#the only relationships I could see Daemon Targaryen in the show btw

[wintywriter]

«The owl, which Alys never got a chance to name, scurries forward. The Red Worm prepares to exhale flame, but freezes: Daemon Targaryen is lying right in front of it, spread out like a starfish. Alys has only seen one once, when her hair barely reached her chin and her father's arms held her tightly around his shoulders. She doesn't remember his face. But she remembers dragons flying above them and covering the world. Caraxes is smaller. He is a boy compared to her and the castle that looms behind her, but so is his rider. Maybe even worse. Caraxes, thankfully, is smart enough to at least not vomit under himself».

[DRAFT] I winding weaving fate to which we both atone

[howdoesagrapewrites]

𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐉𝐚𝐰𝐬 𝐈𝐈

Plot: Imagine being the legitimized bastard of Daemon Targaryen, and having a very devoted family.

Cw: incest/targcest, yandere/lovesick behavior, unhealthy relationships, platonic and romantic yanderes, not everyone is romantically involved with reader, yandere EVERYONE x reader, Aegon II is creepy

Notes: someone told me they were waiting for part 2  🥹 btw I hate the show's timeline as a book reader because it makes absolutely no sense and I can't write properly, halfway through this I literally have decided to throw it away and run with what my heart tells me, otherwise I'll combust

>When your father came back from the war of the stepstones in 115 a.c, newly wed to Laena Velaryon, you didn't think anything was going to change, right?

>You missed the Vale, you didn't like seeing your father and Rhea fighting, but she was so kind, just like your wet nurse, she wasn't here in the castle either

>But there was a lot of new people here, and you liked them all, since they're all your family, it is only natural you'd love them all, they often say they love you too

>When the news of Rhea's death and Daemon's nuptials came, almost arriving together, it sparked a sense of empathy and compassion throughout the red keep

>All of the Targaryens were already too "heedful" with your care, declaring you'd be cared for only by family, and in the extraordinary case no one was around, there was two very meticulously chosen handmaidens who were to watch over you until a family member was available

>This measure was whispered from Otto Hightower to king Viserys, this passed as a safety measure, saying that because of your origins, you were at risk, setting the infamous "princess of Flea Bottom" title as precedent to say you were not welcomed by everyone, and therefore in danger (even if everyone who was even rumoured to be against your stay in the castle, had already been "taken care of"). Of course no one objected

>This reawoke an old rivalry between Rhaenyra and Alicent, old playmates with unspoken grudges, now desperate to prove they could be a better, more adequate influence in your life

>Willfully ignoring your young age, and the fact you'll likely forget half of whatever they say by the time you're ten, what matter is that even when Daemon takes you away, you'll be able to remember one of them with particular fondness

>It was the truth, a hard and bitter truth, that you'd have to eventually leave, everyone looking for excuses to give to Daemon once he arrived, in order to keep you around longer, maybe indefinitely

>Alicent felt uneasy when thinking of stealing you away from your sire, as much as she disliked Daemon, and believed you'd be much better off being raised as hers, along with her children, you clearly loved him, you drew pictures and saved "treasures" to give to him once he returned

>You also used to ask about Rhea, no one had the heart to tell you, but still fearing the crude words your father would use to tell you of her passing, after all, Rhea was still "his bronze bitch". Finally, it was Viserys who had to break the news to you, he was considerate and comforting, even explaining how his parents and former wife passed away as well, and how he still carries them in his heart

>You lacked the proper cognitive development to fully process it, but it made you sad you were never to see Rhea again, this made you even closer to Viserys

>Alicent wondered if there was a possibility of offering one of his son's hands, if that would make you stay, she certainly wouldn't be displeased to have as a daughter in law, Rhaenyra did the same, after all, wasn't the heir to the iron throne a much better match?

>But the day finally came, where you had to leave

>Your father forsook his crown as King of the narrow sea to Viserys, who humorously put the crown on your little head, and named you princess of the narrow sea

>With the crown falling to your forehead due to its size, you hugged your father as soon as you saw him, with giggles and words of affection, as much as it endeared them, it broke everyone's heart to remember how your time in the red keep was nothing but extraordinary. Viserys thanked the seven no one could hear his thoughts, it would be improper for a king to wish for war, just to keep his baby niece around

>This moment created a long string of creative bards singing about Y/N Targaryen, princess of the narrow sea, queen of hearts

>It was finally time for you to go to leave, Laena was ecstatic to take you with her after meeting you for the first time, but she was a smart girl and noticed she was taking away something very precious

>But celebrations had passed and it was time to go

>You lived in Pentos for the next 10 years of your life, with your father, step-mother and little sisters, Rhaena and Baela

>Daemon was not so happy to take you to King's Landing for different events, however, Laena said it was good for you to be around your cousins and nephews, good for the twins as well

>And she said that since you had your own dragon, it's best to just, it'd be better for you to not feel trapped, otherwise one day you'll just get on dragonback and do as you please

>Daemon did not like the idea of you ever leaving or having enough independence to just hop on a dragon and leave, but he understood his wife was right

>When Laena lightheartedly told the prince of Pentos that he must only ask if he wished to marry one of the girls, Daemon grimaced in his classic unsubtle fashion

>You and your sisters were excitedly ogling the new dragon egg that was meant for your sibling

>One night, Rhaena came to your room looking for comfort, she feared her new little brother or sister would have a great dragon like Vhagar, or swift as Moondancer and then she'd be left alone

>You had Dagahrion, and Baela had Moondancer, both dragons were bonded with you since birth, but Rhaena's died shortly after hatching. She was given another egg, that sadly had not even hatched

>According to the dragonkeepers, Dagahrion still needed a little more time before you could safely ride, and Moondancer had a long way to go.

>Dagahrion and Moondancer were polar opposites, where Moondancer was small, slender and agile, with lightly coloured pale sage green scales and pearl horns, Dagahrion was growing larger by the day, heavy and mighty, with black scales that shone like a green tourmaline in the sun, and dark laurel colored horns. The dragons would often play together, and were called "the greyhound and the mastiff"

>Rhaena feared her bond with you would be outshined by the future races and sky stunts you and Baela would share. And when Aemond took Vhagar, it felt even worse

>After Laena's death, you had lost a mother again. You deeply mourned her, but you felt a different kind of sadness watching Rhaenys coddle the girls in the funeral, and Corlys telling Lucerys he'd be the lord of Driftmark. Rhaenys had you on her embrace as well, but the looks on you had brought a bitter truth to your attention, one that was nonexistent in Pentos, and swept under the rug in King's Landing. You were a bastard. The whimsical melodies about the princess of the narrow sea, had made you forget the princess was born illegitimate

>You were now 13, and the stares and whispers your family shielded you from, were words much easier to put together, faces much easier to see

>The lords and ladies gossiped when everyone ran to hug you before the true orphans, you felt guilty

>"Lady Laena leaves two true-born daughters on the coast" said Vaemon. You smiled through the pain

>Your father started laughing to try and shut him up, it worked

>It also pained you to reunite with your beloved playmates, and see Aegon, your azantys, who you admired, now turned into a creep. He hugged you longer than he did with anyone else, but his hands lingered in a way you couldn't enjoy

>Lucerys and Jacaerys were there with you and your sisters, just like you could see the look thrown at you, you could see them being thrown the way of the Velaryon brothers. You didn't talk much, but you enjoyed their company

>Aemond tried to latch onto you and take you to where his family was, but after some time you had to return to your sisters, he didn't like that

>Helaena was just like you remembered her, she was still ever so gentle and had so many things to tell you about her bugs

>But some of her words were now cryptic to you

>"My dear Y/N, dragon in the flesh, do not believe the dragons in thread" she kept repeating, not even looking at you

>You slept in the room that was meant for your father, he hadn't returned yet. You slept in the second bed in that room rather than with the other children, you wanted to cry, but wanted to appear strong for your sisters, so you preferred to be away for the night

>However, the ruckus woke you up, Aemond stole Vhagar, and Lucerys made him lose an eye

>Jacaerys told you about the "hilarious" time they gave Aemond a pig, you silently reprimanded them, you didn't find it funny, but to go and steal Rhaena's last connection to her mother?

>Vhagar was not a heirloom, not a thing, but Rhaena deserved a chance to try to tame her before others did

>You were upset, however tried to stay at Aemond's side, after all, he was the one who lost an eye

>At least until you heard your nephew. "He called us bastards", you looked at him with a sad, disappointed expression before completely (and literally) turning your back on him to go console your sisters

>Rhaena was the most affected, her connection to her late mother, and to her sisters, was stolen by Aemond. In the moment, she feared Aemond would steal you away too, you seemed to be fond of him, and the queen would often tell stories of how close you were with her children. Losing you to Baela was one thing, she was her twin, and you would be within reach, but Aemond?

>Aemond was true to his words when he said gaining a dragon was worth losing an eye

>But he wasn't so sure it was worth losing you

[syndrossi]

if it’s official for Remorse AU (aka in which Rhea doesn’t die and is with the boys right before Crayne takes them and then Daemon and her get the boys back and the happy family go to KL together)

so, certain things that i wanted to discuss or add or question or whatnot:

Daemon being so afraid and paranoid that Rhea will one day end up taking the boys and running again, like it should be impossible, especially when they get to the Red Keep. but anything could happen and that terrifies him and does not do well to develop his relationship with his sons mother.

likewise, Rhea being afraid that now that Daemon is apart of the twins’ lives they’re going to go down a dark hole, except she sees what a committed father Daemon becomes. this fear mutates into a fear of losing them to the Targaryen side, especially when their eggs hatch. she’s not even really their mom (👀 or is she?) (depends the AU ig) so she feels them slipping, or at least Jon

once the twins are calmed about how she’s alive and happy to have her back, the dynamic of Jon alienating himself from her, the twins not-so- subconsciously preferring a specific parent because of different issues

Rhea’s treatment of Raymar reminding Jon of Catlyn

Daemon’s resemblance to Aerys for Rhaegar

Laenor shows up mid-way with Seasmoke on their route to KL and is suddenly brought before the most tense family he’s ever laid eyes on— and he lives in the Red Keep

Alicent thinking she could find common ground or even an ally or a friend in Rhea, both coming from bad forced marriages with children they just want to protect, only to be thoroughly disappointed when Rhea (surprising even herself) defends Daemon after Alicent insults him.

Rhea is with Daemon when he meets that cat and she takes the cat with her.

I think what would be very fascinating to me about this AU setup is the Jon+Rhea vs Rhaegar+Rhea dynamic. Rhaegar was able to idealize his relationship with Rhea to a degree because her last visit(s) were the ones where she finally let herself warm to Raymar. And then she died, which put her on a somewhat untouchable level for Rhaegar, especially since his feelings about Rhaella sort of got jumbled up in that too.

Here, though, she's alive and he's had more time to integrate those memories of Raymar's. How does he reconcile that? Does he distance himself over time? And you have sort of the reverse arc with Jon, where yes, there are strong Cat vibes to those memories of her treatment of Raymar, but she was quite loving toward / fond of him when they were growing up. So it gets similarly complicated for Jon because Jon Redfort has those position interactions with Rhea while Jon's wrestling with the unfairness of her treatment of Raymar originally.

And now that she's more open with both of them, does that change anything? Does that absolve the hurt before?

(Daemon, btw, FUMES whenever a hint of that damage shows. He can't even feel vindicated about their conflicted feelings toward Rhea because he doesn't want them to be sad/upset.)

LMAO at your Laenor bullet point because it's so painfully accurate. 😂

I think they can eventually get to a healthier place/dynamic, with time and love and remorse from Rhea, but it'll be a while. Things like Rhea defending Daemon will help, of course!

[bbygirl-aemond]

Which Targaryen do you think you would be able to make Freud rise from his grave faster?

....Daemon? Daemon. He checks every single box.

He has massive mommy issues because his mom died when he was a baby. Because she specifically died in childbirth, it rings a lot of Freudian bells related to things like womb envy. The lack of maternal presence is what causes his relationships with all subsequent family members to be so clingy. He also has daddy issues, because Baelon was heavily affected by the losses of his favorite sister and brother and likely never paid much attention to him as a second son.

The mommy and daddy issues combine into him projecting his maternal and paternal needs for affection/approval/etc. onto his only remaining relative, his older brother Viserys. This is also because his parents were both siblings, so they blended the fraternal with the romantic and sexual, AND his grandparents did the same because they were also siblings. All of the romantic relationships modeled before him were between siblings.

So Daemon loves Viserys in every possible way (fraternal, paternal, maternal, and romantic) and desires the same from Viserys in return. Because it's the only way he knows to love. This is also why Daemon has def got some gender envy, because if he'd been born a girl, then Viserys would have married and loved him (in his mind) and they could have had babies together (he's super into Valyrian bloodline stuff).

Here's where Daemon's obsession with Rhaenyra comes into play. He views her as a kindred spirit, sort of who he thinks he could have been if he'd been born a girl, especially because she gets Viserys's favor the way he thinks he would have if he'd been a girl. He also sees her as an extension of Viserys; if he can't have Viserys, then at least he can have Rhaenyra. He loves her because she gives him the affection he wanted from Viserys, because he can't be in a relationship with Viserys and she's the next best thing (Ryan Condal has confirmed this verbatim btw in case you think I'm reaching).

This is part of why he's SO happy to have babies with Rhaenyra. Baby Aegon and Viserys represent the children he wishes he could have had with Viserys. They carry Viserys's blood, through Rhaenyra, and Daemon's blood, through himself. They represent the union (yes, romantic and sexual) that Daemon subconsciously wishes he could have had with Viserys.

(Also, if you're asking within the Stormbreak universe, Aemond looks fairly similar to how Daemon's mom, Alyssa, is described. Plus he's also like an extension of Viserys, maybe even more so because he's male.)

Like, this mans' psychosexual fuckery has LAYERS. The incest aspect of him and Rhaenyra is only the tip of the iceberg because of how much it ties into his fucked up feelings towards Viserys. And it would honestly have most of these layers even if his parents had survived, because they were still siblings, as were his grandparents.

I think a lot of this Viserys stuff would be WAY more clear if they hadn't aged Viserys up in the show, btw. In the book, Viserys is only four years older than Daemon, but in the show he seems like a grandpa by the time he dies. If Viserys was played by someone who was younger and hot the way Matt Smith is, I guarantee they would be one of THE most popular ships in the fandom, and this type of analysis would be super commonplace.

Anyways yes if Daemon existed in real life he would single-handedly resurrect Freud and also probably render him immortal by virtue of being the single most fucked up incesty individual on the planet.

[helaenalyst]

me when theres a war in the war show: guys im so fucking sad about the war

episode 4 reactions

fun note: i saw someone who knew either from the books or from leaks who died in the episode but described them as "the most annoying character in the show" and i loved that because depending on who you ask that couldve been literally anyone

anyway

SIGHS

aemond. aemond. what a character. ewan really squeezed his three milliseconds of screentime this season to provide a buildup for what happened today. aemond's inner emotional wound that he's carried all his life is so strong that he chose to take his revenge rather than seize an easy bloodless victory for his team. aegon's intervention even played in their favor, since meleys locked into battle with sunfyre was the easiest of targets for a melee attack. but he straight up chose to burn aegon, and later was seen trying to finish the job? hundreds if not thousands died needlessly, and among the ones that could have easily died as well was cole, who raised aemond like a father and who trusted him blindly with his life and with the life of his men. and for what? i can imagine this is going to be a divisive topic because i think this isn't how it goes in the books but personally i see it as a logical development of what we've seen of show!aemond so far. he's a deeply wounded individual who cannot see past his wound and an embodiment of what the targaryens are (and of the pain and damage that they cause to everyone who has the misfortune to interact). even in a gray morality context such as the one in this show, i feel that aemond earns the title of villain from me because he fights only for himself and does not care even for the lives of those who have been actively kind and loving to him

and i know a lot of people will likely disagree with that. personally i think in a show like this where all the big players in the war have done terrible things it is quite the fun introspection tool to see who we may consider the "worst" of them all and why. for me i think that the way that aemond toyed with the lives of hundreds today for his own personal gain is what takes the cake. i think the only other main character off the top of my head for whom "nothing is sacred" in pursuit of personal gain would be larys and i'm not sure what that says about the show's relationship to depictions of disability but that's a topic for another day. what i am trying to say is that it is fun to see what each fan considers the "worst sin" committed in a show that is basically a sin feast. hypocrisy? being a bad mother? being a bad father? kinslaying? we each feel our heart and our own wounds stir at ones and not others, i believe

daemon in harrenhall continues to be an A+ storyline, alys rivers is fantastic and i loved the little interaction between aegon and larys where aegon said "dude? you don't care? it's your fucking castle!!" and larys replied uhhhh yeah but it's haunted milord. i eat that shit up i love that kind of fantasy storyline. cursed castles, witches, battling your own mind, i eat it up. i loved one little shot where we could see daemon's bloodied hands from where the camera was but it disappeared as he turned his hands. i know he'll be okay but i just love descent into madness storylines

i loved jace and baela in the council btw they are so adorable if the shows turns them into bad parents or evil rulers i am going to jump off a cliff you cannot grow attached to any innocent kid / young adult on this show fr but i do think those two have a heart of gold and if not then i guess i will eat my words

so much more to say but its almost 6am i hope everyone enjoyed the episode i know i did except for all the scenes where i felt like there was no point to go on living. the fact that criston chose to hang out with gwayne despite being one of the few people he doesn't closely know in the entire fucking army has my approval and i hope gwayne didn't die so they can eventually kiss that's all

[bohemian-nights]

Rhaenys is my favourite character on the show - a show that was overall a massive disappointment - , and along with Visenya, Rhaena and Alysanne, she's my favourite character in the book too. I prefer the book version. The book,while sucking at many points, at least allows much more interpretation since it’s just a history book written by some dude years and years later. Therefore I can literally do whatever I want with the "real" story and don’t have to mind other interpretations. Now the show overshadows and ruins everything Lol.

Okay, but the thing that annoys me personally most is the romantization of Rhaenys/Corlys. First I was angry they made them the same age. I mean, come on! The creators clearly have an issue with depicting age gap relationships since Daemon never ages despite marrying one childbride after another (funnily enough a new haircut doesn’t make me think: oh, look, he grew older). Book!Rhaenys married a man twice her age, which is totally fine, if it weren’t for the fact that she was just 16 years old at the time. (And just btw, in the real Middle Ages people FROWNED heavily on matches like this - even in noble and royal circles). So Rhaenys was basically just a child, who I think was legit infatuated with the older and exciting man. Corlys in turn was glad to score a Targaryen princess, who was then heir to the throne, a dragon rider and pretty. But this relationship only has trouble written across it!!! Corlys isn’t a gentle man. He's got pride and plans - every part of his story shows us an ambitious, determined man, which is okay. If you ask me though, he could only end up grooming Rhaenys. She was a child, and despite all her brains and whatnot, at 16 she still had a child's naivity, that can be too easily shaped by the right person. By someone like cunning Lord Velaryon. The show, however, bust decided to make them this random straight couple from any 80s drama, and completely missed out the potential of a complicated relationship.

And I agree with you regarding the Council of 101. Rhaenys and Coryls could've done more lobbying/politicing for their cause. (I have my theory on why that didn’t happen, but if I say that I attract even more hate from Corlys stans).

But you know, this is why I'm so angry about the Rhaenys/Corlys dynamic on the show. Give me a damn twist. Show me this cool woman finally snapping out of her stupor and realising how she's been manipulated, trying to please men all her life (I see the irony in the Alicent & Rhaenys speech, even though I actually enjoyed that moment. It's good acting). Watching her daughter marry an even worse man, who then immediately after her death grabs the next girl he groomed (killing off her husband on the way) - what better premisis would there have been for Rhaenys to finally wake up??? But what does the show do? They give us a Rhaenys who runs around in circles, telling people she can’t make decisions without her husband and blah blah blah. For f*sake! Let her be a dragon! But no, in this setting women can only be as strong as it's comfy for patriachy and then we have to sell it off as feminism, because "she loved him so much".

I also never quite got why Rhaenys went to Rook's Rest on her own. When Daemon goes to the Riverlands there's an army with him, but Rhaenys heads out all by herself?...bad bad writing. And just as bad to me is the remark on how angry Corlys was about her death. I mean, come on, he was only angry because he basically lost his most powerful tool. Lucky though, that he had those bastards waiting in the background, ready to claim another dragon for House Velaryon.

Note: I would also like to thank the other anon who mentioned they didn’t like Daemon at all. I'm glad and relieved to hear other people share this feeling!

Rhaenys is a really interesting character who has so much potential to be this amazing woman, but then she kinda just goes along with the tide without really putting up a fight. I agree that book!Rhaenys’ actions are a little more understandable(although yeah her going by herself to Rooks Rest is a choice 😬), but show!Rhaenys’ actions don’t make a lick of sense past episode 7(cause why side with the woman who you think killed your son who just married the man who made your daughter so miserable 🫠).

How they handled her relationship with Corlys has been another choice. They’ve still kept the fact that he cheated on her(unless they make Alyn and Addam Vaemond’s bastards) so Rhaenys running around talking about I won’t do anything without Corlys is only going to make her look stupider when those boys show up(and some people say they’ll appear in episode two and she’s probably still alive then😬).

It would’ve been nice with the changes that they made she snapped and said enough is enough, but yeah that doesn’t happen. She never puts herself(or her granddaughters) first. She’s exactly who she claims Alicent is except she might be worse considering she had way more power than Alicent ever had yet she threw it all away for reasons🤦🏽‍♀️

At this point, it’s pretty obvious that this show is all about giving girl boss-looking moments(see having Rhaenys come in through the floorboards), but at the end of the day these women just look silly and weak(getting choked out, cheated on, slapped around, abused, acting oblivious to what’s happening around them, being smiling pretty puppets, etc.)

For a feminist show these women sure do lack agency🤷🏽‍♀️

Can I just say I love how people trash Daemon on this blog even though he's my favorite🤣 It's super amusing, but I get it cause he is very out there. He's an acquired taste.