#so i was like well the baratheons are probably a branch of the targaryens

[transdimensional-void]

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[atopvisenyashill]

No okay bc i was thinking about Rhea Royce and Daemon too, right, bc she’s an heiress so like-

I’ve mentioned this before but Lady Waynwood rules in her own right and all of her sons have her name. We know nothing about her husband, perhaps he was some wealthy Essosi noble and thus there was no family on the continent to be affronted at his children not having his name, maybe he was like second born and no one gave a shit, but regardless, she and Jacaerys (who was meant to take the name Targaryen once he was prince of dragonstone) are our only real examples here for ruling women who actually have children outside of dorne - because jeyne arryn never has children of her own so she never deals with the problem of “how do i navigate naming my kids as an heiress?”

DOES THIS MEAN DAEMON’S KIDS WOULDNT EVEN BE CALLED TARGARYENS❓

or does this mean Rhea is supposed to just be okay with the name Royce disappearing??? I do not fucking think so, so they’d likely do the split name thing like with Rhaenyra’s kids, although (and this is assuming Daemon manages to have even one let one two kids with her lmao) I do imagine Daemon having a single child out there that doesn’t have the name Targaryen really pisses him off.

The first names in this situation intrigue me. When Valyrians marry outside the family, their children tend to get at least some Valyrian names - Laena Penrose, Aemma Arryn, Viserys Plumm tho u could argue that was a purposeful insult too, Rhaego to some extent - and they usually marry back into the main branch - Jocelyn Baratheon, Laena & Laenor Velaryon, all the cousin swapping going on with Daeron’s grandkids, Elia Nymeros Martell (ish), potentially Aelinor Penrose as well - but at the same time, this house will descend from RHEA not Daemon, so the Valyrian name is likely to kinda die out after a generation or two for the main line, while the second born probably marries back into the main line. Like, the Penroses are named Phillip now, not Baelor or Laena, bc they don’t descend from Elaena on paper, they descend from her HUSBAND, from Ronnel. And while it’s likely Rhaenyra’s grandkids by Jacaerys would have Targaryen names, her grandkids by Lucerys would have Velaryon names, and crucially, all of Rhaenyra’s kids by Laenor have names Laenor picks because the husband picks. So Rhea’s son? gonna have a whack ass name like Baelon Royce. But Baelon Royce may want to pick a more Royce-ish name for his own heir, instead of a Targaryen one, and that’s gonna be. a conversation.

i think daemon is going to insist on his royce child marrying another valyrian and choosing another targaryen first name (even if they still keep the name royce). like, he is going to be the bitchiest sort of grandparent who just straight up won’t acknowledge the child’s real name if he doesn’t get his way here, at least while he’s alive.

IN THAT SAME VEIN, daemon is super valyria brained. if he has two girls or two boys with rhea it’s whatever but if he has a boy and a girl. i think this man is going to want his kids to marry. we are just going to have random royces fucking in the vale.

(i think he can be talked out of it easily enough if viserys just like, idk, promises the daughter to his eventual son or promises daemon’s son to rhaenyra AND LETS TALK ABOUT THAT SITUATION PLEASE).

and rhea in all this is like. fine you can name our kid baelon royce. fine our daughter can be named baela targaryen too. fine baelon can have personal arms that have a dragon on them. fine they can-no fuck you baelon and baela are not getting married i’m sending a raven to the king as we speak you fucking freak. what do you mean you’re sending rhaenyra to runestone viserys??

this woman’s life is a nightmare omg

but also THIS COULD HAVE HELPED SO MUCH AFTER SUMMERHALL. this is what these bitches get for incest marrying so much, no cousins to turn to when your main house dies. that’s called bad dynastic planning, read a history book daemon!!!!!

[presidenthades]

I am doing very minor revisions of Daemon’s Handbook (mostly formatting and continuity errors), and I wanted to do some behind-the-scenes commentary before too much time passes and I forget my original thoughts. Here’s Chapter 9!

(Note that these commentaries aren’t canon to the verse until/unless the author writes them into the series. I might change my mind on a few points later, but these are the thoughts I had while writing.)

I originally wasn’t going to write Daemon’s flashback to the night before. It was just going to be a recap of what he remembered. But my #1 fan Mr Hades said it was a shame we would miss out on seeing blackout drunk!Daemon firsthand, so thanks to Mr Hades, the flashback exists.

I would also like to confess that originally, Daemon wasn’t going to catch Luce and Aemond. My early outline had Luce and Aemond being caught by one of Otto’s people a few weeks after the wedding, and it was going to be a more similar scandal to the Daemon/Rhaenyra brothel scene in Episode 4. But while I was writing, I decided to center more on *Daemon’s* feelings and internal conflict, because this fic is mostly his story and character arc.

If you reread Chapter 9, you might pick up on the hints of what happened the night before, prior to the flashback: Daemon’s neatly arranged shoes and sword, Luce’s terror, clenching at the thought of Septon Eustace (😂😭😂😭), and of course the mysterious anger when he looks at Aemond.

House Celtigar’s seat Claw Isle is pretty close to Dragonstone, and they’re a Valyrian house that’s long been sworn to the Targaryens, so I think the Celtigars would have periodically visited Rhaenyra’s family at Dragonstone. Thus, Clement would have known Luce and her sisters before the wedding. He has reasons to think he’s well positioned as Luce’s suitor (prior friendship, Valyrian heritage, loyal vassals, proximity to Driftmark). Unfortunately for him, Luce wouldn’t be interested even if Aemond wasn’t in the picture.

Viserys doesn’t understand that a newlywed couple might want some privacy the morning after their real wedding. 💀 Aemond understands though! And he doesn’t want to be anywhere near Aegon and Jace today, no matter what his mother says 😂

Otto is pushing for an Aemond/Baratheon match because he likes to diversify his portfolio. Jace/Aegon was a win for him because that unites the claims of the two Targaryen branches. If that hadn’t worked out, then he probably would have supported Aemond/Luce so they get at least one of Rhaenyra’s daughters in the family. But two daughters would be redundant, and even though Driftmark is a wealthy seat, he thinks Aemond could be better utilized to secure a house whose loyalties are in the air. Otto is optimistic that a Dance won’t break out in this universe, thanks to Jace/Aegon, but in case conflict does arise, he wants to make sure the Greens have allies.

Baela and Rhaena caught Luce and Aemond hauling drunk Daemon home. After Aemond left, the twins interrogated Luce, and that’s how they know what she and Aemond got up to. 👀

The servants’ passages are something I invented separate to Maegor’s secret tunnels. The passages aren’t a secret, and they’re used primarily by servants to move around the castle without getting in the way of the nobles. (Who wants to see a maid carrying around a chamber pot?)

Aemond initially tried to convince Luce to leave the passages but she got curious about what was going on. 🫣 I’m 97% certain she started the make-out session/provoked Aemond into it.

When Daemon tackles Aemond, Aegon isn’t planning to get involved at first. Aegon absolutely noticed the way Aemond was looking at Luce during breakfast, deduced that *something* happened, and figured that Aemond probably deserved to get hit a few times—not that Aegon’s judging. It’s only when Jace gets hurt that Aegon jumps in.

Viserys’s reaction after the fight is supposed to reflect his reaction after the Driftmark fight in canon, but in a less extreme situation since no one lost an eye here. Either way, he’s still going, “Why can’t everyone just get along? I’ll just let Rhaenyra decide the solution and wash my hands of this.”

Luce *was* having fun with all the suitors at first, but it stopped being fun real fast. The combination of her being very short and very curvy has led to her being objectified and underestimated by a lot of men. She’s also hanging on to her epiphany in Chapter 3 of marriage being like whoring (it’s about money and sex). Moreover, she just doesn’t like court life. She’ll have a much better time on Driftmark where there are fewer rules and no suitors (but she’ll make an exception for this one guy).

Because Joff is so much younger than the others, she gets underestimated a lot, even by her own siblings. So she’s able to eavesdrop on a lot of conversations because they forget she’s there/paying attention. So she’s able to piece together Luce and Aemond’s miscommunication issue.

Jace and Aegon might have been able to figure it out too, by putting together what their respective siblings are telling them. But they’re newlyweds who haven’t seen each other in three years so they’re not exactly having in-depth discussions about their siblings. Their conversations on the topic are more like “wow they’re being stupid, I hope they figure it out soon” before they start making out.

Note that Joff never explicitly promises Daemon that she won’t tell Luce about the letters. Joff would have told Luce eventually (once she’s certain Daeron is sticking around), but Daemon shocks her by beating her to the punch in Chapter 10.

Chapter 10 commentary here

[branwendaughterofllyr]

I was really touched by your thoughtful response! It’s just as interesting as your fic. Especially the fact that both of the “unemployed princes” (one in the original, two in your version) needed an heiress to secure a wealthy and safe life. I always thought it was foolish of Daemon not to have children with Rhea, but hearing your thoughts about Rhaenyra’s betrothal really makes that seem even more shortsighted. Then again, this wasn’t the first time he acted recklessly lol

As someone of East Asia, where the royal family’s cadet branches were historically just as important as the main line and possessed their own power without needing marriage alliances to strengthen ties, It is similar they are to Daemon’s situation, where he had his own independent space. Whether that was a good thing, though, is up for debate.

Regarding the Vale, as you pointed out, it’s interesting how many marriages were tied to it, yet there were no lasting blood ties with the royal family. Considering Rhea’s death and Aemma’s tragedy, as well as her daughter Rhaenyra’s situation, it seems like the Vale came out of it with nothing to show for their investment. Honestly, I’m surprised one of Daeron II’s sons even married an Arryn woman. If it were me, I wouldn’t want anything more to do with the Targaryens (though a marriage between Jeyne and Aegon might have helped offset these losses. Otto’s thinking wasn’t bad, in my opinion. They might have been a gender-reversed version of Rhaenyra and Laenor, perhaps)

I’ve always thought that if Aegon were a woman, she would have married Daemon, but your thoughts on Gael make me think this female Aegon wouldn’t have married him either. She would probably have ended up marrying the heir of a good house (Baratheon? Tully? Or maybe a smaller house?)

One of the reasons I love your fic is the unreliable narrator, especially because our Aegon is actually a bit more foolish than he realizes. His strange belief that he can delay the matter of his daughter’s marriage fascinates me. Historically, Targaryens rarely let Targaryen women go outside the family. And when they did, the descendants were usually brought back into the fold (like Aemma) Aside from Aegon V’s sisters, almost all Targaryens married within the family, so it’s funny that a family obsessed with blood purity, like the Targaryens, would ignore Aegon and his daughter as much as they did. It amuses me how Aegon flounders between strange choices (Joffrey Arryn? Is this guy dreaming?) instead of seriously considering Aemond or Lucerys. Wake up, man, your daughter is not your wife!

The topic of second sons’ marriages is always interesting, and I’m sad that Aemond and Daeron’s marriages remain in the realm of imagination. I’m especially disappointed that the relationship between Aemond and the Baratheon girls wasn’t explored more in the show. Floris was never the girl Aemond would have chosen, Ryan! He had the key to ruling all of the Stormlands right in front of him! No wonder Maris was so angry. (I really feel for her. It’s sad when siblings, even in the same family, face such differences—one gets the Stormlands and a prince, and the other is left with nothing. Whether you’re a second son or daughter, you’re still a victim of primogeniture)

Anyway, in your fic, the way these people, who possess what are essentially living nuclear weapons or fighter jets, go out of their way to think of themselves as harmless is really funny. I feel a bit evil for saying that… but it’s hilarious that they’ve tamed these creatures that can breathe fire and fly, and yet they don’t even consider the cost of that. Of course, I’m not mocking Aegon’s feelings for his daughter or the tragedy of the Dance. Not at all. It’s just impressive how Alicent manages to endure all of that lol

It was such a great ask, I couldn’t help myself with the long response! I love thinking about marriages and what to do with extra royals running around!

Yeah, I highly doubt that prior to Aemma dying, a match between Rhaenyra and Daemon was ever in the cards, considering it would have been expected that Rhaenyra was going to marry her brother. Bookwise, the gap between Rhaenyra and Baelon would not have been that big, so it’s likely that they would have married if he had lived. Frankly, whatever son Aemma had would have dibs on Rhaenyra, and Daemon would have been shit out of luck in that regard lol. And not having kids with Rhea left him with a very tenuous claim on Runestone that was ultimately overturned by Jeyne Arryn, without any interference from Viserys. It likely would have looked different if he had had a child by Rhea.

I’m of the opinion that if Aegon had been born a girl, he likely would have married Viserys, and same for Daemon if he had been a daughter. Jaehaerys definitely prioritized incestous matches, and it seems like he was considering Viserys the heir fairly early on, especially after Rhaenys married Corlys (why he didn’t just marry Rhaenys and Viserys together is another question, since that would have solved soooo many problems. My headcanon is that Aemon had something to do with it, and let Rhaenys pick out her own husband) and Viserys would have married his sister rather than his cousin. And as the eldest, Viserys would have dibs on any sisters, so to speak. The incest generally hampered Targaryen alliance making, and I can’t see Jaehaerys correcting that with Baelon’s children that much if one of them had been a girl. Aemma was picked more for her Targaryen blood than for her Arryn ties, it seems like. It’s really only when you have an excess of sons or daughters that the Targaryens are basically forced into normal alliance making. Gael, I think, was a special case since Alysanne wanted to keep her close and she was considered “simple.” If Alysanne hadn’t been so attached to her, and she hadn’t been “simple” and Daemon had been a more sedate personality, maybe they would have been married and expected to support the next monarch the way that Baelon-Alyssa were being groomed to support Aemon-Jocelyn. Hard to say! Canonwise, it’s just not a very good match, especially when Aemma and Viserys are expected to have children and have successfully produced one already.

The marriages of Daeron’s sons are actually quite clever, the two oldest marrying Stormlands houses (Dondarrion, Penrose) to help smooth over the anger over the two recent Martell marriages and concessions to Dorne, the third marrying great house (Arryn) and the youngest marrying a Dornish house to keep those ties strong (Dayne). And the Targaryens like to keep marrying into the same houses even if they don’t actually have any Targ blood anymore, so I imagine that’s why the Arryns were picked over the other Great Houses, and they also have a prestige and good reputation that the Tyrells and Tullys might not as they were never kings, or the Starks for being Old God worshippers and generally being considered more barbaric. And maybe there just wasn’t a Baratheon daughter available at the time, considering that might have been a great match for Baelor as the heir, so Arryn for the third son was the best they could do. And Daeron II is the only Targaryen king that seemed to land his younger sons, which is a smart move on his part, but I guess he’s also one of the few Targaryen kings who had an excess of sons to land.

The lack of providing for extra children is actually part of the reason why the Dance was likely to happen, because Viserys does have these three extra sons, who don’t get on well with the heir, all have dragons, and then he marries the eldest one to his landless sister (since bookwise, it was Viserys who made the Aegon-Helaena match and he had to approve it in the show). So what are his children by Alicent supposed to do once Viserys dies? Hope that Rhaenyra is gracious enough to keep giving them handouts, even as she herself has five sons she has to worry about. What happens when she dies and her heir takes over? On the other hand, you probably don’t want make matches for Alicent’s sons that are too good, lest they use their in-laws to help them rebel, so making middling matches to wealthy but not significant loyalists to Rhaenyra might have been a good middle ground? (Of course, the ideal solution would have been to send the three boys to the Faith/the Citadel/the NW the moment Rhaenyra had an heir, but that didn’t happen lol.)

I love how delusional Aegon is about his daughter’s marriage prospects, it’s a source of great personal amusement to me. I think part of it is that Viserys has a long history of delegation and “not worrying about it” when it comes to most of his family, considering that he let Rhaenyra arrange the marriages for her sons without any interference from himself, and he really only stepped in to make matches when it was personally inconveniencing him (Rhaenyra being his heir and also needing to get the Velaryons off his back, and Aegon II being an annoying fuck boy that tooootally needed a marriage to settle him down, that definitely worked with Daemon). Bookwise, it’s Laena-Daemon and Rhaenyra-Laenor who betroth their children, and there’s no mention of Viserys being involved, and Viserys didn’t seem to set up any futures for Aemond and Daeron at all. So in Poison, I think Viserys just expects Aegon to do “the right thing” with Alyssa and marry her to a family member, and isn’t thinking much about it, lol. In a non-Dance situation, I don’t think Aegon would have any problem marrying Alyssa to one of her cousins, but well. It IS a Dance situation.

And Joffrey Arryn is NOT a good choice at all! Who is Aegon fooling??? It is a great deal from Jeyne Arryn’s point of view, because she gains a great deal of legitimacy for her chosen heir, with a royal wife and a powerful father-in-law who had the ear of the king and A DRAGON, but it’s not at all a solid match from Aegon’s end of it, considering the disputed succession and the fact that Jeyne’s basically set up her own succession crisis. But I think that’s the appeal for Aegon, that he can be seen considering it and just delay, delay, delay without really offending any one else and not having to make commitments to any betrothals. (And also his personal affection for the Vale as the place where Aemma grew up, which I think is why he even started humoring Jeyne in the first place, as Aemma’s niece) Really, Alyssa should be marrying Kermit Tully, who is THE most eligible bachelor in Westeros during this time. Great house? Check. Undisputed line of succession? Check. No taint of bastardy? Check. No other heirs from a prior marriage? Check. That beautiful Tully red hair? Also a check. But Aegon would actually have to go through with that marriage after a certain point, lol. (This is also the marriage that Jeyne Smallwood thinks would be best for Alyssa, and she might actually have some say over it lol)

Wake up, man, your daughter is not your wife!

I actually laughed a little reading this, because it’s so true. Marriage is very much the default, especially for women, and Aegon does recognize that marriage or septahood are the two most stable futures for his daughter, but have we considered? That he doesn’t wanna???

(Alyssa not currently having a dragon solves some problems for Aegon, since adding a dragon to the mix and the risk of marrying it out is…… complicated lol)

I actually think that Jacaerys and Lucerys are really only viable marriage options for Baela and Rhaena, because of the bastardy issue. The show definitely glossed over this, but Jace and Luke basically have to marry Laena’s daughters if they want any hope of long term stability, and Rhaenyra has to do it in order the stabilize the Velaryon alliance that she fucked up. (It’s also telling that Corlys turns traitor after Jace and Luke are both dead, and Joffrey is betrothed to a Manderly, and his new heirs in the Hulls are threatened). Whatever Corlys’ personal feelings, it seems like that Laena and Laenor basically unionized on this matter, because it really was a massive favor to Rhaenyra and Laenor that Laena and Daemon agreed to those betrothals.

On Daeron and Aemond’s marriages, if it weren’t for the Dance, I think likely one or both of them would have ended up as KG/The Faith/The Citadel. Traditionally, the third son is the one that gets sent off like this, but maybe Aemond would be suited to something like the KG, or the NW, where he gets to do state sanctioned violence and not actually have to govern. But they are needed for alliance making in canon, and there are a fair few heiresses during this period. It’s unclear when Jason Lannister’s son was born, but perhaps Daeron and the eldest daughter would have been considered as good match when she was still the heiress? It would shore up that alliance and be seen as rewarding an ally while tying them closer together and setting up a good future for Daeron. And tbf to Ryan (lol), it is weird that it’s not recorded in F&B which sister Aemond picked at Storm’s End. Like, if he had picked Cassandra, why wouldn’t that have been noted considering she was the heiress at the time? Like, if Aemond had half a brain in his head, Cassandra is just the best choice. So maybe he didn’t pick her. I got nothing on this matter, except rip Maris, he didn’t deserve you.

And yeah, I love how blase most of the Targaryens are about dragons, they kinda have to be during this period, when there are so many and the dynasty is really at the height of its power. It’s especially fun writing with this in mind from Aegon’s point of view, who is deeply uninterested in the combat capabilities of his mount, and uses her for daily field trips and lengthy jaunts out and about. And realistically (and as mentioned in canon!) it takes a lot of resources to manage dragons! They are big, big, big and very hungry. You do have to wonder about what it takes to manage all their food and poop and general behavior.

Thanks so much for another wonderful ask!

[lemonhemlock]

Hi! I love your blog!

So I saw your answer to the ask about who Aegon and Helaena would marry if they didn’t marry each other. You said that it wouldn’t be beneficial for the greens to have Helaena marry outside the family because it would create a whole branch of other dragon riders who are not Targs. But would it really? Helaena is half Andal and half Valyrian, so if she married an Andal boy, her kids would only be a quarter Valyrian. Would they be able to ride dragons? I don’t know what percent Valyrian the Strong boys are, but it’s more than a quarter, right?

Hey there! Thank you for your lovely message.

To answer your ask, I'm not going to try and ascertain the exact percentage of Targaryen blood, because that would be an insane endeavour and prone to a lot of errors, as it is, since we don't have enough information. 😅

For example, Velaena Velaryon (mother of the Conqueror) was half-Targaryen herself, but we don't know how "pure" her husband Aerion's blood was to begin with. Since the Targaryens and the Velaryons were known to often intermarry, then both Alyssa Velaryon and Corlys should have some dragon DNA, as well, yet they are both dragonless. Similarly, Orys Baratheon is presumably Aerion's bastard son; his grandson Rogar should also have some Targaryen blood. He married Alyssa Velaryon (another carrier) and had Jocelyn, who, in turn, married Prince Aemon Targaryen - the parents of Rhaenys.

So a lot of these above-mentioned people did not have dragons. Princess Daella, the daughter of a brother-sister couple (both dragon-riders) married Rodrik Arryn and had Queen Aemma - she didn't have a dragon either, although her lineage must have been pretty strong. This begs the question - was that a matter of lack of access to dragons or did the gene just didn't activate in their case? George keeps it vague for that very reason - it would complicate the story too much to impose a mathematical threshold for how much Targaryen blood you need to carry to be able to bond with a dragon.

In the same vein, the genealogy of the dragonseeds is kept deliberately ambiguous. These people aren't necessarily direct bastards of some Targaryen lordling - that's, again, another aspect that would complicate the story too much - like are they Daemon's or Viserys' bastards?? It's more likely that someone in their family was a direct bastard at some point and they went on to have children of their own. If these descendants also intermingled, then their dragonblood could have strengthened.

I think it's safe to make two observations from this:

1. having Targaryen blood doesn't ensure you bond with a dragon. Only 3 out of the 10 children of Jaeherys' and Alysanne's that lived beyond their infancy had dragons. 30%? Those are pretty damning odds. Rhaenys, however, had a 100% success rate, but she only had two children. How would she fare if she had 10 children? Maybe Rhaenys just got lucky and her other hypothetical 8 children would have remained dragonless.

2. since this is mainly guesswork, it's better to have more Targaryen blood than less. If your objective is to acquire a dragon no matter what, every little advantage helps. Sure, maybe all of Alicent's grandchildren would have turned out to be dragon-riders, even if her children all married outside the family. But why would she risk it? The parity at the time of Aegon's and Helaena's betrothal was 3 green dragons (Sunfyre, Tessarion, Dreamfyre only very recently acquired) vs Rhaenyra's 5 (Syrax, Seasmoke, Vermax, Arrax, Tyraxes) - I'm counting before Laenor "dies". If push came to shove and all-out war broke off, could Alicent rely on Rhaenys, Laena and Daemon to take her side? Probably not. So you can add their dragons to the mix, too. Remember that Laena still holds Vhagar.

The Hightowers are in very big trouble if something were to happen and need to cling to every little asset they have. Aegon has more dragon blood than Jace, but less than Rhaenyra. If he were to have children with a non-Targaryen woman, their super magical gene pool would be statistically smaller than Jace's. Is that enough for dragon-bonding? Maybe. Maybe not. But, again, why would you risk it, when the solution is very simple?

Alicent already has two other children she can barter for political marriages, so, honestly, she can do both. If she absolutely had to, she can marry again herself after Viserys dies. Who wouldn't want a beautiful, still young, Dowager Queen? In the books, Alicent has several other brothers, as well. Otto himself is still unmarried. Nobody wants to snag the Hand of the King? Furthermore, there are three male heirs to the High Tower in the direct line of succession - Lyonel, Martyn and Garmund. These are not bad catches for anyone interested.

Thing is that, if you're writing an AU and want to give all of Alicent's grandchildren dragons regardless of their parentage, it wouldn't be excessively out of the realm of possibility. But in-universe, I think anyone's reaction would be to mitigate risk as much as possible and, after drafting that cost-benefit analysis, would come to the conclusion that Aegon and Helaena marrying could very well give them that extra edge that could ensure their survival.

[sherlokiness]

Dany's Death: Melting Enemies, Wolves, and Carrion Crows

Not only is Dany gonna die horribly, but her death will benefit certain wolves and carrion crows.🤭🤭

“We had one king, then five. Now all I see are crows, squabbling over the corpse of Westeros.” He fastened the shutters. “Do not go to Old Wyk, Asha. Stay with your mother. We shall not have her long, I fear.”

“No, I’ll sit the Seastone Chair.”

“Then you are just another crow, screaming for carrion.” Rodrik sat again behind his table.

We see here that Westeros is likened to a person whose corpse will be eaten by a crow. So flesh= lands/power.

In one room, a beautiful woman sprawled naked on the floor while four little men crawled over her. They had rattish pointed faces and tiny pink hands, like the servitor who had brought her the glass of shade. One was pumping between her thighs. Another savaged her breasts, worrying at the nipples with his wet red mouth, tearing and chewing.

Consistent with the metaphor above where Westeros is the beautiful woman with 4 men raping her- the 4 Kings.

Even in Oldtown, far from the fighting and safe behind its walls, the War of the Five Kings had touched them all . . . although Archmaester Benedict insisted that there had never been a war of five kings, since Renly Baratheon had been slain before Balon Greyjoy had crowned himself.

So 4 Kings depending on the timeline.

My flesh will feed the wolves and carrion crows, she thought sadly, and worms will burrow through my womb. 

Her accumulated power will feed the wolves and carrion crows.☺️☺️☺️

"Of all. They shall come day and night to see the wonder that has been born again into the world, and when they see they shall lust. For dragons are fire made flesh, and fire is power."

We can actually see that grouping again in a Jon chapter. Parallels!🤡🤡

“I see what you are, Snow. Half a wolf and half a wildling , baseborn get of a traitor and a whore."

“Peace means peace for all.”

The Norrey hawked and spat. “As well make peace with wolves and carrion crows.”

Love this talk of peace. To the Flints and Norreys, Jon is both a wolf and carrion crow.

He called Jon Snow a craven, a liar, and a turncloak, cursed him for a black-hearted buggering kneeler, a robber, and a carrion crow, accused him of wanting to fuck the free folk up the arse.

In fact, Jon explicitly gets called that in the same chapter. This is JonTheBlackBastard all over again.

Meanwhile Dany is out there finally rejecting peace.

No. You are the blood of the dragon. The whispering was growing fainter, as if Ser Jorah were falling farther behind. Dragons plant no trees. Remember that. Remember who you are, what you were made to be. Remember your words.

She's done with planting trees!

We came to raise up a king and queen who would lead us home to Westeros, but this Targaryen girl seems more intent on planting olive trees than in reclaiming her father's throne.

The trees are olives- the symbol of peace in our world. "To extend an olive branch" is to make peace. I mean, this is such a clear symbolism that Dany will choose war. Imagine if Sansa accepted Littlefinger's pomegranate, why I'd be fearing for her life. Reminder : As early as AGoT, Dany has usurped her brother in her mind before his death. She'll probably usurp someone again. FAegon or Jon? Both?

Dany's enemies melting away means defeat.

That night she dreamt that she was Rhaegar, riding to the Trident. But she was mounted on a dragon, not a horse. When she saw the Usurper's rebel host across the river they were armored all in ice, but she bathed them in dragonfire and they melted away like dew and turned the Trident into a torrent. Some small part of her knew that she was dreaming, but another part exulted. This is how it was meant to be. The other was a nightmare, and I have only now awakened.

I propose this dream of hers symbolizes defeat like how Mel saw Stannis winning but it's actually a vision of him losing. There's a Jonsa meta out there detailing that when X person is exulted, the opposite happens. Dany will wake the dragon in a way that Viserys always meant it to be. She's gonna get so MAD.

"We are an old people. Ancestors are important to us. Wed Hizdahr zo Loraq and make a son with him, a son whose father is the harpy, whose mother is the dragon. In him the prophecies shall be fulfilled, and your enemies will melt away like snow."

Snow and dew. She's fighting 1) Usurper 2)armored in ice . I love that the other mention of snow for Dany is her audience with the Undying which was " a honor as rare as summer snows." Any other? Being a snow maid? Snow's maid? Oh, wait. That's the snow tasting girl. 🤣🤣🤣

"Snow," an eagle cried, as foemen scuttled up the ice like spiders. Jon was armored in black ice, but his blade burned red in his fist.

Interestingly, we have a Jon dream of him being armored in black ice.

"I am the Lord of Winterfell," Jon screamed. It was Robb before him now, his hair wet with melting snow.

The same dream where he becomes a usurper. Parallels!!!!🤡🤡🤡

"A dragon eating its own tail, aye," Valena said. "From the days of Aegon’s Conquest. He did not conquer here. Elsewhere he burned his foes, him and his sisters, but here we melted away before them, leaving only stone and sand for them to burn.

Dorne melted away before Aegon, a dragon. Aegon never conquered Dorne. So if Dany's enemies "melt away" like Aegon's did then that means the dragon is the loser.

[raya-rhaenyra-ahsoka]

Why Daenerys Should've Stayed Longer in the North Than Attack Cersei Too Soon (Which is a dick move, really) PART 2

This is a continuation from my other post, as promised. Here’s the link to Part 1 here.

ALLIES FROM THE SOUTH

The Stormlands. With Dany recently legitimizing Robert Baratheon’s last living bastard, Gendry (Yay!), and appointed him as the new Lord of Storm’s End, I think he had pledged his loyalty and full support to her.

Now since the Baratheons are the overlords of the Stormlands, it ultimately makes the Stormlands part of Dany’s new rule in Westeros. And if the Stormmen questioned Gendry’s legitimacy, there are two people who can back him up: Ser Davos Seaworth, a landed knight, and Ser Brienne of Tarth, literally the heiress to Evenfall in Tarth Island. Both of whom are from the Stormlands and have served the late Baratheon lords, Stannis,

and Renly, respectively.

TV show-wise, Gendry had taken over Edric Storm’s plotline. Edric Storm was another one of Robert’s many bastards and it was him who Ser Davos saved from being killed by Mellisandre in the books, not Gendry. Gendry himself was grateful to Davos for saving his life and he sort of stepped up as his own parental figure. I also think Gendry reminded Davos of the son he lost during the Battle of Blackwater Bay.

As for Brienne, she and Gendry never shared a conversation in the show, but in the books, he even saved her life. Brienne came from Tarth, an island in the Stormlands, where her father Selwyn Tarth is lord and one of the many bannermen of the Baratheons of Storm’s End. Brienne came across Gendry in the Inn at the Crossroads while she was searching for the Stark girls. When she saw him, she literally thought he was Renly because of his striking resemblance to his uncle. Their exchange went something like this:

Brienne: Oh my god, Lord Renly?!

Gendry: Uh, what? Lord? Lol no, I’m just a smith.

I wished it happened in the show, it would’ve been funny.

Dorne. There isn’t much plot regarding Dorne in the show. (Again, f*ck D&D for ruining a great sub-plot of the story!) But in the books, the Martell heiress, Arianne was the ultimate feminist icon. She supported and fought for Myrcella Baratheon’s claim to the Iron throne over her younger brother, Tommen, and she hoped that the rest of Westeros would follow after Dorne’s right of inheritance regardless of gender and order of birth. But no! They disregarded that seemingly important plot that even George R.R. Martin was disappointed about the changes. (We hear you, George!) Nevertheless, Arianne would’ve supported a queen, yes. But between Daenerys and Cersei, she’d probably go with Dany mainly because of their family ties. In case you forgot, Rhaegar’s late first wife, Elia Martell, was Arianne’s aunt. Also, because of what happened to Elia and Oberyn Martell in King’s Landing, the Martells practically loathed the Lannisters. In the show, Oberyn Martell’s paramour Ellaria Sand, and his bastard daughters, the Sand Snakes, hated the Lannisters, that’s why they sided with Dany. But with all of them dead and House Martell now extinct, I think the new prince of Dorne would’ve allied himself with a tamer ruler, not one who plays with wildfire. (Note: this is when Dany stayed in the North and did not march south yet.)

Spies. In the Art of War, the use of spies implies gaining knowledge of the enemy, knowing their motive and their next move. With Lord Varys the Spider in Winterfell, who’s still serving under Daenerys, has its advantages. Vary’s networks of spies or as what he called them, his “little birds” are literally scattered across the seven kingdoms.

His little birds are actually children, and appearance-wise, cannot be easily identified as spies. With his intel, they could easily formulate a plan to defeat Cersei.

DEFENSE AT SEA

 If Cersei couldn’t do it by land, she’ll go by sea. Which, Daenerys of course, have the appropriate fleets to defend, covering both the Narrow and Sunset Seas. Here's a map:

(Source: pinterest.com)

Enemies to the East. If Cersei will be stupid enough to attack through the Narrow Sea by sea, Daenerys has the fleets to defend. The Northern fleet, a.k.a the Manderly Fleet of White Harbor and the Arryn Fleet in Gulltown in the Vale will join forces.

Enemies to the West. And if they invade through the Sunset Sea, they’d have to pass the Iron Islands, where Yara Greyjoy’s Fleet will intercept them, with the help of the Mallister Fleet in Seagard.

Who would win depends. The only other person that’s probably as good as Euron at sea is his niece, Yara. The rest of Dany’s fleet would have to get lucky or outnumber the number of ships in a fleet.

At this point, you’ll probably be like, oh, what if they steer clear from the fleets and enter the North’s weakly defended areas? Okay, that job falls to the castles nearest to their borders. The northernmost castle is the Last Hearth, the seat of House Umber, which is practically already deserted. On the south is Greywater Watch, which has the strongest defense out of all four cardinal directions. On both east and west hold the seat of two branches of House Flint, with Widow’s Watch on the east, and Flint’s Finger on the west (Again, refer to the map above). Once they see Cersei’s fleet, they’ll inform the people in Winterfell.

People tend to forget that Daenerys has the only air support with her dragons. So when she hears about this, she’ll easily burn the enemy fleet with one dracarys away.

That is, if Qyburn hadn’t installed that big-ass crossbow in one of the ships, then she’ll have to be better at dodging them. It gets better if Jon’s willing to help her with Rhaegal, but we’ll never know.

OUTNUMBERED AND SURROUNDED

The map shows the Crownlands and its neighboring kingdoms of the Vale, the Riverlands, the Reach, and the Stormlands. (Source: pinterest.com)

Territories. With Cersei sacrificing Casterly Rock to tighten her grip on the Iron Throne, she technically had also sacrificed the Westerlands, which meant everything north of King’s Landing is Dany’s territory now. With Dany’s army and territories secured, the Crownlands, where King’s Landing is, is technically surrounded by the Vale, the Riverlands, the Reach, and Stormlands. I included the Reach because, well, she roasted the Tarlys and took the remaining men to her cause with a choice, bend the knee or die in a blaze of glory.

Armies. Dany has the combined armies of North, Vale, Riverlands, Westerlands, Reach, Stormlands, and maybe Dorne, plus, the Unsullied; fleets of the North, Vale, Riverlands, and Yara’s fleet from the Iron Islands; and the only air support, her two remaining dragons. Cersei on the other hand, just had the army of the Crownlands, King’s Landing’s City Watch, the queensguard, plus, the Golden Company without elephants; and Euron Greyjoy’s fleet.

I think it’s obvious that Dany outnumbers Cersei’s army, by a lot. And at this point, Dany has enough allies to lay a siege on King’s Landing.

DAENERYS VS. CERSEI

Let’s discuss the difference in the personalities and motives of Daenerys Targaryen and Cersei Lannister.

They both have blond hair, are the only girl among three siblings, and are queens in their own right. But that’s where their similarities end.

Cersei currently sits on the iron throne, and she is loving the perks that came with it. Endless Power, which meant she can do whatever she wants and not care about what people think, like sleeping with her brother. With the news of Dany coming back to Westeros, she sees her as a threat and wanted nothing more than for Dany to disappear so she could stay in power.

Daenerys, however, claims that being the queen of the seven kingdoms is her birthright, as it was the Targaryens that reunited the whole continent of Westeros. Of course, it’s still power, but at the same time, she sees it as a responsibility as well. (With great power, comes great responsibility. Wow, I’m quoting Spiderman now.) She believes that as a queen, it’s her job to take care and provide for the needs of her subjects and even makes an effort to hold court as she listened to their demands. She also thinks that slavery is a big no-no, so she freed them.

The key to becoming a great leader is finding the balance between being loved and feared by your subjects. Cersei is more likely feared than loved. She also doesn’t care about her people, a fact that she admitted to her brother, Tyrion once. Daenerys most likely had the scale tips on balance, with her being equally loved and feared by her subjects. She’s loved because she actually takes time to listen to the people’s needs, and feared because she could take you out using her dragons with one word.

If Dany did lay siege on King’s Landing (again, we aren’t counting her major mad queen moment), the only thing Cersei can use against Dany is the people living within the city walls. Cersei might have heard that Dany’s been freeing slaves in the cities surrounding Slaver’s Bay, and figured out that she has a soft spot for the common folk.

In conclusion, if Daenerys had simply waited out and took her time planning and gathering allies and supplies against Cersei, she would’ve been successful in her campaign to retake Westeros. But then again, we aren’t the writers for this show. In the end, they had Jon battling through himself while he chooses to reply with either of his two favorite lines, She’s my queen or I don’t want it. Or that Sansa and Arya doesn’t like Dany at all and think that she’s a power-hungry, dragon-riding bitch. Or that Bran doesn’t give a f*ck about anything. So, yeah. What do you guys think?

[the-great-bbe]

The children shriek with laughter as the waves roll against their legs. The sweet sound melds with the crashing of the sea, of Mellario and Ellaria gossiping about their beloveds, of Rhaella sighing and relaxing for once. All is bright and golden and warm, save for their ice-cold goblets of sangria. Elia tilts her head back against her chair and smiles. Let those bastards keep that ugly ass throne, she has all she needs right here.

Or, the sangria beach party that Elia and her loved ones deserved. A short fic to start off Summer is for Dorne!

Among his many talents, Elia’s little brother is a master of mixing drinks.

He is a viper after all, and vipers know their poisons and how to mix them. Tequila from the agave blooming across the hillsides pairs perfectly with lime juice and distilled orange blossom nectar to make a margarita. Horchata foamy and fragrant with Summer Islander cinnamon can be elevated with sugarcane rum. And there’s nothing better on the gods’ green earth than red wine—proper Dornish sweetwine, not that diabetic piss from the Arbor—left to idle in icy splendor with strong brandy and fruit. Blood oranges, black strawberries, white nectarines, even a tart green apple or two. Their cousin Manfrey picked them all fresh from his private orchards near the Water Gardens just the day before. The bounty of Dorne for Dorne and Dornishmen alone.

A pitcher of his perfect sangria rests in a bucket full of ice slurry. Already her goblet is half empty, despite her efforts to sip and savor. It tastes so rich on her tongue much abused by dull Riverlands ale and Reacher wines. There are few blood oranges to be found north of the Boneway, even for a Princess of Dorne, and Elia feels the urge to inhale her drink. She sighs and rolls her shoulders. Just another sip for now. Summer explodes on her tongue, ripe and rich and such a dear welcome home.

Elia doesn’t remember the last time she was this happy. On Dragonstone it was a constant haze of sulfur and marine fog, and Kings Landing reeks from miles away. But here, on a long stretch of beach near Saltshore, the sun burns bright and delicious above the palm trees. Not a single cloud in the sapphire sky, nor any fog to mar the turquoise seas. Elia rolls her head back against her wicker chair. Perhaps later she’ll relocate to the hammock strung between two date palms and let the balmy sea breeze lull her and her children to sleep. But for now her precious Rhaenys plays in the surf with her cousins and Viserys, and dear Aegon builds a sandcastle with Oberyn’s help.

Instead of cowering from the Mad King’s rages and simmering with hatred towards her once husband, Elia lounges in the shade. Zinc paste is cloudy white on her shoulders, nose and ears to protect her from the strongest of the sun, just like the children. But the rest of her body is resplendent with shea butter and avocado oil. Thick aloe leaves already sticky with cooling sap wait in a basket by her feet in case she must ward away a sun burn, but her skin soaks up the midmorning sun like a child returning to her mother’s embrace. Gods, but the sun! She stretches her arms above her head and nearly knocks her wide brimmed hat aside. She swears she can feel the sunlight itself like warm silk through her fingers, like a waterfall down her chest to pool in her stomach and ignite joy in her veins.

She lets her gaze fall back towards the sea. When was the last time Rhaenys laughed this loudly? When was the last time Viserys laughed at all? Poor boy, but he, his mother and his baby sister are well in hand now. Targaryens by birth they may be, but the blood of Myriah Martell and Dyanna Dayne run sevenfold in their veins. Dorne shall never turn its back on any child no matter the color of their skin, and even from her shaded refuge Elia sees the freckles blooming across Viserys’s shoulders. Good; the more sun the better. Uncle Lewyn’s eldest daughter Obara throws him headlong into the waves and he shrieks with joy, while her little sister Nym and Doran’s Arianne demand their own toss into the surf. Rhaenys and Manfrey’s daughter Sarella help Lewyn’s Tyene search for shells and crabs, giggling and kicking seaweed at each other. When they find a proper shell, they bring it to Aegon and Oberyn who add it to their castle. Aegon blows a messy kiss onto Rhaenys’s cheek and Elia’s heart runs over with sweet warmth. Her babies, alive and well and happy.

It was a terribly close thing by the end of Robert’s Rebellion. Elia’s correspondence was cut off by Aerys in his paranoia, but she was able to smuggle out a letter to Oberyn when Rhaella left for Dragonstone. He returned with his sellswords to rescue them from their imprisonment, and not a moment sooner—Elia remembers how Kings Landing burned from her view on the ship home to Dorne. To think of what would’ve happened had they stayed…they say that Aerys was cut down by his own Kingsguard, and that the royal nursery was torn to shreds by the Mountain That Rides in search of children to kill.

Elia shudders. Perish the thought, banish it to the seven hells. Rhaegar is dead, and her children are Martells now. Even Rhaella forsook the Targaryen name when they alighted in Sunspear and she was hurried into proper birthing chambers. Daenerys came to the world not as a Targaryen princess but as a Lady Martell of Dorne, with Rhaella Martell the new Lady of Planky Town. Viserys and Aegon shall not give their lives to the Wall and Rhaenys shall not be chained to a Baratheon prince. Not if Westeros intends for Dorne to remain in the Seven Kingdoms, and truth be told Elia wonders if Doran intends to leave anyway. They entered into a kingdom with a union, and perhaps they shall leave with the sundering of one…

But that’s not what matters today. What matters is refilling her goblet. Elia raises it high, and Doran shuffles over with the pitcher. Her dear older brother is shirtless, stained with sand and salt, and there is a sweet flush to his cheeks. Even his bad leg seems fine with the therapy of burning sunlight illuminating their bones from the inside out. Mellario must certainly appreciate that! Her good sister lies on a spread linen sheet on the sands with Ellaria, Oberyn’s paramour. Both of them are bronze in the sun, a silk turban around Mellario’s head and Ellaria’s curls formed into twists down her back. And its’ said that Cersei Lannister is the most beautiful in Westeros, obviously people are blind. They look up at them with mischievous grins, before bumping their heads together and giggling. Elia smirks at Doran. “Careful now, habibi. I believe you’ll be ambushed later in the night and whisked away by a mystery woman.”

He laughs and his eyes crinkle at the edges. “I’ll be sure to not fight back too much.” He plops down next to her and sips at his lemon water. The maesters forbid him from alcohol and sugar until his gout is under control, a true tragedy in Elia’s eyes as the sangria is excellent. But even more excellent is seeing how happy her brother is. Gods, to imagine him mourning her and her babies as they did for uncle Lewyn, it’s a fate she would not wish on her loved ones. She intends to live to a hundred and twenty, just to ensure he’ll always smile at her with crinkled eyes.

Elia leans against his shoulder and peers out towards the cabana higher up towards the oasis grove. “Has Rhaella returned from Saltshore yet? Dany was giving the wet nurse a bit of a hard time.”

“Missed me, have you?” Rhaella, emerged from their cabana and the platters of fruit kept safe from the sea salt there, calls down to them. It’s been only a few months, and Rhaella is unrecognizable. Elia is glad to see the plump roundness of her stomach and thighs where before she was only skin and bone. And her skin, once as pale as parchment and twice as translucent, is as dark as her great-grandmother Dyanna. It glows against her silver-gold hair and lavender eyes, and there is happiness in her face where before there was only stifled fear.

Elia waves Rhaella over to the empty wicker chair by her side. Perhaps later, when the children sleep off their lunch and the adults are properly sauced from sangrias and margaritas, they’ll return to the cabana and lounge on the day beds. Maybe even one of the cabana boys—cabana men in truth, with their strong arms and backs—can give them all shoulder massages. Rhaella has a little favorite who is always eager to help his new lady relax. Elia raises her eyebrows at her good mother and she takes a long sip of her margarita. Elia is far from judging, as Rhaella deserves whatever happiness she can grasp.

They all do. How long have they all suffered these last years? Suffering Aerys, suffering Rhaegar, suffering the war that they wrought upon Westeros. Elia still remembers the screams from Rhaella’s chambers during their terrible stays in Kings Landing, she remembers the cold silences before Harrenhal and the even colder absences after. And now those men are dead and thousands with them. All over some Northern girl, and a prophecy that probably foretold the coming of the seasons than any promised prince!

Well, fuck them. Westeros has a new king now, in that stinking castle filled with blood and shit and ghosts, and the Baratheons and Lannisters can figure it out now. Let them have the starving smallfolk ready to rebel after a harsh winter. Let them have the honor of bartering away pieces of their souls until all that remains is bleeding pride. Let them have it all. All that matters to Dorne is the rice crop, and managing citrus exports, and the wellbeing of its people. Elia plans to build a new school for smallfolk children and petty gentry in Sunspear, as she is now Princess of Sunspear. More Martell branches for a blood orange tree to bear wondrous fruit. All beneath the sun, so bright in that perfect sky…

Elia sips her sangria. Oberyn and Aegon are finished with their sandcastle, and now he’s pulled out a guitar from somewhere and tries to teach his nephew how to play. Rhaenys perches on Obara’s shoulders and pretends to joust with Arianne who is on Viserys’s. Manfrey and his Summer Islander wife Bellegara Otherys finally finish up their romantic walk up and down the shore, with Bellegara joining Mellario and Ellaria’s whisper pile and Manfrey pulling Doran away to talk drunken business. Something about making a fleet of ships to rival Nymeria’s, and selling sweetwine to Sothoryos in exchange for coconut and date liquor. Elia giggles and can’t stop. Not with the sun so warm on her skin, not with Rhaella raising her goblet and toasting the coming summer.

It’s still winter north of the Red Mountains, but not here. No, summer is here for Dorne, and it is here to stay.

The children shriek with laughter as the waves roll against their legs. The sweet sound melds with the crashing of the sea, of Mellario and Ellaria gossiping about their beloveds, of Rhaella sighing and relaxing for once. All is bright and golden and warm, save for their ice-cold goblets of sangria. Elia tilts her head back against her chair and smiles.

Let those bastards keep that ugly ass throne, she has all she needs right here.

[wishingupontheskyandstars]

Our Secret This Holiday ❄️ Chp. 11

Fic Summary: As the Holidays approach, Arya and Gendry are a new couple spending a lot of time together before they reveal to everyone else that they are dating and what better day to reveal that than on Christmas…

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6| Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | AO3 Link Here | Rated M | Inspired Christmas Prompts Link

This chapter is based on the Tumblr writing prompt: Kissing under the mistletoe. Thanks for reading! :)

Chapter 11: Mistletoe

After dinner and dessert, the outside patio was alive, with many family members and friends dancing on the large wooden portable dance floor. Arya leaned against a concrete rock pillar in the gazebo and smiled, watching her older brother Robb dance with his wife, Talisa, carrying their six-month-old baby, Ned.

"And what is my niece doing out here, alone?" Her Aunt Lyanna said behind her.

Arya grinned. "Just watching everyone have a good time."

"Are you having a good time?" Lyanna asked as she put her arm around Arya and hugged her close.

Arya could smell the fragrance of blue winter roses, her aunt’s favorite flower. "I am. It's probably the best Christmas in a long time," she said truthfully.

Lyanna nodded. "And would that be because of Gendry Baratheon?" She raised her brow at the young woman whose eyes enlarged as she looked at her.

"Umm..."

"He has always been a nice young man, and he's very handsome."

Arya sighed, giving in. "How did you know?"

Lyanna looked knowingly at her niece. "I saw the way you two were at dinner—a couple in love."

Arya scoffed. "We're that obvious?"

"To me—yes, but not to your father or maybe your mother."

"We plan to tell them tomorrow, just after this party," she said, looking hopeful.

Lyanna nodded. "Good. It's better that everyone you love knows that you are in love yourself."

Arya agreed and rested her head on her aunt's shoulder but looked up at her grey eyes that was similar to hers. "How did you know that Uncle Rhaegar was the one?"

"I didn't know at first," Lyanna said calmly. "I met him at an Equestrian event after his divorce. He was so young to have had a wife and two young children, I thought, but many Equestrian events later, we would ride together, by the sea, and that's when we would have our most important and intimate conversations.

It was because he was a doting father and brother that I felt myself falling for him more and more. Now, I wish we didn’t keep our relationship a secret the first few months."

"Why did you?"

Lyanna shrugged. "It was mostly me, I suppose—I just wanted that feeling of only the two of us knowing we were in love before our families knew. But, hiding our feelings and not being able to touch each other in front of others those months was tough, and when we finally told everyone, it felt like a massive weight off our shoulders.”

Arya nodded and figured she might be like her aunt, more than she thought.

"Arya, are you happy with him?" Lyanna asked with a smile.

She nodded. "More than I thought I could."

Lyanna kissed her niece on her forehead. "I'm glad."

Just then a gentle and deep voice asked, "May I have this dance?" Both turned to see Lyanna's husband, Rhaegar Targaryen.

Lyanna smiled at her husband and gave her niece one last kiss on the cheek. "See you later, okay?" She said as she took her husband's hand.

Arya nodded and waved at both her aunt and uncle. Rhaegar waved back at his niece before putting his arm around his wife's waist as he led her to the dance floor. They held each other closely and moved together slowly. Their foreheads touched before they kissed.

Arya crossed her arms and smiled at the couple, who seemed to still be in love after many years.

Feet away from them, she saw Jon and Ygritte kiss underneath a mistletoe that hung on a tree branch from a tree that lead to a path to the gardens. She observed the couple walk to his parents. Jon kissed his mother on the cheek and laughed at something his father said. It always amazed Arya how much of a Stark he looked, but his hairstyle and smile was all Targaryen. Her eyes left the happy family as she browsed at others on the dance floor.

She saw her younger brother Rickon and his friends make snow angels near the Weirwood tree, where she and Gendry shared their first kiss.

Arya remembering that evening, rubbed her shoulder where she felt a little chill. She looked behind her at the house, wondering when Gendry would be back from the kitchen. She walked back inside the house, through the French doors that lead to the living room.

She spotted Sansa in a stunning silver dress with a matching bolero and Theon in a dark suit, taking pictures in front of the tree. She walked over to them.

"I can take a few pictures of you two if you want," she offered.

Sansa smiled and tossed the camera to Arya. "Thanks," she said as she put her arms around Theon, and he put his arms around her.

Arya half-smiled as she took pictures of her sister and Theon looking very much in love. It should have sickened her, but it didn't. She was happy for them.

She handed the camera to Theon. "Thank you, Arya," he said.

Arya nodded as Sansa leaned forward and whispered, "Just a little longer, right?" Reminding her what she was to reveal in a matter of hours.

Arya looked hopeful as she said, "Right."

She stood back and was going to look for Gendry when she heard his voice behind her. She turned, and her mouth parted as she saw him holding her nephew.

"Ned!" She yelled as she walked over to them. She gently raised his little chubby arm and smiled when he saw him smiling back at her. She looked up at Gendry. "You look good with a baby," she remarked.

"I do?"

"Mmm..." She looked around for her brother and sister-in-law. "Where's Robb and Talisa?"

Gendry moved his head back, indicating the dance floor outside. "They asked if I would look after him as they danced a few songs together."

"That was nice of you."

Gendry just smiled in return. "Do you want to hold him?"

Arya nodded and instantly felt her nephew in her arms. She rocked him a little, back and forth. "He's so cute," she said with a sigh.

"He looks just like a Stark."

"He does."

Arya and Gendry stared at each other longingly as she continued to hold her nephew close to her.

Catelyn Stark was arranging the annual photoshoot in front of the Christmas tree. She looked around and didn't spot her youngest daughter.

"Sansa?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you know where your sister is?"

Sansa looked around briefly then shook her head.

"Can you please find her, quickly?!"

Sansa nodded and walked out of the room just as Ygritte was walking hand in hand with Jon. She stopped the couple and put a hand on Ygritte's shoulder as she whispered, "We have to find Arya and Gendry before my parents do."

Ygritte dragged a confused Jon out of the room as she said, "Let's go!"

Meanwhile, as everyone was heading inside, Arya and Gendry were behind the Weirwood tree, kissing. She was against the tree as Gendry kissed her hard. Arya chuckled as she looked back at the patio and then looked at Gendry. "I know where we can go."

She took Gendry's hand and led him towards the snowy gardens. They were underneath an oak tree when Gendry spotted something above them. "Look, mistletoe."

Arya looked above and saw the mistletoe hanging from a branch. She wrapped her arms around Gendry's neck and pulled him towards her. "We better not disappoint," Arya whispered in his ear. She then licked his bottom lip before she kissed him, feeling his mouth open and her tongue touch his.

Both of them moaned as Gendry held Arya like he was never letting go.

"Arya Stark!" a familiar voice rang out, making the couple break apart in surprise. They looked around and saw her mother and father feet away with shocked expressions. Behind them were Sansa, Ygritte, and Jon with worried faces.

There was perhaps up to a minute of awkward silence, until something in Arya just let go. Fuck it. "Okay," she said. "Mom...Dad. Gendry and I have been seeing each other since Thanksgiving."

Her parents briefly looked at Gendry before looking back at their daughter. "I'm the one that wanted to keep our relationship a secret because it just felt good to," she said with an easy smile. We were both going to tell you tomorrow, Christmas Day. I'm sorry we couldn't tell you sooner, but we are in love—I love him," she said as she finally took Gendry's hand and squeezed it.

"Mr. and Mrs. Stark, I apologize we didn't tell you sooner, but I do love your daughter—I love Arya," he said with a half-smile, and wondering when the beating of his heart will ease down.

Catelyn and Ned looked at each other and sighed. There was a twinkle of a smile from each of them before they turned. "Oh, Arya," Ned began. "Why you thought you had to hide your relationship is beyond me, but Gendry, you know you're always welcome because you are already a part of our family."

"Yes," Catelyn said as she nodded. "I'm shocked to see your love in front of us but..." she smiled, "I'm glad to hear this is something serious."

"It is," Arya nodded.

"Good, well let's take our annual family photos, come on." Catelyn said as she and Ned turned around and walked past Sansa, Ygritte, and Jon.

"They finally know," Arya said with raised brows.

"Whoa—My heart was racing there for a while."

"Mine too," she said as she started to chuckle.

"What?"

"You were right. They did find out about us before Christmas Day."

[ddagent]

Oh hello I am 100% here to prompt ‘hearing each other’s thoughts’ or some version of that

Well, I am 1000% here to write a version of that! I hope you enjoy, Anon!

“Good morning, Ms Tarth,” greeted Jeyne at reception. “Good weekend?” Probably spent the whole weekend at home with her cat. 

Brienne stiffened as she swiped her key card. “I don’t have a cat.”

Jeyne fumbled; a line forming across her brow. “I didn’t say—”

No, Brienne thought, you didn’t say anything. That was part of the problem. Somehow, Brienne could hear what Jeyne was thinking. Even what song the security guard was singing in his head. Brienne knew how bored the man with the blue tie was; knew all about the affair the woman in the pencil skirt was having. It was…deafening. 

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Brienne raced through reception and headed for the stairs. She couldn’t stomach taking the lift up to the twenty-eighth floor. 

Thankfully, no one else took the stairs, so Brienne was allowed some peace as she walked up to her office. She probably would have taken the stairs anyway, avoiding the stares and gossip at the egg-shaped lump atop her forehead. Brienne had made the mistake of trying to stop a woman outside her building from being mugged, and had been knocked to the kerb for her trouble. After a visit to the emergency room, Brienne had returned home only to discover she could hear people’s thoughts. 

Not a pleasant experience, looking as she did. 

Sighing, Brienne finally made it onto the twenty-eighth floor, and the law offices of Lannister, Baratheon, and Targaryen. They were the most feared law firm in King’s Landing – nay, Westeros itself – and getting a position there was a coup for any lawyer. Brienne had been recruited by one of the senior partners, Renly Baratheon. He had found her arguments spirited and well-researched, and her research skills were currently helping Renly win case after case in civil court. 

He was also the first person to address her as she entered the office. “Brienne! What in the name of the Seven happened to your head?”

“It’s nothing really,” she said, stomach churning as Renly crossed the foyer and joined her by the entrance. Her pulse quickened as his fingers brushed her temple. “Just an accident outside my building.”

“You poor thing.” I hope this won’t stop her from doing that research I need for the Bolton case. Brienne swallowed. “Are you sure you should even be in?” With a head that thick, she should be fine. 

“I—” Brienne resisted the urge to flinch, to pull away from Renly’s comforting touch; such a stark contrast to the thoughts inside his head. “I’ll be fine, Mister Baratheon.”

He smiled. “Please, Brienne, how many times do I have to tell you? It’s Renly.” That’s it, put on a little charm. “I’m actually really glad you’re here, Brienne. I have some important work for you.” You can do all the boring paperwork while Jason on five sucks me off in the toilets. “I can’t trust anyone else with this.” Because you’re pathetically in love with me, and stupid enough to agree to do all my work. “Can I count on you, Brienne?”

“I think I need to sit down.”

She pushed past Renly, staggering to her broom cupboard of an office. Once inside, she turned the blinds and locked the door. Fuck. It wasn’t as if she expected Renly to share her feelings. But for him to so blatantly use them for his own ends…Brienne sucked in a breath, closed her eyes, and tried to calm herself. Fuck. It wasn’t enough that the Gods had cursed her with a tall, broad frame and ugly features. They had now cursed her with the knowledge of all those around her. 

Brienne wondered how many other people secretly found her wanting. 

Suddenly, there were two raps at her door. She unlocked it, thrust it open, and came face-to-face with one of the paralegals, Podrick. “Sorry to disturb, Ms Tarth, but the staff meeting is just about to start.”

“Thank you, Podrick.”

“You’re welcome, Ms Tarth.” She said my name again. No one else knows my name. “Did you want some ice for your forehead? Maybe some painkillers? Or a coffee?” 

Brienne shook her head, regretting the move instantly. “No, thank you. But…thank you, Podrick.”

It seemed not everyone found her lacking in some way. She patted Pod on the shoulder as she passed through her office door, and joined the other associates in making their way to the conference room. Renly stood at the head of the table, along with the other senior partner who worked at this branch, Jaime Lannister. Brienne had never cared for him: he was arrogant, slick, and the underhanded way he had ousted one of the firm’s own partners had been a disgrace to the legal profession. Her disrespect was mutual: he found her boring, an object of ridicule. 

She took a seat far, far away from him. 

“Good morning, everyone,” Lannister said, drawing the room to attention. “We have several high profile cases in the works and Mister Baratheon and I would like updates. Let’s start with Addam.”

As the senior associates went around the table and explained the status of their open cases, Brienne was bombarded by more thoughts than she could to process. Two colleagues were secretly dropping the ball; a pair of associates were fucking each other and charging clients for the time. In her head, Brienne began humming the first song she could think of to drown out the thoughts. She got through two verses of The Bear and the Maiden Fair before a voice called to her. 

Gods, she really is the most singular woman. I could stare at her for hours. 

Brienne lifted her head, recognising the voice. It seemed that Lannister was attracted to one of their colleagues; what a cliche. Was it Melara Hetherspoon, who handled the firm’s divorce cases? What about Pia, one of the paralegals? There were several beautiful women around the table; any one of them could have caught his eye. Brienne could care less about who a man like Jaime Lannister was attracted to. 

Her eyes. They’re so blue. A man could drown happily in those eyes. Brienne shivered and looked across the table. Lannister immediately ducked his gaze to the paperwork in front of him. Fuck, did she catch me? Probably not. Tarth’s always looking at Renly anyway. 

She never looks at me. 

[atopvisenyashill]

What if Rhaegar, Elia, and Lyanna were genderbent?

I've answered a few about Rhaegar being gender swapped or stillborn and that answer essentially boils down to "his mother's life sucks even worse than it does in canon, plus the political scene is tense as FUCK." i've also answered some about lyanna being gender swapped as well, which is basically just "lyanna is having the time of her life chilling in winterfell while westeros burns around her" hah. never done an elia one, or all of them swapped.

But okay - Lonnel Stark is, in all likelihood, just chilling out at Winterfell. Either he or Benjen gets fostered out (I speculated on where in that other ask, but I think it's likely he would be sent to a Reacher house, where there is currently a plethora of girls to get engaged to, or the Lannisters, and if Tywin is meant to be the foster father of Benjen or Lyanna/Lonnel as the war kicks off, that puts a fun spin on what Tywin is going to do if he has a potential hostage and/or closer alliances with the Southron Ambitions plot), and which one is fostered out probably depends on the ages of the people he's fostering with. But no matter what, both of them are just kinda chilling. After the war, if a bunch of the Stark men die, having both Benjen and Lonnel would help a lot in rebuilding House Stark as well (ntm, I think it's likely Benjen went to the Wall out of guilt for whatever happened with Lyanna. If she never leaves with Rhaegar, that guilt goes away!).

Rhaena Targaryen, first born daughter of Aerys, cannot inherit but she is a catch. I'm sure there's some plans to have her marry Aerys and Rhaella's first born son, but when that first born son never comes, Aerys (and Steffon, probably Tywin as well, as I imagine the people doing most of the actual ruling early on was those two. I have always pictured this dynamic as the two of them teaming up on Aerys to babysit/keep him occupied while they do the actual work, haha) looks to make a smart political match with his daughter instead. Enter Jaime Lannister. Aerys is going to be a huge weirdo about this, Tywin is going to get his feelings hurt, Cersei is going to start scheming. Exit Jaime Lannister. But...Enter Robert Baratheon.

That's right my man, the one, the only, Bobby B. is marrying girl Rhaegar/Rhaena. My reasoning is this: Steffon has already brought Robert to court several times so they're familiar with each other, Robert is knighted fairly young so he proves himself "worthy" of the honor, and best of all he has a Targaryen grandmother. Not only does this keep ~the blood of Valyria~ strong in House Baratheon, but it also helps in the long run if the Targaryens keep having fertility issues, because they have another Valyrian house to turn to for potential brides. BUT. There is a challenger here - ENTER ELLARIO NYMEROS MARTELL!!!

While I think Aerys himself would rather Robert because he's a racist freak, that alliance with Dorne is the only reason Robert's Rebellion went on for as long as it did. Without Dorne, Aerys has nothing. Less than nothing, even. Granted, without a helpless bride and her two children being kept hostage in the capital, Aerys still has jack shit, but he doesn't know that now does he. Still, with Loreza and Rhaella being friends, I think Ellario is a contender for Princess Rhaena's hand (again, a bit unsure on when Mellario and Doran marry, so maybe Rhaegar/Rhaena marries Doran since he's the one inheriting, and Ellario has no seat to give Rhaena). There's some stiff competition with Bobby B. here. I think it's likely Bobby B. & Steffon win that one though, and Loreza's hurt pride means that, once again, when Aerys inevitably does something fucked up and the realm turns on him, Dorne is going to conveniently look the other way while the rest of the Lords storm KL to oust Aerys.

HOWEVER. We do have these two branches here - Rhaena marries Bobby B., and Rhaena marries Ellario. In the Ellario situation, as I point out in other asks, a girl Rhaegar would be in Dorne, not in KL or anywhere in the Crownlands. Since there's no Stark maiden for Robert or Rhaegar to get fixated on, exactly what Aerys does is up in the air here, but we know from Jaime and JonCon's memories that Aerys was acting erratically, especially in regards to wildfire, long before Robert's Rebellion started. Now, there's no real reason for Robert to go so hard on hating Targaryens in this scenario BUT if Aerys makes KL kaboom? I do imagine there comes a question of "well is Rhaena going to go crazy too?" and there's a minor stand off between Dorne and the rest of Westeros. If Rhaena marries Bobby B., I think there's a chance that marriage is used to further push Robert's claim to the throne once Aerys finishes blowing shit up, considering Robert's grandmother, Rhaelle, is used to push him in canon.

IF Rhaella and Viserys live (let's say they still get sent to Dragonstone while Aerys is making wildfire), I think things get real dicey in either scenario. They'd need some sort of consensus in pushing Robert over Viserys, and Rhaena is not going to stand by and do nothing while people call for her mother and brother to be killed.

THE REAL JUICE is If Rhaena finds the prophecy as a young girl and starts obsessing over it and what it means. She’s going to be very determined to have children (or to make Viserys have children, perhaps?), bringing her fucked up Valyrian magic to a court that is probably very anti Valyria because Aerys just blew some stuff up, and Robert, if canon is anything to go by, is going to react violently to something like that. BUT. If she’s smarter - and she’d have to be, women cannot make mistakes the way Rhaegar can! - and plays up the “i want to give you a healthy heir” thing and isn’t as publicly focused on magic, that might be okay. It DOES change the political landscape a lot because, in a scenario where Aerys gets himself ousted, and Robert marries a Targaryen, they are….basically just a continuation of the Targaryen line, in a very real way that Robert/Cersei are not. In Dorne, however, Ellario I think more likely to be forgiving of weird magical obsessions, and Rhaena would likely have a long leash (so to speak) on obsessing, but with no real power to make her plans come to fruition. in either scenario, I do wonder if Rhaena doesn't try something fire and blood magicy and blow up another building the way Egg does Summerhall. If she does, and she survives, I think that's the final nail in the coffin of the Targaryens, who would have blown up THREE SEPARATE PLACES in the last, what, 2.5 decades? I think Robert could be convinced to just send all his dragonspawn to the Faith and start over with a less ridiculous, much more rich family, while Doran and Ellario have Rhaena held in Sunspear to keep an eye on her.

[themockingpoint]

A million minutes late but here is my Sansa Appreciation Week day 5 submission. Takes place during the feast of 8x4. Shout out to @chryswatchesgot because I could not do that stupid cannon quote and their post from that episode gave me the perfect response.

  “It’s alright to be enjoying yourself.” Jon said, to Sansa shaking her out of her somewhat drunken thoughts. “If only for a little bit.”

 “Tell that to your queen.” Sansa said, before she could help herself. She showed off a grimace as she practically felt her brother’s annoyance bleed off him with a sigh.

 Sansa knew that the conflict between her and her brother’s… paramour was causing him undue tension, but she could not help it. Jon told Sansa that she is just refusing to see the Targaryen queen as she truly is and is letting what her family did to the Starks get in the way of that. However, Sansa would argue that it was her brother that was not seeing clearly ever since the two monarchs slept together. She sighed and downed another cup of wine.

 The way that she legitimized Gendry “Rivers” without thinking or consulting her advisors showed Sansa exactly what she needed to know. Putting aside the fact that she barely knew him enough to even know his actual name or the fact that he was her second cousin -and according to the great council of 101 AC that would probably make him, as a male, a stronger contender for the throne- his father was Robert Baratheon and her father was the Mad King.

 As bad of a king that Robert was, the smallfolk did not see it. His era signified an era of peace. Meanwhile her father was Mad King Aerys. He… well he got the name for a reason. Jon may have bent the knee to her, but their lords will always remember their Uncle Brandon and their grandfather. Let alone what the smallfolk will think. Joffrey most publicly was the smallfolks woes, yet Tyrion was the one blamed since he happened to be there once they started. No way would they forget what the mad king put them through. They were slaves waiting to be freed, they were people who just wished to go on with their lives with Highborn war.

  Another thing that Jon was forgetting but Sansa never would, was the fact that she spent years in King’s Landing, years. Joffrey, Cersei, Baelish, Ramsay, all of them taught her how to see a mask of benevolence. The Dragon queen may be projecting the air of the Good Queen Alysanne but Sansa likened her to the Young Dragon, Daeron I. The Dragon Queen may win the throne, but she would never be done conquering. She took over rulership in Meereen but was now looking to rule the Seven Kingdoms. The woman would never be done conquering, and Sansa did not plan on allowing the North and her people to be one of those Kingdoms to conquer that she will eventually become bored with.

 “I’m sorry.” Sansa slightly slurred from drink. “I am a little on edge… Feasts… I do not have the greatest history with celebrations…”

 “Here, here!” Tyrion said, walking behind them causing Sansa to roll her eyes.

 Sansa looked at the man that she used to think was the smartest man alive. When she knew him, he was the sharpest man in the room, taking people’s number without much of a challenge. He, Jon, and Varys -although he seemed to flip-flop worse than the Tyrells- all trusted her, is her own prejudices not allowing her to see the woman truly?

 Jon told her a little bit about the woman. The parallels between Sansa and Daenerys herself were strong, very strong. Sansa would not, could not, deny it and to be perfectly honest? It scared Sansa just how similar the two of them were. Abusive husbands, they were both raped on their wedding nights, both were used and passed around as bargaining chips, and both would do anything to get their countries back. Sansa almost crossed a line she never could have come back from.

 As similar as they were, Sansa knew that the dragon queen was not her friend, and definitely not Jon’s friend. She would only ever see them as subjects, never allies. They would be expected to fight whatever wars she would want to fight at the drop of a hat; ironically not unlike how Robert Baratheon was like with Sansa’s own father. As Sansa said, she would never be done conquering and -like during the Baratheon regime- the North would be dragged into it. She could not let her people be killed by the petty southern wars. She would not fail them; not again.

 “Why don’t you walk around?” Jon said, giving her a sympathetic smile. He knew how the last few feasts that she had turned out.

 “I… don’t think that is a good idea… I think I may be a little drunk.” She said, with a slight giggle.

 “Well I believe in you!” He said, slamming his hand down on the table in an ironic echo of her earlier statement.

 She walked away and a few minutes later saw the queen walk off in a huff of jealousy. She must admit, she was no Joffrey. He never would have abided by someone singing praises that were not directed at him, especially if he thought it was at his expense. She was not her father either, who would have just burned someone alive had he gotten annoyed with them.

 But it does not matter. The North was the North. They were not like the other seven kingdoms, even Dorne had more similarities to the southern kingdoms than the North did. The North just did things differently, they had different traditions, hell even their gods were different from the rest of the kingdoms. They were too detached from the rest of the Kingdoms to be part of such a kingdom that was practically united against them.

 She needed to clear her head as she was depressing herself. As she walked amongst the lower tables she saw where Tormund got to. She froze as she saw who he was sitting next to. Sansa knew he was here. Jon and Arya both mentioned the fact, he apparently had saved Arya’s life during the siege. Sansa has not been avoiding him, but she had not been seeking him out either.

 “Af’er all that he just comes North and takes ‘er from me.” Tormund said, weepily leaning on Sandor. “Just takes ‘er. Like that!”

 “Her?” Sansa thought to herself before she remembered who Tormund had been obsessed with since she had met him. “He can’t… He can’t mean Brienne, can he?”

 Thinking back to how her sworn shield starred at Jaime Lannister with starry eyes as they continued speaking, Sansa quickly realized what had happened when a quick look told her that she was not there. She felt happy for the woman despite her feelings about Jaime Lannister. She was more devoted to her duty than any other person than Sansa knew. She deserved this, she deserved to relax.

 “I’m not ‘fraid of Wildlings.” The serving girl (whore? She know Tyrion hired many to spread into the waiting staff) said, raising an eyebrow as Sansa finished another glass of wine. She doubts that she has even been this drunk and she must say she thinks that she is handling it very well.

 “Maybe you should be.” Tormund said, suggestively wagging his eyebrows.

 As Sansa realized what was happening, she felt a tightening in her own belly. One she had not really ever felt before, except maybe with Loras Tyrell. She shook out of her distraction as Sandor growled at the woman, terrifying her so that she would make her escape. Thinking of the feeling in her belly she walked over.

 “She could have made you happy…” She said, as she sat down. She wondered if his rejection of her was due to lack of interest or because of self-hatred and cynicism. Gods know that he has enough of that. Enough that he tried passing it onto her. “For a little while.”

 He looked up in surprise, whether he was shocked she was there or that she decided to speak to him she did not know. When they finally broke eye contact, he said, “There’s only one thing that’ll make me happy.”

 “And what’s that?” She said humoring him, trying to get him to lighten the hell up.

 “That’s my business!” He growled trying to scare her away. Once, it might have worked. She drunkenly cocked an eyebrow to show that she was unamused. “Used to be you couldn’t look at me.”

 “That was a long time ago…” She said sadly remembering the kiss from the Blackwater. One of the only two people she has ever kissed and the only one she somewhat wanted it from. Is that why he was not looking at her, trying to scare her away. “I’ve seen much worse that you.”

 “Yes I’ve heard… Heard you were broken in… Heard you were broken in rough…” He said, almost smugly and she clenched her teeth. Why was he being so hostile? She was trying to extend an olive branch.

 “Yes.” She said, she had already lost Theon today and her patience was quickly wearing thin. “He got what he deserved. I gave it to him.”

 “How?” He asked, genuinely curious.

 “Hounds…” She said, causing a moment of laughter from him.

 “You’ve changed, Little-Bird.” Sandor said, taking a drink. Once she had a sickening liking to the demeaning nickname. Now it just angered her. “None of it would have happened had you come with me.”

 “And there it is.” Sansa thought to herself. Most of the men in her life tried taking credit for what she was or could have been. To be frank, she was sick of it. Sansa was the woman she was today because of two men and a woman, all of which were named Stark. She may not have gotten everything she has due to her own merits but the men who spit poison and abuses at her no longer could claim credit for it. She would not allow it. No longer.

 “That’s the thing Sandor.” She said, grabbing his hand to his surprise. “I was never a little bird. I was a puppy. And Gods help those who think they can tame a Direwolf.”

 She stood up and grabbed Tormund’s nearly full goblet. If he wanted to stew in his cynicism, hatred, and self-loathing than he was more than welcome to it. She was not going to allow him to infect her with it as well. That is all he tried to do even since they first met at the Crossroad Inn all those years ago. She was done trying to save someone who did not want to save themselves but drag her down to their level instead.

 She would always be grateful for what he did for her sister, but she was done trying to save him. It was not her job. She looked down at her former would be protector and walked off, forgetting the reason that she came over in the first place.

[sly2o]

The Abandoned Aegon/Blackfyre story line would have fixed nearly everything

This is a GOT post.

In the books there is a character you never meet in the show who goes by the name of Aegon. He is allegedly the son of Rhegar Targaryen and Ellia Martell. The popular fan theory is that he is actually a Blackfyre descendant, which is an offshoot branch of the Targaryens from a civil war between the Targs from a while back in Westeros history.

Either way - in the books this character named Aegon (nickname: Little Griff) who was raised in Essos in secret, amassed an army there, and has now shown up near Storm’s End with a host of followers and is rapidly picking up steam on his way to conquer King’s Landing at the end of Book 5. Lord Varys has been helping Aegon on his journey to King’s Landing to claim the throne.

Aegon believes - like Daenerys believes - that he is the last of the Targaryen’s and that he is coming home to Westeros, and plans to take back what is his birthright.

The show decided to include nothing to do with this Aegon.

But what if they had?

Imagine the story goes like this instead:

Cersei blows up the Sept of Baelor and there are consequences. Aegon shows up outside King’s Landing with a host of followers from the disenfranchised houses to take down Cersei because of her sacrilegious mad act. It is an overwhelming battle and Cersei loses.

This would prompt the Valonqar storyline earlier in the narrative. One way or another in this battle Jaime could end up fulfilling the destiny of that prophecy and kill Cersei. Maybe it’s a mercy kill because he knows Cersei will not be treated kindly by these invaders. Maybe it’s a vengeful kill because of what she has turned into without her children. Either way she dies, and in order to save his own life Jaime takes the black, sending him up North. For the remainder of the series we have Jaime reconciling what he has done, and learning to accept the heroic things he has done even at their cost with his character arc intact.

Meanwhile, we have Daenerys show up on the scene and she’s like “what the fuck - this guy MASSIVELY stole my thunder”. Daenerys was supposed to be the one to save the people of Westeros from the madness of Cersei - not this guy. Not this pretender.

And it starts to get under her skin.

So she is advised to win over the hearts of the people of Westeros by heading North to help with the issue at the Wall. We have the same story line probably around getting the North to bend the knee with Jon and Daenerys. The Jon and Daenerys romance probably still happens. Maybe it’s a bit more political - because she did make herself single so she could marry her way into a political alliance. We can also probably have some similar politicking around Aegon staying in King’s Landing and deciding to fight “whoever is left” when they come south of the Trident.

So Dany goes North. In the fight she loses a huge chunk of her host. They win. And then she finds out that this act of sacrifice has gained her almost nothing in her quest for Westeros.

This gets under her skin even more.

Maybe there is even more politicing. Maybe Aegon offers his hand in marriage to Sansa as a way to undermine Daenerys relationship with the North.

This also gets under her skin because The North was supposed to be her one big alliance through her relationship with Jon

And then the big reveal of Jon’s lineage comes up.

Now all of a sudden Jon’s parentage actually means something. Because it means he is a real contender versus Aegon the Pretender.

And this news will now really set Dany over the edge

Because after growing up and spending her entire life being the last Targaryen there are all of a sudden so many other Targaryens.

Because now the person she loves is also a Targaryen.

Because he has a better claim to the throne than her too.

And while yes these were all reasons before that we saw in the show - they suddenly mean so much more when Dany has lost so much fighting one person who alleges to be from her family, to find out another person from her family is standing right in front of her.

So now we have Dany with so much more motive to jealously torch the people of King’s Landing because those smallfolk have aligned themselves with a different Targayen who she thinks is not as good as her. She has motive to think that those smallfolk are committing treason by standing behind that Aegon. And the drama is so much more poetic, sad, and more within the spirit of the entire show.

If all of this had happened...

The writers wouldn’t have needed to spend a season just killing off and capturing the leaders of high houses (think Olenna Tyrell, Ellaria Sand, Yara Greyjoy) to justify sending Dany to the North. Those houses would have already either been aligned with Aegon to cause conflict.

Tyrion wouldn’t have had what seems like the world’s worst lobotomy because almost every single one of his plans resulted in someone from a high house getting captured or killed. He hasn’t been smart since around Season 4 and it’s deeply frustrating.

Did I mention Jaime’s character arc would be left intact? Well let me say it again because yeah that’s important to me.

Lord Varys actions would have made sense. This season has driven me bonkers with some of the lines he has been saying. Stuff like “maybe a leader who doesn’t want to rule should be King”. If Varys believed that was true he would have never conspired to remove Robert Baratheon in Season 1. If that was true he would have helped Ned Stark escape the dungeons in Season 1. If that was true he would have poisoned Joffrey, like how we just saw him try to poison Dany. The purpose of his character the entire way has been to pave the way for Aegon to take over (there are fan theories on his motives for this too) and with that purpose removed from the show, they had to take his lies about caring for the realm at face value. It came off as weird and frustrating.

It would have given more purpose to Jon Snow’s reveal for himself as an individual. Right now we’ve just had a season of him going “Ok but I don’t want any of this” and deferring to Dany. Having Dany versus another Targaryen, while himself also being a Targaryen would have forced himself to answer a lot of questions about his allegiances. He may have been convinced to fight for Dany and promise he would then abdicate to allow her to rule - and then when she torched the city we see conflict arise between them. Or maybe Jon would side with Aegon for the sake of peace and protecting the smallfolk and that would have broken Dany. Either way he would have been forced to make a more meaningful and public choice.

So why didn’t it happen?

First off, GRRM has made some comments in the past about characters sticking around for a while longer than they should because they rate well. I’m thinking in particular that they kept Cersei and Jorah longer than intended, and gave them storylines not meant for them so that they would have something to do. (We know Jorah’s greyscale storyline was taken from the Aegon storyline from the books).

Second, D&D have been hired on to do a future set of Star Wars films and are keen to move on from the GoT project. Adding the Aegon storyline would have taken at least another season to do it right.

Third, it seems that D&D saw an easy out with just saying “hey Dany is crazy!” and cutting the Aegon storyline that way.

In closing...

It’s so frustrating that what we currently see on screen could have been so much more compelling, and it’s doubly frustrating considering that D&D had the pieces to make it happen and chose not to use them.

[lemonhemlock]

Hi! Hope you are doing well 💚. What do u think would have happened if Rhea and daemon had a successful marriage resulting in children? I think daemon would definitely ask for dragon eggs and if denied he probably will make his kids claim dragons. So do u think the targ-royces (sounds a bit like Rolls-Royce 😅) would make a separate dragon riding faction like the velaryons? And other than Rhea being a rich ruling lady why would jaehaerys alysanne want him to marry out of the family? A rival targ faction being allowed to form? Anyways probably be a headache for viserys and probably the hightower-targs will probably be made to marry them. What do u think?

Hi again! 👋 I'll try to take your questions one at a time:

1. Yes, Daemon would ask for dragon eggs, but I don't see any reason why he would be denied by Viserys for his lawful children. In canon, he had no need to ask, since Laena had female Vhagar to give her eggs and Rhaenyra had female Syrax.

2. So the Targ-Royces 😅 wouldn't be a separate faction in theory since Rhea married into House Targaryen. Daemon is a man and his children would be Targaryens. The situation would be more like him founding a cadet branch - House Targaryen of Runestone. Similar to House Lannister of Lannisport. This happens with Robert and his brothers as well - in the main series we officially have House Baratheon of King's Landing, House Baratheon of Storm's End and House Baratheon of Dragonstone.

It's debatable whether Viserys would allow Rhea's children to be named Royces. Similarly to how Jace would ascend with the Targaryen surname to the throne. Having other people not named Targaryen having dragons has already proved to be troublesome, so I think he would prefer bringing them into the fold.

3. I've said this before, but I don't understand why Rhaenys wasn't married to Daemon, if Viserys settled on Aemma.

4. Depends on whether Daemon would approve of the matches! He'd still covet the throne, I feel, and throwing his lot with Rhaenyra would allow him easier access to power. Rhaenyra/Jace are easier for him to manipulate than Aegon/Alicent/Otto (who hates his guts).

Thanks for dropping by!

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

If both Robert and Stannis had died at the end of Roberts Rebellion, who would be more likely to be named King by the Stark/Arryn/Tully coalition - Jon Snow or Renly Baratheon?

If Stannis had died at the end of Robert’s Rebellion, it almost certainly would have been because he lost the Siege of Storm’s End – no Davos arriving with food, most likely, and Stannis too stubborn to surrender before he starved to death. If so, it’s possible Renly would have died too (he was only 6 years old), but more likely he would have been captured by the Tyrells. (Surely the last of the food in the castle would have gone to preserve his life.)

If so, getting word of this will change Robert’s plans dramatically, with one brother dead and his castle and only heir captured by the enemy. (For reference, see what happened to Robb’s war when Theon took Winterfell and reportedly killed Bran and Rickon.) It could be that this butterflies away the Battle of the Trident for something else, a push of the rebels not towards King’s Landing, but back south to take back Storm’s End and save Robert’s little brother. Maybe Robert dies in the process. Maybe he lives but the loyalists force a stalemate. But it also butterflies away the Sack of King’s Landing and the death of Rhaegar’s children and probably Rhaegar’s death too.* So your question is far more complicated than you think, sorry; you can’t just kill Stannis at the end of the Rebellion without consequences for every other part of the war.

*(Wait, you didn’t even say Rhaegar died when you killed off Robert and Stannis – or Aerys or Aegon for that matter. What kind of an AU is this, anyway? Are you changing the results of important battles, or are people just getting randomly struck by lightning, or what?)

Nevertheless, presuming some historical vacuum where Stannis’s death doesn’t matter other than him being dead (events don’t work that way! wars do not work that way!), not to mention Robert’s death (for how that alone would butterfly away the Sack and lead to Rhaegar’s children’s survival, see here), there’s no goddamn way Jon Snow would ever be named king. Even if Ned ever let anyone know of his origins (doubtful), even if it were proven that Rhaegar and Lyanna had married and that he wasn’t just a bastard (doubtful), bigamy is banned by the Faith (that GoT annulment is utter bullshit my friend) and likely he’d be considered a bastard anyway. And besides, if Aegon survives, Jon doesn’t really matter. :D

Furthermore, if we’re speaking of the rebel coalition, they would never take a newborn infant Jon as their figurehead leader even if Ned shared his origins (one more time: highly doubtful), because (a) he’s a goddamn newborn baby, and (b) he’s Rhaegar’s son, and y’know, they are rebelling against Targaryens. All of Aerys’s line is tainted with his madness and with Rhaegar’s tacit support of his tyrannical policies. Renly wouldn’t be much of a figurehead either, despite being Robert’s only heir (and from a Targ branch untouched by Aerys, which the maesters like), because, again, he is only 6 years old. If the rebels acclaim anyone as king, it’ll likely be Jon Arryn, or very possibly Ned Stark.

By the way, if the rebels do acclaim Ned once Robert and Rhaegar and Stannis and Aegon and Aerys are hit by lightning, Ned is not going have the time to find out about the Tower of Joy and Lyanna and head down to Dorne with nobody but a few companions, he’ll be too busy dealing with ruling and leadership and stuff. There’s no battle at the ToJ, once Lyanna dies from fever and bloodloss with nobody to hear her last words but her midwife and three Kingsguard who evidently did not give a fuck that they imprisoned a 16-year-old girl until she died, the Kingsguard take the baby (not named Jon, not named Aegon ffs) and run off with him god knows where. I really don’t like this AU.

So… what happens to Renly? Well, if he’s the only surviving Baratheon male, if the maesters insist that a king must be of Targaryen descent, it’s probable that if the rebels win the war (do they?) then Ned or Jon Arryn’s kingship is just temporary, a regency for another 10 years until he reaches adulthood at 16. By which point he’ll have to deal with the KG who’ve been raising up Aemon the young 10-year-old king in Essos, or have rallied around Viserys (who’s 17), or something Targaryen. (Like, don’t discount Varys and Illyrio’s Blackfyre plan, though their Aegon’s only 12ish at this point.) War of the adolescents, what fun.

(No, not really fun.)

[samwpmarleau]

I have seen Ashara Dayne offered up as an alternative to Elia for Rhaegar if Elia had married Baelor Hightower or Jaime Lannister. Do you think Arthur would have followed Rhaegar like he did in canon if it was his beloved baby sister who was the rejected wife?

I too have seen some meta writers say Ashara would be a likely choice in the event Elia was unavailable, but I don’t really share that opinion. Sure, she had purple eyes and her great-something aunt/cousin was married to Maekar, but I don’t think that would be enough for Aerys.

For starters, Ashara had no Valyrian blood. Dyanna’s kids were Targaryens, not Daynes, and so far as we know, none of Daenerys’s descendants married into the Daynes. (Even if they did, Daenerys lived over 100 years ago. It’s very unlikely that her single dose of purple eyes would a) trickle down so far, b) be so prevalent that even cadet-branch Daynes have them, and c) show up only in the Daynes.)

Secondly, yes, Maekar became king, but he was a fourth son at the time of his marriage and was never supposed to rule, and Dyanna died more than a decade (possibly closer to two decades) before Maekar ascended the throne. While Dyanna was alive, Maekar was practically a nobody, meaning so was Dyanna, dynastically speaking.

Aerys only signed off on Elia because she had the largest/most infamous amount of remaining Valyrian blood, was of royal blood anyway through Princess Nymeria, the Martells had twice married into the Targaryens, and she would effectively be Aerys’s ace in the hole as far as keeping Dorne in line. The Martells rule Dorne — with Elia as a glorified hostage, they wouldn’t be able to act against the crown.

Ashara had none of that going for her. She’s Dornish, that’s literally the only similarity. The Daynes are ancient and a primary vassal, but they’re a far cry from the Martells. While holding Ashara hostage would certainly keep the Daynes in line, and Dorne would be incensed at such treatment of any Dornishwoman, she doesn’t hold the same weight as Elia. Aerys wanted to cripple any chance of a Dornish uprising since the Martells control the levies; the Daynes don’t control anything except their own small contingent of men-at-arms.

Additionally, there’s Arthur to factor in. He was publicly known to be loyal to Rhaegar more than the crown, and Dornish besides. With Ashara as Rhaegar’s bride, that completely cements Arthur’s loyalty to Rhaegar. He would have an extreme emotional investment in looking out for his younger sister, no matter the consequences. Lewyn was named to the Kingsguard, yes, but he’s never said to have been the supporter of Rhaegar that Arthur was.

Given how gung-ho Aerys was about finding a bride with Valyrian blood, I think he’d simply move up the Targaryen tree. The Baratheons obviously didn’t have any girls, but one or both of his great-aunts Daella and Rhae probably did, possibly also Daeron’s daughter Vaella and Aerion’s son Maegor. We don’t know who Egg’s sisters married, but we do know they had children and that one of them, probably Daella, has a connection to the Tarths. Or, if Aerys really wanted Dorne, probably the Martells have a cousin somewhere.

That’s also presuming Lord/Lady Dayne would sign off on the match to begin with. So far as we know, they didn’t have any of the same high ambitions that the Princess of Dorne did, and Ashara was at the time (probably) their only daughter, not to mention Aerys’s madness was well-known. They may very well have not wanted Ashara to be embroiled in that mess when they could easily have, for instance, wed her to an Yronwood or something.

But let’s say she did become princess consort. She had no known health problems and although in canon her daughter was stillborn, that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with her. There’s no reason to believe she couldn’t have the three children that Rhaegar so desperately wanted, nor that she would have as long of a recovery period as Elia did. Given that, there would accordingly be no reason for Rhaegar to seek out Lyanna.

For sake of argument, however, let’s go further and assume Ashara received the same diagnosis as Elia, that it would be too dangerous for her to have a third child and Rhaegar did go after Lyanna. I don’t at all see Arthur going along with his plans. Shaming his homeland by abandoning Elia as he did in canon was bad enough; abandoning his own sister would be even worse. Where that would leave Rhaegar, I don’t know. He’d have either made do with just Oswell Whent (and later Gerold Hightower), provided Oswell was still on board, or he’d have convinced one of the other Kingsguard to join him. After that, there’s too many variables to accurately predict what would happen.

So to answer your question, no. I don’t think he’d help Rhaegar.