#the king’s decree

[by-the-decree-of-my-bolt]

LORD ZEUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUS!!!! I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY TO UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

@sun-lights-child

Well then? Spit it out already. I don’t have all day and I’m frankly unsure why I spend any on demigods

[synchodai]

HBO's Continued Insistence on Dumbing Down Westerosi Politics

So there have been countless thinkpieces already on how GOT simplified the feudalist politics of Westeros (by giving a lowborn sellsword lordship over The Reach, by having no consequences for destroying the Sept of Baelor, etc.), but I haven't seen a lot of people talking about that for House of the Dragon.

The worst being that the show presupposes that Rhaenyra is the lawful heir when the books showed there are plenty of lawful arguments why she wouldn't be.

Mind you that I've been enjoying the show a lot so far. This is just to vent out my frustration with the writers' failure to fully engage with the values and protocols of the Middle Age-inspired setting. The show seems uninterested in laws of the Realm in a story ostensibly about politics, save for when they're using it as an excuse to amplify depictions of sex and violence.

Blacks vs Greens wasn't a matter of misunderstanding of who each side thought Viserys wanted on the throne. It was the Targaryens' belief of their absolute authority clashing with the Realm's established traditions. Everyone always knew who Viserys chose as heir. In Fire and Blood, Grand Maester Orwyle said as much when he was parleying with Rhaenyra on behalf of the Greens.

Rhaenyra heard his terms in stony silence, then asked Orwyle if he remembered her father, King Viserys. "Of course, Your Grace," the maester answered. "Perhaps you can tell us who he named as his heir and successor," the queen said, her crown upon her head. "You, Your Grace," Orwyle replied. And Rhaenyra nodded and said, "With your own tongue you admit I am your lawful queen. Why do you serve my half-brother, the pretender?" Munkun tells us that Orwyle gave a long and erudite reply, citing the Andal law and the Great Council of 101. Mushroom claims he stammered and voided his bladder. Whichever is true, his answer did not satisfy Princess Rhaenyra.

(For non-F&B readers: Munkun is the Grand Maester who served Aegon III, the king who came after this civil war. Munkun's book, The Dance of the Dragons, A True Telling, is one of Fire and Blood's source texts. Mushroom is the King Landing court jester from Viserys I to Aegon III's reign. One is a source written with academic rigor but is secondhand at best. The other is a firsthand eyewitness account but is from a literal fool who will take every chance to make things more scandalous and sexual to please the crowd.)

In House of the Dragon, they replaced Orwyle with Otto and Orwyle's discussion of legal precedent with Otto handing Rhaenyra a book page from Alicent. It's quite evident here that the writers, much like Mushroom, thought a discussion on the actual laws of the Realm were negligible in this story about a succession war.

Even Alicent made no pretense that Viserys chose Rhaenyra over her children and I have no idea why the HBO writers decided to make her mistakenly think otherwise. Maybe they thought a queen regent pushing her son to take the throne over another woman made her appear unsympathetic as a character, but if anything, this only makes show!Alicent less politically savvy and more delusional than her book counterpart, fully believing an addled king's vague muttering on his deathbed was sufficient grounds to change heirs last minute.

Book!Alicent following Andal laws instead of her husband's wishes makes sense given her Andal upbringing, her devotion to the Faith of the Seven which enforces said laws, and her desire to protect her children from Rhaenyra given that Rhaenyra has shown she's not above murdering family (see: Laenor).

In the books, there was a long discussion between the former king's council on who should succeed Viserys.

Here are the arguments for Rhaenyra:

Rhaenyra was older than her brothers and had more Targaryen blood

the late king had chosen her as his successor, that he had repeatedly refused to alter the succession despite the pleadings of Queen Alicent and her greens

hundreds of lords and landed knights had done obeisance to the princess in 105 AC, and sworn solemn oaths to defend her rights.

Here are the arguments for Aegon II:

many of the lords who had sworn to defend the succession of Princess Rhaenyra were long dead [...]

Ironrod, the master of laws, cited the Great Council of 101 and the Old King’s choice of Baelon rather than Rhaenys in 92

the hallowed Andal tradition wherein the rights of a trueborn son always came before the rights of a mere daughter

Ser Otto reminded them that Rhaenyra’s husband was none other than Prince Daemon, and “we all know that one’s nature. Make no mistake, should Rhaenyra ever sit the Iron Throne, it will be Lord Flea Bottom who rules us, a king consort as cruel and unforgiving as Maegor ever was [...]”

Should the princess reign [...] Jacaerys Velaryon would rule after her. “Seven save this realm if we seat a bastard on the Iron Throne.”

Once again, the show chose to cut out this long political discussion. Instead, the council had already made up their mind and decided to stage a coup (when in their perspectives from the books, it would definitely not be a coup).

For all their marketing how two sides are equally grey, HotD is actively delegitimizing Aegon II. The strongest argument for him is how his claim follows the laws of the Realm, but the show doesn't seem to care about the laws of the Realm or the political need to maintain a more predictable/tested transfer of power.

Instead, the show focuses on Viserys's relationship with his daughter and the mysticism of the Targaryen bloodline. In doing so, they emphasize Rhaenyra's strongest arguments for succession — that she's more of a Targaryen than her half-brother and that her father prefered her.

And what for? Because in our modern-day, we don't have male-prefered inheritance and people can only imagine misogyny as the only injustice here? What about the injustice of a monarch exercising absolute control, thinking that his "superior" heritage makes him above the established laws of the native people?

This is not to say Aegon II is unquestionably the heir. But this is to say that the show removed the political nuance of why people are questioning in the first place. Precedence isn't the end-all-be-all of succession, but neither is "because daddy said so".

[longdeadking]

i do think mary ann becomes an honorary bad kid since shes dating gorgug but gorgug has explicitly told mary ann that she is not allowed to talk to riz. not because of any drama gorgug just knows that riz has the exact type of obsessive personality that would ruin his life if introduced to daily online browser games

[fable-creation]

What makes you think Isla still loves you?

Because she is my wife and I know what’s best for her.

[longdeadking-moved-blogs]

cleo is a survivor because she's intimidating. martyn is a survivor because he chooses his loyalties wisely. grian is a survivor because he is doomed by the narrative.

scott is a survivor because hes too darn pleasant to ever consider killing.

[descendantofthesparrow]

[thekingofworems]

I'm like sooo Telemachus coded. I'm just a silly guy who's terrible at fighting unless a cool goddess were to help train me, and I have a dad who is likely dead but I'm holding our hope thats not true

Is my father Odysseus, King of Ithaca, Lord of Lies? No. Was he present for little to no part of my life (that i can really remember) other than when i was born, however? Yes!

I rest my case.

[uramii]

Descent

Golden eyes fixated upon the golden insignia that marked the back of his left hand. Usually it did this when in proximity of other users or when he actively draws power from it. Perhaps he truly hasn't learned all it's secrets... which, if he were present during his takeover, he'd have realized. He allowed the pieces representing Wisdom and Courage to slip through his grasp in his swift execution of Link & Zelda. Yet, he got what he was vying for. It took a century of waiting and watching but here he sat in talks with another nation, The Sidhe, discussing trade. He was King of Hyrule after destroying his fated opposition.

Ganondorf shook the thought of why his piece was shining in such a delicate meeting and raised his head. He had been seated across from the Empress herself and those she saw fit to oversee their talks. In this moment he chose to stand alone. It truly wasn't personal... he simply didn't wish for Zant to know these details. He already knew what the Usurper King himself would say: Don't trust them. They are an unknown entity who have perhaps watched Hyrule for even longer than he. This could definitely be true, but Ganondorf wondered why wasn't this arrangement made before his violent coup? He'd definitely put such a question to them later. For now, Ganondorf stood to gain access to technology never before seen in the so-called blessed land. It was his to do with as he pleased.

In return they wanted an assortment of mines. This was a string of islands that formed an Empire which, historically, were power-hungry. Yet, here they are speaking cordially and attempting to forge a deal. This would worry anyone else but not the Dark Lord. For now at least. His eyes bounced between all who appeared across from him as his chest rose to take in air.

"Allow me to reiterate the terms for both sides." The focus, primarily his own, was back to them for the moment. His throat cleared and the gravelly tone rang forth to recite what they've agreed upon thus far to his understanding.

"You wish for not only access, but ownership over specific mines throughout Hyrule. We'll determine a number of them later. In exchange, I would like access to your weaponry. Your steam technology interests me and I'm intrigued by the thought of it being used in offense. The paltry steel the Royal family offered to the soldiers of this land disappoints me." The confession was joined by him adjusting within his seat. Arms were sprawled across the armrests gripping their ends giving his stance more presence. "Am I on the right track, Empress Fariah? I do hope I've got your title right." This was definitely to an end but Ganondorf being cordial? He'd picked up on their behavior already and sought to emulate it. Force has been used to get him this far but how much further could brutish applications of power carry him? Truly he had a lot of time to think on the throne before this interaction. Oddly enough, being caught up on revenge for a century led him to this particular juncture.

Of course, this would be temporary. He'd return to his cruel self outside of their negotiations. Against them if need be. Were they simply waiting to strike out at him? He had to consider that with his new rank. Before his execution he was simply King of the Gerudo. Now he was King of all Hyrule. An even bigger target with much more to lose and yield in death.

@sanguinesorcery

[designedparadigm]

okay if you hit the like on this post I'll send you an nsft ask prompt. have some reblogged obviously!! I will pick the muse I send to you if you don't specify. ♥

[honored-worm-king]

Yes, it is indeed I. King of Worms, lifelong… something to Archmagister Vanus Galerion, the future Necromancer’s Moon according to seers in some timelines, etcetera.

Admiration and amazement are welcome and appreciated.

If you are not yet familiar, I would recommend reading the letter I have “pinned” to this extensive account of my recent doings. Though I hardly need an introduction, that one should suffice.

[by-the-decree-of-my-bolt]

🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕

🖕🖕🖕🖕

[king-vivian]

Good news: our forces have successfully kept the barbarian hordes at the edges of our kingdom.

Bad news: the edges of the kingdom have been moved substantially closer to its center

[longdeadking]

no actually i think mary ann will be great for gorgug bc like. no fault of the bad kids or the thistlesprings obv but they do put a lot of pressure on gorgug to be Normal (think the van scene and "lets put on the episode youre listening to" "im not listening to anything im just exhausted") (and sidenote Full Fault of porter for wanting gorgug to be Normal also) and i think mary ann just absolutely would not have ANY of those expectations and would probably Shut That Shit Down if gorgug DID try to Be Normal around her. and like zelda kind of had that about being quiet and not needing to be super high energy all the time but she also had expectations that gorgug couldnt meet about emotional investment and expression. and again no fault to her thats just how it is. but again mary ann just doesnt have that expectation. and thats something gorgug hasnt had before!

[fable-creation]

Youre a bully

-Vaeh

You’re a child who does not understand the concept of my plans

[longdeadking-moved-blogs]

befriending a faerie really is just like you saved my life so im in your debt so i saved your life to pay you back but it wasn't quite equal so you bring me cough medicine one day when i'm sick to repay the leftovers but the sickness turned out to have been potentially deadly so i drive you to the hospital one day to save your life in return but you bring me yogurt when i get my wisdom teeth removed so i bake some bread and we eat it together and eventually you just stop counting.

[thekingofworems]

My trans Creechur design! Her name’s Agape Frankenstein aka Aggie!

SJJDSJKJFJJXJ I LOVE HER SM OMG<3 AGGIE HAS MY HEART IM STEALING HER /j