#myrielle asks

[dragonsbone]

🥀 + josana and myrielle? devastate me pls.

if she were to die, her older brother, marcellus would stay at her grave the longest. he would’ve tried everything in his power to protect his little sister, but all his efforts would end up in vain. he would carry the weight of her death for the rest of his life. 

fun fact: myrielle DOES in fact die. though, the events leading up to her death would not have many mourning over her for a huge reason. the only ones who did were her mother, meredyth, and her and aemond’s son when he grew older.

send me one of my ocs + 🥀 and i’ll tell you who would stay at their grave the longest

[novembermorgon]

I was going through your Myrielle posts and on a picture of Myrielle and Gerold you tagged "and also wanting to have weird mildly sexual encounters with each other but thats a different conversation" and I now need to know more about these two 😭 can you expand on their relationship?

well YES!!! i would love to :-) especially because like maelor i have pondered and thought about them more recently .

myrielle and gerold are WEIRD about each other . well more specifically gerold is weird about myrielle . i think given that tybolt is the firstborn son and the two of them are 1. second son 2. daughter, they were never really prioritized by their father in the same way that tybolt was - not in the sense that he didn't love them, but they definitely found comfort more in each other than they did with others . and then myrielle goes off to king's landing, and gerold has to kind of make up a version of her in his mind to make up for the fact that she isn't there anymore .

which, when they get older, i imagine sort of manifests as ...? gerold has made up a perfect fantasy version of her in his mind. he's spent so long thinking about her, and their relationship, and their bond - so he makes an ideal version of herself, and uses that as a way to kind of stay in that childhood mindset that they shared with each other . he sees her as one of his only friends and then they get older and he grows almost a sense of posessive jealousy over her and thinks of her as an ideal woman and then he gets weird . i think he latches on, and sticks to her, and gets increasingly touchy and steps forward every time she has an argument with aerion, and kind of remains that one familiar presence that will love her unconditionally . its always sort of sexually charged because that's the way he approaches it, even if nothing actually 'happens' while she's in king's landing and still married

when myrielle then suffers all her losses in aerion dying, her children dying, daeron dying - i imagine she moves back to casterly rock, and with gerold's wife (rohanne) also being gone, they probably form a sort of weird romantic sexual bond, finding that comfort in each other again when they're reunited back home. gerold gets touchy with her, she has nobody else to turn to, and it spirals until it becomes a weird, incestuous loop of misery . she gives in because he's the only person left that loves her. wants to feel loved and wanted when everyone is gone and he indulges in that feeling. i think if he got to choose he wouldve married her and had her locked up in her room and kept away from everyone but him . ❤️ but he'll make do with what he gets (a bit of slowburn incest) ...

[horizon-verizon]

Jaehaera’s ending is absolutely perfect because she’s basically murdered by Otto. Unwin Peake and Otto undoubtedly share parallels, both are from the Reach, both served as Hand of the King, both were ambitious enough to get closer to the throne which didn’t go unnoticed by anyone. Unwin represents Otto’s narrative punishment.

Otto brought his daughter to court and after she married King Viserys I, he was “anxious to see their blood set over Aemma’s” (former queen consort). Unwin Peake, Hand of the King to Aegon III, tried to marry his daughter to him for the same reason: to replace former queen consort Jaehaera with his daughter, Myrielle.

The irony here is that Unwin is a former Green supporter but when the war was over, he saw the opportunity to replace Otto’s blood on the throne with his own, murdering Otto’s great-granddaughter and the last surviving child of Aegon II. With Jaehaera gone, their line died at the hand of another power hungry Green.

Yep, all correct. Too bad some people can't deal.

[novembermorgonen]

I had this ask in me for a long time. Myrielle has amazing curly, Aerion has amazing waves/curls. Why does genes hate Maegor and Aenys so much it denied them the curls T_T

it's because i used to draw aerion's hair much straighter!!!! they took after dad ... but since i changed my aerion design a bit to give him more curly hair maybe they need a new look too ...

[gwenllian-in-the-abbey]

in fire and blood book, it was written that aegon III had thrust one of jahaera’s dolls at myrielle peake whom had craddled the doll as if a baby on maidens ball

how did you perceive that as?

and its interesting detail that it says aegon thrusts one of the dolls at myrielle

So did aegon keep the other dolls?

Ohh such a good question! I don't think the doll has to do with Aegon III's feelings about Jaehaera at all, at least not directly. My take on the doll is that Aegon III is sending a "fuck you" to Unwin Peake through this "gift" to his daughter. (more below, sorry this got long)

the context of Aegon's regency is important here. Although his ascent to the throne is often seen as a triumphant moment for the black faction, for Aegon III on a personal level it is anything but. He's a traumatized kid suffering from depression, forced into a marriage he's too young to take any interest in, with a girl who is equally traumatized (and I don't think Aegon III bore Jaehaera any particular animosity. This is the kid who forgave Tyland Lannister and held his hand as he died, and whose best friend was Gaemon Palehair. His grudges are personal, not generational). Moreover, the regency strips him of all personal agency. At first, there are a few people, like Corlys Velaryon and Tyland Lannister, who more or less are trying to get the realm back on track and set Aegon III up for a successful reign. And at this point, Aegon is still quite young, grieving, and doesn't take much of an interest in ruling. Then the Winter Fever hits, much of the old guard dies, including Tyland Lannister, and Aegon III, now entering adolescence, decides to step up. Hurray!

Aegon seems to find some motivation and sense of purpose during this period, and he impresses people! He tends to the ill, shows compassion, he's there for Tyland's last moments, and then with his Hand gone, he decides to take action. He makes appointments to replace kingsguard and council members who died during the plague, people he thinks he can count on to be on his side, like Alyn Velaryon and Thaddeus Rowan and Robin Massey. He also called his sisters to court. People start saying he's mature beyond his years, and he's showing promise as a king! However, he is still only twelve and under a regency, and therefor the regents have all the power. Unwin Peake and Munkun, the only remaining healthy members of the council at that point, undid all of Aegon's appointments, and Peake named himself both Hand and Protector of the Realm. And at this point things get very bad for Aegon.

Even though Aegon is the king, Peake is calling the shots, and Aegon now knows that his Hand is actively working against him. He tries to protest, to at least keep the kingsguards he'd appointed (they serve for life, right?) but Munkun says he'd not made the appointments the proper way. Aegon withdraws into himself again and goes into what looks like a pretty deep depressive episode. He shows no interest in anything, barely leaves the keep, and the only person who makes him even a little bit happy is Gaemon Palehair. And during this period, the Hand is a real ass to Aegon. He forces him to go watch public executions, the master of arms, appointed by Peake, bullies Aegon and makes Gaemon a whipping boy, and he appoints Marston Waters, who was there when Aegon II killed Rhaenyra, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. Aegon is very unhappy with all of this, but what can he do? He's powerless, and if he is openly defiant, the one friend he has gets hurt. Then, to top it off, his wife, Jaehaera, "the little queen," dies by "suicide" although no one really believes it was suicide at all. And suspiciously soon after her death, Unwin Peake decides Aegon is going to marry his daughter. And this is where he overreaches, because it's one thing to name yourself Hand, another thing to possibly murder the queen (no evidence, but word on the street is that it was an inside job) and decide unilaterally that the king is going to marry your child. No one is happy with this, and even though Peake has been going around saying Aegon is betrothed to Myrielle, he is forced by the council to give Aegon his choice of brides.

So the "cattle show" happens when Aegon III is at a low point in his regency, but with this new marriage, he has an unexpected opportunity to stick it to Peake. And this is, finally, where the doll comes in! Aegon at this point is clearly not a fan of Unwin Peake, and yet Unwin Peake is dead set on making his daughter queen. He has Myrielle come and hang out with Aegon practically every day and pays Mushroom talk mad shit about the other girls who might be in consideration. And Unwin Peake is getting pretty cocky about this, saying well Aegon seems to like Myrielle better than he liked Jaehaera (so basically he tolerates her presence-- again, does he have a choice?). Then Aegon III gives her this doll. Mind you, Myrielle is fourteen years old. She's older than Aegon himself and too old for dolls, and this doll is the hand me down doll of a dead girl that her father may or may not have murdered, so this is a weird gift on several counts. And while I don't know whether Unwin Peake gets the message or not, I think Aegon meant it as a fuck you to Unwin Peake. To me, this is Aegon saying "I know what you did, and I know what you're doing. Go ahead and try it." The doll is not just a random doll, it's known that it was Jaehaera's doll. Aegon III may be depressed, but he's not stupid. He knows that he's all but powerless, but in this one thing he's been handed a small bit of agency-- the power to choose his own bride-- and there was no way he was going to choose Myrielle Peake, the daughter of a man he despises.

While the book sort of depicts Daenaera Velaryon is a surprise candidate, an "ace in the hole" from Baela and Rhaena, Aegon knows who his family members are, and he would have known about Daenaera being Baela's ward. Was he banking on his sisters coming through with a suitable bride for him? I think it's pretty likely Aegon knew his sisters would have a candidate for him, and he trusted them to have his back. During the Maiden's Day Ball Aegon again comments to Myrielle about the doll, telling her he's glad she liked it. And isn't it interesting, he doesn't say anything about Myrielle herself, he just mentions the doll? Myrielle brought it to the Ball, cradling it like a baby. When he sees Daenaera, however, he smiles and tells her she looks very pretty. Aegon doesn't get many opportunities to show defiance, and he has to be incredibly subtle when he does because of how little control he has under the regency, but I think that's what the doll was, a small act of defiance right before he makes the one decision he's allowed to make for himself. And Peake throws an absolute fit about this choice too, threatening to resign over it, claiming it was unacceptable Aegon-- only thirteen years old mind you-- would not be able to have children with Daenaera and Baela would remain Aegon's heir (and this is important! and why Daenaera is a strategic choice at this point. If Aegon fathers a child before his regency is over, what are the chances he makes it out of his regency alive?). This time though, the rest of the council calls his bluff. No one is interested in handing him lifelong power through Myrielle, they like Daenaera, Aegon is happy with her, and so Peake resigns. Middle finger successfully raised by Aegon, Myrielle can keep the doll.

[daenerysoftarth]

The irony of the Green faction ending with Jaehaera’s murder by Unwin Peake, a former Aegon II’s supporter, is simply the natural conclusion to a recurring motif. Their pursuit literally ate itself from the inside out because a heritage of betrayal will always come back to haunt you. In the end, their cause, marked since the start by usurpation and betrayal of the rightful heir, is punished in the narrative. And it’s even more ironic, Jaehaera died because Unwin Peake tried to do for his daughter the same thing Otto did for Alicent. It started with the Hand of the King making moves to pimp his daughter to the widowed king, and so like that it ends. Truly poetic.

This right here!!

[badassindistress]

I've been writing Regency Romance again~✨

[umarthiels]

singlehandedly warping time and space to make it possible for gabriel john "inclined to help rather than to reprove" utterson to process the events of the book with the help of charles-françois-bienvenu "sought not to efface sorrow by forgetfulness, but to magnify and dignify it by hope" myriel

[standardlovers]

u have correct opinions on les mis and saw have u spoken abt les mis recently ? no, but i support unconditionally anyway

i made one (1) post abt enjolras the other day, im not allowed to talk abt them anymore bc i dont ever ever stop but if given 2 seconds of space to be allowed to i constantly have so much to say thank u so much

[ohwarnette]

🪲

send me an emoji and I’ll give you a book rec

[ashblooddragons]

The Red Queen (Chapter 6/?)

(i'm so sorry for the long wait! I've been dealing with some mental health issues lately and had no motivation to write. but don't worry I'm back on my meds and am feeling much, much better. I'm gonna try to get a chapter out once every 2 weeks because I have another fic I'm gonna work on now too. if you haven't voted in my poll yet please do if you want your choice to win! alright enough about me let the chapter begin!!!)

112 ac 

Alicents pov

I watch as you, Rhaenyra and Lady Laena ride your dragons. My heart about leaps from my chest when you command Stormchaser to roll through the air. You had been learning and practicing new tricks wth her so I shouldn’t be surprised that you are now doing the ones you were cleared to do by the Prince and the Dragonkeepers. Though that knowledge does not help my fears.

“What are their names again?” Rhaenyra’s new lady in waiting Lady Myrielle Greyjoy asks.

“The yellow one is Syrax, she is the Princess Rhaenyras dragon. The grey one is Moonfyre, she is the Lady Laenas. And the white one is Stormchaser, she is the little Princess’s.” I say pointing to each.

She hums before turning to me again. “How often will we be expected to be waiting here as they are up there?” She asks.

“Well it depends, with Princess Rhaenyra you would be expected to do so each time. But the little Princess and Lady Laena it would depend if they invite you to watch. Rarely are the two Princesses in th sky at the same time, but the Princess Rhaenyra wished to try and stay out of the council meeting and this is usually the time Lady Laena and the little Princess fly and try their new tricks.” I respond just as Rhaenyra lands climbing off Syrax.

“So I have always to come out when she flies?” Myrielle’s little sister Nymeria Greyjoy asks as she points to Stromchaser.

I nod to Nymeria as I climb onto the steps in front of the carriage waiting for Rhaenyra. 

“Syrax is growing quickly, she’ll be the size of Caraxes soon enough.”

“That's almost large enough to saddle two.” She says boredly as you and Lady Laena land climbing off your dragons with the help of Dragonkeepers. 

“I’m quite content on the ground, thank you, but perhaps the Lady Myrielle would join you.” 

“Oh no, I much prefer the ground as well, thank you for the offer though.” Myrielle answers quickly.

I watch as Nymeria walks past Rhaenyra to greet you and Laena. The three of you seem to be talking animatedly about something, though most children speak such ways even if it is just about bread. Though that doesn’t mean it doesn’t bring a smile to my face hearing your excited chatter.

You run over to me smiling and exclaim. “Did you see me Ali? Did you see my new tricks? Kepus showed me the rolling one!” 

It is moments like this that I wonder how I can love you as a mother would her own child when you did not come from my womb. There are days I swear I had made you, for how else could this love I feel for you be real if not? I know it is just my heart telling my brain lies, but the thought never ceases to bring a smile to my face. For you are so sweet, so kind, so gentle, just like that beast of yours. I know I had not birthed you, but that does not mean you are not my girl. I hate to even think it but I raised you, not the Queen, not wet nurses, me. It is these thoughts and feeling that have always kept me going even when my mother died, when my father was cruel, when I felt nothing more than a waste of space.

“I did you wer-” I start to say until Rhaenyra cuts me off.

“Yes, we all saw you. Now may we go I don’t wish to get into more trouble than I alreadymost likely am.” Rhaenyra says as she climbs into the carriage.

Myrielle turns to look at me ready to ask the question I know she’ll ask the one each new lady in waiting asks. Is she always like this? I only whisper “Later.” and climb in with Myrielle with you, Laena, and Nymeria following behind us. 

Once the carriage starts to move you and your friends look out the window looking at the market and side shows as we pass. Rhaenyra is telling the story of her first flight to Myrielle, but every now and then you girls get a bit to loud for her liking. The only ones of you who seems to be reacting is Nymeria, the only one who isn’t used to Rhaenyra’s chilling gaze. 

It is a sad thought, that you and Laena are used to your sisters venomous words and hateful gaze that now it doesn’t bother you anymore. That it is your normal, that it is no longer something youfear but something you ignore.

It is these moments that make me hate Rhaenyra, the spoiled girl she is. She wishes for a sister this time as well and yet seems to have magically forgotten the sister she already has. She speaks of wishing to fly with someone in races but when you have asked in the past she had only scoffed or out right laughed at you. She wants to be a warrior, and her parents would probably let her, but she complains at any exerting activities or when she is sweaty or dirty. She wanted to be apart of her fathers council, but actively avoids it stating she has funner things to do. The world is handed to her on a sliver platter, and then she is mad it isn’t gold or diamonds.

It is these things mixed with how she treats you, that make me hate her in my very deepest parts of my soul. So much so there are some nights I pray to the Mother for forgiveness until the sun kisses my skin with its morning rays. When this happens I know I never will stop hating Rhaenyra but I can still ask for forgiveness each night at the hour of the owl until my heart and soul finally feel free of the rage I feel each day because of the eldest princess.

When we make it to the Red Keep a gold cloak comes up to you, your uncle had bestowed him upon your care until a new Kingsguard comes along who can protect you. He bends down and whispers in your ear, it must be good news as you run off with a smile on your face leaving Laena and Nymeria behind in your excitement. 

As the guard follows you, me and Myrielle follow Rhaenyra as she wishes to see her mother before going to the council meeting.

“You know I hate you flying when I’m in this condtion.” The Queen says with a frown towards Rhaenyra.

 “You don’t like me flying while your in any condition.” She says with a eye roll.

“Your Grace.” Me and Myrielle say in sync.

The Queen turns to look at us greeting us each in turn. Myrielle seems anxious being in the same room as the Queen so I reach for her hand giving it a reassuring squeeze. She turns and gives me a thankful smile. 

“Is she kind? The Queen?” Myrielle whispers to me

“Yes, very kind. She is not called the Kind Queen for nothing.” I whisper back.

We’re brought out of our little conversation when we hear the Queen let out a annoye sigh.

“Go take a bath, you stink of dragon.” The Queen says annoyed at Rhaenyra and her behavior during their talk. Rhaenyra almost always leave the Queen annoyed and frustrated after her vistis.

Once we leave Rhaenyra walks ahead to go change quickly before going to the council chambers as she is already quite late.

Once we were alone Myrielle turns to look at me concerned. “Is the young Princess like the Princess Rhaenyra?” 

I know why she asks this, for she worries her little sister, who she raised for their mother was too ill. What if she is in the hands of a cruel and spiteful girl, how can she help her little sister from a girl like that? Especially if it is a Princess.

“No, she is kind, sweet gentle, giving, and quite playful. I think the only thing you need to worry about is if your sister can keep up with her and Lady Laena and their wild games and adventures. Those two are quite energetic so I hope Nymeria can keep up.” I say with a giggle at yours and Laenas antics. 

“Oh don’t worry, I’m sure she’ll keep up with them just fine.” she answered with a amused smile.

For some reason I know I have found a friend for life in the Lady Myrielle Greyjoy. I know I will not feel so alone anymore with her here, and I can see in her eyes she feels the same in this moment as well.

Your pov

I run towards the thorne room after my bath, I hear Ser Aldwin Sarwyck’s armor rattling as he tries to keep up. I burst open the throne room doors and smile when I see Kepus standing in the middle of the room smiling back at me. 

“Ser Aldwin, please wait here.” I say closing the throne room doors behind me.

“Has he been good to you while I was away?” Kepus asks smirking as I run towards him jumping into his arms,

“I missed you so much!” I say excitedly as he catches me holding me close.

He chuckles as he  carries me towards the throne and starts to climb the steps. “I missed you as well, ñuha riña. Though you never answered my question” 

“He’s nice, he doesn’t seem to like when I talk to him though, says he’s trying to keep me safe and I’m distracting him.” 

He hums at this and when I lookup at him,  he seems upset about something I said. 

“I’ve been being quiet around him more, not asking as many questions to him.” I reassure, but this doesn't seem to please him either as he sits on the throne and sets me on his lap.

“Enough of your guard hmm? I’ve heard you have a new lady in waiting, two in fact.” He says as he frowns as he moves my hair out of my face.

“Yes, Lady Nymeria Greyjoy, she’s ten, knows how to sing, dance and is very kind, oh and funny! She says the best jokes, me and Laena love her jokes! And Laena is very happy to be my lady in waiting because now she doesn’t have to leave.” I say excitedly. 

He smiles this as he inspects the braid my maid gave me this morning. “That’s lovely ñuha riña, it seems you have not one but two wonderful friends now.” 

I smile and nod as I touch the arms of the throne touching a ornate pomel of a sword. “Why are we on the throne? Were not supposed to be on the throne, this is Papas throne.” 

I hear him chuckle as he reaches into a pocket in his jerkin. “And why should’t we be? This is our families seat, and it may well be mine one day.”

“No, Papa says the baby in Mama’s belly is a boy and it’ll be his heir.” I say matter of factly remembering what Papa has said to me when I asked if I was getting a brother or sister.

“Hmm, and who told him this, the Maesters?” 

“No, Papa says he just knows. He said has had a dream of his child sitting the throne with someone sitting with them. He said there was fourteen candles in front of him.”

“A dream you say?” Kepus asks seeming deep in thought.

“Yeah, but Papa said he couldn’t see their face and that it was all blurry, but he knows his child must sit the throne or bad things will happen.” 

“Bad things?” Kepus asks as he lifts my hair up.

“That’s what he said, when I asked he said it wasn’t for little girls. Kepus when will I be a big girl?” I ask as I feel him rest something to my chest and try to clip it behind my neck. When I look down I see a beautiful garnet stone, I gasp and touch it and notice the necklace chain matches the metal on my wrist. 

“It’s Valyrian Steel!” I say excitedly as I tuen to face him.

“Yes it is, I left one in your sisters room it didn’t feel right not to find you one too. She better take care of hers as it’s quite fragile, I’m not finding her another because she’s careless. And don’t worry about getting older, there is plenty of time to see and learn the things of the world.”

“But I want to know them now Kep–” I start to say before the throne room doors open and Rhaenyra walks in fixing something on her next and messing with the neckline of her dress.

Ever since her fourteenth nameday shes been wanting to wear lower necked dresses. She also has been acting strange with boys, I’m worried because she seems to get something in her eye each time she talks to them s she blinks a lot each time she talks to them. 

“Uncle, it’s been a age since you’ve visited court.” Rhaenyra says which confuses me as yes I missed him but he was only gone a moon. 

“Yes well court is boring, I only come back to see my little sweetling.” Kepus responds as he stroke my hair.

“Well then why come back at all?” Rhaenyra says giving as she gives me a glare finally noticing me here.

“I already said why, your sister, though if you need more reason I heard your father was throwing a tourney in my honor.”

“That’s not for you, that’s for the baby!” I say with a giggle thinking Kepus is being silly.

“Hmm well can't it be for me as well?” Kepus asks with a amused smirk.

“I suppose, can it be for me too? Oh, and Mama too she’s the one she really should be celebrating!” 

“I don’t see why not, it is a celebration for our family and that does include you and your mother.” Kepus says as he touches the stone of my necklace.

“Yes it is, though I did not come here to hear of celebration for some babe, I came to thank you for this lovely necklace Uncle.” Rhaenyra says as she flicks her hair back showing her necklace. It also seems Rhaenyra has something in her eyes again as she’s blinking a lot.

Kepus stands from the throne and carries me down until we’re in front of my sister. “I’m glad you like it, that means my brother won’t be bothering me anymore about finding you a Valyrian Steel jewlery.” He says almost boredly.

“My father told you to give me this?” Rhaenyra says in a tone that makes me grip my Kepus’s jerkin.

“I believe I just said that niece.” 

Rhaenyra scoffs and turns around stroming out of the throne room. I don’t understand why she is upset, she got what she had asked Papa to give her, just from Kepus. I’ll need to ask Septa Martha about this in my leasons with her tomorrow.

I look up at my Kepus and see him already looking down at me. “Who did your hair today. it’s all in your face?” He asks as he tucks my hair behind my ear again.

“My new maid Gloria, she’s Ali’s age she said my hair is tricky.” I say as I touch the silver waves that at times curl.

Kepus chuckles and starts to walk out of the throne room. “Well lets go and fix this ‘tricky’ hair hmm?” I nod as I tell him all of my adventures while he was away.

Little did I or anyone else know, that, that day would be the last normal one to ever grace mine or their lives for a long, long time. But at least I’ll have my Kepus through all of it right…right?

@ilikefelines @sugutoad @baybaybear1 @sachaa-ff @classicsimpforaaronwarner @mmogurl

Also the characters Nymeria and Myrielle are my Besties @sugutoad ocs so give her love for these magnificent characters!!

This is what I see for the necklace Daemon gives Princess. I hope you all love it as much as I do!

also special thanks to @sugutoad for making the header for this fic! I don't know what I'd do without you girly!

[dragonsbone]

to distract you, what do you plan to do with alys once aemond marries myrielle

i’m not entirely sure tbh! from what i’ve read about alys rivers on the wiki page, she seems super fucking cool and interesting! i love hearing about anything magic related in asoiaf, so i’d love to include her as much as possible without it complicating my own ideas. though, i might just wait until they include her in the show to really form some solid ideas !! either way, i try my best not to erase or sideline other important female characters for the sake of my own fanfic bc i said so lol

[lullaebies]

Request: Aegon really trying to get along or at least be in good terms with Jaehaera but she's still grieving for Jaehaerys and her mother too much (and the years don't seem to ease the pain) that she can't fully accept him yet

a/n: ok so this ended up a bit longer that i expected! i was trying hard to think how to go about this. hopefully this will read well <3 tomorrow i will continue with the rest of the reqs sent!

He sits quietly by his wife during the feast, their lips both red with the dark of wine.

It is a celebratory night, The Feast of The Father Above demanding grandness, lest the septons decide it a fair night to accuse the Crown of not being pious enough. It mattered little to Aegon, but it mattered to his subjects; meaning he had little ways to object.

The septons say this holy day to commemorate the Father is a day of just rulings, a day of auspicious decisions. Perhaps if he had been more pious he would’ve trusted his judgement auspicious enough to shut their mouth with some coin and tell them to celebrate down their streets instead of his halls, but alas. 

He looks at Jaehaera. As of two days prior, she is six and ten. The spring of youth, if one is to go by how the singers describe maidens of similar ages. Girls that age absorb the sun and hold its beam in their smiles, warming the room around them in cheer and dance. 

You wouldn’t be able to tell so, with his wife. She looks a painted doll, with an even line to her red lips that refuses to bend. Jaehaera doesn’t celebrate her nameday; when it comes, she usually refuses to leave her rooms for days after. Her ladies-in-waiting had once tried to prepare her a surprise, and in return, she had raged.

The court never quite understood her. He still remembers Myrielle Peake weeping at Jaehaera banishing her from her rooms. Her father never quieted about it since, he thinks grumpily. But when he was told of this great injustice the Queen has inflicted on her well-meaning ladies, he had to hold himself from laughing at the complainers in their face.

As if she would like to celebrate the day she remembered her own twin is lost to the afterlife, while she is lost here. 

He dismissed the complaints with some platitudes. He had felt similar enough when his regents assumed him to be ever thankful for them sitting him on the Throne, as if the death of his mother and older brothers hadn’t been the sole reason a crown is on his head. Let us celebrate your coronation and our hard work, your Grace, the dimwits had said. It is a joyful occasion. 

They wouldn’t know how to make him joyful if they tried, and his wife even more so. 

Yet still, there is a pang in him, seeing her so muted. There are rare days, where they align in their routes, and her words are reminiscent of his. Where they walk down the same route silently and it feels more natural than the forced conversations he is met with from anybody else. She always scurries away after, avoids him after, but...

She is his wife, and as much as they were sewn together, they are of similar enough cloth. Smiling like the sun is not something he’d expect of her, but he doesn’t wish she’d never at least feel its rays. 

He may have drank too much today. Her wintry form had been much on his mind. He supposes he finds ways to be melancholic no matter what, but he looks at her and sees himself, from a long while back; from before Viserys came back, before he could hold onto his sisters again to cry.

The dance floor had been filled with duos dancing to string instruments gracefully. It is not something he does often, but had seen her dancing before. As a child, granted, before it all, but she had seemed happy to do so before. And who would ask her to dance again, but her husband?

“Jaehaera,” he mumbles her name before he can regret it. She turns to him, heavy brows lifting in wonder. “Should we dance too?”

It should help, in more ways than one. Seeing them being amiable would calm the many lords here, he thinks. Or spring some hope to their souls, or more importantly, some respect for Jaehaera’s being. Wouldn’t that help, having the world know she is no jilted girl? It would do her good. It would do them good. 

He never wanted a divide between them to haunt them. They have enough things haunting them. Is this a good decision? He knows not, but The Father may as well sanction it auspicious, after all the hard work put into this damn feast.

Jaehaera’s tentative fingers fiddle with her wine cup. She puts it down softly. “If his Grace should like that,” she answers, building her wall from him again as her eyes shy away from direct eye contact. The rings on her fingers drag across the marble table, clinging to the cold of stone as they approach him. 

Aegon notes her offering. He doesn’t quite like that it's simply complacency, but then again, he had been simply complacent when everyone else goaded him to do anything, even if he did find enjoyment in it in the end. And if she doesn’t find enjoyment in it, at least she would have a spring in her step for the singers to sing about, and mayhaps that will soothe her.

He reaches for her offered hand, picking it up gently from the fingers. The table, her rings, they’re cold, but her bony fingers are warm. It is almost surprising, with how distant she seems at the moment. They rise from their chairs to the surprise of the people around their table. Viserys looks at him crookedly, but he pays it no mind - Jaehaera seems to go along with him well.

His thumbs fiddle with her knuckles nervously as he attempts a squeeze of reassurance. He truly doesn’t dance often; Baela sometimes forces him and he looks a fool, Rhaena sometimes does so too and becomes his harsh, smiling critic. He shouldn’t be able to reassure his wife in regards to dancing, he has little talent in his lanky limbs, but he has to try, he thinks.

A spot is cleared for them in the center of the floor. She thanks the lord and ladies who move in a mannerly way while he simply nods. The musicians switch a song, and he vaguely remembers the form for it, reaching for Jaehaera’s waist. After confirming from those nearby he remembered correctly, of course. 

As for Jaehaera, the form they should be in dawns on her quickly, and her fingers curl over the peak of his shoulder easily. She looks at their feet when the song begins. He does too, to see his are well placed. He wants to brighten this night some, but he doesn’t want to look like an oaf doing so.

Despite that, however, he can’t imagine he doesn’t look like one. He is unsurprisingly rusty, and the length of his limbs lend to a taut gait and especially dance. Jaehaera is surprisingly fluid in her movements, on the other hand. He nearly steps on her foot once, but she evades it simply. “Sorry,” he whispers. 

When he hears a soft snort coming for her, he almost thinks it had been for the better.

She is not without faults — she does step on his foot. He huffs at her in some vindication he is not the only one with two left feet. She finally lifts her eyes to him, supposedly to apologize too, but then the dance calls for her twirl. She holds his elevated hand throughout it. He does notice a hint of a crinkle to her eyes, and he even meets it with his own one.

When he stops her, hand finding her waist again to hold her in a secure manner, he thinks he shook off that rustiness. But then Jaehaera’s eyes land on him in a strange gaze, and her limbs suddenly feel tense.

Jaehaera swallows, and looks down again, her grip on his shoulder digging into his bone. “I think…” she stops them from moving. “I feel ill,” she says abruptly. “I think I should retire for this night, Your Grace.”

He blinks at her. He is not convinced; her face only gained some warmth to it as they danced. Still, he draws her away from the dance floor to its side, knowing here too, there is little to object to. She feels all too rigid in his hold, and something had her gaze become cloudy.

Most of the room seemed to cheer at them joining the dance floor, so that couldn’t be it. The taste on his tongue is sour, feeling somewhat jilted himself. Perhaps because he himself hadn’t hated the dance all that much. He offered this for her and still… Fine.

“Then go rest,” he allows, trying to keep the bitterness behind lock and key. She says her farewell to some key courtiers and leaves, quickly disappearing to the dark, gloomy parts of the castle. 

For a while, he returns to his spot at the table. When they strike a conversation, they ask of the Queen; some of them deem her rude for her abrupt departure. He finds their voices offensive, for he would rather like to retire to his apartments himself at the moment.

“‘Tis a holy day, for us all. Ill or not, even a Queen must be respectful—” Lord Peake grumbles by his ear, and he wonders why he hadn’t let him go ages ago.

Irritated, he decides that it wasn’t quite fair for her to leave him this way. Especially with everyone around looking at him like this in pitiful wonder. And with these halfwits, surrounding him around the table and offering their daughters as dance partners instead.

“Pay my respects to The Father and preside over the rest of the feast, Lord Peake,” he says, and comes up again from his place. “I should see how the Queen fares.”

He gets up and walks in long strides out to the dark, gloomy hallways himself.

—

As he approaches Jaehaera’s apartments, he finds himself hesitating to actually come in. 

His wife hasn’t asked for any kindness, even if he had attempted to offer it. He does think the wine had made him rather rash if not overtly sentimental; he wouldn’t have asked her to dance in the first place without it, and he certainly wouldn't have come by her door.

The Father Above might be laughing at him from the dark skies. Auspicious decisions, my arse. 

And he is about to turn on his heel, when he hears a sob from the inside of her room. 

He reaches for the knob of the door and twists it open. 

Jaehaera is by the window, too close to the damn window, the dying light of the fireplace showing bloodshot eyes and tears trailing down her rounded cheeks. She is frantic in her movements until she stops in place when she sees him, holding a quivering lip from saying a thing. 

“Why are you…?” he tries to ask, but some anxiety spikes in him and he can’t find a way to articulate himself. 

“Your Grace, please leave,” she manages out of her system. That lights a visceral feeling of rage within him. 

“You will not order me to leave,” he says plainly. Your Grace, your Grace, she tells him the entire day, but she won’t force that distance upon him when he plainly sees there is something foul at play. “I don’t know what I have done, but I did not mean harm to you and you know this.”

“I know,” she answers, the glisten on her lash line more noticeable. She’s shaking like a leaf; what has rattled her so? “But you more than all know that matters little.”

Fuck. He had been irritated, but now he is properly upset. All had been well, what has he done wrong? 

“If you tell me what it is I can fix it,” he says. It is the wrong choice; she turns to look at him with a sharper gaze, even with her tears. 

“I used to dance to that song with Jaehaerys,” she says, and Aegon already understands he has lost here. Of course, the times he remembered her dance as a child, it had been with her brother. “Mother taught us the steps. It was her favourite. Jaehaerys was determined to learn it well, even though I always had to escape his clumsy steps. He wanted to show mother he listened to her.” 

She wipes her cheeks with her hands, holding herself. 

“We never had the chance to complete the dance without missteps.”

Aegon shuts his eyes. “If I had known I wouldn’t have…” he begins. What is the point in saying what she knows already? “I’m sorry. I thought it would make you happy.”

He foolishly assumed he would know any better than anyone else in the Keep how to do so. They are adjacent to one another in pain when the court already assumes it knows everything about them. And he thinks, there had always been some truce between them, in regards to that — perhaps that had all been in his head, too.

That dance felt like a moment of peace to him. He wanted it to be a moment of peace for her, too, for them all. He is so tired of fighting and guarding his own self; he simply wants to relent to the calm that he feels could exist between them.

Jaehaera’s hand reaches for the seven-starred necklace upon her, swallowing. “It had, for a moment,” she sniffles, shame in her voice. “It made me happy. But my brother can’t be, and my mother can’t see it, and I…”

That he does know, the guilt of being alive. The guilt of continuing on despite having the world shattered, despite witnessing so much death. And Viserys returned from the dead, and when he confessed it all, his brother had told him simply one thing.

“You’re not at fault for that.”

And if Jaehaera has resentment on her tongue, any hatred she wants to spit out about those who were at fault — she doesn’t say it. Simply looks at him with guarded eyes, keeping her distance. 

He can’t ask her to close it, just for the sake of his own peace. He wouldn’t ask her to, either. The ghosts that plague her on her namedays, day to day, they are there, he knows what they whisper — plenty had whispered to him day to day.

“You need not to dance, but you need not hide what plagues you, and what would make you at ease,” he says. “Her Grace the Queen has her voice in court, and if she’d like it, the King’s ear.”

Jaehaera looks at the floor, as she does, and let all the tears that had been unshed out. She needn’t close the distance, but she does need to know she can, if she’d like. He lets her sob until she tires herself out, helping her to the bed and tucks her in. 

Even if winter plagues them, forever piercing cold, as long as her skin is warm on this earth, she should have her own dream of spring. 

If one day she should choose it, he’d be willing to help her find it.

[horizon-verizon]

saying you don't like daenaera because she "appeared out of nowhere" is funny because if these people looked further they would find out that daenaera would exist anyway, a velaryon wife would always exist, that was always Martin's line and honestly, I love how she was introduced in the book

Sounds like another excuse in the line of excuses they have. (Post #1 and Post#2).

A)

Daenaera was quite literally meant to be the saving grace for Aegon and his family bc Unwin Peake engineered the Maien Day's Ball specifically so he could use his daughter's hoped-for marriage to Aegon to control him and the crown. (And her sunny disposition served to raise Aegon's spirits, of course.) There is specific diction (syntax and vocabulary) to convey this was a surprise, last minute countermove and that their very entrance was a break in the monotony of the Ball/the direction towards Myrielle where the exahustion and crampedness/discomfot of the event would manipulate Aegon to get it over with and just choose "Myrielle". Baela and Rhaena also "appear out of nowhere" precisely because Unwin didn't expect them there or any interruption to his plans nor did anyone expect Baela (who had run away to avoid marrying an old dodger the regents chose for her and seemingly out of the council's wy) nor Rhaena (who was supposed to be away in the Vale):

("War and Peace and Cattle Shows")

So yeah, when Daenaera enters, it's was meant and explicitly written for her to appear to put a wrench in the direction/path Aegon/the crown and the Ball was on. Duh.

Some people simply don't understand & relied too much on those Blu Ray episodes when A Clash of Kings AND AWoIaF both showed that Daenaera was Aegon's kids' mothers.

B)

Anon is talking about this a clash of Kings, which came out in 1998--

Davos would have given much to know what he was thinking, but one such as Velaryon would never confide in him. The Lord of the Tides was of the blood of ancient Valyria, and his House had thrice provided brides for Targaryen princes.

* this doesn't count* - [I'm just adding this for the record] Vaelaena Velaryon (mother of the Conquerors -- wife of Lord Aerion Targaryen)

Alyssa Velaryon (mother of Rhaena the BB, Alysanne, and Jaehaerys I, plus others who died young -- wife of Aenys I; even mother to Jocelyn Baratheon, the mother of Princess Rhaenys, rider of Meleys and mother of Laena and Laenor Velaryon, grandmother to Baela/Rhaena Targaryen)

Laena Velaryon (mother of Ladies Baela and Rhaena of Pentos - Daemon Targaryen)

Daenaera Velaryon (mother of Daena, Elaena, Rhaena the Septa, Daeron I, Baelor I -- 2nd wife of Aegon III; thus Daenaera is the grandmother of Daemon Blackfyre)

And all these women are also in A World of Ice and Fire as what I described...If Jaehaera were the one to be Aegon's kids' mother and survives, why would Daenaera be in all these books if she never marries Aegon and becomes mother to his kids? It's quite literally her narrative purpose!

By contrast, the Blu Ray animation episode of the Dance where you hear that Aegon and Jaehaera's marriage ended the Dance published in 2016.

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

Hi, hope you are doing well. I've read some of your posts recently and you seem very knowledgeble on ASOIAF details, so I wanted to ask you this: I've read that the Stark Family Tree in TWOIAF have many wrong details. Do you have links for its corrections or perhapes a corrected version of the Tree? And do you know if the Lannister one has any errors? Thanks!

Yes, there's a few wrong details in the first edition of TWOIAF, which apparently should have been corrected in more recent editions. (Supposedly if you bought the Kindle version you can push an update? I can't seem to get it with my, um, unbought copy though.) The wiki's errata page is here, but let me copy the details for the Stark and Lannister trees:

Stark Lineage:[135]

Jocelyn Stark is mentioned to have married "Benedict Rodgers". However, this is supposed to be Benedict Royce. According to Elio Garcia, co-author of The World of Ice & Fire, Martin mistakenly called Royce "Benedict Vance" in earlier notes.[136] However, Harrold Rogers, the husband of Branda Stark, is correct.[137]

Munkun's True Telling says Cregan Stark had a younger brother who died in 119 AC.[138] However, in the family tree Cregan has no siblings.

For Rickon Stark (son of Cregan)'s daughters Serena Stark and Sansa Stark, Serena is marked as the elder one in the book. However, Sansa is the elder one in George R. R. Martin's notes.[139][140]

Bolded names in the family tree indicate that said person has ruled as Lord of Winterfell. However, the names of Rodwell Stark and Donnor Stark are not bolded, even though they had been Lords of Winterfell. This should have been corrected by the third print.[141]

Spelling of Mariah Stark's name is changed to Myriah in later prints.[134]

Lannister Lineage:[142]

Jaime Lannister's name is misspelled as "Jamie".

Joffrey Baratheon's name is misspelled as "Joffery".

Myrielle Lannister's name is misspelled as "Myielle".

Willem and Martyn Lannister are not listed to be twins, even though they have been stated to be twins on multiple occasions elsewhere.

Bolded names in the family tree indicate that said person has ruled as Lord of Casterly Rock. Neither Cersei nor Cerelle Lannister are marked as "ruling lord or kings". As both have been specifically stated to have been "Lady of Casterly Rock",[132][143] this is an ommission. Kevan Lannister's name is bolded, while he was never a ruling Lord. As Cersei has remained "Lady of Casterly Rock" despite the charges of high treason,[143] and has two heirs who would inherit from her before Kevan would, even if she was stripped from her rights to Casterly Rock, Kevan's name being bolded likely is a mistake.

Melesa Crakehall, the wife of Lyonel Frey, is missing from the family tree.

Hope that helps!

[hadleysmis]

There's just so many things I want to say about the 1903 Su Manshu's translation of Les Misérables

It is a unique AU adaptation fanfic translation

I will put some kind of a list of observations that is sorted out, since right now all the information is falling out of my brain like a waterfall at the moment. There's just so many things one person can keep in about this liquid of an information.

If the translation is so different from the original, do we categorise it as a translation or an adaptation? I mean like, e.g. Jean Valjean tries to kill, then successfully robs the writer's political and religious mouthpiece Hero after he releases Jean Valjean from prison, etc.

The whole thing is so wild that "one of the main characters try to assassinate Napoleon but fails and thus dies from suicide" fact is mentioned in the footnote in the paper I'm reading; as if it's the least of our problems, because there's just so much going on.

Su was multilingual, but probably not in French. Instead, he translated from Charles E. Wilbour. And due to it being published in volumes, and it being hard to get by because how fast it sold, he only have access to volume one, apparently.

Even then, he minused Book 1 because it was too praise-y of Christianity via Bishop Myriel.

Oh, did I not mention? He hates Christianity, and he definitely hates the Bishop. That's why he deleted Book 1: it had too many nice things to say about the greedy and hypocritical Bishop.

「When in the English text Valjean asks whether the Bishop would like payment for his stay, the response is:

“No,” said the bishop; “keep your money. How much have you? You said one hundred and nine francs, I think.” (Wilbour, p. 48)

But Su translates:

孟主教果急忙答道：“不然，不然，一定要算饭钱的。你共有多少钱呢？你曾说你有一百零九个银角子。” (Su, p. 58)

Bishop Myriel answered in a hurry as expected, “Yes, yes, of course. You have to pay for your meal. How much money do you have in total? You told me you have one hundred and nine silver coins.”」

(Li Li, Su Manshu’s Adaptation of Les Misérables: The Manipulation of a Bridging Text in an Activist Translation. Translation and Literature. 2022)

Li Li suggests it might've also been because Su wasn't as fluent in English as we thought as well, since there are some misunderstandings of meaning (that bears no political or religious sway) in his translation.

On the topic of translation, there is also an excerpt I would like to share.

Su was writing during the nearing end of Qing Dynasty, and he was against the said Dynasty and thus was a revolutionist. If people were too critical and loud about their thoughts on the governing body and Confucianism, then the ruling class would've prosecuted him.

And thus, he had to cover his tracks and make sure he wasn't caught saying anything incriminating. He did this with his self-insert Ming Nande, and he did it with other contexts such as here:

[Quote:]

「In this moment Nande knew it was the girl that he was worrying about. Then he affectionately held up her slim waist and kissed her several times (This is a western custom, please don't be surprised!)."

这时���男德才知道是他心里所惦记的美人，急忙亲亲热热地用手一把搂住那美人的细腰，连亲了几个嘴（这是西俗，看官别要见疑）」

(Translation by Li Li, 2022)

I will definitely talk about this more at a later date because I have to go to Scotland, so I'm probably going to be travel-stressing xD

Even though I can't share the PDF of the essay paper that I have, I do have the link to a publicly shared webpage by the same author with her summarised thoughts on this translation, so please take a look if you're interested!