#just bella rambling because we're finally at the part of the story where helaena is more than aegon's accessory

[bbygirl-aemond]

helaena's dreams

in case you can't tell from chapter 15, i love this idea that helaena knows her power but is bound by magic to never be able to tell anyone. the idea that most of the words she speaks are warnings, yet magic makes it so that none around her will ever believe her.

we see that her visions often take place in the form of brief moments that happen very shortly after her dream. we also see that she keeps telling people about them, and people keep not believing her. what does it say about her, that she continues to try to warn those around her even though they have never once listened? even though surely she must know it's futile?

i also love the idea that everyone is so used to helaena speaking nonsense and doing weird things that she can weaponize it. that if she wants to tell someone something secretly she can do it in a crowded room by using information only they would be privy to, information that she saw in a dream. that if she's caught seemingly red-handed, she can pretend to be wandering and singing and no one will think her a threat until it is too late.

helaena is a targaryen, and one of the more deeply connected to the magic of old valyria characters that we see in asoiaf. there's so much potential here for her to be eerie, to be uncanny. there's something gothic about how desperately she tries to warn those around her, how doomed they are to never heed her warnings.

i mean, let's face it: if you can see things that happen anywhere across space and time, it's bound to make you a little weird. your brain has to be wired completely uniquely just to process that sort of information. give me uncanny helaena, people!!

lastly, i'll probably put this in the fic at some point, but i love the idea that helaena is so in love with her little critters because to her that's basically what humanity seems like. in the grand scheme of things we are nothing more than ants at the mercy of fate and she is the only one who sees it. of course she has empathy for them. she knows that we share their helplessness in many ways.