Rhaenyra questioned the Maester.

“Yes, Your Grace. Only one has been spotted.”

The crown weighed heavily atop the Queens head in that moment, the first time she had ever truly felt the weight of it.

At first when Daemon had crowned her, it was foreign, but with time, she grew to not notice its presence, as though it was another set of braids atop her head. But now, she felt the heavy weight of it all, pressing down on her skull, hyperaware that she had a duty, and it was about to be tested.

Once the ships had been pulled to the docks, and her dragon riders had taken to the skies, Queen Rhaenyra and her King Consort, Daemon Targaryen, moved with the Queens Guard down to the meeting point of the path where they had stood before.

When greeted with Aegon’s terms.

And then later with the return of their daughter.

But this time, they waited and watched as the heads and banners of the Green three headed dragon came towards them, and they did not once sense that they would be reunited with their daughter once more. Instead, Ser Otto Hightower was flanked by Ser Criston Cole and members of her brothers Kings Guard.

Above them, three dragons flew in circles, watching from above.

Waiting.

Ready.

Ser Otto Hightower, in all his lithe glory, came to a stop before Queen Rhaenyra, looking all the more like a weevil that had crawled into a farmers grain.

For he was a pest that had wormed its way into her fathers life, and become the driving force of the usurpation of the throne, her daughter and sons deaths, and the removal of her surviving daughter to her half-brother.

Ser Otto was a man that Rhaenyra as a child had hoped and prayed that her father would have seen through. That Viserys could have seen the man before him was a mask, a shell, and hid his true intentions behind duty and tradition. But Viserys had been blinded by the wolf in sheep's clothing, and Otto’s lies had been strengthened by Daemon’s love for her.

Viserys never did get to see the ruin that his inaction would become.

Daemon, the once Rogue Prince, stood at his wife’s side diligently, as he had promised to do, large palms resting upon the two swords that flanked him, one being the Dark Sister blade. He struggled to not sneer at the man who had taken everything from him.

Taken his daughter from him. His brother.

“We come as envoys.” Otto began, Ser Cole staring at Daemon, his own hand atop the hilt of his sword.

Daemon had not forgotten Cole's place in all this either.

Crispin Cole.

Rhaenyra looked down at the men from her nose. Despite being shorter than them, she stood uphill, and gave the illusion that she was above them.

And she was.

Where she was Queen, they were mere Ser’s.

“King Aemond the First-“

“-Aemond?” Rhaenyra interrupted sharply, worry coursing through her chest, “Did my brother Aegon drink himself to death in his cups?”

Otto reached into his coat pocket, the Queen’s Guard shifting as they watched his movement carefully. Long fingers pulled apart his lapel and dove into the inner pocket, grasping the rolled parchment from their daughter.

Daemon shifted atop the balls of his feet.

Lord Hightower held out the scrolled parchment, green insignia stamped into its papery surface with wax, “A letter from the Queen.”

“Queen?” Daemon snipped, looking at the parchment.

Ser Erryk stepped forward to grasp the letter, armour shuffling as his eyes darted to his twin, Arryk Cargyll, who stood behind Otto Hightower.

It was a sad day for either twin, seeing their other half on different sides of a silent war. Their eyes met, if only briefly, all hurt and betrayal, before Erryk took the scroll and delivered it to Rhaenyra.

“King Aegon is dead. And in the line of succession, Aemond has taken his place.”

“What about his remaining son?” Daemon questioned, looking at the scroll briefly before back at Otto.

Otto held his hands behind his back, “Maelor is too young to rule at such a time, and Aemond has taken the Iron Throne.”

Ser Erryk held out the parchment for his Queen to take, which she took whilst keeping her eyes upon Otto, much like her husband, who continued to talk.

“Bend the knee to the King, swear your fealty to him and he shall allow you to remain here as the Lady of Dragonstone, whereafter your son Jacaerys the Lord of Dragonstone, and Joffrey Lord of Driftmark. The Queen has agreed to send word to you now that the treaty has ended with Aegon’s passing.”

Rhaenyra hastily unrolled the parchment, ripping the green wax insignia of the three headed dragon off the paper, the wax crumbling onto the stone below. Violet eyes roved over her daughters script whilst Daemon read over the top of her shoulder.

The Queen felt a tide of rage.

“I will not bend the knee to a usurper and kinslayer who is not even second in the line of succession. He has no right to the throne.” She hissed at the Hightower Lord, “Where is the Princess?”

“She is Queen Consort now, and shall live her days with the King in peace and safety. Your blood sits upon the Iron Throne, Rhaenyra, something that should satiate your desire for war. Bend the knee to Aemond, blood not be needlessly spilt again.”

Otto spoke like an old man telling his daughter or wife to buy something from the market that was not needed, and not at all like a man who was preventing a war.

Daemon quietly seethed beside his wife, looking at Otto, and having read two words that gave him the permission he so desperately sought. Daemon shifted, hand pulling the Dark Sister blade from her sheath and stormed forward.

“Fuck this.” Daemon sneered.

Ser Cole stepped toward him, and from above a dragon screeched.

It was a blur of guards, and the sound of men and their blades being unsheathed filling the air.

Ser Erryk Cargyll stepped to the side of Daemon, if not slightly more forward, blocking the blow of Ser Cole’s blade as Daemon moved towards Otto, whose eyes were wide in shock. Queen and King’s Guards met in the middle, a blur of bodies as Rhaenyra stood firmly, planted as she were.

Watching.

With a swing of the Dark Sister blade, Daemon sliced through Ser Otto Hightower’s shoulder, the blade cutting through flesh and bone as though it was butter, carving down to the middle of his chest.

Blood sprayed from his wound, and the older man cried out into the air, the beating wings of dragons loud above them.

As the King Consort pulled his blade from the Hightower Lord, who stumbled backwards on shaky legs, Daemon swung the Dark Sister blade into the air once more, connecting with his neck.

His body landed on the floor before his head did, which rolled downwards into the chaos of the guards and knights who fought, mouth open and eyes wide.

Ser Erryk blocked another swipe of Criston’s blade, who came at him harder and faster, anger and desperation in his eyes. Ser Arryk, his twin, steadily approached the two as he battled through the sea of fighting.

A few of Aemond’s men had turned back, running down the path to try to get back to their ship, to send word to the King, but a large shadow loomed above them, and with a cry, Baela screamed out her deathly command for the very first time.

“Dracarys!”

Moondancer, a slender and pale green dragon with pearl like horns, opened her jaws and a plume of fire was cast over the Green deserters. The flames devoured the men entirely, who screamed in agony, trying to outrun their burning flesh, before dropping to the floor below, silent and stiff.

Baela, to prevent any more attempting to escape, landed against the path, the large claws of her dragon digging into the stone sides, much like how Rhaenyra had, many moons ago.

Moondancer screeched, head down and long at the backs of Aemond’s men who turned to face the dragon in fear, swords lifted in a pathetic last chance of defence.

It was an opportunity that Rhaenyra’s men did not let pass.

And an opportunity Daemon didn’t either.

The Dark Sister blade cut through three men, and Jacaerys upon Vermax landed behind the Queen and her men, a subtle threat, and a vow of protection for his Queen Mother.

Vermax growled deeply, teeth bared, whilst Rhaenys continued to circle atop Meleys from above, searching the skies for any sign of her cousins.

Ser Cole, sensing that he was fighting a losing battle, did not give up, and came at Ser Erryk brutally. The twin stumbled backwards, Arryk moving towards Cole’s side as Criston's blade barely just missed the twins face.

But as Ser Cole was occupied, and Rhaenyra watched from behind stony faced, he did not see the shadow that passed behind him, nor did he anticipate the thrusting of the Dark Sister blade through the pummel of his chest.

Ser Erryk Cargyll took advantage of the opportunity, and turned to face his twin brother, a man who was the exact image of him bar small scars upon their bodies, and if you had asked Arryk a year before, he was taller. Their swords clashed together, moves and skill mirrored as both men had grown and trained together side by side.

Daemon Targaryen, the once Rogue Prince and now Rogue King, a man who was seasoned in war, and battle, and swordsmanship, stood behind Ser Criston Cole, blade in hand as it penetrated through the top of his chest under his shoulder. Blood dripped from its tip thickly as he looked down at it, eyes wide in shock.

Daemon’s silver hair, now streaked in blood, lifted gently in the breeze that rolled past.

The drops of Ser Cole’s blood was loud in Rhaenyra’s ears as she looked at the man dubbed ‘The King Maker’.

With a large boot, Daemon kicked the knight off of his blade, and onto his knees.

Ser Criston Cole landed with a thud, looking up at Rhaenyra, eyes darkened by hatred. The blade in his hand had fallen to the ground, and blood dripped down from his wound thickly, splattering across the stones like many of his other men.

Rhaenyra looked down her nose at the man, lips pulled back in a sneer.

It was quiet on the path, the only sound Rhaenys’ dragon calling out from above, and the sound of blood on stone. All other fighting was drowned out by the rage that pumped through her veins.

And as though connected through a bond, like rider and dragon, Daemon stood behind Ser Criston Cole, The King Maker; a man who had been sworn to Rhaenyra once before, a man she had once been intimate with when she was a young girl, a man who had witnessed the Gods affirmation that she was fit for the throne, a man who had aided the usurpation of the throne, a man who had broken his oath to the cloak, and Daemon heeded the Queen’s wordless command.

Daemon swung the Dark Sister blade one final time.

Thanks so much for reading along with me, if you wish to be added to the tag list please let me know :) Likes and reblogs are greatly appreciated ! Enjoy <3

Tag List:

@izzicle @ej-shitchats @may-machin @alegria1580 @witchy-jadda @videovampire @inkdelicious @queteimporta39 @virtualsweetsqueen @fo-cus @auratiqs @feyres-fireheart @queenofshinigamis @asoiafwh8re @teasandcrumpets @shesjustanothergeek @grungegrrrl@queenofsarcazm @marihoneywk @curlszx88 @virgogaia @loser-keiji @asoiafwh8re @whore-of-many-hot-men @vipervixxen @theonewiththeimaginaryboyfriends @watercolorskyy @lavendervisions @mazmack666 @chokefrog @orangejump-suit @nik2blog @serrhaewinin @ohemgeewhat @winxschester @cryptidsrcool @drinking-tea-and-be-obsessed @celestedonut @bloodyvelvet777 @iamapersonthatsalive @av-sos @yentroucnagol @sanzu-s @opheliaas-stuff @bellameshipper @maviee @persephonerinyes @neytiri-09 @ensnaredinwonderland @xbluegracex @sotragedynut @nattieot7 @shesawaywiththefairies-blog @coffedraven @prettycutebunny @celestedonut @the-jess-life @ssulfurr @out-of-life @madislayyy @crazylokonugget @cicaspair418 @katwmk @relminnie @milovart @teagrex @visenyaverse @bellameshipper @toodlesxcuddles @tempt-ress @dontmindmereading7 @qyburnsghost @55gyi53vtnquwziq5 @notnormalthings-blog @maidmerrymint @qyburnsghost @madislayyy @chelseaouat

Bold is who I cannot tag!

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creganslover · 3 months ago

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⋆⁺｡˚⋆˙‧₊☽ ◯ ☾₊‧˙⋆˚｡⁺⋆

<< Guidelines upon requesting >>

and here is the guidelines on what you need to know before requesting, listed here is the characters I will write for, the genres I’m open to write, and the basic do’s and don'ts in order to help me make your request properly!

P.S it is said on my bio whether requests are open or not, so please be aware! :>

the characters I will write for:

Rhaenyra Targaryen

Daemon Targaryen

Jacaerys Targaryen

Lucerys Velaryon

Alicent Hightower

Gwayne Hightower

Aegon Targaryen

Aemond Targaryen

Helaena Targaryen

Cregan Stark

Criston Cole

Addam of Hull/Velaryon

these are the list of characters that I am confident enough to write for, however, if you have another character in mind from the HOTD universe, please ask then I’ll see if I can do it ♡

genre’s I am open to write:

Fluff

Angst

Crack! Fics

Hurt/comfort

Soulmate AUs

Songfics

Drabbles

Prompts

Platonic! Fics

Headcanons

Blurbs

NSFW! (see do’s and don’ts, MDNI w 18+ fics!)

Will be updated as time goes on*

do’s and don’ts:

↳ I would like to start off by pointing out that yes, this is an HOTD centered account and the fics I would be writing will definitely involve canon-typical incest and violence and graphic scenes and others regarding nsfw, so if you are uncomfortable with that, please refrain from reading <3 but are all of my fics going to be NSFW? Nope! I would love to write and explore different genres if I am able.

↳ For requesting, please be specific as it's hard to come up with a plot at times when I don’t have my creative juices flowing T^T

(Be specific in who would you want me to write, and the kind of genre/s you want to see happen as well as what gender you want the reader to be. If none was stated, I would then decide to make the reader gender neutral.)

↳ I can write for poly! relationships if asked.

↳ Please be polite when requesting.

↳ Always, always send requests through my ask box! Please also refrain from messaging me requests.

(Sending requests through my ask box makes it much more easier for me to keep track and add your requests to my list along with the others! :D)

↳ Please be patient. I’m a real person and often times I don’t feel well or motivated enough to write. Aside from that, I also have uni so I may not be able to do your requests in time, but rest assured I’ll try and get them posted as soon as I’m able to once my schedule is free.

↳ Regarding NSFW!! I’m still experimenting on writing smut and uh all the crazy kinks involved in it, but I would like to give writing nsfw a try if ever presented the opportunity :) however, I would like to advise minors to please not read any of my fics labeled with 18+ content!

Other rules may be added soon*

For now, that is the list of what you need to know before requesting! I would love to see you in my inbox soon. ♡

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arcielee · 7 months ago

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Hey everyone, I know it's a dark time in the fandom right now and I am only going to speak on this once.

To begin: there was a period of time where I had some bigger blogs blocked due to a misunderstanding that escalated. I recently learned that both sides were being fed a villainous narrative over something that I did not do. It became this weird Us vs Them ordeal.

I tried to pull away. I blocked a lot of blogs to try and remove myself from the HotD space.

I was very heartbroken. Tumblr was my little nerdy escape that allowed me to swoon over my beloved fictional characters and find kindred spirits who shared the same sentiment. I found myself hating to check my notifications, seeing the hateful anons and DMs, and seeing my mutuals receiving the same grief for publicly engaging with me.

It was awful.

After some time, blogs began to reach out and share what had been said about me, telling me about the rumors. It gave me clarity on what had happened. I see the fierce loyalty a lot of us posses and if I had been told these same horrible things, I probably would have responded in a similar way.

I was grateful for the honesty and I hold no animosity towards anyone who believed what was said. I do not care about the cruel things spread or the name calling, I just felt relieved that I could speak my truth and slowly become part of the community that I loved. I wanted to forgive and just move forward.

Then I found out that I had been doxxed.

They found my legal name and my private IG. They shared it without my permission. I feel fortunate that this group did not do anything with the information shared, but I also do not know if it was shared outside of this chat.

Tumblr is a silly hellsite that allowed me to learn the art of a Reader inserts, to brainstorm story ideas with my mutuals, to reblog nifty gifsets and fanart. But this is something I keep separate my from actual IRL, so learning about this felt like a violation.

I know we are all hurting. The point of this post is a reminder to stay safe, to set up your two-step authenticator and to please keep yourselves protected.

Like I said: I will not speak on this again. If you stay, please know my blog is a safe place where I do not tolerate bigotry of any means.

My DMs and my anons are open, always. 💜

#hotd fandom #doxxing #this has been a psa #it is time to heal and hydrate #i love my tumblr kindred spirits #please stay safe everyone

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lolitawestcoast · 3 months ago

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I rarely write or post things on social media because I am more of an “observer”, but after finishing season 2 of HOTD, I realised that I, too, want to share my “unpopular opinions” (as some may say they are) with the world. I guess I got inspired by all of you whom I follow and whose posts I consistently read that are truly in sync with what I think about the show overall, especially the greens and other characters I like.

So you are welcome to read this rant/ mini essay and give your two cents about the topic. I will be discussing a few characters who I have firm opinions about and what I think we should actually focus or take away from the series.

I will start with my personal favourite, Alicent Hightower. I swear I am in minority when I say this, because all the people that I know (including close people and friends) dislike/hate her and that’s totally fine, nobody should force others to like a character but the way they talk about her (all completely stupid arguments that miss the mark) as if she’s this insufferable, evil, bad mother. She is so layered, so tragic, ugh, it makes me sick to my stomach thinking about what Viserys himself has put her through, not ONLY Otto. I say this because a lot of the conversations I’ve had with others NEVER acknowledge his part in her trauma and when I mention it I am immediately shut down, it’s kind of sad and disturbing.

In their opinion, Alicent is a BIG part of what happened leading to the war. Excuse me? Have you seen season 1? Have you followed the plot at all? That woman is a victim. I’ve been reblogging and reading a lot of people’s posts here that were completely spot on about how many sacrifices she has made as she puts it herself (“What have I done, but what was EXPECTED of me? Forever upholding the kingdom, the family, the law.”) While Rhaneyra gets to do all she wants (“While you flout all to do as you please”) with no consequences because the king favours her and turns a blind eye to her actions, forever defending her even if he CLEARLY knows (and sees) what’s in front of him.

For example, that whole Alicent-Rhaneyra confrontation in season 1 was such a divisive discussion in my family, ugh, I felt like Alicent herself against everybody saying that she wasn’t in the right but you know what? She totally was. I would have had the same reaction (“Where is duty? Where is sacrifice? It’s TRAMPLED under your pretty foot again!”) Her life as a queen was forced on her by the MEN around her. What do you expect? How is she supposed to just take what’s happening to her and not stand up for herself and her child whose eye was fucking SLASHED. Aemond lost an eye. I just know, as a mother, I would have gone FERAL. No doubt. How can she not ask for justice, an eye for an eye (“And now you take my son’s eye and to even that you feel entitled.”) Couldn’t have said it better myself. Later on, when Aemond kills Lucerys, Rhaneyra herself wants ��a son for a son”. Isn’t that the same philosophy? Why is Alicent unreasonable when she is asking for Lucerys’ eye in that moment? I don’t see much of a difference. This is one of the examples where I can’t look away and just hate someone like others do, because she has a point.

Another example is when Rhaneyra tells her that she doesn’t want to be “trapped in a castle” and “made to squeeze out heirs”. I swear, when they showed Alicent’s face after that line, I had tears in my eyes, I felt like I wanted to hold her because she DID NOT need to hear that, it was cruel. She broke my heart so many times, I almost want to say I rarely feel this way about a character in a show: “Sadness is a condition of motherhood”. My dearest Alicent, THEY WILL NEVER MAKE ME HATE YOU.

Is she a bad mother as they say? Not at all. Would a bad mother literally SHIELD Aegon with her body when threatened with a DRAGON? Would a bad mother (again) use her body to protect her daughter Helaena from the smallfolk during the riots? Would she stand up for Aemond and DEMAND justice, putting herself in danger as well as in a unfavourable position with the king as a bad mother? HOW DOES SHE NOT LOVE HER CHILDREN? I mean, I have a mother who would do the EXACT same thing for me, literally take a bullet for her child. And like Alicent, my mother has her flaws, she’s been through things in life beyond my understanding (having an abusive husband), so she isn’t perfect, but she loves me with all her heart nonetheless. She has projected some things onto me and has hurt me many times with her words, like Alicent sometimes does with Aegon, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t love him. Even after the incident with Aemond happens, she regrets her actions, mainly slashing Rhaneyra’s hand: “It was an ugly thing, I regret it”. Otto is then the one who praises her for what she has done: “And yet, I’ve never seen that side of you, my daughter…We play an ugly game.” Once again, he is the mastermind, using Alicent as a pawn in his search for power. She is not power hungry herself.

I think it’s hard for her sometimes to look at her children, especially Aegon I think, her firstborn, whom may I remind you she had VERY YOUNG, a child herself and not see her whole grief, trauma and abuse through him. The way Emily has portrayed young Alicent, specifically in that scene where she holds her baby and she just looks defeated, sad, depressed, EXHAUSTED. While Rhaneyra gets to have children with whom she pleases (Harwin Strong is someone who she loves and cares about, judging by the loving and tender looks they give each other in some scenes) because she has an open marriage and she was lucky enough to get that. Nothing was forced on her. She had the freedom to look for her own suitors, a thing that Alicent calls “romantic” because in her mind, she would have absolutely dreamed to do the same.

Moreover, how can you say that Rhaneyra and Alicent don’t have love for each other? They make that CLEAR in the show so many times with small, beautiful details (the page, their 2 conversations from season 2, beautifully acted by Olivia and Emma). Didn’t Alicent vehemently defend Rhaneyra against the “claims” made by Otto that her and Daemon got into some inappropriate actions together? Even though his informer was right. She believed her and vouched for her to the king. She has never been jealous of her in that sense. She was envious perhaps of her freedom, yes, for sure, but who wouldn’t be, given her situation. She still loved and cared for her deeply.

When Otto is dismissed as hand and they have that conversation in the rain where he enforces on her that she has to prepare Aegon to be king because Rhaneyra will put her children to the sword otherwise, because she will be challenged by Aegon; the manipulation from Otto she has received time and time again runs deep into her adulthood. After he leaves she is alone at court, nobody in her corner. She doesn’t realise she is being used as a pawn in a man’s power games, but she becomes paranoid and determined to defend her own family. Cut to the wedding scene: after she finds out about Rhaneyra’s indiscretion with Cole, she fully embraces the colour green, representative of the Hightower house, subtly declaring war by showing up in that beautiful gown in the middle of the king’s speech (an iconic, awesome scene if you ask me). At that point, she was disappointed, angry and possibly fed up with her having to honour her duty as a queen, while her dearest friend lies and gets away with things. As much as you love and care for someone like that, you cannot overlook their wrongdoings.

I’ve also seen that she was called a “bitch” for wanting to see Rhaneyra’s child immediately after giving birth. However, she didn’t want HER to come to Alicent physically and show the baby, it was after all, Rhaneyra’s decision to go. Being her third child and Alicent probably seeing the other 2, of course she wanted to see for herself if he’ll look the same. She is the only one pointing out that they are bastards and everybody KNOWS IT. Her husband, Cole, all the people at court, hell even Harwin’s father. It is so blatantly obvious; it’s actually hilarious how Viserys dismissed Alicent and everybody who brought it up, which is fair enough from their perspective, even for Vaemond when they are discussing the succession of Driftmark. How can one NOT be frustrated? How can she not be furious? Later on, when the king states “Anyone who dares question the legitimacy of my grandsons, should have it (their tongue) removed” as Rhaneyra looks at Alicent with some sort of entitlement and power: “Thank you, father”. The rage I felt for her in that moment was so intense, because it is so unfair.

Here is another hard pill to swallow for some: Viserys has divided his family by always favouring his first daughter (he even refers to her as his “only daughter/child). He wants peace in his family but all he does is create “war”, hate, resentment, bitterness etc. Maybe he wasn’t Viserys “the peaceful” after all, at least not when it came to his own family. Never acknowledged or cared for his other 4 children he has with Alicent which in turn made them (particularly Aegon and Aemond) the way they are. Aegon even mentions how his father “didn’t like him”. Can you blame him? He yells in his face when Aemond’s eye incident happens, doesn’t give A DAMN about the fact that his son , “HIS BLOOD” , had lost an eye because he cares more that his precious daughter’s sons were insulted: “MY SON HAS LOST AN EYE FOR AN INSULT?” Yes Alicent, I was in fact, also enraged when that happened. How does nobody look at that man and see what he has done to his own family? Maybe HE has more of a role in the dance later on, together with Otto and other MEN who plotted the usurping. Maybe things would have been different had he been a better father/husband. But they sure like to blame the woman, the “scorned bitch” who’s jealous of Rhaneyra.

Even so, despite all this, make no mistake, the love and affection between the two women never fades away. That scene from season 1 episode 8, where she softly squeezes her hand (ironically the same one that has the scar she inflicted on her) and lovingly tells her not to leave after their children have an argument. You can feel their chemistry: it’s like they found each other again, after such a long, tumultuous time, at last, Rhaneyra and Alicent together like old times. That whole dinner scene was so peaceful, literally the calm before the storm. The poison runs deep in the family, it can’t be erased just like that, in one night. You can see that whatever foundation Viserys thought he had built within his family and the realm, it all crumbled down in the end.

Alicent needed someone to support her and remind her that it is NOT her fault: what happened to her, that she was used, abused and her innocence stolen from her. She was so desperate for this.

I won’t even have enough time to write everything here about Alicent’s life, at least nothing that hasn’t already been said (beautifully put by others that I read so far, you are all making me feel seen by the way!❤️)

Maybe I am too emotionally attached to her, but I can’t understand the constant hate she gets from CERTAIN people. It is so frustrating to try and explain everytime all the details in the scenes with her to others, I guess it doesn’t matter in the end. “It’s just a fictional character” they say; yes, indeed. I get very passionate sometimes because I was a film student and movies/tv shows are and will forever be my life and I am always analyzing all the details (force of habit, because I had to do this a lot for my assignments).

I don’t even have a side (team green, team black) fuck that nonsense. Personally, that strategy marketing which HBO constantly tried to shove down our throats is just bullshit; in the end, NOBODY (except Helaena) is truly a role model or a “hero”. The whole idea of this entire show and its events is about the smallfolk and the dragons who are nothing but collateral damage in this foolish civil war. While the privileged fight for a throne, the others suffer, the real innocents.

When I watch the show, I don’t even care about childish things like taking sides, like this is just a basic argument between two people, I just have a couple of characters that I root for or feel close to because they speak to me in a very specific manner. Also, the actors are tremendously talented so they literally make the characters compelling, maybe beyond what they get on the page of that script (which sometimes it’s not much or enough, if you ask me).

Hopefully I am not alone and I’ve seen here that I am not (I almost feel like part of a community at this point🥹), but in general I prefer the team green characters (which DOES NOT mean that I dislike or hate anyone in team black), I just think they are more complex, fucked up, relatable, and acted so damn well (although EVERYBODY in that cast is exceptional). I think I like the whole “dysfunctional” family vibe the greens have.

That being said, I like Rhaneyra as a character, for sure, I don’t dislike her at all, but I don’t know if I like what they are doing to her, script wise. Emma is exceptional in their portrayal of the character with what they are given anyway, but the writers are certainly making her more seem like the “hero” of the story, although I can see she has a lot of flaws. She is FAR from perfect. What I gathered from her as a character is that she is quite hypocritical in many aspects, especially when it comes to Alicent. In certain scenes in season 2 for instance, she points fingers at her for the things Rhaneyra herself has done. Blames her for starting this war when in fact, it wasn’t Alicent.

Unfortunately some fans are way too biased and are so blinded by what the show is feeding them to see and acknowledge her wrongdoings and see beyond this “rightful heir” tag she has. I am starting to see more interesting and complex things from Rhaneyra, mainly from season 2 and I am hopeful to see what’s in store for her in season 3. Although, I’ve always seen her as someone more nuanced, thanks to Milly and Emma’s stellar performances. She isn’t very likeable to me, because I see through her, for what she is. But I like when she gets more like her book counterpart (if you know what I’m saying). I like to see that: more complexity.

Furthermore, I was absolutely gutted when Rhaenys died (she really should have been queen🫡), what a great character. I love that Jacaerys got some more personality in the last few episodes of season 2, because I wasn’t convinced before of him as a solid character. This also leads me to the idea that Rhaneyra is definitely a bit selfish in pursuing her claim to the throne and totally overlooking his (valid) feelings towards the other bastard Targaryens claiming the dragons. I loved his speech and how he stood up for himself in a way.

You have to objectively look at these characters most of the time while watching the show and it is truly unfortunate that many people in the fandom are so blindly biased and defensive of some of their favourites, especially Rhaneyra because I see that happening mostly with her. You can’t judge them, but god forbid you tell them you like the greens, especially Alicent, Aemond (even Ageon) or Cole (speaking from my own experience) then you are definitely going to be judged because they are somehow seen as the antagonists of the show.

In my humble opinion, the show DOES NOT have protagonists or antagonists because like I’ve mentioned before, that’s not the point at all. Each one of us has their own “favourite war criminal” and that’s that. Let us, the audience just enjoy supporting the characters we like and stop judging each other. This is not real life, it’s not that deep. I like when I talk to someone and they express their love and passion for a character, even though I don’t feel the same, it’s quite nice to do that without criticising and getting into an argument with that person. We respect each other’s opinions and move on.

Anyways, went on a bit of a tangent there but moving on, Baela is also a character I like a lot, because I need somebody that supporting and wise in life by my side, for real. She is a gem. When she says something, I listen.

I know this might sound odd but I don’t actually HATE anybody in this show. I can say I dislike Daemon for pretty well known reasons at this point, no need to list them here, although I don’t feel hate for him necessarily. I am raising my eyebrow a bit at how Aemond turned out so far, although I still think that Ewan made him one of the coolest, most compelling characters in the show, especially in season 2. He is a delight to watch because his presence on screen is just THAT fucking gripping. I still see him as an underdog, especially looking back at his childhood and what happened to his eye and all that. I still feel for that child, for how he was bullied and undermined. I can’t completely overlook the things that happened to him which lead to the events of season 2. Although, as a book reader, I am a bit disappointed in some of the writing regarding his character (a discussion for another day).

This is a big one, but I also didn’t get why SO MANY people HATE Criston Cole, like he’s actually universally the most hated character in the show so far (based on how Fabien Frankel himself was harassed on his instagram which breaks my heart). It is such a sad, but funny thing to see at the same time.

This guy is certainly NOT the worst character in the GOT universe; if you rewatch GOT (which I’m currently doing) he really is no match for some people you see there. He was clearly wrong in many aspects in this show, especially with the event of Blood and Cheese and what followed. I would say that I disliked his behaviour and I certainly did not align with many of his actions and opinions at certain points in the show, although I do feel that he is remorseful and has had quite the journey in season 2. By the end of this season he went through quite a horrific experience (the battle at Rook’s Rest) which I think changed him mentally and you can see that, courtesy of Fabien’s great performance (when he has that conversation with Gwayne in season 2 finale, which I loved).

I’ve seen the memes with him and the constant topic being brought up of him being “bitter” and hung up on Rhaneyra because she turned him down when he suggested that they should run away together, but I don’t even think it goes on for too long, at least in his mind. Yes, he calls her names and talks shit about her at times (indirectly) but I think later on he’s moved on from that, at least since he started to be more intimate with Alicent (who he says is the “beacon” he follows) because rightfully so, she saved his life in many ways, I guess literally and metaphorically. He doesn’t have time to think about his bitterness towards Rhaneyra anymore, with all that has taken place since they had that encounter, at least I don’t think so.

He has had quite the journey and at this point I just think the hate and the jokes are getting old and more like, there is no other character we can hate so we are all pointing fingers at “Crispin” as I’ve seen and heard people call him. I just can’t even bring myself to hate him, I respect how smart he is and how skilled in battle he proved himself to be. Surely he is not as one dimensional as people are making him out to be. Yes, the memes are funny and all that, but some people are too mean spirited, it makes me think they are projecting a little bit too much. Even Fabien himself is moved when somebody praises his character or says something nice about him (I saw that in an interview some time ago, he was genuinely happy someone complimented him because he has seen the hate and I just wanted to go through the screen and hug him, he is so kind, bless him). Give him a break guys, please.

Again, this might be quite an unpopular opinion, but isn’t Cole justified in a way to be upset and resentful over what happened between him and Rhaneyra? Wasn’t he used that night to satisfy her needs and quite frankly her frustration because she didn’t get what she wanted from Daemon? She could care leas about him as a person, about his honour, his duty. Most of the time she was too carefree and ignorant of these concepts. Wasn’t there a power imbalance between them? He tried to resist, he didn’t pursue her. What was he to do? I wondered often what would have happened if he denied her that night.

After their affair, he asks her to run away with him (which I admit it was a bit funny the way he put it, to leave behind her privileged life to go somewhere and sell oranges or whatever) but in that moment, the way she looks at him and answers, I’m sure broke his heart, because he thought she might have feelings for him. I didn’t even see them as simply having “sex” but more like “making love”, it was quite tender and beautiful. I don’t think he was wrong in assuming that, after all, they were each others’ firsts. He feels hurt, cheated and used: “So you want me to be your whore?”. I can’t lie, I felt for him in that moment. Everything he had to his name, as he says, was taken from him. Can we not feel some sympathy for this man? Is he not justified in thinking that Rhaneyra is “a cunning spider”? As far as he is concerned, she has fooled him and stolen his honour, left him with nothing to his name. He was already by the standards of those times, a nobody.

Can we just be reasonable as an audience and just stop following others like sheep on this “chain” of hate?

Don’t even get me started on Aegon. I won’t even expand here why I also never hated him (although I want to make it CLEAR that I DO NOT condone what he did in the show, under NO circumstances) even though again, I am disappointed on how his character was changed from the books (if you know, you know). I feel he has been treated unfairly just like his mother and there are a lot of reasons he is the way he is. Like I said, too much to get into. But once again I praise the actors for giving such nuanced performances, THEY are making the characters come to life.

I feel I already said too much and I don’t want to get into the book and the parallels with GOT because I would have to write a thesis then and this has already become an essay.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you, I appreciate you reading this; it is my first time posting something like this. I don’t really post my opinions online because the internet is mean and toxic but I really wanted to get this off my chest. Maybe in hopes that someone else shares the same views (which I think we’ve established there are quite a few people here on tumblr who do). I am so excited to read more posts/opinions and hopefully be part of healthy discussions about this show and its characters. Please be respectful.

#house of the dragon #alicent hightower #the greens #rhaenyra x alicent #hotd s2 #hotd season 1 #criston cole #aemond targaryen #aegon ii targaryen #olivia cooke #team green #hbo #otto hightower

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valleyof-goldenlilies · 1 year ago

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Se Zaldrīzoti' Prūmia - Chapter 2: A Mere Lady (Daemon Targaryen x Tyrell!Reader)

Chapter 2: A Mere Lady

Daemon has returned to King’s Landing. Yet it is not in his nature to sit idle.

HOTD Masterlist | Main Masterlist |

Warnings: That extreme slow burn once more lmao, Daemon being an idiot, Westerosi sexism, mention of violence, Daemon and Y/N bickering like children again

Word Count: 2.9k words

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the House of The Dragon/Fire and Blood characters, save for Y/N Tyrell, although I did expand on their characterisation, which might deviate from canon. All credit for the characters goes to George RR Martin and the showrunners of HOTD. The GIF above is also not mine, original credit to the creator is stated above. Go check them out!

A/N: Thank you for all the support for the first chapter of Se Zaldrīzoti' Prūmia! It really warms my heart to see all your reblogs and likes 💗 this chapter is a bit of a filler one, but something big will happen next chapter (can you guess what it is? 👀) I hope you enjoy reading!

wonderful dividers courtesy of @firefly-graphics !

The shadows darkened and the bustle of noise in the Red Keep slowly faded into a faint hum as night enveloped the castle. I had just finished drawing up and helping Aemma into a bath when a maid announced the presence of King Viserys. I hurriedly rose from where I was preparing the Queen’s nightclothes and curtsied. “Your Grace.” Viserys merely waved away my greeting, putting a hand on my shoulder. “At ease, Y/N. We are not in the presence of other courtiers, you need not refer to me by my title.” I smiled fondly at Viserys. “Well, if my king commands it. Are you here to see Aemma? She is in the midst of her nightly soak” Viserys’ brows furrowed, “Of course. How has she been? Are the baths of any help?”

“Aemma says it is effective to a degree, but the moment she steps out of the bath, the aches return.” Viserys hummed in acknowledgement; “Looks like our son is taking quite the toll on my beloved. He must be an active lad.” My smile widened at that: Viserys’ pride in his unborn son was clearly strong. But my smile dropped when I heard Viserys’ next words, “Have you had a chance to run into Daemon by any chance, Y/N?” I chewed hard on my lip at his question, making Viserys raise his eyebrows and laugh at my obvious distaste for his younger brother. “I will take that as a yes. Are the both of you still having trouble getting along?”

“We get along about as well as fire and oil, I’m afraid.” Viserys let out a huge belly laugh at that, “And who is the oil in this situation, you or Daemon?” “Daemon,” I answered without hesitation. “Seven hells, I have no doubt his love for provoking me is fueled by the gods themselves.” Viserys looked amused, “Well, as your king, I am pleased to inform you that I have listened to your petitions and assigned him back to his old post at the City’s Watch. Mayhaps he will cease annoying you with this new responsibility.”

“I thank you for your graciousness, Your Grace,” I curtsied slightly. “Your justice is indeed swift and efficient.” “Well, a king must care for his subjects above all else. And you are like a sister to me.” Viserys patted me on the shoulder, “I must go and check on my beloved now. A King must not keep his Queen waiting after all.” I nodded and turned back to my duties as he ambled away.

The morning sun lazily clambered up the sky, causing the Red Keep to begin to bustle about with noise once more. A servant helped me lace up my new Tyrell green gown, with small gold rocaille prints dotting the bodice and gold roses stitched throughout. Autumn had fallen upon King’s Landing, and the air was beginning to fill with a biting chill, hence my father had ordered the dressmakers to design the dress with fitted long sleeves. I was a little uncomfortable, since I was unused to dresses with fitted sleeves, but it did make it easier for me to tend to Aemma.

I cast a glance at the fireplace. The flames had long died out, but in the midst of the charred black wood, I could see the remnants of parchment. The new dress from Father had not arrived without condition. I had not bothered to read the letter - knowing it would be full of eligible lord names and pleading from my father to just pick one and put him out of his misery - instead chucking it into the fire without a second thought.

“My lady?” Blinking, I looked up at the servant girl. “I am finished with your hair. Are you in need of anything else?” I studied my reflection in the vanity, patting a stray strand of hair down gently. “No, everything is fine. You’ve done a wonderful job. Thank you, Rebecca.” She smiled and curtsied before scurrying off. I put on my favourite pair of gold earrings, checking my reflection one last time before striding out of my chambers.

Aemma was never an early riser, and pregnancy fatigue had only served to prolong her hours spent in bed, hence I always took this opportunity to wander around the Red Keep while undertaking any errands assigned to me at the same time. After making an errand run to the washerwomen to pick up Aemma’s clothes, I bustled over to the Grand Maester’s quarters to request for the Queen’s medicinal teas. I also paid a visit to the seamstress to get a few garments of Aemma’s altered, as she had complained about them being too tight around her bump.

With my list of tasks fulfilled, I breathed out a sigh of relief. Aemma had yet to rise, hence I was wandering aimlessly around the hallways. It was then that I heard a few lads whispering as they passed me. “Did you hear about Prince Daemon’s latest exploits?” “Aye, I heard the smallfolk’s cries all the way from Flea Bottom in my quarters last night. The king has summoned him to the Small Council meeting this morning to demand answers, I’ve heard.” “The prince truly cannot go a day without causing trouble…”

Curiosity piqued, I listened thoughtfully to their conversation until their voices faded away. Daemon? Causing trouble? There was nothing novel of the matter. Yet, the lads had whispered about hearing the cries of the smallfolk. And from what I heard, it did not seem like the cries that Daemon was fond of eliciting.

My nosiness getting the better of me, I turned on my heel, my green skirts swishing behind me. Arriving at the base of the White Knights Tower, I slipped inside a room before anyone could notice and question my presence. The room in question was a secondary armoury, but it was rarely used as the weapons stored here were either blunted after years of use or outright broken. I pushed aside a false pillar made of highly porous stone, revealing a narrow gap which I squeezed through with ease.

Pulling back the pillar to cover the gap once more, my eyes trailed around the expanse of the space as I found myself in a familiar winding hallway. Sunlight poured in through numerous crumbling holes in the ceiling, and the air was filled with a dank smell. Sneezing slightly, I gathered my skirts and quickly made my way through the familiar maze of passageways. I nearly forgot to take a left, almost ending up in the secret halls in the Tower of the Hand, but I retraced my paths and breathed a sigh of relief when I heard the Hand’s disdainful voice. Here, the passageways were much more spacious and bright, being situated on the upper floors of Maegor’s Holdfast.

Peeking through one of the spaces in the walls, I caught sight of the Small Council seated around the table. Daemon was sitting near the head of the table still clad in his armour, his face streaked with dirt. Unfortunately, his back was turned to me, so I couldn’t glimpse his expression. However, I noticed most of the lords were looking noticeably on edge, especially the Hand. Otto’s face was even more unpleasant than usual, and that was saying something.

By the Gods, what had Daemon done now?

“You might not know this unless you left the safety of the Red Keep, but much of the city is seen by the smallfolk as lawless, and terrifying.” Daemon’s smooth voice echoed throughout the room. Otto’s face turned as sour as spoiled milk. I had to restrain a snort, he was not incorrect, the residents of the Red Keep, particularly those of noble blood, were very far removed from the lives of the smallfolk. I had once ridden with Rhaenyra and Alicent to the Dragonpit, passing by the streets of Flea Bottom, and safe to say, I was very glad for my life of luxury in the Red Keep, although I did feel sorry for them.

“...I just hope you don’t have to maim half of my city to achieve this.” “Time will tell,” came Daemon’s response. Even with my view of his facial expressions obstructed, I could nearly picture the smirk on his face, clear as day. I rolled my eyes. It seems that Daemon’s first night returning to his duties as commander of the City Watch had been bloody, to say the least.

“If only the prince would show the same devotion to his lady wife as he does to his work, your Grace.” I snapped to attention once more, eyes keenly observing the proceedings through the space. Gods be good, the Hand cannot give it a rest, can he? I suppose he could not: his distaste for Daemon clouded him from better judgement. But he should know better, I bit my lip to restrain the laugh I know would follow. Daemon always knew how to find someone’s sore spots, and Otto Hightower was as prickly as those strange Dornish desert dwelling plants.

“I’d gladly give Lady Rhea to you, Lord Hightower, if you are in want of a woman to warm your bed,” Otto’s face lost its previous smugness as his eyes grew wide in anger and he stiffened at Daemon’s remarks. “Your own lady wife passed recently-” There was a scraping of a chair on the floor as the Hand towered over the table. I recognised the expression on his face, it was one I had worn many times in my life.

The visceral urge to punch Daemon Targaryen in the face.

I clapped my hand over my mouth, trying to fight the battle to keep my laughter at bay

“Did she not?” I lost the battle as a small wheeze erupted from my covered mouth. My eyes widening, I watched as the men at the Small Council table stiffen, particularly Daemon - his stance suddenly became more pronounced and alert. I know it would be hard to discover me unless the men had knowledge of the secret passages, yet I felt my heart thundering in my chest.

But the gods were good, and the men soon dismissed the sound as Viserys attempted to soothe Otto’s anger. Finally, after Viserys admonished Daemon for his actions- albeit not as fiercely as the Hand would have hoped for, judging by how his sharp glare had not subsided in the least after the king’s judgement - Daemon got up to leave, the doors shutting behind him with a definitive thunk. I dusted off my skirts and readied myself to leave as well. The excitement was over, and I had gotten the information I wanted to know anyway. Walking through the hallways again, I debated on which path I should take to ensure my exit would not be noticed by anyone. The nearest exit I knew was immediately out of the question, and I could not sneak out through the exits in any of the royal apartments, because there was an ever-present risk of being discovered by a nosy servant. Sighing, I continued walking, lost in thought, until a figure pushed me against a wall.

I opened my mouth to scream but a hand that smelt of sweat and something coppery covered my mouth, putting a finger to his lips. My eyes narrowed as he released his hand from my mouth. “What in the Seven Hells do you think you’re doing?” I spouted out angrily as those godsforsaken pair of lilac eyes stared down at me with amusement. “I think I should be asking you that, byka zaldrīzes,” Daemon raised an eyebrow.

“I asked first. How did you even know I was here?” I grumbled, dusting off my dress. The pounding in my chest was so loud I was certain the whole of the Red Keep could hear how much of a terrified wreck I was.

Instead of answering, Daemon reached his hand out to brush at my hair, as I observed him with wary eyes. Then, he flicked my forehead. “Ow! What was that for?” He smirked, “I see you took the armoury entrance, judging from the grime on your face and in your hair.” “And? It was one of the only ways I could get into the passageways without being seen.”

The prince hummed infuriatingly under his breath. “Has anyone ever told you how fond you are of making your life more difficult, byka zaldrīzes?” “Well forgive me, your Grace, but I do not wish to be caught in your apartments trying to sneak into a secret passage. The Red Keep is akin to a vicious beast when it comes to gossip.” The prince let out a triumphant “ha!” as I looked quizzically at him. Had he finally lost his mind?

“Formalities again,” he said, delighted, “I was hoping that yesterday’s episode in the throne room was not the last I would hear of you addressing me formally.” I sighed and rolled my eyes. “My question remains unanswered. How did you know I was in here?” The prince snorted. “I think every one of those lickspittles in the small council heard your laugh. I was the only one to recognise it however.”

I huffed. “Well thank the gods it was just you. Had it been the Hand-”

“That cunt is too busy licking my brother’s boots to seek you out, byka zaldrīzes,” Daemon teased, beginning to walk away. Rolling my eyes once again, I followed closely after. “I’m surprised you still remember the entrances. I was of the impression you would get lost if you ever came here again..” “From how many times you dragged me through these hallways to go catch a peak of King Jaehaerys and Prince Baelon in council sessions, it would take me a century to forget these halls.” I japed, as we rounded a corner that took us straight into an old closet in Daemon’s chambers. As we stumbled out, he settled down on his bed with a sigh of relief, and began to remove his armour. I crossed my arms as I leaned against the window, “There is still a lady here, your Grace.” “I don’t see any ladies, only a nosy bird.” “Hilarious.”

I averted my eyes as Daemon began to remove the gold cloak slung behind his shoulders. “I heard you crippled half the smallfolk.” “An exaggeration,” Daemon waved his hand dismissively. “And if so, they were criminals. Looters. Rapers. Petty thieves.” “And yet, you killed numerous innocents in your path to slaughter those criminals.” I said quietly.

Daemon was silent for a while, and I thought he had left to take a bath. But I was startled yet again when I felt a finger softly tilting my chin upward. Lilac eyes swirling with mild annoyance and mirth met my pensive (Y/E/C) ones. “Spare me the reprimand, Y/N. My brother and Lord Cunttower have already said more than enough.” He handed me a wet cloth, and I sighed before brushing it across his face, getting rid of the grime. Our dynamic has not changed since childhood, I mused internally. I walked away to dump the grime covered cloth in a basket for the servants to collect later.

“Do you not agree with my actions?” He motioned me to sit next to him on his bed. Wordlessly, I sat. Our eyes met, his searching mine for my reaction. “The violence was unwarranted,” I began delicately, watching Daemon’s eyes narrow. “However, I’d like to think the ends justify the means. I share Lord Corlys’ view on this matter.”

Daemon leaned back on his bedpost with a smile. “As I thought, you were more sensible than you looked.” His voice rose in volume as he ran a hand through his white blonde locks in frustration. “Pray tell, I just do not understand why my brother only sees the bad, and not the good. Even a mere lady like you could understand. Has that cunt of a Hand pulled the wool over my brother’s eyes so far that he is blind to the welfare of his city?”

Not receiving a response, he looked over at the Lady Tyrell. She sat there, eyes fixed to the ground, her mouth set in a thin line, her hands clasped in her lap. “Y/N?” “And begging your pardon, what exactly does ‘being a mere lady’ supposed to entail?”

Daemon had a slight hunch he might have made a mistake. “I was not implying anyth-” “Really?” Y/N interrupted sharply. “Or did you just consider my wits inferior to yours simply because I am a woman?”

She stood abruptly, curtsying as she did. “Forgive me, my prince, I have other matters to attend to. If you have had enough of this mere lady’s presence, I shall be off lest a servant discovers us and sets tongues wagging.” She walked briskly out of the room, before Daemon could even formulate a response. Daemon stared at her retreating figure, and he groaned in frustration as he removed the last of his armour. His words had come out unintentionally, and he had not intended to insult her. Why was she so offended by them?

He huffed as soon as he had the thought. Why was it of any concern? He cared not for what that annoying brat thought of him. Sighing, he got up to ready himself for another visit to Flea’s Bottom. He had not seen Mysaria for a time.

translation: byka zaldrīzes: little dragon

And that’s chapter 2! Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed it, comments and reblogs are highly appreciated :)) Since chapter 2 was a little bit of a filler chap, chapter 3 should hopefully be released in about three days (as soon as I get that presentation that has been the source of my torment over the past few days on Tuesday done lol) Let me know if you wish to be added to the taglist in the comments or through this form! 💗

Taglist: @drwho-ess @graniairish

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wcrriorhearts · 3 months ago

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I will preface this post by saying two things: I am really, REALLY hard to anger and I am normally very much against call out culture, because I feel like publicly addressing someone in this fashion leads nowhere, but I will make an exception this one time, because I lose my patience when people attack my friends and this is exactly what has been happening. I will not stand for this. I will put the rest of this under a cut and apologize in advance for polluting your dash with negativity, because I personally hate this too, but this needs to stop, NOW and since no one else is speaking up, I will do it!

Leah, Anna, Angelika, whatever the hell your name my be, because you change it constantly, this needs to stop! I am addressing you personally, because we have surpassed the point of vague posting. You have crossed more lines than I can count and I am SO DONE with your behavior. It is hard to get me to this point, but you have managed to make me so livid, that we're here now and this needs to STOP. Not only have you scammed half the hotd fandom out of money in the most ridiculous ways by making one donation post after the other with various claims, but you were also not very careful with your many lies. I will have enough decency not to talk about them here at length but please know that if your vile behavior continues, I have proof of all the bullshit lies you told and all the shady things you did and I will NOT be nice enough again to keep them out of the public eye.

Lying and scamming is one line you crossed but sucicide baiting people and then when this didn't garner the attention you wanted making another 'goodbye' post in which you basically attack my friends blaming them for your decision to supposedly ending your life? That is one too many steps over lines and boundaries and I cannot stand for this. Also once again you lied in that post. You never asked Daze for money??? I have screenshot proof that you did, so PLEASE for the love of everything that is fair, shut up and leave everyone alone. I am sorry to say this, but once again it is VERY suspicious that you only posted your heartfelt goodbye messages on platforms Daze could see. Coincidence, isn't it? That she confronted you with your lies privately and then this is the escalation of it? Were you scared that all of your lies would unravel? Perhaps, given this is not the first fandom in which you have done this. I am not someone who lightly discredits people who are desperate enough to end their lives, but I don't believe you a single word anymore. You made the first post about it, then nothing happened and it gained no traction, then the second, just like you did with all of your fundraiser posts. As soon as you didn't garner the attention and traction you wanted, you just upped the dramatics. Aber wie man so schön hier in Deutschland sagt: wer ein Mal lügt, dem glaubt man nicht!

I have absolutely no doubt that you are severely mentally ill and I hope that you get the help you need, I truly do, because no person in their right mind would ever do the things you did. I don't care if you attack me, or if you go behind my back and talk shit, because I know who is in the right here and it's not you. Mind you, neither one of us - and there's more than just the three of us you know of - would have ever made this public. We would have let this fizzle out and you get your head straight, but you had to cross yet another line. I am disgusted by what you have said and done in order to guilt trip my friends, who were nothing but kind to you, until they started to notice all the lies and weird things you told them and confronted you.

Sadly I have seen many people like you in the rp world, who will lie and live at the expense of good, honest people who want to do good in the world and help others in need. If you take anything from this, please consider how damaging your behavior has been. You might have gained a shit ton of money for free, others are traumatized by what you have done. I don't care about what you do from here on, I just hope you get professional help for whatever has led you down this path and come to see the error of your ways. Should you ever shade, attack, or even mention my friends, the next post will not be so comparably friendly anymore. Lass es dir gesagt sein Leah, du willst wirklich nicht, dass wir alles was wir gegen dich gesammelt haben öffentlich stellen. Also tu uns und dir den Gefallen und verschwinde aus dem Fandom, oder zumindest unserem Dunstkreis, denn dich will ich definitiv nicht mehr sehen hier. And to everyone else who read this: I am sorry if you have been affected by this too. Please feel free to reach out if you want to talk. And if you should choose to unfollow me for this post, I will have no hard feelings. Had this been me in the center of all of this, I wouldn't have said anything. But if you attack my friends, it's on sight.

#shedornish #thefinishliine

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theroguequeen · 6 months ago

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I was a little quite about hotd season 2 until not because I was not excited but because I was a little bit scared. This whole team black team green marketing is not it for me because I think the whole story and characters are way deeper than just picking a side (yes as my post show my heart belongs to daemon and rhaenyra but that's not the point I wanna make) and now I am seeing the clip of rhaenyra and daemon and we don't know the whole scene yet and don't have the context but I swear to you right now that if the storyline is about daemon being abusive I will have a hard time dealing with it.

The choking scene was already not it even if I made peace with it and tried to find a different perspective on it. Daemon targaryen is a GREY character. But he got on his fucking knees putting the crown on her head and has loved rhaenyra his whole life and anyone saying different does not understand the complexity of their relationship. I am really hoping this clip is out of context.

Don't get me wrong I am here for toxic war crime rhaenyra and daemon and we all know that daemon can be brutal and cold and rhaenyra is capable of dealing with him in this mood but if they go with him physically hurting rhaenyra again I will get big mad.

This is his wife. His Queen. The one women he truly loved. The women he fights a war for. The women he dies for. If they have a conflict there are different ways to show their dynamic without him physically hurting her. I know this is not a little disney movie and daemon has dark flame inside of him, just like rhaenyra but her being scared of him is just not it. They are twin flames. This is rhaenyra we are talking about she is daemons home. The one who knows him like not other but although would not let someone treat her like that. After all what already happened and what will happen it would be stupid to not have some big conflicts coming up and for sure one part of daemon is struggling with him not being the one with the crown but this does absolutely not mean he does not accept rhaenyra as his queen, like did you all forget the way he came back from the stepstones and the way he gave viserys the crown? Or when he says in the trailer "renounce the false king and bend your knee to the queen"?

If you do it right in the end this will only make their bond stronger. I think it's important to wait for the season to air before jumping to conclusions. We are all hungry for new clips and stuff but at the same time the season is coming soon and we as a fandom should maybe take a deep breathe. Same with the whole team green team black theme.

#daemon targaryen #rhaenyra targaryen #daemon x rhaenyra #daemyra #hotd #hotd sexism #I needed to get this of my chest

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targaryenstone · 2 months ago

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George Martin's last blog post (now deleted) about House of the Dragon S02

Beware the Butterflies

Back in July, I promised you some further thoughts about Blood and Cheese… and Maelor the Missing… after my commentary on the first two episodes of HotD season 2, “A Son for a Son” and “Rhaenyra the Cruel.”

Those were terrific episodes: well written, well directed, powerfully acted. A great way to kick off the new season. Fans and critics alike seemed to agree. There was only one aspect of the episodes that drew significant criticism: the handling of Blood and Cheese, and the death of Prince Jaehaerys. From the commentary I saw on line, opinion was split there. The readers of FIRE & BLOOD found the sequence underwhelming, a disappointment, watered down from what they were expecting. Viewers who had not read the book had no such problems. Most of them found the sequence a real gut-punch, tragic, horrifying, nightmarish, etc. Some reported being reduced to tears.

I found myself agreeing with both sides.

In my book, Aegon and Helaena have three children, not two. The twins, Jaehaerys and Jaehaera, are six years old. They have a younger brother, Maelor, who is two. When Blood and Cheese break in on Helaena and the kids, they tell her they are debt collectors come to exact revenge for the death of Prince Lucerys: a son for a son. As Helaena has two sons, however, they demand that she choose which one should die.

She resists and offers her own life instead, but the killers insist it has to be a son. If she does not name one, they will kill all three of the children. To save the life of the twins, Helaena names Maelor. But Blood kills the older boy, Jaehaerys, instead, while Cheese tells little Maelor that his mother wanted him dead.(Whether the boy is old enough to understand that is not at all certain).

That’s not how it happens on the show. There is no Maelor in HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, only the twins (both of whom look younger than six, but I am no sure judge of children’s ages, so I can’t be sure how old they are supposed to be). Blood can’t seem to tell the twins apart, so Helaena is asked to reveal which one is the boy. (You would think a glance up his PJs would reveal that, without involving the mother). Instead of offering her own life to save the kids, Helaena offers them a necklace. Blood and Cheese are not tempted. Blood saws Prince Jaehaerys’s head off. We are spared the sight of that; a sound effect suffices. (In the book, he lops the head off with a sword).

It is a bloody, brutal scene, no doubt. How not? An innocent child is being butchered in front of his mother. I still believe the scene in the book is stronger. The readers have the right of that.

The two killers are crueler in the book. I thought the actors who played the killers on the show were excellent… but the characters are crueler, harder, and more frightening in FIRE & BLOOD. In the show, Blood is a gold cloak. In the book, he is a former gold cloak, stripped of his office for beating a woman to death. Book Blood is the sort of man who might think making a woman choose which of her sons should die is amusing, especially when they double down on the wanton cruelty by murdering the boy she tries to save.

Book Cheese is worse too; he does not kick a dog, true, but he does not have a dog, and he’s the one who tells Maelor that his mom wants him head. I would also suggest that Helaena shows more courage, more strength in the book, by offering her own life to save her son. Offering a piece of jewelry is just not the same.

As I saw it, the “Sophie’s Choice” aspect was the strongest part of the sequence, the darkest, the most visceral. I hated to lose that. And judging from the comments on line, most of the fans seemed to agree.

When Ryan Condal first told me what he meant to do, ages ago (back in 2022, might be) I argued against it, for all these reasons. I did not argue long, or with much heat, however. The change weakened the sequence, I felt, but only a bit. And Ryan had what seemed to be practical reasons for it; they did not want to deal with casting another child, especially a two-year old toddler.

Kids that young will inevitably slow down production, and there would be budget implications. Budget was already an issue on HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, it made sense to save money wherever we could. Moreover, Ryan assured me that we were not losing Prince Maelor, simply postponing him. Queen Helaena could still give birth to him in season three, presumably after getting with child late in season two. That made sense to me, so I withdrew my objections and acquiesced to the change.

I still love the episode, and the Blood and Cheese sequence overall. Losing the “Helaena’s Choice” beat did weaken the scene, but not to any great degree. Only the book readers would even notice its absence; viewers who had never read FIRE & BLOOD would still find the scenes heart-rending. Maelor did not actually DO anything in the scene, after all. How could he? He was only two years old.

There is another aspect to the removal of the young princeling, however.

Those of you who hate spoilers should STOP READING HERE. Spoilers will follow, at least for the readers among you. If you have never read FIRE & BLOOD, maybe it does not matter, because all I am going to “spoil” here are things that happen in the book that may NEVER happen on the series. Starting with Maelor himself.

Sometime between the initial decision to remove Maelor, a big change was made. The prince’s birth was no longer just going to be pushed back to season 3. He was never going to be born at all. The younger son of Aegon and Helaena would never appear.

Most of you know about the Butterfly Effect, I assume.

Yes, there was a movie with that title a few years back. It’s a familiar concept in chaos theory as well. But most science fiction fans were first exposed to the idea in Ray Bradbury’s classic time travel story, “A Sound of Thunder,” wherein a time traveler from the present panics and crushes a butterfly while hunting a T-Rex. When he returns to his own time, he discovers that the world has changed in huge and frightening ways. One dead butterfly has rewritten history. The lesson being that change begets change, and even small and seemingly insignificant alterations to a timeline — or a story — can have a profound effect on all that follows.

Maelor is a two year old toddler in FIRE & BLOOD, but like our butterfly he has an impact on the story all out of proportion to his size. The readers among you may recall that when it appears that Rhaenyra and her blacks are about to capture King’s Landing, Queen Alicent becomes concerned for the safety of Helaena’s remaining children, and takes steps to save them by smuggling them out of the city. The task is given is two knights of the Kingsguard. Ser Willis Fell is commanded to deliver Princess Jaehaera to the Baratheons at Storm’s End, while Maelor is given over to Ser Rickard Thorne to be escorted across the Mander to the protection of the Hightower army on its way to King’s Landing.

Willis Fell delivers Jaehaera safely to the Baratheons at Storm’s End, but Ser Rickard fares less well. He and Maelor get as far as Bitterbridge, where he is revealed as a Kingsuard in a tavern called the Hogs Head. Once discovered, Ser Rickard fights bravely to protect his young charge and bring him to safety, but he does not even make it across the bridge before some crossbows bring him down, Prince Maelor is torn from his arms.. and then, sadly, ripped to pieces by the mob fighting over the boy and the huge reward that Rhaenyra has offered for his capture and return.

Will any of that appear on the show? Maybe… but I don’t see how. The butterflies would seem to prohibit it. You could perhaps make Ser Rickard’s ward be Jaehaera instead of Maelor, but Jaehaera can’t be killed, she has a huge role to play as Aegon’s next heir. Could maybe make Maelor a newborn instead of a two year old, but that would scramble up the timeline, which is a bit of a mess already. I have no idea what Ryan has planned — if indeed he has planned anything — but given Maelor’s absence from episode 2, the simplest way to proceed would be just to drop him entirely, lose the bit where Alicent tries to send the kids to safety, drop Rickard Thorne or send him with Willis Fell so Jaehaera has two guards.

From what I know, that seems to be what Ryan is doing here. It’s simplest, yes, and may make sense in terms of budgets and shooting schedules. But simpler is not better. The Bitterbridge scene has tension, suspense, action, bloodshed, a bit of heroism and a lot of tragedy. Rickard Thorne is a tertiary character at best, most viewers (as opposed to readers) will never know he is gone, since they never knew him at all… but I rather liked giving him his brief moment of heroism, a taste of the courage and loyalty of the Kingsguard, regardless of whether they are black or green.

The butterflies are not done with us yet, however. In the book, when word of Prince Maelor’s death and the grisly manner of his passing (pp. 505) reaches the Red Keep, that proves to be the thing that drives Queen Helaena to suicide. She could barely stand to look at Maelor, knowing that she chose him to die in the “Sophie’s Choice” scene… and now he is dead in truth, her words having come true. The grief and guilt are too much for her to bear.

In Ryan’s outline for season 3, Helaena still kills herself… for no particular reason. There is no fresh horror, no triggering event to overwhelm the fragile young queen.

And the final butterfly follows soon thereafter.

Queen Helaena, a sweet and gentle soul, is much beloved by the smallfolk of King’s Landing. Rhaenyra was not, so when rumors began to arise that Helaena did not kill herself, but rather was murdered at Rhaenyra’s command, the commons are quick to believe them. “That night King’s Landing rose in bloody riot,” I wrote on p.506 of FIRE & BLOOD. It is the beginning of the end for Rhaenyra’s rule over the city, ultimately leading to the Storming of the Dragonpit and the rise of the Shepherd’s mob that drives Rhaenyra to flee the city and return to Dragonstone… and her death.

Maelor by himself means little. He is a small child, does not have a line of dialogue, does nothing of consequence but die… but where and when and how, that does matter. Losing Maelor weakened the end of the Blood and Cheese sequence, but it also cost us the Bitterbridge scene with all its horror and heroism, it undercut the motivation for Helaena’s suicide, and that in turn sent thousands into the streets and alleys, screaming for justice for their “murdered” queen. None of that is essential, I suppose… but all of it does serve a purpose, it all helps to tie the story lines together, so one thing follows another in a logical and convincing manner.

What will we offer the fans instead, once we’ve killed these butterflies? I have no idea. I do not recall that Ryan and I ever discussed this, back when he first told me they were pushing back on Aegon’s second son. Maelor himself is not essential… but if losing him means we also lose Bitterbridge, Helaena’s suicide, and the riots, well… that’s a considerable loss.

And there are larger and more toxic butterflies to come, if HOUSE OF THE DRAGON goes ahead with some of the changes being contemplated for seasons 3 and 4….

#hotd #game of thrones #george rr martin #george martin #fyp

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kiefbowl · 4 months ago

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so as you may know GRRM had a little bit of influence on the game Elden Ring and I specifically remember someone pointing out that he had to be the one to introduce the "unreliable narrator" element to the game's story/trickles of lore and that stuck with me a lot it's not something I explicitly realized myself until it was pointed out...george is all about that stuff like something he does really well and not to boomerpost but I think...like.......modern readers(?) have a problem that they have to take everything really really literally and that's why there's "problematic media" discourse

yeah, he did contribute to Elden Ring. My BF played it twice through and is now playing the DLC, and he's also reading AGOT for the first time, and he points out stuff he reads in the books that he says is "very Elden Ring" i.e. obviously GRRM's influence in the game :) it's cute.

Yes, GRRM's whole ASOIAF series is written 100% with unreliable narrators, bc it is constantly switching from different limited third-person perspectives. GRRM also uses, rarely, an omniscient narrator, for lines that are actually meant to be factual. He uses this with great success, imo (as a fan lol). A good AGOT example is ending a Daenerys' chapter where she learns she's pregnant with "It was her fourteenth nameday" which reminds the reader of Daenerys' reality (as oppose to her perceptions) and retroactively recolors the chapter. Or at least it should.

Not to boomerpost with you, I am truly not sure what is going on with many, many, many people engaging with HOTD online. It seems absolutely detached from reality at times. It's a bizarre way to engage with a tv show, it's a bizarre way to engage with Fire & Blood, it's a bizarre way to engage with GRRM's themes and writing. I truly have seen nothing like it, and I've seen a lot of bad hot takes in my time about all sorts of books and movies and tv shows. I don't know why these people don't just stop watching it! Maybe it's a generational thing? I'm just not sure. It seems like people are actually rooting for a side...in a fantasy fictional political drama that is already pre-written. And then they get mad when anything happens that is nuanced or even wrong doing...it's like they want the show to be conflictless. They want the conflict to be the war only, and they don't want characters to have interpersonal conflict. When the only way to adapt a history book is to ground it, and invent the interpersonal drama. I just do not know what people expected, and I never knew so many people loved Fire & Blood bc I thought it was kinda...whatever. It was fine. These are my favorite books, I don't think I've reread anything more times, and I still am happy to say Fire & Blood is just kinda fun, it's a bit silly and interesting. It's like a lore dump. So they could have done almost anything with the tv show, and I'd probably been like "sure, why not," but I find the tv show good and makes several good creative choices based on the unreliable text narration (and also some dumb ones, which like I've said in a previous post, is a grand tradition for tv shows so it's fine lol).

It's also not done, I have never seen a fanbase so eager to have a tv show be just a climax at every moment, and very impatient at scenes that are clearly setting up stuff for later. Weird ass people are watching and hating this show man, idk.

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first-of-her-nxme · 3 months ago

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interpretation of a song .

have fun when you read it !!!!!

song : it´s always summer under the sea

lyrics :

It's always summer, under the seaI know, I know, oh, oh, oh

The birds have scales, and the fish take wingI know, I know, oh, oh, oh

The rain is dry, and the snow falls upI know, I know, oh, oh, oh

The stones crack open, the water burns

The shadows come to dance, my love

The shadows come to play

The shadows come to dance, my love

The shadows come to stay

so , this is the most beautiful song , I read it in the book , there´s a sad sweetness in it ............

back to the point , this song was told by patchface shireen´s friend.

and we know that : patchface is foil of jaqen and shireen is foil of arya , and somehow patchface is telling a future events .

when you read the song , you understand that it is talking about the return of the dragons , also about the sea .

let me explain : we said before that arya and jaqen will sail and they journey will be across the sea so patchface is telling us some of what will happen :

It's always summer, under the sea : summer means happiness , peace , warm and love .

The birds have scales, and the fish take wing : the birds here means dragons , fish : a boat .

The rain is dry, and the snow falls up : I think it´s desription of sadness,bitterness, death maybe .

The stones crack open, the water burns : dragonnnssss hatching

The shadows come to dance, my love: dance of dragons : war between two targaryens : danny and jaegon.

The shadows come to play: when we speak we say let´s play a song : here the dragons will play the song of ice and fire .

The shadows come to stay : hereeeeee there´s dragon will stay alive , there´s targaryen will stay .

you remenber when arya left westeros with a targaryen dagger ???

accoding to hotd the prophecy is written on that dagger so it mean that the dagger must belong to the prince who was promised when the right time comes .

hear me out : I interepted the song with arya and aegon but also it can be with aegon and danny and their future affair ....

I believe that grrm songs is always related to arya : jenny of oldestone ; the dornishman wife goddd that song is full of hints , my featherbed ..........

about songs : do you know :

arya means song , this is is not a coincidence hhhhhhh

millie brady you will be my favourite older arya :

I wish there´´s another version of got hhhhhhhhh.

to another post

Hello darling!

Are you sure this is the book version of the song? Because it reminds me the song written by GRRM for the show. Or am I wrong?

Anyway, thank you for another raven :) I interpret Patchface's riddles a bit differently. I will try to explain it as best as I can.

"It's always summer, under the sea : summer means happiness , peace , warm and love ."

I agree that summer means good things. Though I also think that summer here means the end of the magical winter. It is always summer so it means the winter is gone for good, there is no danger that this particular magic will ever bother people again.

"The birds have scales, and the fish take wing : the birds here means dragons , fish : a boat ."

Yes, birds mean dragons but also Targaryens. I mentioned it in another answer: GRRM compares Jaqen to a raven from the Citadel meaning that he is unique, clever and strong. And Patchface here refers to that special bird: he has scales which means he is a dragon, a Targaryen.

The fish on the other hand is a reference to Arya. Arya is said to be swimming like a fish. Shireen who is her foil is jokingly compared to a fish when she is teaching Davos. So, fish is a child, a young girl, Arya. I suppose Arya will fly on a dragon with Jaqen. It can also mean she will warg a bird like Bran.

Now , this one is very important:

"The rain is dry, and the snow falls up : I think it´s desription of sadness,bitterness, death maybe ."

In the books it goes like this: "Under the sea, it snows up,” said the fool, “and the rain is dry as bone.

It snows up is the opposite of snowing down, so it's the opposite of winter. Here, the snow uncovers the earth, so the winter is retreating. And why is this happening? The answer is in the second part: the rain is dry as a bone. The rain here means the Rain God who is mentioned in the prologue to A Clash of Kings. The Rain God is GRRM's version of the Storm King from Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. In the show he appeared as the ice zombie, the Night King. It was D&D's creation and they made him by merging a couple of characters and legends from the books and by giving him the stereotypical fantasy villain/monster appearance. Of course, in the books he is something else entirely. He owes a lot to the aforementioned Storm King aka elvish Prince Ineluki. He is not a cartoonish monster, he is a complex character who brings the winter to avenge his people. In ASOIAF some of his traits were given to Rhaegar and some other to Jaqen. So, the Rain God here is Jaqen. He is dry as bone because he is dead. When you are dead only bones remain of you after a while. So this is the saddest part: when Jaqen dies, winter disappears for good. I think it will be a sort of self-sacrifice because GRRM hints at it in other parts of the books.

It's so silly that D&D commissioned GRRM to write this song for the show but then wrote off certain plots that are mentioned in the song. I guess it's typical for HBO writers.

The stones crack open, the water burns : dragonnnssss hatching

Here I agree with you, it's about dragons. The second part can also be about wildfire which burns even in the water.

Now, this part:

"The shadows come to dance, my love: dance of dragons : war between two targaryens : danny and jaegon.

The shadows come to play: when we speak we say let´s play a song : here the dragons will play the song of ice and fire .

The shadows come to stay : hereeeeee there´s dragon will stay alive , there´s targaryen will stay ."

I agree that this is a reference to the dance of dragons and the battle of ice and fire. It also refers to blood magic of Asshai. Perhaps you remember the ritual performed by the maegi in the first book. She called the shadows and among them was the shadow of a direwolf. It might have been Ghost. So she did something that impacted the whole journey of Daenerys and perhaps directed her on the path leading to the dance of dragons. Now, Patchface sees that Melisandre is using the same magic and he tries to warn maester Cressen but nobody understands him.

You are right. Patchface songs are about Jaqen and Arya. Daenerys's fate and her romance with Jaqen is foreshadowed in her dreams.

I'm not sure if Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon are the best sources to learn about future books. I agree that they make many references to the books but they also change many things, they merge characters, they change the prophecies and so on and so forth. Some things they do may be very helpful but others are their creation only and even contradict the books.

Thank you for another interesting message. I like your Arya fancast though I admit I have Maisie's Arya stuck in my head :)) Maybe not season 7 and 8 Arya but I blame D&D's writing.

Cheers!

#jaqen h'ghar #arya stark #patchface #a clash of kings #arya x jaqen #asoiaf #asoiaf meta #aegon targaryen #the night's king

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