#and even then it was jace's knife and it was jace who attacked first and it was jace who was being protected by the final slash

[glouris]

need the current hotd ao3 economics explained to me like I'm five, what happened there with aemond and luke?

and like don't get me wrong, I understand that those targs are built different and there's no avoiding alabama dynamics, that's okay ig. but the least y'all could've done is chosen the velaryon brother that isn't 13, come on now 😭😭 the bar was already low, how did y'all manage to still be limbo dancing with the devil

[annwrites]

⸻ being aemond's niece, who he abducted, would include:

· tw: abduction, drugging, abuse, non-con, dub-con, stockholm syndrome, brainwashing, incest, victim-blaming

· a/n: this is a modern!au

Since the day you were born, your Uncle Aemond has always adored you. 

He’s not always gotten along with your brothers, especially after a particularly nasty fight when they were children & your younger brother, Luke, brandished one of your father’s pocket knifes against him & took his eye.

But you’d been there to comfort him as his mother loosed her wrath upon your own for the transgression.

You’ve always been there for him.

Have always made everything better.

You are the light of his life.

The apple of his eye.

His heart.

The other half of his soul.

His life, his blood, his absolutely fucking everything.

As children, the two of you had been inseparable.

He’d spoiled you with toys & books & soft things, which turned to fine clothes & jewelry & perfume & flowers & whatever else your heart desired as you grew older.

He was ahead of you in school, so besides passing one another in the halls & sharing lunch together, you didn’t get to spend much time together there, unfortunately.

But outside of it, he drove you home nearly every day, even if Jace tried to insist upon it himself once he was gifted a car at sixteen. 

And if any of your male classmates so much as looked at you a way he disliked?

There had been one particular boy whose brakes went out in the brand new car his parents had purchased for him only a month prior to him winding up in critical condition in the ICU at a local hospital...

Aemond hadn't said anything of it, but had been rather pleased at his sudden absence from school, if nothing else.

He often invited you over to his house, or came over to yours, even if he was forced to begrudgingly tolerate the sight of your middle brother while there.

But once the two of you were closed away in your room together, he was able to relax as he took you into his arms, & took you often in your bed.

Being between your legs was being in heaven. 

Whether he was pleasuring you with his mouth, his fingers, his cock, or the many expensive toys he bought for you, all that mattered to him was that you were wanton & relaxed.

Aemond gently kisses your warm, wet folds while slowly tasting your delectable, flowing nectar.  “My beautiful niece,” he drawls lowly before nipping along your spread thighs. “I love you more than life itself. I would do anything for you. You know that, don’t you?”  You nod your head and your eyes flutter closed as you smile happily.   “Yes,” you whisper.  Aemond fists his cock tightly in his grip before crawling atop you and easing between your slick walls.  “You’re all mine.”  He begins to rock his hips against your own.   “You belong to me,” he whispers in your ear.  You swallow thickly.  “No one will ever love you like I do. We can’t be apart. Ever. I can’t live without you.”  He crushes his lips to yours as a hot tear slips down your cheek and you cringe slightly away from his sudden possessiveness.  “I won’t,” he breathes.

It feels as is life is perfect so long as you are in it.

So long as the two of you are together & have your sweet secret between you, he is content.

And then comes the day that he discovers college applications on the desk in your room.

He feels on the verge of either a panic attack or a violent display of anger when he begins to flit through them & sees that some are far, far away.

How could you do this? How could you even consider taking yourself away from him?

You fucking belong to him.

Belong with him for forever.

You should know better.

You do know better.

He has taught you as much from a young age.

So why, then?

Why?

Why?

WHY?

When you enter your bedroom, Aemond is sitting at the foot of your bed with a small stack of papers clenched tightly within his hands.  You open your mouth to ask him what seems to be the matter, but he breaks the taught silence first.  "How could you do this?" He whispers.  His one good eye flits to yours then and you watch as a tear rolls down his pale cheek.  You pad cautiously over to him and seat yourself next to him.  "They're just places I'm thinking about," you say softly, reassuringly.  You rest a hand upon his knee. "No matter where I go, we'll stay in contact. There's texting, call—" "Texting," he repeats quietly before dragging his malicious gaze back to you. He explodes then. He rips the documents in half before tossing the now-torn papers across the room, then he grabs a snowglobe he purchased for you some years ago from one of your bookshelves, and he throws the object against a wall but a few feet from you and you yelp in terror as the glass shatters. You act on instinct then and make a run for the door, until he grabs you by the hair at the back of your head and your feet slip out from under you as he tosses you back onto the bed. He climbs atop you and wraps one hand around your throat while the other tugs at his belt. Your eyes grow wide in fear and you shake your head fervently, unable to so much as scream for help now. And then your door bursts open and Jace begins screaming for him to get off of you. He begins striking him again and again, until the two of them fall onto the floor and Aemond quickly gains the upper-hand as he begins beating him mercilessly with his fists. Adrenaline is now racing through your veins as you scream for your father, for your mother, for anyone. You grab Aemond's arm and pull just as he's raising his fist to hit Jace again, and he instead clocks you right between the eyes. You hear something crunch, and then blood begins to pour from your nose, which you quickly cup between your hands.  Blood seeps between your fingers and drips onto the carpet, and it's only then that Aemond forgets entirely about your brother as he turns back to you and takes your face roughly between his hands.  He begins to shake his head fervently, and tells you repeatedly that he hadn't meant to. That he would never harm you. You know that.  He loves you, he loves you, he loves you.  Your father, Harwin, enters your room then and when he sees Jace lying injured on the floor, and that your face is a bloody mess, his vision goes red.

No one presses charges, because everyone involved knows that they're in a catch-22. If you or Jace press them against Aemond, then he'll press them against your father.

So the incident is dropped.

Until your phone begins blowing up with calls and texts and FaceTime requests from your uncle. Hundreds upon hundreds of them.

They all go unanswered, but nevertheless become more & more unhinged. Some bordering on being violent in nature.

You catch him sitting in his car across the street, right outside of your bedroom window one night.

You go & file a restraining order against him the next morning out of fear.

And because you'd been smart enough to take photos of when the fight happened—thus giving proof of his transgressions—it's granted.

And Aemond promptly loses his mind when it's served to him.

Until he comes up with a plan.

And he begins to calm.

Because he knows a way around this.

No piece of paper will ever keep him from you.

Not the police, not the law. Nothing.

He'd made a mistake, had allowed his anger to get the better of him.

So then you go & do this? Punish him for it? For what? Loving you too much? This isn't you. Someone has gotten into your head & turned you against him, he's sure of it.

Perhaps your mother. Perhaps your brothers.

It matters little, because he will get you back. One way or another.

And then everything will be perfect.

Will be exactly as he wants & needs it to be.

And you will both be happy & together again.

While you go off to your foolish little college, he throws himself into his work.

Literal & otherwise.

During the day, he works diligently to earn as much overtime as possible at his late father's company.

He rises through the ranks.

For he will need many savings for what he intends to do.

He buys a plot of land far from town.

He begins taking paid time off from work when able to work on building himself his new home.

The location is perfect: quiet, reclusive, far from civilization. It's an hour's drive just to find blacktop again.

He's an intelligent young man. And while it comes with its fair share of difficulties, he makes great progress in designing your new dream home together.

He knows with it being so solitary a place, that an in-law suite may not be entirely necessary, but...he's lost you once already. He can't do it again.

It will be your home until you prove yourself to him that you can be trusted above ground.

He gives you a large master bedroom, which in some ways is a recreation of your room at your parent's house. Most of the furniture from it is not difficult to find.

He knows most of it came from Ikea, Amazon, Target, a couple things from Walmart.

He wants things to be familiar for you to help you adjust.

He gives you a full kitchen, a beautiful bathroom with a large tub, a laundry room, and a comfortable living room.

Some things he knows he cannot provide you right away, such as kitchen knives.

But, in time, as you give him good behavior, you can earn it.

It's over a year later before the house is ready to be lived in.

He nearly bankrupted himself more than once in working on it, and his hands are now full of calluses, but he deems it all more than worth it for you.

You are worth everything to him.

He will be able to show that to you now.

Will be able to give you his love in full—nothing held back as he devotes himself entirely to you in this new place you'll be meant to call home.

You will be so happy. So excited. He just knows it, his lovely, darling niece.

It's late when you leave work.

Maybe that was your first mistake.

Or maybe it was when you stopped looking over your shoulder for him.

Because your family had decided to forgive him when he came by one day, begging for a second chance, convincing the lot of you that he had changed. And once he had their forgiveness, as well as yours most of all, he returned to his life. And all seemed right in the world again.

You'd had no idea the real cause of his faux display of sincerity.

You would learn as much in due time, however.

A solid form comes up from behind you.

They clamp their hand tightly over your mouth.

You don't get a chance to scream before you feel something sharp being jabbed into your neck.

Everything goes black.

Aemond shifts, turning further onto his side as he watches your brows furrow while you begin to come-to. Your hand slides slowly across soft blankets and clean sheets, and you feel warm fingertips ghosting across your flushed cheek. Your eyes flutter open lazily and you blink at unfamiliar surroundings. And then they widen in fear when you take in the man lying next to you. Your breathing turns ragged and heavy and your chest begins to rapidly rise and fall as you attempt to turn away from him. He quickly cups your cheek in his palm. "Welcome home, my beloved niece." He presses a firm kiss to your forehead then and you whimper as he traces the apple of your cheek with the pad of his thumb. You sit up and nearly fall off the bed at the feel of your head spinning. "W-What? Wh-Where am—" He sits up with you and wraps an arm around your waist while tugging you closer toward him. "You're in your new home. One which I built with my own hands for you. For the both of us." He crushes his lips to yours, ignoring the way you shove against his chest and struggle to relieve yourself of him. "It took me a long time," he states. "It was not easy to do, and primarily on my own, at that. But nevertheless, here it stands. Two stories." He glances around, then back to you. "Every nail, every piece of plywood was placed with you in mind, my love." He softly drags his knuckles down your cheek. "Would you like to see the rest of it? The basement, that is. It wounds me to tell you how I don't yet trust you enough to allow you above ground. But in time, once you've earned my forgiveness, I shall reconsider." Your eyes grow wide. "B-Basement?" He hums his response. "Technically, it's referred to as an in-law suite. Nevertheless, you have your master bedroom here, a full bath, a kitchen, a living room, and even a small laundry room with a closet for extra storage." Tears begin to well in your eyes and you choke back a sob. "P-Please, Aemond, let me—" "Uncle," he hisses, tangling his fingers painfully in your long strands. "You will refer to me as 'uncle' from now on. Do you understand?" Your chin wobbles as your eyes flit between his. "I'm so scared. Please let me go. I won't tell—" He clicks his tongue. "You think me so easy to fool now after what you did? After leaving me behind? After filing a restraining order against me? The one man in all the world who would never harm you. Who would do anything for you. And you claimed you needed to be protected from me?" He rises from the bed then, and you watch silently as his shoulders steadily rise and fall as he takes even, measured breaths. His nostrils are flared and his hands are balled into tight, trembling fists at his sides. "You betrayed me," he whispers. "We were meant to be together always. I thought you understood that. I had thought our hearts beat as one. And then I came to discover that you were intending to take yourself away from me." You shake your head lightly and crawl closer toward him, desperate to talk him out of this, or to otherwise let you go. He's gone mad. It's finally happened: he's snapped and lost all sense of reality. "To college, Aemond. I—" "Uncle," he interrupts through gritted teeth. You swallow nervously, then nod tersely. "Those applications that day... They were all just places I'd been considering. I'd planned to narrow my choices down to two or three schools, then... Then discuss it with you. We would choose together. I would...have your approval that way. But you got so angry and...and you hurt Jace—" "You mean to place the blame upon me, then?" He spits. Your heart hammers painfully between your breasts. "N-No, of course not. You just...you didn't even give me a chance to explain myself. Instead, you just—" "Then I suppose we are even." Your brows furrow. "What?"

"You did not allow me that, either, before you took out that protection order against me. You know I didn't mean to hit you. That it was...an accident. Did not so much as allow me to apologize before you did what you did. You left me behind, forgot about me as you moved on with your life." He leans in toward you while sliding a hand up your thigh. "You should've known that I would never do the same. My devotion to you is unbreakable." “Unc—” Aemond crushes his lips to yours then, and your battling against him is done in futility as he crawls atop you and pins your arms to the mattress above your head. “You’ve forgotten my adoration for you. So I will remind you of my love. Tonight, my beloved niece.”

You cry & choke on your tears as Aemond fucks himself inside of you.

You stare up at the ceiling & try to focus on anything else except the feel of his long, thick cock between your tight walls.

Try not to listen to the sick, possessive things he whispers in your ear between lustful thrusts between your thighs.

"Mine, mine, mine. All mine. My niece. Mine forever. I love you, I love you, I love you."

"You'll stay here. We'll never be apart again. You'll never leave me again."

"I'm the best thing for you. You'll see. You'll be happy here. We both will."

When he cums, it's in long spurts inside of you.

He groans your name against your breast.

He laps at your nipples and squeezes your hips and kisses your lips again and again, drinking down your tears.

He tells himself they are tears of joy. You just don't know it yet.

You don't want to sleep.

Are terrified to close your eyes.

But you're exhausted.

So you fall asleep in his arms.

And when you wake, he's gone.

You spend the next day exploring the space he's confined you to.

You deem him not as intelligent as he must think himself.

He's forgone supplying you with kitchen knives, but in truth, anything can be used as a weapon if you wish for it to be one.

Like the toilet tank lid.

It's heavy. Perfect for striking someone over the head with.

You try the keypad by the door over and over again.

You first try your birth date, to no avail.

Then Aemond's.

Then his mother's.

His father's.

You try combination after combination, and all it does is blink angry red at you in return.

You cry out of frustration.

There's a small window in the living room, directly above the couch. And you can see daylight shining through the frosted glass.

You throw things at it and bang against it with your fists, but it doesn't break.

You scream for help, but no one comes.

You begin to wonder where you are, exactly.

There's no way to know from down here.

You worry about your mom and dad and brothers.

They'll be worried about you.

They'll assume the worst: that you're lying dead in a ditch or a field somewhere. In a lake in the trunk of a car, perhaps. Bound and trussed up like hunted prey.

You won't let him win yet. You can't.

Aemond is sick. Something has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

Maybe it did a long time ago.

You have to save yourself.

As soon as he's stepped through the door, you smash him over the head with the lid and make a run for it. You bound up cement steps and wrench open the door at the top of them and run. You run and run and find only trees and broken branches around you. There are no houses. No people. No buildings. No sidewalks. No cars. There. Is. Nothing. You turn around in circles, this way and that, gasping for breath, desperate to discover which way you need to turn which will lead you back to civilization. You jolt when you hear twigs snapping, but as your eyes flit around and strain against the dying light of the day, you don't see him. Perhaps it's just an animal, then. Perhaps—

When you wake, there is a throbbing pain at the back of your head...and you're right back where you started. You squeak in fear when you hear his low voice from a corner of the dark room you lie in. "I do not blame you. I'm trying not to, at least. I understand it, yes, but not you. You never behaved like this before. You were always so sweet, docile, non-combative. This isn't my darling niece." A tall, lithe shadow moves through the dark and you begin to hyperventilate as warm hands move up your legs before gripping your knees and forcing your legs apart. "You will learn to obey me once again. One way or another." You begin to sob in terror as he shoves himself inside of you.

Your days begin to blur into one, long, endless stretch of night.

You lose track of time.

There are clocks on the stove and microwave, as well as one on the flat screen in the living room, and one in your bedroom, but still you feel unable to truly tell it—time, that is.

You begin to make up a routine, because you don't know what else to do.

Running away...seems also futile now.

You could be dozens of miles away from people.

Even if you kept running, what if you got lost?

What if it got dark before you so much as heard the engine of a car?

What if you died out there, all alone & afraid?

So, everyday, when you wake, you make your bed, then tend to yourself in the bathroom.

You make breakfast and eat, then load the dishwasher.

You watch TV, or read, or play games on the computer provided to you that has no internet connection.

Sometimes, you play single-player board or card games, or you color.

Sometimes, you move decorations around in your room.

Sometimes, you sleep.

Sometimes, you cry.

Sometimes, you consider killing him.

When Aemond awakes, it's to you atop him, straddling his waist, the handle-arm from the toilet tank gripped tightly in your hand as you hold it against his jugular. He's made sure not to fall asleep down here next to yet, because he had known this would eventually happen if he did. Not this exact scenario, perhaps, but something similar. He'd been careless tonight. "I should fucking kill you," you whisper, jabbing it against his hot skin. "Give me one reason I shouldn't, you pathetic fucking—" He slides his hands up your thighs, gently, lovingly. "What would that accomplish, my love? Hm? You don't know the combination to the door." You grow silent, so he continues. "You think you know me so well, don't you? There's clearly facets of my personality you never got a chance to become acquainted with. Hence this place. I would rather you die here than ever leave me again. I made you a promise that we would remain together. It's been broken once already. I won't let that happen again. No matter the cost." You swallow thickly. "Go on, then. Shove it into my neck. Let me bleed out. Before long, my body will begin to bloat and rot. The smell will become unbearable. Even if you managed to sequester me away in this room, perhaps with towels shoved under the door, how long before your food runs out? Before you starve to death?" His lip twitches and he fills with an immense amount of satisfaction when he speaks again. "You can't live without me now. I'm all you have left. Your shelter. Your provider. Everything. Without me, you will cease to exist." At last, you see the truth. He knows it, because you lower your hand. You see...that you belong to him. And that there is nothing in all the world you can do to change it.

Once Aemond has fixed the toilet yet again, he returns to the bedroom to find you curled into yourself, crying so hard you struggle to breathe.

He takes you into his arms and you initially pound your ineffectual fists against his chest, until you begin to calm as you enter a state of exhaustion.

And then it happens.

You curl your body around his for warmth and comfort.

You press your palms gently to his chest and close your eyes.

You hate yourself for it.

For being so weak and disgusting and pathetic.

But you're so lonely here.

So cold and tired and afraid.

Isn't it some sort of self-preservation, then—sick or not—to give into him, even slightly? So as to preserve your sanity?

Or does giving into him mean it's finally beginning to slip away?

You struggle to care as you enjoy the feel of his strong arms around you and his lips against the crown of your head.

You willingly take the affection he offers you greedily.

He tells you he loves you.

You smile softly at the words.

He tells you that you're safe.

You think maybe he's right in that, perhaps.

After all, down here, you don't have to worry about being attacked by strange men in parking lots when leaving work anymore.

Don't have to worry about them drugging and raping you.

Don't have to worry about holding down a meaningless, empty job.

Don't have to worry about struggling to get by in such a cruel and callous world.

Don't have to worry about anything at all.

All thanks...to Uncle Aemond.

Hope stirs within you once more, however, when you see it on TV: your very own missing person's report. You cry as you watch your family do so as well in front of a camera. As they beg and plead for you to be returned home to them, safe and sound. They offer to pay any price your kidnapper wants. If it's ransom money they desire, it's theirs. All they want back is their little girl, their sister, their granddaughter—for even Alicent is there and in tears, asking for anyone who even thinks they may know something, no matter how tiny or inconsequential, to please, please call the police at once. And then he enters the camera lens. He's dressed sharply in a suit and tie, his smooth, silver hair perfectly parted over his shoulders as he knits his hands together behind him. "Please," he says, his voice faltering for a moment. "If it is money you want, consider it yours. All I want is for my niece to be returned to her family. I'll pay any price you ask. None is too large to have her returned home. You cannot imagine the grief her disappearance has wrought upon all of us. She is an innocent. If you want someone to go after—I know not if this has anything to do with my family's company, but if so: come after me. Do with me as you will. Just let her go, I am begging you."

You wrath returns to you tenfold that evening.

You scream and curse at him and throw things.

So in turn...he hits you.

And it leaves you stunned into silence.

He wraps a hand around your throat and sneers, telling you that you will be obedient. A well-behaved young lady, just as he knows you to be.

He glances to the couch then, which also doubles as a pull-out bed, having a sudden idea.

He will pound into your head one way or another that this place is now your fate and you would do well to finally relinquish yourself to it in whole.

You whimper quietly beneath your uncle as he rocks his hips against your backside, easing in an out of your warm, wet cunt while he stares at the TV before the both of you with a satisfied smirk. Tears slip from your tired eyes as he forces you to watch the glossy flat screen as well. A middle-aged news reporter, with a thinning hairline, stands in front of your college in the sprinkling rain, speaking about your sudden disappearance. The screen then cuts to a photo your mother took of you this last Christmas Eve while you'd been wrapping presents with her. There's a broad smile on your ignorant face—as you'd been completely unaware that as you packaged a gift for Aemond...he'd been preparing this place for you; to hold you against your will. You'd decided to forgive him. Because he'd convinced all of you that he had changed. Had grown into a fine young man through hard work and discipline. And you all had bought it like the empty-headed fools you were. Your father had been reluctant in doing so, but after a long talk between the two of them on your back patio, he'd shook his hand...and welcomed him back into his home. He'd fed you all honeyed words from a serpent's venomous tongue. The man's face returns to the screen, and he urges anyone, who has any information, to please call the police's tip line. Aemond lowers his lips next to your ear. "They'll never find you here. You're all mine now, my love. All mine. I won't stop until that fact is cemented in your fucking head." He begins to rut away violently between your legs then, and you sob into the mattress as the hope of one day leaving this place...slips impossibly further away.

You accept your fate.

Day-by-day.

Not all at once, but you do.

You even begin to look forward to him coming home every day.

You keep your part of the house neat and tidy and you make him dinner every evening. For he does work so very hard to take care of you, after all. All so you don't have to worry your pretty little head anymore.

You greet him with a smile and a kiss.

You press yourself to Aemond's chest and breathe in the comforting scent of his expensive cologne. "I missed you," you whisper, winding your arms around his waist. He cups the back of your head and kisses you passionately. "And I you," he whispers against your soft, full lips. You grin from ear-to-ear at the handsome sight of him. "I love you," you say quietly. He smiles broadly. Finally. You've finally said it. Have finally admitted it to yourself. And now to him. "I love you, my darling. More than anything in all the world," he coos.

That night, you initiate love-making between you and your uncle.

He finds you to be pleasantly wet for him.

And as he rocks his hips against your own, you mewl against his lips and wind your limbs around him, as if you are unable to get yourself close enough to him.

And when you finish in his arms, it's with love in your heart, tears in your eyes, and affectionate words from your comely lips.

"Who do you belong to?" Aemond whispers to you in the dark as he slips his fingers through your hair. You snuggle closer to his naked body with a smile. "You, Uncle Aemond. It's always been you." He begins leaving the door unlocked then. And you remain in your cage, content as can be, as his perfect little prey.

· tagging list: @emilynissangtr @tvangelism @aemondwhoresworld @callsignwidow

[reignof-fyre]

I'm gonna say it: it's aemond's own fault he lost his eye in both the show and the book. Both times, he snuck out to claim vhagar. In the show, he wasn't stopped. In the book, three year old Joffrey Velaryon was with his dragon because he was an early riser and told Aemond to stay away from Vhagar, so Aemond - who was much older - pushed little three year old Joffrey over and, in his fear of being caught because he knew he was doing something his parents would like, claimed Vhagar and flew her for the first time.

Baby Joffrey, all of three years old, then of course runs to get his big brothers, likely crying and terrified. Because he's, y'know, A BABY.

In the show, Aemond claims Vhagar and with arrogance and smugness returns to the castle, high on the fact that he'd just claimed Vhagar, uncaring of how rude/insulting it may have been to claim Vhagar on the night of her previous riders funeral, like A NORMAL PERSON.

When, in the show, Rhaena and Baela confront Aemond with Luke and Jace, they're clearly upset. Their mother has just died, its her funeral, and their last tether to her - Vhagar - has been claimed by Aemond. They say he stole her, and while dragons can't be stolen, he did use underhanded tactics to obtain her and bond with her. And his haughtiness afterwards, towards the daughters of the woman whose dragon he just claimed, is what makes the altercation his fault.

Baela, upset: Vhagar is my mother's dragon!

Aemond, uncaring: Your mother is dead, and Vhagar has a new rider now.

Rhaena: she was mine to claim!

Aemond: then you should have claimed her. Maybe your cousins can find you a pig to ride. It would suit you.

Rhaena then hits Aemond, provoked into this by his cruel words and actions. Was it right? No. But it's literally the night of her mums funeral, Vhagar has been claimed by someone who clearly doesn't care about her mother, and he just insulted her. Aemond pushes Rhaena to the ground, so Baela slaps him in defense of her sister, and he punches her in the face.

Aemond: come at me again and I'll feed you to my dragon!

Now aemond is threatening to murder his cousins, which is par for the course for hid character. He always had kinslaying in him.

The fight devolves even more, and Jace and Luke get involved, defending their cousins. Luke, a little kid, is whacked and shoved to the ground, so Jace jumps in. Then Baela decides to help, and she and Luke - both of them younger and smaller - start wailing on Aemond (u go kids).

Aemond kicks Luke off of him, throws Baela off, and stands only to grab Luke - only five - by the throat and hold a rock over his head and threaten him.

Aemond: you will die screaming in flames just as your father did, bastard.

Luke, terrified and upset: my father is still alive!

Aemond, amused: he doesn't know, does he? Lord Strong.

This is when Jace pulls his knife, literally the size of my thumb, and attacks. Jace us quickly unarmed by Aemond, who is still holding the rock, and Luke sees the blade. Aemond holds the rock over them, smirks at Rhaena and Baela, then gets sand thrown in his face and Luke slashes at him wildly, not even aiming for his eye, just aiming to stop Aemond from hurting Jace and himself and his cousins, because at this point Luke has heard death threats, and seen Aemond take on him and the other three easily and win, so of bloody course this terrified little boy used a weapon to defend himself when it became necessary.

After, Alicent makes the situation about her because she's a poor uwu baby (gag me with a chainsaw, I loathe her) and attacks Rhaenyra as though Rhaenyra and her kids were in the wrong? Gurl.

Aemond will then go on to use him losing his eye as an excuse to use his war dragon to chase fourteen year old Luke on tiny baby Arrax and have the FUCKING AUDACITY to look shocked when it went wrong? Aemond is still at fault for Luke's death even if "he didn't mean it" or "he lost control" (he's not a true dragon lmfao)

In the book, Joffrey - who is three - returns with Jace and Luke, who grabbed wooden swords - they won't help against Vhagar bbys - in defense of their brother.

Despite it being three on one, Aemond was winning the fight until Luke slashed him, and good thing he did otherwise Aemond wouldn't have stopped in my opinion. He'd have kept going, beating the boys to bloody pulps. It was stable-boys who had to end the fight, where were the guards? Cole was probably simping over alicunt tbh.

Also, Alicent was the first to demand Luke's eye in recompense for Aemond losing his soz not soz ya uwu Queen is a cunt heh

Aemond will then, years later, attack Luke because of this and kill him and start the Dance of Dragons in full because not only did he cause the events that took his eye, but also the worst war in history, all because he's a little bitch baby sociopath with genocidal tendencies lmfao

Also, Aemond got off lightly, merely losing his eye - do u know what the punishment is for people who attack a princes' daughters and the heir to the throne sons? Calling them bastards, which is treason!!!! Death. Bitch shit should be exuberant that he merely lost an eye. Unfortunately viserys is a bitch and didn't send Aemond to the Wall like Jaehaerys would have for fucking real lol

[the-daily-dreamer]

can u explain why u dislike lucerys so much?

because atleast from my pov he was a 7year old child who thought his brother was going to die and retaliated against someone older and stronger than him with a weapon he didn’t even bring

also the bullying he was following his older brother and only companion as well as his much older uncle, an authority figure.

yes he should have apologised, but when should he have? when he was being treated by the maesters for his broken nose? when aemonds mother said to have his eye cut out? when he returned half a decade later and his uncle’s hatred was already there AND his own dislike likely pushed by his family?

lucerys definitely should’ve made amends but there are a lot of factors in it so i don’t rlly see the dislike? idk i just wanna have it explained, no hate just curious (:

Just going to preemptively say that I understand this isn’t hate, so anon, please know that if I have any sort of aggravated tone in this answer it’s not against you. I’m just very passionate about this topic lol

Also this is a crazy long post. Sorry y’all.

“…he was a 7 year old child who thought his brother was going to die and retaliated against someone older and stronger than him with a weapon he didn’t even bring”

When it comes to the fight, I’m mad at all four children who ganged up on an innocent kid and started beating him mercilessly. People love to focus on the fact that Aemond might have done something with that rock, but they completely erase the context, which is that he was tackled to the ground and being punched by four people.

The real context is that Aemond was on defense in that fight. He didn’t seek anyone out. He didn’t start the argument. He didn’t throw the first blow. All Aemond did was fight back to protect himself and grabbed a makeshift weapon to ensure he doesn’t get beaten by four people at once. He was in survival mode and doing anything to keep himself protected.

When it comes down to Lucerys in that fight. He had no business running in and joining in the group beating of another child. It wasn’t his fight. I understand he’s a child, but most kids understand that beating up someone is a bad thing to do. Even at 7. I knew not to punch people at 7, and I can guarantee most others did too. Age can excuse a lot of things but mercilessly beating someone who is on the ground being beaten by three others? I don’t think so.

But let’s look at why Luc cuts his eye out. From your perspective it’s to “save his brother’s life”. But is that really the case? Let’s really take a look. During the fight, Aemond pushes all four kids off him while he is being beaten on the ground. Once gaining the upper hand, he grabs Luc and holds a rock over his head, and…talks. He threatens to kill them and calls them bastards, but he doesn’t actually do anything. In fact, when Luc says his “father” is alive and Aemond realizes Luc doesn’t know he’s a Strong, he lowers the rock. At that point Aemond is no longer a threat. His weapon is down, and he’s speaking relatively calmly. It’s only after Aemond calls Jace “Lord Strong” that the knife is drawn. The knife isn’t drawn for self-defense or to save Luc. It’s pulled for the fact that Aemond called the boys bastards.

From there Jace keeps attacking him with a knife. Aemond gets the better of him in the fight once again, and Jace is on the ground. Here’s where the “saving his life” comes in. Aemond stands over Jace with the rock in his hand raised high and….does nothing. Again. I counted, and Aemond stands there still for about 10 seconds doing absolutely nothing. He breathes deeply. He looks at Baela and Rhaena who look back in fear. But he does nothing. In those ten seconds Luc scrambles to grab the knife, exchanges a look with Jace, and then Jace throws sand in Aemond’s eyes and Luc leaps at him and slashes his eye out.

Now, personally, watching that scene I really didn’t get the feeling Aemond would do anything. Every time he gets the upper hand and will supposedly kill one of the kids with a rock, he stops. He lingers. He doesn’t deliver the blow. By the time Luc gets the knife Aemond has been still and not hit Jace at all for quite a bit of time. He waits long enough for Luc to get the knife and for both boys to silently agree on a tactic to hurt him.

This also begs the question. If Jace had enough time and space to grab sand in his fist and throw it at Aemond to temporarily blind him and get away, why the fuck didn’t he do that before?! We see that Aemond yells and is disoriented by the sand in his eyes. Jace could’ve easily thrown it and kicked aemond and gotten away and they could’ve ended the fight by running away. But instead he waited until his brother had a knife and they could stab him. These boys weren’t doing this in self-defense. It was a coordinated attack with the intention to stab Aemond with a knife. They wanted to stab him. We saw that with Jace pulling it out first.

That whole fight is not Jace and Luc fighting to survive. It’s Aemond fighting to survive. It’s not Luc jumping to save his brother. It’s Jace wanting to stab someone for calling him a bastard (he is), and both boys working together to hurt him. I genuinely believe that the long pauses Aemond took are proof enough that he had no intention of hurting actually killing them. I think it was more of an act of intimidation to show they should leave him alone. So I hold all four kids responsible for what happened to Aemond, but most especially Jace and Luc because while the girls stopped beating Aemond and left after he pushed them off. Jace and Luc kept going because they got angry at the title they were rightfully called, and teamed up to deal a blow that resulted in permanent damage and blinding one eye.

“also the bullying he was following his older brother and only companion as well as his much older uncle, an authority figure”

As I said earlier. I understand seven year olds are dumb as heck, and they don’t always know what is an is not ok. However. Just as I would think most seven year olds know beating someone is bad, most seven year olds know bullying is bad. Hurting people’s feelings isn’t ok. At seven, I knew bullying wasn’t ok. All the boys knew what they were doing was insulting and mean. That’s why they did it. They wanted to be hurtful to Aemond. Yes, Luc was following Aegon and Jace, but that doesn’t absolve the fact that he fully knew what they were doing was mean and found it funny like the others.

yes he should have apologised, but when should he have? when he was being treated by the maesters for his broken nose? when aemonds mother said to have his eye cut out? when he returned half a decade later and his uncle’s hatred was already there AND his own dislike likely pushed by his family?

We can agree he should have apologized, anon. But you seem to be under the impression of how Luc simply couldn’t apologize because of everyone else or the circumstances. You seem to be incorrectly putting the blame on Alicent and Aemond for why he didn’t apologize. Even thought Aemond is the victim.

But let’s see, when should Luc have apologized? “When he was being treated by the maesters for his broken nose”? Sure! Aemond had to answer interrogations by his father and calmed his mother down while having his eye socket sewed shut. I’m sure Luc could’ve apologized then. A broken nose is not nearly as awful and having an eye gouged out, and he seemed pretty ok at that point so yeah. He could’ve spoken up and said he was sorry.

“When Aemond’s mother said to have his eye cut out”? I’m sorry but this reeks of Alicent anti. There was plenty of time before and after Alicent had a literal mental breakdown for Luc to apologize. Why even blame or bring up Alicent? She has nothing to do with this. Luc’s responsibility to apologize is not dependent on anyone else. Least of all the woman in the room who is the only person who cares that Aemond is hurt.

“when he returned half a decade later and his uncle’s hatred was already there AND his own dislike likely pushed by his family”? Absolutely. I assume you’re talking about the dinner scene, and yes, Luc absolutely could have and should have apologized. Yes, Aemond’s anger was pretty much set because it had been a decade of no apology for literally being maimed. But a late apology is better than no apology. During that dinner, Alicent and Rhaenyra, two people who had two decades worth of resentment between them, were heartfelt and kind to one another. Luc could’ve easily toasted to Aemond. He could’ve lifted his glass and said “To my uncle. Long ago I did horrible things to him, and I’ve carried the burden of resentment and guilt all these years. I am truly sorry for the pain I’ve caused, and I hope that my heartfelt apology can be a new beginning for us” or something else sappy like that. Team black may or may not have solidified resentment in Luc against Aemond (about what I wouldn’t know because Aemond didn’t actually do anything wrong). But that doesn’t take away from the fact he should’ve apologized.

You seem to be pushing the idea that because Luc grew resentment because of his family against Aemond, he couldn’t apologize. But he very much could. He just didn’t want to. Because he didn’t care. He didn’t think he was wrong and didn’t feel he had to apologize.

The simple truth of the matter is that Luc didn’t apologize because he doesn’t feel remorse. It’s not because he was too injured to apologize at first. Or because Alicent was mean for five minutes. Or because his family solidified resentment. He didn’t apologize because he isn’t sorry. And that is best exemplified by the dinner scene. Like I said earlier he could’ve apologized. But instead, what did Luc do? He saw a pig and began to laugh at the cruel prank and bullying he did against Aemond. He still relished in the mean things he did as a child. There’s no remorse there, only smugness and sick enjoyment in his past cruelties. That is why I hate Lucerys so much. The burden of responsibility to apologize was on Luc, and there is no excuse for him not apologizing. He just wasn’t sorry, and that’s not on anyone but Luc for being…just not a good person.

TLDR: Luc has had a long pattern of being cruel and mean and never felt an ounce of guilt. You are right that there’s many factors, anon. But they don’t take away from the basic facts. Luc intentionally hurt Aemond’s feelings and found joy in it, Luc intentionally maimed Aemond with Jace (instead of opting for a less violent conclusion), and Luc never apologized and never felt remorse for his cruelty instead opting to continue to take pleasure in his negative acts.

[queenvhagar]

What consequences should Luke get for cutting Aemond’s eye? He was 5. Would scolding him have made a difference? Kids don’t even understand and he never hurt anyone like that again so clearly he “learned his lesson”. Should he have been beaten? Had his eye taken? He was supposedly so wrong for laughing at Aemond at dinner even though Aemond in the past and later that scene threatens their lives and their mom’s claim every time he calls them bastards. Also Luke did suffer for what he did, he got KILLED.

Well first of all, anyone should talk to him about his role in the conflict - not just him but his brother as well. After all, they are the one who brought a knife to ambush Vhagar's new rider in the middle of the night. They didn't have to do any of that. It's also clear in the fight that the decision to use the knife was made after Aemond called them bastards, not in supposed self-defense against Aemond's counterattacks. The decision to use the knife to maim Aemond was made out of a desire to hurt him for his words and taunts. And by the way, neither Strong kid knew that such an insult was somehow damaging to politics. They're kids, and Luc didn't even know that Laenor wasn't his father at this point! They just knew it was something bad to be called that, and so they wanted to hurt Aemond for it. At this point, in the show anyway, Luc is 7-8 years old, and Jace is likely 9-10, so both of these kids are old enough where they should know it's not cool to be beating up on another kid. Aemond is about 10-11 here, so not much older than the other kids (Baela and Rhaena likely being 8-9).

Should Aemond have been mean and said this to his attackers? Well no, but if I got jumped by four kids and mercilessly beaten by all of them at once, while I was also a kid only a bit older than them, I probably would also be hurling insults and trying to hurt them back. Especially if I just claimed the biggest dragon in the world and was feeling a confident from that.

The point is that Jace brought a knife to an ambush of four on one and then tried to use it to cut Aemond, and then he threw sand in his face so Luc could actually cut him in the face. And then nobody - not their mother, father, or grandfather - questioned their role in a four on one jumping of a kid with a knife and instead threatened that kid and his mother with further torture and/or mutilation if they spoke about it or spoke the truth of the situation.

I feel like the right move would have been at least for their mother to talk to the boys about what happened and address the situation at all. Better yet, discuss the impact of Aemond losing an eye on the boy himself or on future conflict that could come out of violent or angry impulses and how heirs to the throne need to know when to choose their battles, or something like that. She could even tie it to her conversation with Daemon about how she knows the Greens will be against them and they need to be prepared. Ideally, Viserys would also require some kind of apology from Luc for Aemond's eye being lost. But obviously their mother is kind of known for her inability to think things through long term, so I guess it makes sense that she would never try to talk to them about any of this or even discuss her sons' true nature with them (so that they could be better equipped to face the challenges ahead of them). And Viserys was too weak-willed and favored his daughter too much to want to upset her or anything, so of course he just ignored the circumstances of how Aemond lost an eye and the impact it had on him and his family. All of this just means that the Strong boys never had to really reckon with their actions and choices in this event, what had happened, and how it changed things for a lot of people.

Basically, the lesson the boys learned here was that they can do what they want because ultimately their mother and the king will always have their back, and they were justified in jumping and disabling their own family member over an insult and his claiming of a dragon. And this lesson of their untouchability and justification at others being maimed/killed to protect them was retaught to them when their mother pushed their claim at court, despite everyone, even themselves, knowing it to be based on lies, and the king defended the dishonesty and allowed for the man upset about his family's seat being given to someone without Velaryon blood to be savagely executed from behind in front of everyone with no consequence (despite the punishment of the man for speaking the truth being only that his tongue should be cut out of his mouth).

The dinner scene then directly follows this. These boys have seen their mother and the king will always support them over other people, even the king's own children, no matter what, and they believe that their past actions were justified and those who question them deserve injury or death. So of course when the pig is brought to the table with one eye facing Luc, he stares right at Aemond before laughing in his face. Because he knows Aemond can't really do anything about it! And because he genuinely sees nothing wrong with laughing about old harms like permanently disabling someone in front of that same person they disabled. Except oops, now there's an indirect toast that Aemond makes in front of the immediate family (note: not in public or to the court, which could actually do any political damage or supposedly "threaten lives and claims") to provoke a fight from one of the Strong boys, who started the fight last time against Aemond, but this time Aemond and Aegon actually know how to fight and are prepared to work together.

Then, war is looming and Storm's End happens. As tragic as Luc's death is, it is a natural consequence of the entire situation going on with the Strong boys and the Green kids. The Strong boys felt invincible with the support of their mother and the king, and the Green kids felt isolated and vulnerable, but then the threat of war came, and Aemond sought out the justice he believed he was always owed but denied.

It's tragic. And I believe that if Lucerys was talked with or had been made to apologize to Aemond, some of Aemond's desire for vengeance might have been lessened. As Aemond's actor put it, Aemond got over the loss of his eye, but he never got over the fact that it was taken and there was no justice or consequences whatsoever for those who took it from him and made him permanently disabled. Had Luc's actions been properly addressed by literally anyone, Aemond may not have been so driven by his desire for justice and the situation with Luc at Storm's End might not have happened the way that did it. So yes, there should have been consequences for Luc. It very well may have saved him that day.

[yunamedkostobot]

Jacegan week 2024: Day One, Ritual

AU, where instead of training the dragons, Valirians were taught to turn into them, albeit the Doom still happened. However, instead of conquering Westeros, they decided to concentrate on Essos and create their kingdom at former Slaver’s Bay lands. So by the canonical Dance of Dragons time, Westeros is divided between Hoar’s kingdom(which includes not only the Iron Islands, but the Westlands, Reach and half of Riverlands)(another half is held by Arryn kingdom). The North is still an independent kingdom and Cregan is its king, newly got rid of his uncle Bennard. One day, Cregan decides to take a ride to Deepwood Moot with his half-sister Sara and lord Servin, his friend. The Hoar still attempts to conquer the North, and the castle is still the stronghold against them. 

Once they get near the castle, it seems that a big shadow flies over it, but it disappears as soon as Cregan looks away. 

And the next day, a young man appears at the village nearby. This man looks quite ordinary - dark hair, grey eyes, slender build - and wears simple clothes but no weapon but a simple knife. He wanders along the shore and village, chats with smallfolk, exchanges drinks with guards and relentlessly asks if some strange things happened here. 

At first, Cregan doesn’t notice him - until he notices that the boy’s clothes are not really made for North’s weather. They are made of linen, and not of wool or leather and totally are not suited even for summer in the North, yet the man seems not to give a damn about this. He doesn't even seem to feel cold.

Cregan is overcomed by curiosity and, despite Lord Cervin’s and Lord Glover’s objections, calls him in, while at the same time attempting to dig where this man comes from. 

At first, it seems it’s necessary, because the man(whose name is Jace) seems to wear his heart on his sleeve. He simply talks that he came from the Bay of Free Men in Essos, where he lived with his mothers, father, four little brothers and baby sister and he just came to travel the world. He tells of high pyramids and earthly gray rocks, of deep blue sea, orange trees and the dragons living among the people. He is ready to tell about long channels of water built and the gardens of thousand trees and flowers blooming in the places where there was nothing but sand one hundred years ago. He tells how the family running from the Doom of Valyria had taken these places for themselves and rebuilt these Bay from nothing.

From the distances of thousand miles, the story of the place is like a fairytale or a legend dating back to the Long Night, and maybe it is hard to believe it here, but Cregan finds it interesting. So, he starts to spend more time with the man from the Free Man’s Bay. He is still interested in why this man came to the North.

When he asked Jace about it, he just shrugged his shoulders and said:

— I need to complete one ritual here.

Cregan doesn’t understand. He knows of rituals people practice: of blood oaths and self-sacrifice, which was used by heathen priests of the Old Gods until the said priests were caught and executed. But what type of ritual does this man want to complete? 

It does not help that Jace is actually a very interesting person to speak with. He is smart, knows a lot of things, is ready to talk a lot about everything including the history of different lands and their legends, and nevertheless, never seems like he wants to boast about everything he knows. He is ready to allow other people to express themselves and listens to them patiently before starting to speak. He does not seem the man who is ready to immolish himself for unknown reasons. And so he soughts to spend as much time with him as possible.

One day, the Ironborn of Hoar attack the coast. Cregan, of course, can’t just stand and watch and enters the battle alongside Cervin. However, since the forces of Hoars are stronger than canon Greyjoys(because their kingdom is bigger and richer), the battle ends up being bloody and Northern men lose a lot of their men. 

Until the green dragon arrives. He flies over Ironborns ships and burns them, and then attacks and starts to kill those Ironborn, who are standing nearby them. The remainings understand what that means and start to throw themselves at Northern positions and one of them hits Cregan into his head and the latter loses his consciousness.

He wakes up at the cave. Nearby, the sea hums. The first man he sees here is Jace, with part of his clothes torn and the green-grey scales on the cheekbones.

Cregan asks for answers.

And Jace - who reveals himself to be Jacaerys Velaryon, son of the ruler of the Dragonmen of the Bay of Free Men - tells him everything. Tells  not only about the kingdom, which is ruled by his mother now, but about his relatives as well, about his brothers and little sister, about his uncles and aunts. He also explains what brought him to the North. The Dragonmen have their special initiation rituals and the young dragonman should make his 12 feats - 6 by his own volition and 6 by another’s choice. He already completed 11 of them and now is doing another the last. He came to the North to complete his ritual and rise to full-blown member of Dragonmen society.

Cregan remembers the stories coming from Vale about dragons kidnapping young maidens, and asks if it is a ritual too. Jace laughs and says that they do not kidnap only the maidens but the handsome knights too - it is how his mother meets his father. However, they do not cause them any harm and the only dragon who burned them alive was his great-granduncle Maegor, who is considered a monster by their tribesmen.

Cregan doesn’t remember, for how many time they kissed eachother after this. 

After that, Jace suddenly gets more serious and tells Cregan about the reason he came to the North - to stop one of the sea snakes terrorizing the costs of the islands. The sea snakes are the bitter rivals of Dragonmen like the fireworms(From whom they descend) and unlike them, are pure animals. He says that those creatures crave human blood and arrive at the places of battles to eat it and leave them after catching humans to be eaten alive. He says that smallfolk believe that giving a young woman to them to fend it off and bring prosperity in winter. For a lot of them this is the ritual. Cregan suddenly understands what those implications mean, gets what to do with it and gets up to rush to the shore to help. Jacaerys understands and goes with him.

And they turn out to be right. After the sea snake comes to the battlefield, the smallfolk uses the usual panacea - Sara ends up as the sacrifice for this sea snake. She ends up chained to the rock formation. 

But as the day closes, and the nobles and smallfolk meet an unlikely couple - a dragon and thought to be a disappeared young lord - who come to rescue the chained lady and get rid of the attacking sea monster forever. 

[saltywinteradult]

Jace and Luke are perfect?? They were 8 and 10 year old bullies. So what if Aegon was the ringleader, they were bullies too. Aegon didn’t threaten them, they did it of their own will and they had fun doing it. They weren’t remorseful about it, there’s no scene where we see them have a moment of reflection like “hey this isn’t right”, they don’t look over their shoulder at a sad Aemond, there no reluctance about it. They just laugh.

Aemond when we first met him wasn’t a bad kid, out of all 4 boys- Aemond was the sensitive kid. The bookish, well behaved, dutiful and respectful one. Driftmark was the first time he stood up for himself, the first time he insulted them to their faces. The first time we see him have unkind words for anyone and still there’s no excuse to assault someone over words. Aemond was the one who was physically attacked there first. He wouldn’t have laid a finger on them if they didn’t touch him first and it was 4 to 1. He grabbed a rock to defend himself after being kicked and punched by 4 other kids. He raised his hand and dropped it a few times while Jace was swinging the knife wildly in Aemond’s direction intending to mortally wound him.

Everything after Driftmark, his personality- the anger, vengeance, calculated coldness all of that is a direct result of what happened to him. Being the target of bullying because he was dragonless and a deeply sensitive boy. Having Rhaenyra’s son maim him and seeing that nobody, not even his father cared except for his mother, Criston, sister and brother. Despite that he still was the dutiful, respectful son he just hated Rhaenyra’s spawn and rightfully so. They took his eye and got off Scott free. Then Lucerys came and laughed in his face about a cruel joke and he paid for it with his life. You can’t say that Aemond deserved to lose his eye because he insulted the Blacks kids with WORDS, then accuse him of being evil for killing Luke who took his eye. Maimed > Insults. Also even though Aemond had reason to kill Luke, it was Vhagar who ultimately did it. Arrax’s human attacked Vhagar’s humans and Vhagar never forgot that. Vhagar felt Aemond’s pain that night and felt his anger and injustice afterwards.

Jace is soo far from perfect, Rhaenyra is an unreliable narrator about her sons. Especially Jacaerys.

Jace was an a-s-s-h-o-l-e.

He thought less of and bullied Aemond for not having a Dragon. He has an elitest mindset that nothing matters or can oppose him because he’s a Targaryen. He’s not even an amazing brother like people make him out to be. He is dismissive of Luke’s feelings and his depression over his life and the position he was born into. Then there’s the scene of him beating him and throwing him around on the beach, insulting and yelling at him. In Darksvister’s release of the expanded scene there’s this exchange:

Steffon: “You might go easier on him, my prince. So he can learn what you're trying to teach.”

JACE: “He needs to be ready if he ever means to be respected by his enemies.”

*Jace directs this at Luke, brow-beating him. The younger boy's shoulders sag. He is having a tough day already.*

STEFFON: “Respected? Or feared?”

JACE: “Better to be feared than mocked.”

*Steffon frowns at Jace, not as convinced.*

He is literally bullying his brother, it would definitely be seen that way if it was the Green brothers.

Jace was an elitist and was on his way to being a tyrant.

“Dragons will win the lords over quicker than ravens.”

Meaning he meant to threaten Houses with Dragonfire if they didn’t join Rhaenyra.

These are all things that team black would hate Team Green for but somehow they’re excused and misconstrued as noble when it’s Rhaenyra’s sons.

I agree with all of this. All of Jace's and Luke's nastiness is erased by the fandom in the name of propping up Rhaenyra, because acknowledging that they're assholes would inevitably reflect badly on Rhaenyra and we can't have that, now can we? After all, it certainly would not make any sense for Rhaenyra, who's been enabled and told her whole life that she's special and better than everyone else for being a Targaryen, a dragonrider, and the heir to the throne would herself become a toxic, enabling parent who raises her kids to believe they're better than everyone else...

I've been accused by TB stans of hating Rhaenyra because I'm willing to criticise her for her mistakes, which feels really unfair because I think there's a lot to like about her character - I just prefer my characters to have flaws. Erasing those flaws does the characters no favours. That is especially true with regard to Jace, who has so little personality to begin with. Like you said, what little we do see of him does show that he's not a good person. I don't know how Team Black managed to forget that this is not Heroes vs Villains, this is War Criminals vs War Criminals and we're simply meant to choose which war criminals we like the most. The characters themselves might deny that they're bad people, but the audience sure as hell isn't supposed to do that. That's missing the point.

This is largely the reason why I think Luke's death is ultimately Aemond's fault, even if it wasn't his intention. (Whether that was a good choice by the writers is another matter.) It's understandable, and considerably less bad than if he'd killed Luke intentionally, but it's still not excusable to me. I lean toward the opinion that revenge does more harm than good, but I do not blame Aemond at all for wanting it. I'd want it too if I were him. Considering that formative trauma he experienced as a child it's no wonder he would become pretty messed up as an adult. Of course he's become resentful and obsessed with getting revenge on Luke. Of course his obsession with revenge would make him reckless and not consider the potential consequences. Does that make him a bad person? Maybe, but it sure as hell doesn't make him any worse than Luke is for mutilating him to begin with. Luke absolutely deserved to be punished for what he did; I don't want to get bogged down by arguments over whether he truly deserved to be killed. YMMV.

As you say, Vhagar felt Aemond's pain and rage and acted on those feelings despite him not actually wanting her to, but at the end of the day it was Aemond who got reckless and forgot that dragons have a will of their own. If he didn't actually want Luke dead, he could've chosen to not fly after Luke to toy with him in the first place. As understandable as his actions are, in my opinion it was a very stupid thing to do, especially considering that the family is already on the brink of war and killing Rhaenyra's beloved son isn't gonna help them avoid war, is it? (Though I guess good on him for taking one for the people by kickstarting the war that spelled the beginning of the end for the royal family... we stan a communist icon) None of this makes me like or sympathise with Aemond less, though. Again, unlike the Team Black stans, I prefer my characters to have flaws and make mistakes.

[thesunfyre4446]

Apologies, I know it's fictional, but I find it very uncomfortable every time I see lots of comments stating that Aemond should've 'gotten over' or 'moved on' about losing his eye. Because no child should've experienced the horrible pain of losing an eye but sadly they don't see Aemond as a child, but a 'theft' and a 'hightower' and the fact that being insulted was given more care and attention than losing a part of your body, that made me sympathized with Aemond, I understand why he is still angry about it for years. He lost an eye, that's not something to be brushed under the rug so quickly. I would've been more sympathetic towards the strong boys for being called bastards but they were shitheads with no character to speak of (their older counterparts too) so why would I vouch for them.

yeah jace being "forgiven" by the fandom for pulling a knife on aemond for calling him a bastard because he's a kid, but aemond - who's 1-2 older is an adult and should just "get over" his eye being cut out is insane.

aemond did not start the fight. he claimed his dragon and was ready to go to bed and call it a day. the kids approached and attacked him first. it's one of those situations where you can understand where everyone were coming from.

baela and rhaena just lost their mom and this stranger just claimed her dragon. their anger was justified. aemond, who was finally getting the upper hand on his bullies. and jace - who was already feeling insecure from prev convo with rhaenyra & panicked and pulled the knife (i still think that he should've been scolded & held accountable for that. he's old enough to know better)

at the end of the day, it was a children's fight that without an adult supervision went out of control. i can understand and sympathize with all of the kids.

but while we, the audience, understand that luke was a kid and didn't mean to cut aemond's eye out - it's ridicules to expect aemond, the victim, to realize that. he's ANGRY. he lost his eye & luke got away without punishment & rhaenyra tried to blame him and his mom (and i can also understand that. she was protecting her own). & his father confirmed that he didn't give a shit about him.

so yeah, i can def understand and sympathize with aemond's anger and feeling of injustice. i do, however, hold luke accountable for his behavior in ep 8. he laughed at aemond, completely unprovoked. can you imagine seeing someone - a family member that you accidently permanently injured and laugh at his face remembering the days you used to bully him??? wtf??

after that, aemond prob wanted his revenge even more.

and no, luke didn't deserve to die. but i can def understand aemond in this situation.

[anjelicawrites]

do you really think aemond is innocent? yes he lost an eye but luke was defending his brother since aemond almost killed jace with a rock? he didnt cut out his eye on purpose. he purposefully claimed laenas dragon at her funeral when everyone was asleep, knowing it was her daughters birthright to at least attempt to claim it first, then he punched a little girl in the face

I think the answer needs to be broken down if few parts so, bear with me.

Vhagar. The moment Laena passed, anyone had the chance to try and claim her. She's not something Laena owned that she could pass down to her children, because dragons don't belong to anyone and there is no birthright to try and claim them before someone else. As crude as it is, it's a come first, first served kind of situation, not "my mom owned Vhagar, therefore I have the precedence here". Dragons can't be owned, nor inherited. They choose their rider, not the other way around. A rider survives the feat because the dragon chooses them, it's the dragon's choice that matters, not the fact that the late parent of the rider used to ride that dragon.

The fight. He was attacked by other four kids, that he would try to fight back and not just take it, it's normal, considering that he was being taught how to fight.

The rock. If he truly wanted to kill Jace, he wouldn't have stood there with the rock in his hand, he would have hit him, period. To me he was a way to try and scare the other kids away, otherwise he would have used it immediately.

The knife. The moment someone attacks another person with a weapon, and I underline attack, not stand with a potential weapon in his hand, they have to accept the fact that they might hurt/maim the other person. Luke went for the face, with a knife, accepting fully that he was escalating a fistfight into something bigger and uglier. He could have tackled Aemond to the ground and the whole situation wouldn't have had such a terrible conclusion. By bringing a knife in, he knew he was going to hurt him badly, wherever the blow would have landed.

Innocence. No one is innocent in the HOTD world, not even the children, because they are being poisoned with hate within the womb. The TV series did a huge disservice in dividing the camp between the "good" ones and the "bad" ones, because they're all shades of grey and no one is truly innocent.

One last thing: losing a limb, any limb, is a traumatic experience that should never be discounted. It causes the person chronic pain, body dismorphia and makes navigating a world that is made for people who are "healthy" a nightmare. It's a huge trauma that can never be justified.

[klowncrunch]

The smell of copper

Warning lol this is me cringe posting about Frostkettle

Uhhhh. Vague desc of blood warning. Doomed Yuri fr

----🏆----

You have just killed the girl you love.

There is this unimaginable guilt that wracks your body as you wait by her side. It feels like the first time you ever had a panic attack. But you don't have those anymore. You're grown, you know how to breathe through it. Its just the smell of corpses wafting up your nose and choking you. It's just the corpses. It's just the blood. The distinct copper smell. Like the family tea kettle. It's just copper.

There's no doubt in your heart that she'll come back. He promised you forever with her. It's right at your fingertips yet you can't feel the warmth of glory. You can't hear the beating drums of success. Why can't you hear her heart? She should be back by now. She should be clutching on to you and thanking you. She should be back.

You hold your head to her chest. Maybe she's just...taking a few minutes more. Lucy was always one to lag behind. Especially in the forest... she'd take her time. She always said it was to examine the flowers. You love Lucy, she cared too much. She was too busy with the ethical options, that's what you liked about her. She was your canary, your red alert, she always stopped you when you went too far.

But she didn't stop you here. Some part of her- must've agreed? Right? Lucy wouldn't hide things from you. You're best friends.

She's your best friend. You love her. She knows that right? Even in her last moments, she knew right? You told her it... Often. You think you did. You hope you did. But you can't remember The last time you did. When's the last time you told her you loved her?

You feel your necklace Press against your bloodied uniform. The Ritual looks much different when you're willing to give up your life. You tried to get her to give it up as well. You tried to make her see reason. But by the end of it. All of you had to take drastic measures, and Lucy put up a good fight. You could barely managed to keep focused on her through the volley of spells and counter spells.

Your knife grazed her half of the necklace. When you snuck up on her. And stabbed her in the heart. It felt a little bit too on the nose to stab her in the back. You find that almost comedic. This was good for her, you knew this would be good for her! It's the way to beat the bad kids, to be successful, you have been trying your entire life to succeed. To be a hero. And you were so considerate letting her and the others come with you.

You squeeze the dirt. And move your hands up to squeeze her sweater. Waiting for something. Her blood and the dirt mix together to create a copper color. And you feel so guilty for staining her ivory turtleneck.

You did this so you wouldn't be alone in your successes, sharing it with an ego maniac like Porter. He's just a means to an end.

She's supposed to be your end.

She's supposed to be in your end.

When you and her were kids. She would wrap her hands around yours, behind the school building. You would just sit and cry together, with the few minutes you had between classes. It's hard to be a halfling in a school dominated by people who are bigger and scarier than you, who mock you for your appearance, who mock you for your family name. You thought the family kettle was cool, so you brought it to show the people you wanted to be your friends. And by the end of the day it ended up with four different dents.

You were so angry. You were so hurt. She made it better. You know she made it better so why isn't she making it better now? Why isn't she back already? You yell at her. By this point you're begging. Sobbing over her body. You can see Jace looming like the coward he is right behind a tree in front of you. You scream at him. Telling him to go away.

You think on some level. Jace thinks of you as what he was, a failure, it's no secret that he has no confidence in himself without the other. You're gripping onto Lucy and Ruben, by this time has already been walked away by the others. The last of them to leave you alone? Is Jace surprisingly. It's hesitant you can tell, by the way his footsteps pause. But it's not long before he hurries off.

Maybe it's out of some twisted form of respect for your grieving. You don't even know. At what point did it set in? The smell of copper, the taste of copper, the color, the feeling. The fading warmth of your favorite cup of tea, a fire put out, burning passion that's faded. Lucy Frost blade will never see her next birthday.

She can't make it better this time.

She's dead.

It's been hours.

You've ruined it. You don't get to have the ending you wanted.

You'll get the ending you deserve.

Whatever it takes.

[lizzie-queenofmeigas]

"Aemond didn't get his eyes cut out because he called them bastards, it happen because he threatened to kill them"

oh really? jace pulls out the knife the second aemond calls them strongs. and how can they be scared? they literally ambushed him 4vs1. and aemond was also a child! he was 10!!! and they literally attacked him first.

and "he knows them too well" pleaseeeee what does he know? does viserys - the one who's obssesed with dragon-dreams, knows that his own daughter is a dragon dreamer? did he ever sit down with her and talked to her? does viserys knows how much aemond wants a dragon? because if he did then he'd know why aemond wanted to believe the boys found him a dragon in ep 6. and what does viserys knows about aegon? he's a brat, ok, it's pretty obvious to anyone who looks at him.

he has no idea who his children are, he doesn't even consider them his children. i find it kinda ironic that you TB loves to go on and on about how TG defends aegon but here you are, defending a r*pist pedophile and victim blaming his 14yo child-bride. but sure, you guys are team feminism.

Jace pulls out a knife when the fight scalates. It wasn't just the bastard comment(that can lead to Jace's and her brother's death if the king chooses to believe it), it was everything that happened in the previous minute. It was Aemond grabbing Luke by the neck and holding a rock, it was Aemond saying to Luke "you'll die screaming in flames", is Aemond threatening Baela. Do you understand that?

How can they be scared? Because they are (Jace) at most seven and at least (Luke) five-four years old, because he just claimed the largest dragon, because he is threatening them!

They attacked him first: Physically Rhaena and Baela attacked him first and when Aemond responded hitting/pushing them Jace and Luke joined the fight to protect them. And the only reason Rhaena started it was because Aemond insulted her right after claiming her mother's dragon. Rhaena hadn't done anything to Aemond ever, so that's on him.

Aemond was a child, yes, he was ten. There is a big different between a ten year old and a seven year old, let alone between a ten year old and a five year old. Aemond has also been training for longer (due to his age) and Baela and Rhaena have no oficial training. Think about that.

In terms of Viserys knowing his children, he does know Aemond and Aegon. He knows Aegon is a bully, he knows Aemond is sensitive. I'm not saying he is a good father (he is really bad actually) but he isn't that absent. Helaena is complicated, her riddles aren't something anyone would think makes her a dragon dreamer. Why would Viserys? He thinks himself a dreamer and doesn't speak in riddles. Aegon the Conqueror and Daenys the Dreamer were dragon dreamers and they weren't recorded to speak in riddles. Why would that be a clue? But then again, we haven't seen him talk to Helaena so he may be absent with her.

I'm not defending Viserys, he sucks, he can rot. I'm just pointing out my observations. I'm sorry if you can't understand that.

[spacerockfloater]

Hello @spacerockfloater! This is going to be kind of long but I would like to have a genuine discussion about the post you made regarding Jace, Luke, Baela, and Rhaena. Some of the claims you made are things I have not seen in the books/show, but I am open to knowing I'm wrong and learning more about the characters from hotd.

"they’re some of the most vicious, aggressive, cowardly, snotty brats we’ve ever seen in this franchise..." --- I'm genuinely curious, do you consider them to be on the same level as Aegon II, Joffrey, Gregor, Ramsey, etc.?

"Lucerys is a hypocritical twat that bullied the boy he grew up with because he didn’t have a dragon, but then he’s totally okay hanging out with Rhaena who doesn’t have one either." --- I'm not sure if you’re a book purist or regard the show as more truthful, regardless, I think it's acceptable to assume Lucerys is not an evil mastermind. In the show, Luke is portrayed as being influenced by Aegon II to play jokes/make fun of Aemond. In the books, it’s explained less in depth, but consider that Lucerys is a 5–6-year-old child, I think it’s safe to assume every person didn’t have the best judgment/were rude as children.

"He pulls out a knife and blinds Aemond for no fucking reason, after his gang attacked him first..." --- Once again, I believe both the show and book disprove this, or at least add nuance to the situation. In the book, Aemond pushed Joffrey which incited the incident. While being pushed is not an excuse to blind someone, it can be inferred that there was an escalation to a fight that proceeded after Aemond claimed Vhagar. In the show Aemond was attacked first after taunting Rhaena, however during this fight he shouts “You’ll Die”. If I heard this, I too would probably start blindly swinging with any weapon I had at my attacker. I don't believe Lucerys sought out Aemond with the intention of blinding him.

"He tries to boss lord Borros around by telling him that he’s obligated to ally with Rhaenyra even if there isn’t anything in him for it." --- From what I can tell, the book and show disprove this. Lucerys was sent as a messenger, in the book, he was said to have given Borros the message, explained that he couldn’t wed one of his daughters and then tried to leave. Aemond then instigated an argument which prompted Lucerys to say he was sent as a messenger, nowhere in any of this conflict did Luke demand anything from Borros. He simply delivered the message and intended to leave.

"Jacaerys is also very two faced for the exact same reasons as Lucerys, with the addition of having anger management issues." --- Like Lucerys, Jacaerys didn’t tease/exclude Aemond because of his lack of a dragon, it was most likely because he insulted his mother and questioned his parentage. I assume you mention 'anger issues' because of the dinner scene and the sword fighting scene? In the dinner scene he was being provoked, but yes, in the swordfight scene Jace seemed angry for no reason.

"He beats the living shit out of his little brother when they’re training at the beach, kicks him to the ground and grabs him by the throat because he is upset their uncles are better warriors than them?" --- I’ll admit I don't like this scene much either, but he doesn’t violently beat Luke up. It was a standard sword fight, yes Jace did push Luke and speak to him harshly, but He didn’t grab him by the throat he grabs him by the arm. When in the book or show was it mentioned that Jacaerys was envious of his uncle’s prowess? This wasn’t mentioned at all in the sword fight scene from the show.

"He is already obsessed with the idea of becoming king, to the point that his own mother has to remind him that she’s actually alive and well and he would have to wait a good fucking while before his dreams come true" --- What scene is this/when did this happen in the book? Are you referencing when Rhaenyra was miscarrying Visenya?

"He very likely married Sara Snow, betraying his fiancée, in order to gain the Starks’ help, which is very dishonourable" --- This is a rumor spread by mushroom, the same person that claimed Alicent ‘did more than just reading with Jahaerys’, yet I don't see anyone taking him seriously when he said that. It is never confirmed that Sara Snow is a real person, or that Jace married her. Jace didn’t win the North by supposedly marrying a member of house Stark, it is very clear that Cregan didn’t want to break his family’s oath (what the Starks are known for), and respected Jace, therefore he pledged his allegiance to Rhaenyra

"Baela is a deranged evil girl who was ready to throw hands on sight" --- Why do you consider her evil? She was fighting the war for her stepmother and the woman she considered her queen. Are you referencing the fight with Aemond?

"She becomes a drunkard and whoremonger who spends her money gambling in the rat pits, the places where children fight one another in King’s Landing, once she grows up, or is it wrong only when Aegon II does it?" --- I feel that it's understandable for someone to turn to drinking and other escapes after losing their dragon, father, step-mother, step-siblings, and their betrothed. Also, she bets in the rat pits, these mostly consist of rat fights and occasionally dog vs rat fights, I do not believe it is ever mentioned that she watched the child fights. It’s wrong when Aegon does it because he would actively bet and watch the child fights (also he was just a bad person), whereas it's not confirmed that Baela ever did.

"Rhaena is an aggressive coward who seems more preoccupied with the acquisition of a dragon than her mother’s death." --- In the show, Rhaena is seen visibly upset and in mourning at her mother’s funeral. I don't believe it's selfish of her to want Vhagar. Would you not want to have something of your mothers after her passing? To Rhaena, possessing Vhagar was most likely a way to honor and remember her mother, as well as a way to gain a dragon.

"She didn’t have the guts to go and claim Vhagar, but she feels powerful enough to confront Aemond when she has three people backing her up." --- She has enough respect and awareness to assume that taking her mother’s dragon on the day of her funeral is not appropriate. According to you, it’s concerning that Rhaena apparently isn’t mourning her mother, but Aemond shows no hint of remorse or respect for Laena or her daughters on the day of his aunt’s funeral. He displays little to no emotion over the death of his cousin’s mother/his aunt, and then claims Vhagar the same day as her funeral.

"Lucerys does not convince Borros to side with his mother and drops dead like a fly" --- Lucerys was not sent to “Convince Borros”, he was simply delivering his mother’s message. He doesn’t “drop dead”, he was killed (or murdered depending on how you interpret Aemonds’ intentions) by Aemond.

"Jacaerys is immediately killed during his embarrassing attempt to fight the Triarchy, not to mention that he was the reason his youngest half siblings were captured and nearly killed because he had the brilliant idea of sending them away" --- Jacaerys wasn’t immediately killed during this battle. Why is it a bad idea to send away people you love who are too young to fight/defend themselves, especially after a young boy (Luke) was killed already in the war?

"Baela loses the only dragon fight she was ever part of to Aegon II and Sunfyre who were very injured by a previous fight already" ---Aegon and Sunfyre were already injured, but Baela’s dragon, Moondancer, was a baby in comparison (Size of horse), yet still prevailed in killing Sunfyre. Baela may have “lost” the battle, but so did Aegon and Sunfyre (Aegon was severely burned/never fully recovered and Sunfyre died due to its wounds)

"Rhaena is just… there. Doing nothing. Never avenging her husband’s death, eventually marrying a Hightower. Yikes" --- Rhaena had no dragon, and has never been shown/described as having sword training or battle experience like Baela. Even when Rhaena did have a dragon, it was still too small to ride/do damage with. What would you have her do? She was sent to the Vale for her protection, and likely couldn’t leave. She married a Hightower, but it is never stated that she wanted or chose to marry him. Most likely she had no say in it, it was probably arranged by her brother or another lord. With how much you and other greens talk about how Alicent was forced in an arranged marriage to the king (I agree it was an arranged marriage and I pity Alicent for being forced to endure what she did), you don't seem to consider that many if not all other marriages in Westeros are arranged, Including Both Baela's and Rhaena's marriages

Sorry this was so long lol, also my apologies for any grammar/spelling mistakes in advance😅

Actually thank you for being such a polite and sweet person, it’s always so nice to have a civil conversation with someone else and discuss opposite ideas! ❤️ Please never apologise for any typos, we all make plenty!

So to answer all of your questions (my answers may be a bit short, excuse me for that, I have a terrible headache and I’m working on my thesis):

- Absolutely the fuck not, I make sure to clarify in the last paragraph of my post that there are much more evil kids in ASOIAF, such as the one you mentioned. It’s just that in HOTD they are in no way pure angels and the fandom assigning them the “baby that can do no wrong” title baffles me.

- I’m in no way a show/ book purist, I choose to treat both of them as entirely different pieces of media because that’s what they are to me. I can’t say one is canon and the other is not. I believe that they are standalone versions of the same generic story. Generally, most of my posts are HOTD critical (like the one about the kids you’re referring to) and I only cite F&B as source when it comes to events that have not yet happened/ or were altered in the show, e.g. the deaths of Jace and Jof, Rhaenyra disinheriting two eldest daughters etc. But you’ll never seen me cry that “Oh, Aegon was never a rapist in the book!” because the book is a different version and this is no longer canon in the HOTD show. So until these events are proven to be non canon either, I’ll reference them, as they are thoughts I had when I was reading F&B. That being said, in HOTD Lucerys’ and Aemond’s age difference was drastically reduced so I will not be giving Luc brownie points for being a couple of years younger than Aemond. To me they’re both children at first, and then they’re both teenagers when Luc laughs at Aemond’s face. He may not be an evil mastermind, but I don’t see anything less than problematic, let alone praise worthy, in him. Side not, I also think kid Aegon II was a despicable little thing for the way he bullied his brother, but at least he made up for it when it really mattered, am I right?

- As I said, my post concerns characters in HOTD and their equivalents in F&B are only brought up when their actions are not proven non canon in the show. Jof was never part of the incident in HOTD, hence why I didn’t mention him, but like… shoving your unsupervised younger family member back because he’s trying to get you into trouble for something that does not concern him in the slightest, still doesn’t sound worthy of being ganged up and disabled to me. Both show and book Rhaenyra should have really taught these kids to mind their business. Aemond insults Rhaena after she challenges him. Aemomd tells them they’ll die screaming after 8 pairs of hands have tried knocking his teeth out. I don’t know about Luc, but I wouldn’t be shocked when someone that I kicked down to the ground with 3 other people wants me to die, but that’s just me. Maybe don’t throw hands in the first place? Say you’re sorry before you pull out a knife and try to de-escalate what you started? Lol.

- Luc is not simply just a messenger, he is in line for the Iron Throne and a core member of Rhaenyra’s family. Sending him as an envoy to Borros with nothing to offer back was obviously his mother’s fault, yet this doesn’t make the way he demanded Borros’ loyalty any less disrespectful and unimpressive to Borros himself who received him. Aemond, on the other hand, who in HOTD is only slightly older than Luc, came baring a logical proposal.

- Aemond insulted Jace after he laid hands on him. Jace attacked Aemond because everyone else was doing it. He is violent for all the reasons I stated. And at the dinner table, he is violent because his immediate reaction to hearing something he doesn’t like is to throw hands.

- Jace kicked Luc in the chest and knocks the wind out of him, grabs him by the collar and screams “what was that?”. He is violent and jealous of his uncles, that was the whole point of the scene where they see how good of a fighter Aemond is and they just stand there sulking, and he is upset that Aemond folded him in half during the dinner fight that Jace started. He is upset they’re not as good and he takes it out on his brother.

- I am referring to the scene in which he’s speaking Valyrian and tells his mum what kind of king he is determined to be to which Rhaenyra replies that he should take it down a notch because there’s plenty of time until that happens “unless you’re planning to depose of your own mother” and Jace’s answer is to say nothing.

- I don’t bring up Alicent’s rumoured relationship with Mushroom because it’s not show canon and this is a show discussion. I bring the Sara rumour up because it is not yet proven to not be canon. So sorry for being repetitive about that, I hope I have conveyed my way of thinking, lol! ❤️ And to be fair, we don’t personally know Cregan or what he wants, lol. He did conveniently wait for the winter to end and marched down only after the war was over, so he definitely is the type of person to look after his own people and interests first. In the new leaked dialogue of his it sounds like he’s berating Jace for the way he treats the people of the night’s watch. So we’ll have to wait and see.

- I consider her evil both because of her fight with Aemond but also because she pulled out a knife and sliced the face of the guard who asked her not to approach her brother when he was king. I think you’re a bit confused about the rat pits, lol. The first time we hear of them is from Mushroom when he said that Aegon II was found in a rat pit in which he’s explaining that children fight. So a rat pit was never about rats lol. Rats is a nickname for the poor kids there. And then it is confirmed that Baela also frequented there and placed bets, by betting her money or clothes, so fuck them both lol.

- I don’t consider Rhaena making it her priority to claim her mother’s nuclear weapon for herself when her corpse wasn’t even cold yet a galant action to honour Laena. I see it as desperation to gain Daemon’s approval, but to each their own.

- All the other points you mention were made in order to clarify that all of these kids completely failed in whatever task they sought to accomplish and have no achievements, making them unimpressive and not praise worthy. (Btw, Sunfyre actually survived for months after and ate Rhaenyra? HE was the one to kill Moondancer, not the other way around? Sunfyre died due to the combined damage he received during the war because he was the dragon that participated in most battles and won them all.) Like, kudos to them for trying if you wanna applaud them for that, but they all like… failed. So I’ll not treat them as if they’re the best next thing after sliced bread, lol. I’ll treat them as they are in canon and not people’s head-canons about them: violent entitled underachievers.

[princesssszzzz]

Team fandom fights has rotted the brains of some I fear. I’m mostly team green but that person is embarrassing! Loud and Wrong! A lot of people are projecting hard onto these characters to the point where they no longer understand the characterization or the relationships between everyone

Absolutely, it is projection bc they didn’t get it from F&B or even the show. Especially onto Aemond. Half the takes on the show are people’s headcanons they collectively decided to treat as canon while what actually happened on screen is ignored. It’s also people who have been in their own little fandom bubbles and echo chambers since season 1 so they feel comfortable saying bullshit and don’t think anyone will even question what they’re saying. Echo chambers where people tell each other every character that isn’t their fave is secretly a horrible person and their faves are perfect and should be defended no matter what.

The characters during the dance are not a monolith of a “team”, they are individuals. For example, Aemond and Rhaena are much different than Aegon and Baela. Totally different; each pair one on team green one on team black yet totally different characters and interactions with each other. First off Aemond is absolutely wrong in his interaction with Rhaena and that’s not the first time I’ve seen people try to justify the “ride a pig” comments seconds after acknowledging it as bullying when it’s said by one of the strong boys.

Aemond and Rhaena barely interact, and adding up all their interactions, there is no normal person in this world that would say Rhaena is a bad person and not only that, but that Aemond or literally anyone would be justified in attacking her in any kind of way. There’s literally people in the fandom saying she should be killed by Aemond like wtf 🤨 Literally going off the characterization of them, Aemond is STILL pissed at the strong boys and there is absolutely no reason anyone should be falsely claiming he hates Baela and Rhaena at the end of season 1. Hence why the WRITERS of the show have him ranting endlessly about strong boys despite Baela and Rhaena being randomly added to the fight scene. He’s not mad because a younger girl hit him, he’s mad because he doesn’t like the strong boys and his eye was taken out. Aemond doesn’t give af about being pushed by a girl years younger than him, much smaller than him, and who isn’t trained to fight. And he’s not mentioning them in his little toast for a reason. Especially not Rhaena, when Aemond is a character that absolutely knows he was wrong in how he spoke to her and mocked her for not having a dragon, but would not admit it. That doesn’t mean he’s besties with them, that means they would literally just have a “cordial” relationship post time skip if the dance never happened. Even Baela is cordial with Aegon and calls him cousin despite not knowing that mf and this is after she’s hearing him be disrespectful for the first time.

This takes me back to the dinner moment where Rhaena raises her cup to Aemond after Viserys’ toast. Anyways, I just think it’s funny. I’ve also seen people creating fan art showing Baela and Rhaena flipping off Aemond and being antagonistic towards him when they literally aren’t like that whatsoever. This seems like the false characterization of Baela and Rhaena and their relationship with Aemond specifically that fans are constantly trying to push despite that not being on screen. Don’t even get me started that Aemond literally watched Rhaena clearly disagreeing with him and Jace fighting. Disagreeing with both Jace pulling out a knife and Aemond grabbing a rock.

People are not paying attention to this show and just seeing what they want to see atp.

Aegon and Baela interact multiple times and Baela genuinely can’t stand him. Then we add in the show interactions with him sexually harassing her, they have a fight and legitimately have no reason to give af about each other. Baela is not some mindless violent person despite what people keep pushing, she literally jumped in shock when Daemon killed Vaemond. Aegon is not a good person to Baela, and no amount of people saying Baela went to the rat pits is going to change that.

The interactions between Aegon and Baela is more obvious and it’s just impossible to misinterpret what type of people they are and their moments. The events of the dance and Aegon’s behavior leads Baela, someone who has never killed anyone, to risk her life attacking him. They are supposed to oppose each other. Their dragons names are literally Moondancer and Sunfyre.

That being said, despite what the chronically online claim, as of the end of Season 1 I’m absolutely under the impression neither Aegon or Aemond (or Daeron) hates Baela or Rhaena or want to kill them over Aemond getting pushed or simply because their father married Rhaenyra. Neither the show or the book is as simple as team black v team green and people need to start comprehending that sooner rather than later. I’m 99% sure Aegon on screen in the future will have an opportunity to kill Baela and will not take it. Baela and Rhaena are innocent, hence why so many things that happen purposefully don’t involve them. So much for these people and their “Baela and Rhaena are the villains and the green boys should go fight them” headcanons and wishes. People ignoring that these characters are related, and that does mean something. There is no blind “I want to kill them!!” going on. What’s not clicking 😭 Aemond didn’t even want to kill the kid that actually took his eye but you want to headcanon that he’s eager to kill Baela and Rhaena? Please go sit tf down 😂 Aemond and Aegon are not some mindless brutes trying to kill everyone on team black. How has this NOT been understood by someone claiming to be a team green stan. I don’t even like the show but I understand it better than it’s fans…..

[apricia]

For ever by your side / Aemond Targaryen x reader // Part III

Chapter 3 - Words cut deeper than knifes

“It will heal, will it not, maester?” Queen Alicent asked warily. She looked down at her son who was being examined. Her hands folded in her lap. The worry on her face.

Everyone had gathered in the great hall after the shouting. The men of the Kings guard had taken the children and immediately informed the king. Alyssa stood to one side, still trembling all over.

“The flesh will heal, but the eye is lost, Your Grace.” He answered.

When chaos broke out and the queen and king wanted to know what had happened, all the children screamed at the same time. Shifting the blame from one to the other. Alyssa stood by silently.

“Accident?” The Queen asked in disbelief, “The Prince Lucerys brought a blade to the ambush. He meant to kill my son.” It was the first thing that got through the fog in Alyssa's head.

That wasn't right. She didn't think Jace wanted to kill Aemond. But what was said, what was done, could not be undone anyway. 

“The legitimacy of my childrens’ birth was put loudly to question.” Rheanyra looked from Jace, to Aemond und back to Alicent. As if she know who was the reason for those insults.

“What?”, demanded King Viserys to know. 

Alyssa looked up to her cousin. He was looking at his grandfather, then to his mother. „He called us bastards“, Jace began, then his eyes found the one of Alyssa. „And he called Alyssa..“ She quickly shook her head. So made Jace fall silent. She didn't want to hear the words again. No matter by whom. She didn't want to get involved any further. For her it was enough. 

Jace said nothing more, but gave her a pitying look before glancing back at his mother.

Alyssa was once again engulfed in the fog in her head. Aemond's words repeated over and over in her mind. Opening up wounds she hadn't known existed. Broke her heart. Again and again. 

“This interminable infighting must cease!“, the king screamed and Alyssa looked to him. „All of you! We are family! Now make your apologies and show good will to one another. Your father, your grandsire, your King demands it!” He ordered before her started towards the door to retreat back to his chambers.

“That is insufficient,” Alicent stopped her husband in his tracks, “Aemond has been damaged permanently, My King. Good will cannot make him whole.”

“I know, Alicent. But I cannot restore his eye.”

“No because it’s been taken.”

“What would you have me do?” He asks her angrily.

“There is a debt to be paid. I shall have one of her son’s eyes in return.” The room broke into murmuring at the Queen’s extreme request.

Alyssa held her breath. She had never seen the queen like this before. Not after attacking her and Heleana, not after all the things Aegon had done. She had never seen such hatred in Alicent's eyes. She understood the queen's anger, but she still didn't want any more bloodshed. That other wounds were inflicted, whether of the body or the soul.

“My dear wife,” Viserys started sternly.

“He is your son Viserys!” She cried, “Your blood!”

“Do not allow your temper to guide your judgement.” Viserys warned her, turning to leave again. 

"I cannot tolerate that. Justice should prevail. Even in a place like this. I demand justice and then we will leave this place. First thing in the morning, my children and I will return to King's Landing. Aegon, Helaena, Aemond, Alyssa, pack your bags, we“, the queen looked around. As if she was only realizing at that moment that one of her children was missing. Even if Alyssa wasn't one of them. „Where's Alyssa?"

It was the first time Alyssa had been approached tonight. No adult had taken care of her before, or cared what was happening to her or how she was doing. Outwardly she might not have sustained any injuries, but inside she was empty.

"I'm here." Her voice was no louder than a whisper, but the queen turned to her immediately and inseminated her for injuries.

When she couldn't find any, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank the gods. Come here, child. We will go home right after just punishment has been given for what happened.“

Home... Was King's Landing still her home after tonight? Alyssa doubt she would be welcome there much longer. That she could even go back there.

She felt tears welling up in her eyes again. She didn't want to cry, not again. Not in front of the queen and the entire court. Not in Front of Aemond.

"I don't want to go," she then said quietly. However, she did not dare raise her head.

"How do you mean that?"

"I don't want to go to King's Landing."

"What are you talking about, child? We're going home, all together." Alicent knelt in front of her and put a hand on her shoulder, but Alyssa took a step back as if the queen had struck her.

Now the tears were streaming down her cheeks and Alyssa couldn't do anything to stop them. "Please don't make me go back there," she begged softly to Alicent, who gave her a horrified look.

"Alyssa.." Alicent whispered, her eyes widening as she saw the girl's tears. "What happened?"

Alyssa just shook her head silently, tears streaming down her face. She pressed her hands tightly into her dress. She wanted to throw herself into Alicent's arms, wanted to feel the security of the woman who was like a mother to her. But that was a lie. Alicent wasn't her mother. And Viserys was not her father.

Now the king stepped forward. "Alyssa, what happened? Why don't you want to go to King's Landing?"

"I..I," she stammered, but couldn't find the right words.

"It's your home," the queen said, looking at Alyssa sadly.

"No it is not." She had no home. Not anymore. She had no mother, she had no father, she had nothing.

"Alyssa, what happened? So talk to me."

What should she say? Should she tell the queen what Aemond had said to her? Aemond was Alicent's son. She would always be on his side. No matter what he said or did. Too many times she had seen Alicent siding with Aegon, covering up his missteps just because he was blood of her blood. But she wasn't.

She slowly raised her eyes, but instead of looking at the queen, she looked at Aemond. He sat in the chair in front of the fire and observed the situation. His expression was tense, his hands gripping the back of the chair tightly. Despite the scar that now adorned his face, Alyssa could see the shock in his eye. Was he afraid she would betray him? That she would told what had happened?

Alyssa would love to do that, but she couldn't. She couldn't repeat his words, couldn't admit how he had hurt her. That he had betrayed her and their friendship. That he broke her heart. She couldn't put it into words, couldn't summon up the courage to say it out loud. But the pain reverberated throughout her body.

Alicent looked from Aemond to Alyssa and frowned in confusion. She looked at Viserys and shrugged helplessly.

Visyers sighed. "Whatever happened, we're all going home tomorrow. You too, Alyssa, I'm sure we'll find a solution."

Her fist tightened on the fabric of her dress and a sob escaped her. She was ashamed. Ashamed that Aemond's words afflicted her so much that she cried like a small child in front of the king and queen.

"I won't come with you," she insisted, but her voice was broken and barely above a whisper.

"That's absurd," Alicent groaned, but she wasn't angry, just worried and didn't know what to do. "Where do you want to go instead?"

That question was like another slap in the face. Alyssa sobbed again and wiped her runny nose with the back of her hand.

Alyssa turned her head and looked into the eyes of Rheanys and Corlys Velaryon, from them to Beala and Rheana. Right next to them stood Jace and Luke. But Alyssa couldn't see any further, she didn't dare to look at the person who should have been standing by her side. He wasn't her father, just her sire, and yet, at that moment, Alyssa prayed to all the gods that Daemon Targaryn would help her. But he didn't.

"She's coming to Dragonstone with us," a voice said. But it wasn't her father's, it was Princess Rheanyra's. Alyssa looked at her cousin in astonishment.

The princess was still holding Luke's hands and by her side was Daemon, who also looked at her in astonishment.

"What?" Alyssa and Alicent asked simultaneously.

"Alyssa can come with us to Dragonstone. She is very welcome there."

"No, she certainly won't," Alicent's voice thundered through the room and she rose to face Rheanyra. The entire room seemed to hold its breath as the two women came close to attacking each other.

"She's not your daughter, Alicent. She’s mine. You don't decide her fate." Daemon Targaryen stepped forward, satisfaction showing on his face as he sided with the princess.

Alicent let out a hysterical laugh. "Oh, now she's your daughter? What was the last eleven years, Daemon? Did you tought about her just once while you start a new family?“

Alyssa closed her eyes. She didn't want to hear the queen's words, her heart was broken enough anyway. She wouldn't take any more cuts. But she knew the queen was right. Daemon had never been a father to her, she was never his daughter.

"I haven't taken care of Alyssa yet, you may be right in this case, Alicent, so it's time I did my duty."

Alicent shook his head and looked at the king invitingly. "No, you won't take her with you." She grabbed Alyssa and pulled her to her.

Alyssa loved Alicent, she was the only mother figure she knew and her words touched Alyssq deeply. But that didn't change Alyssa's decision. She would not stay in King's Landing.

"Alicent," Viserys murmured, looking back and forth between Daemon and his wife. A sad look on his face. "Daemon is her father. If he decides to take Alyssa with him, there's nothing we can do."

Alicent turned on her husband in anger. "You are the king, Viserys. She belongs to us, to our family!" An apologetic expression came over the king's face. And Alicent knew that today she would lose to his daughter for the second time.

Alyssa couldn't stop crying. Maybe she would never be able to stop again.

"She's part of our family too," Rheanyra then said, smiling at Alyssa. "If she wants that."

It seemed to Alyssa that all eyes in the room were on her. As if she had to make a decision that would change not only her life but the whole world forever.

„No“, no," Alicent yelled. "You mutilated my son, you will not take my daughter from me. I will not allow you to take Alyssa."

Daemon looked at the queen in amusement. "You won't be able to prevent it."

Alicent whirled on her husband. "Say something, Viserys. Speak for your son, for your niece." For me, resonated weakly in her tear-choked voice.

But Viserys said nothing.

“If the King will not seek justice the Queen will. Daemon has no claim to his daughter, he already rejected her after her birth. And as for the other...Ser Criston, bring me the eye of Lucerys Velaryon.” Alicent ordered.

Alyssa's eyes widened and she stared at the queen in disbelief. Was she serious? Did she really demand that Luke sacrifice an eye because Aemond lost his?

That couldn't be true.

“He can choose which eye to keep, a privilege which he did not grant my son. And if Daemon try to lay a hand on Alyssa, cut them off.”

“You will do no such thing,” Rhaenyra said firmly.

“Stay your hand,” Viserys ordered Ser Criston.

“No, you are sworn to me!” Alicent yelled.

Ser Criston hesitated for a moment, “As your protector, my Queen. And I will protect the princess as well, if she would be in danger. But she‘s not.“

“Alicent, this matter is finished. Do you understand?” The King asked her sternly. He began to walk away again, stopping to make one more announcement, “And let it be known, anyone whos tongue dares to question the birth of Princess Rhaenyra’s children should have it removed. As for Alyssa's concerns, it is up to her father to determine her whereabouts.” A sad expression came into the king's eyes as he looked at his niece.

“Thank you Father,” Rhaenyra told him.

Alyssa thought the matter was settled now. Though she didn't know what that meant for her. Daemon only laid claim to her because he wanted to undermine Alicent.

Where would she live from now on? What would happen to her?

Her thoughts were cut short when Alicent let out a yell, pulled a dagger from Visery's belt, and charged at Rheanyra, knife raised.

Chaos broke out and shouts erupted.

The two women fought with each other, the Kingsguard tried to separate them. Alyssa watched in horror. Prayed to the gods that Alicent would stop and that she wouldn't get hurt.

Alicent suddenly pushed herself away from Rhaenyra sending the Princess stumbling back into Lord Corlys Arms. She clutched her forearm, from which a red line ran down. Blood. It was already dripping onto the floor of the hall.

The room was eerily quiet. You could probably have heard a pin drop. Alyssa looked from Alicent to the princess in fear. But her gaze fell on Aemond as he got up and ran to his mother.

“Do not mourn me, Mother. It was a fair exchange. I may have lost an eye but I gained a dragon.” At the end of his sentence, a hurt look crossed his face and he looked at Alyssa. She just looked at him silently, tears still in her eyes. He hadn't just lost an eye and claimed a dragon tonight. He had lost her, her friendship, everything.

But even though Alyssa thought she saw something like regret in his eyes, he said nothing. No apologetic words, he didn't even look at her anymore.

In that moment, Alyssa realized that she really had lost. That she had lost everything she had known in her life.

"What about Alyssa?" the Queen asked, while hugging Aemond.

Alyssa looked at Viserys, who had a hand on Alicent's shoulder. The queen looked at her silently, almost pleadingly. Rheanyra gave her a friendly smile while Daemon looked at her wordlessly, waiting. And although she didn't want to, her gaze wandered to Aemond. He was already looking at her. His remaining eye wide open, as if he couldn't comprehend what was happening. What Alyssa was about to do.

Alyssa took a step towards Alicent, who breathed a sigh of relief and hugged her. But Alyssa just put a hand on her cheek. "Thank you for everything. But I can't stay, it's not your fault," she whispered in the queen's ear and she looked again at Aemond, as if to say it's his. He seemed to have heard her words. He looked away and Alyssa saw his jaw clench.

Alicent looked stunned from Alyssa to her son, then slowly shook her head. Like begging Alyssa to reconsider her decision.

Alyssa took a step back and then looked at Rheanyra. "If you like, princess, I would accept your offer. I want to go to Dragonstone.“

The decision had been made. Alyssa Targaryen would no longer live in the capital. Wouldn't grow up next to her cousins ​​anymore. Wouldn't talk to Helaena about spiders, scorpions or other insects. Would no longer bet and fool around with Aegon. But much more important was that she didn't have to see Aemond anymore. They would no longer spend time together in the library, would not study, discuss, or philosophize together. No more sneaking out, no more telling secrets. Nothing more. The vow of for Ever by your side, forgotten.

She had been a Green, taken in by Alicent like a daughter of her own, but that was over.

From now on, Alyssa would be a black.

_________

Tag-List:

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[lunarmoonanons]

Fire and Salt chp5

🌕 🌖 🌗 🌘 🌑 🌒 🌓 🌔 🌕  

YN was young. That may have made her naïve. She would curse herself for her stupidity for trusting her friend, who in the end turned out to be jus like the rest of them. 

🌕 🌖 🌗 🌘 🌑 🌒 🌓 🌔 🌕  

Masterlist

YN could tell her father was not handling the cards life had handed him well. The death of his sister had left him in such a state of sorrow and drunken grief, his body swayed and his steps stumbled. His state crumbled when he found his child YN, falling to his knees and beginning to weep. YN rushed to him, trying to get him to his rooms so that he may rest. Once there he held her hand tight before she could go. 

“YN. My dear daughter.” He whispered, kissing her forehead repeatedly. “My child. My child. I am unfit to be a parent. I am restless and wretched.”

“Go to sleep Papa. You’ll feel better when the wine is gone.” YN pushed him back to his bed. Once she left, YN found her cousins and brothers running to the lower areas. 

“What is it? What’s wrong?” YN asked. 

“Someone’s stolen Vaghar.” Rhaena said, YN paused then turned angry. She couldn’t believe she trusted Aemond. 

“Aemond.” 

The five ran to where the culprit was, lo and behold she was right. He was smug and arrogant as he walked in. Proud of his conquest, but his smile faltered when he saw the furious glare from YN. He was wrong, she wasn’t going to be happy for him like he thought she’d be. 

“It’s him.” Baela sneered. 

“It’s me.” Oh how YN wanted to slap the look off him. 

“Vaghar is my mother’s dragon.” Rhaena got angry. 

“Your mother’s dead.” He was trying to seem nonchalant about it, but he truly just wanted to get away from them. “Vaghar has a new rider now.”

“She was mine!” 

“Then you should have claimed her.” YN’s fist clenched, his face betrayed to her what he would say and her eyes dared him to utter it. “Perhaps your cousins can find you a pig to ride. It would suit you.” 

With that, YN threw her fist into the side of his face, shocking Aemond that she gave the first blow. Rhaean ran forward, but he shoved her to the side making YN run to her as Baelal punched him to which he returned. Threatening them all that he feed them to his dragon, causing Jace to attack him, but Aemond was the calmer fighter and kicked him back, as well as punched Lucerys in the face. 

YN jumped forward and tackled him to the wall. Grabbing his thin neck and punching his ribs. Her anger did not let her see the rock he grabbed, as he then rammed a large pointy rock across her cheek. The force shoved YN to the wall, making her hit her head harshly on the stone and fall to the floor. Her vision was weak and dizzy, and her head felt pain. Jace saw a large gash on his sister’s left cheek, and blood on the side of her head that hit the wall. Her eyes were fluttering and she couldn’t move that well. Aemond also stood shocked at what he did. 

Jace shoved him to the ground in retaliation for his sister, Rhaena and Baela joining his side and beating the silver haired boy to the ground. But he grabbed another rock, kicking the older three off him, and holding Luke’s neck. He threatened them all again with dragon fire and blood, YN could barely make out him calling her brother’s bastards, but she saw his rage and how Aemond was about to almost kill one of them. She wanted to get up, but her head hurt so much and her vision thrashed like she was on a stormy ship. It would be so easy to just fall asleep right now, just close her eyes and sleep. Then screaming from Aemond shook her from the need to sleep, Luke was holding a knife and Aemond was holding his bloody eye. 

YN tried to sit up when the guards came in, but the act of even lifting her head caused such dizziness that she let her head drop back down. Harrold Westerling came to her, holding her up as she mumbled. 

“I… an accident, just a mistake.. I should sleep it off..”

“No princess. Stay awake.” He commanded, carrying her to the maesters. 

The maesters quickly stitched up her cheek and applied pressure to the side of her head. Once she could sit up on her own, her family and many others had burst into the room. Jace was holding Luke, and YN was sitting in a chair as she grabbed the arms tightly for support. She watched in worry as the maester stitched over Aemond’s eye. Her grandfather, the king, demanded to know what had happened. 

Queen Alicent was unforgiving, slapping her own older son as she blamed him for letting it happen. YN could barely focus on the scene, her head no longer hurt but it felt like it was swaying.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Her grandparents stormed down the stairs, YN turned her head to see their worried faces. Rhaenys comforted her two cousins before turning more worried at the sight of YN, Corlys rushing toward her. “YN! What happened? Who did this to you?!” 

“YN!” Rhaenys sped over to her, Baela and Rhaena following behind. 

Corlys inspected her shaking hands, and swaying head wrapped in a bandage. He took her small shaking hand in his as his wife looked the girl over. “Who did this to you YN? I will see them properly punished, I will have their hands driven with nails.”

That proclamation made Aemond tremble slightly, his guilt and fear amplifying the pain in his eye. Alicent seemed just as worried Corlys would demand punishment against her already injured son. Finally her mother arrived, followed by Daemon. 

“Jace? Luke! Show me. Show me.” She rushed to the boys, but her attention was shifted when she saw the state of her daughter. A sheen of sweat covered her light brown skin, her left cheek had a long stitch in it, she had dirt in her hair and clothes, her silver white curls were stuck to her head with dried blood, and a cloth wrapped around her head. She was also shaking slightly, and swaying the chair sat. “YN! YN, my little girl, what happened? Who did this!”

“They attacked me!” Aemond defended. 

“He attacked Baela!” Luke cried. 

“He broke Luke’s nose! He nearly killed YN!” Jace shouted. 

The children all started their shouting match, the noise irritating the king as well as YN. Viserys looked to his granddaughter as her shaky hands went up to her ears to drown out the screams. 

“You knocked her against a wall! Now she can’t even sit straight!”

“You cut my eye!”

“He stole my mothers dragon!” 

“enough …” 

“He was going to kill Jace!”

“Enough.” 

“It should be my son telling the tale!” 

“He called us-”

“SILENCE!!” Viserys yelled, though he regretted it when he saw the noise making YN wince in pain. But he had to control the room. 

YN heard her brothers whisper to their mother that Aemond called them bastards.Confirming to YN what she thought she heard, and making her anger all the new. 

“Aemond, I will have the truth of what happened.” The king walked to his injured son. “Now.”

“What else is there to hear?” Alicent asked, her frustration at the scene evident. “Your son has been maimed. Her son is responsible.” 

“It was a regrettable accident.” Rhaenyra interjected, placing her hand on YN’s shoulder. 

“Accident? THe prince Lucerys brought a blade to the ambush. He meant to kill my son.” Alicent defended. 

“It was my children who were attacked. I’ll remind you, that my daughter here can barely hold her head up, she looks as though every breath she takes is a pain.” Rhaenyra bit back, making Alicent silent as she saw the girl hold her head in pain. “It was my sons who were attacked. Forced to defend themselves and their sister. Vile insults were levied against them.”

“What insults?” Viserys asked. 

The room was quiet. Everyone most likely knew of the insults. The same vile talk YN had overheard in the Red Keep. Whispers from those who did not know how to not make other’s affairs their own.

“The legitimacy of my son’s birth was put Loudly to question.” Rhaenyra stated. 

“What?” Her poor grandfather, like YN, despised the talk of the boy's patronage. 

“He called us bastards.” The room’s tension seemed to still time. Queen Alicent looked unnerved and slightly worried when it was put out there, like she was guilty. Aemond said nothing, he knew what YN would think of him now. She hated it was people called her brothers bastards, but he couldn’t help but smirk at the absurdity of the situation, surely his father wasn’t blind. 

“My son is to inherit the throne, Your Grace. This is the highest of treasons.” Rhaenyra had already made it known that Jace would take the throne instead of YN. 

It made people rally to Jace knowing that he wouldn’t marry into a family, but have a family to inherit the throne. YN, as a woman, would marry into a house and hold their names. She also was not seen as a fit heir to the throne Loudly proclaiming in retaliation when she was five that if she were to have the throne, she’d dismantle the nobility and give the common folk equal standing to them. She may have been a child, but that unnerved too many noble lords who insisted Jace should inherit instead. 

“Prince Aemond must be sharply questioned so we might learn where he heard such slanders.” That made Aemond look back to them, YN was now glaring at queen Alicent who seemed  worried and guilty. She knew her step-grandmother was where he heard it. 

~~~

Aemond and YN were lying under on the trees in the garden when he told her what he heard his mother say. 

“She said they were not of your father. That you are the only legitimate one, and since you’re a girl you couldn’t inherit.” Aemond said, gulping at the fury on her face. 

“Then she’s a liar. I don’t care if she’s the queen or your mother, if you repeat her words I’ll never be your friend again.” YN spat. “Promise me.” 

~~~~

Now here he was, people looking to him to tell the truth. But he couldn’t bring harm to his mother. He looked to the ground as the two mothers argued about him. He should’ve smashed the boys against the wall, maybe then they wouldn’t get him in trouble. 

“Aemond.” His father got his attention. “Look at me. Your king demands an answer. Who spoke these lies to you?” 

With a flickered look to his mother’s worried face, Aemond mentally said goodbye to the only friend he had. “It was Aegon.” 

YN snapped her head to him. The pain in her throbbing head and the rage at her uncle’s lie drowned out the scolding from her grandfather to her other uncle. Viserys got so frustrated at his family for fighting over and over again. Declaring that they are family and must apologize to each other. 

“I know Alicent, I can not restore his eye. And what of YN? We do not know what all the effects of injuries to the head are in young children. She may be in permanent pain. They must make good will.” Viserys tried to get his wife to reason. 

“There is a debt to be paid.” Alicent demanded. “I shall have one of her son’s eyes in return.” 

The room murmured in shock. Whispers of the queen going mad circulated. YN tried to stand so that she could shield her little brother, but her grandmother made her still. Alicent ranted that her son was Viserys’ blood. Viserys scolds her to temper her judgment. YN just kept her eyes on Luke, wanting to pick up her sweet brother and run him to his room. 

Alicent then demanded Ser Criston to remove Luke’s eye, screaming that he was sworn to her. YN finally shook her grandmother off, standing to shield her brother with her body, pain forgotten as she wrapped him behind her. But it seemed her grandfather would have none of it, deciding that was the last of it. 

Until the queen grabbed his dagger and dashed to Luke, only to be stopped by Rhaenyra as YN pushed both her brothers behind her. Her mother was fierce and strong as she held the struggling queen in place. The mad woman screamed about duty, sacrifice, and whatever. 

“Exhausting wasn’t it.” Her mother interrupted the woman. “Hiding beneath the cloak of your own righteousness.” Her volume dropped as she whispered. “But now they see you as you are.” 

With that, the queen was pushed back. YN saw a cut down her mother’s arm. The room seemed to divide into factions. Greens and Blacks. Everyone was staring at the queen like she was a mad woman. 

“Do not mourn me, mother.” Aemond interrupted the shock “I may have lost an eye. But I gained a dragon.” He put on such a cold, strong front. But it nearly crumbled when his eyes met his nieces, his only friend, his YN. The message she sent was clear. 

You are nothing to me now.

[darkestspring]

What if baelon ii lost his eye instead of aemond because he was just trying to stop a fight that gone wrong? how would everyone else react? he isn’t mad at Luke but appalled that the boy had a knife in the first place, so he solely blames rhaenyra for being careless. So far the greens are only enraged on his behalf, especially aemond.

Did I wait until i got home to answer this because i wanted to expand on it? yes, yes I did. So here’s my thoughts on this.

Baelon II Targaryen had been ten and two when his stepmother had died and he saw his father once again, and now he had two half-sisters. He had no interest in any of that. No interest in his father or his half-sisters. He was content never knowing his stepmother but he told Princess Rhaenys that he was sorry for her death.

My father ruins everything he touches, he had told her as bitterness filled his face as purple eyes connected with purple and he turned away as Alicent beckoned him over.

He had returned to his temporary room after escorting Helaena to hers, making sure of her safety but he couldn’t fall asleep, not with the feeling that something was wrong.

He left his room, only to be led towards the sound of fighting. Who could it be at this time? A fight after a funeral? Who was capable of such disrespect.

He got his answer soon enough as he saw Aemond, Jace, Luke and his half-sisters fighting. The glint of a knife caught his eye and out of a sense of loyalty to his cousin, he surged forward, just in time for the knife to slide of his right eye like butter.

Pain was blinding, blood gushed from him as his vision blurred, there was so much screaming.

“Baelon!” Aemond screamed, alerting a knight who gasped at the horror of what had occurred. The knife held in the tiny had of Lucerys had fallen in the boys own horror.

Baela and Rhaena could not contain their horror at the sight of their older brother as they held onto each other.

All of the were brought before the adults and other children. Baelon was mostly silent as his eye was stitched. Alicent held onto his hand as she looked on with tears in her eyes.

“It will heal, will it not?” Alicent had inquired with anguish in her voice as she held onto the boy she had raised since he came to them at six namedays. He had always protected her and helped her and yet the second they come to driftmark, he is maimed.

“The flesh will heal but the eye is lost.” The maester sorrowfully revealed as Alicent gasped in sorrow.

“Where were you?” She hissed at Aegon but refused to remove herself from Baelon as she tried to comfort him.

Baelon could still feel the pain but his anger was worse. This could have been Aemond, his cousin who had done nothing but yearn for a dragon.

“I care not for my eye.” Baelon dismissed the concerns as he slowly turned his head to look at Rhaenyra who had just entered with his father.

How typical.

“Why did a child possess such a blade. It matters not who started it or who brought it. Why? Princess Rhaenyra, why was your child aiming to kill?” Baelon didn’t even look at his father as his newfound resentment for his cousin came to life.

Viserys came forth from his spot to look over his nephew. “How could this have happened? To my own flesh and blood.”

“They attacked Baelon!” Aemond hissed, glaring at his bastard nephews with fiery distaste. His cousin, maimed by those animals.

Helaena stood off to the side, her purple eyes locked on Baelon with concern in her eyes even as he looked back at her as if to reassure her.

“He called us bastards!” Jace defended, still deathly pale. He didn’t mean for Baelon to get hurt, truly.

“Prince Aemond and Prince Baelon must be sharply questioned on where that idea came from.” Rhaenyra insisted, making bitterness grow inside of Baelon.

“Aemond, where did you get that idea.” Viserys forcefully asked. 

Baelon glanced between Alicent and Aegon before answering for Aegon. “It was some men in the training grounds.” He lied, to save the person who had always cared for him after his mother.

Viserys nodded but Alicent wasn’t satisfied. “That’s not enough! Baelon has been permanently injured! Baelon, our blood. Our ward. Viserys.” Tears filled her eyes again as she choked back a sob.

Daemon watched with anger coursing through him, Baelon was his son, his blood. Not the blood of this Hightower cunt.

“Don’t mourn me, Aunt.” Baelon got up with Aemond’s help as he walked forwards slowly to grab at her hand.

Baelon didn’t want Alicent to be viewed as vengeful or evil for how far she might go to protect him against Rhaneyra. “Let’s go back home. I’m alright.” He rested his head on her shoulder briefly to calm her down.

His lone purple eye gazed at his cousin with resentment that had never been there before and it made Rhaenyra and Daemon flinch.

I will never forgive you or forget this. His gaze said. He pulled away before walking over to Helaena and leading both her and Alicent away. There was no need to stay here when he hated nearly everyone in this room. Especially his father.