#this because what disaster they made of dance of the dragons

[froppy-butterflyfan2000]

“I’m sorry, Marianne,” said Enya, convinced that her feelings will get to Marianne, only to make Marianne furious even further. Marianne send in another attack on her cousin. Enya could feels the wind blowing through her face in a circling motion. Her hair dancing around. Enya felt the air from her lungs remove. There is a sinister smile on Dark Marianne’s face, gleaming at her. At the last seconds, Enya form a ball of magical energy and blast a portal, sucking Dark Marianne inside to a prison for the worse criminals than those of the Omega Dimension, Oblivion. Once Enya is free from the suffocation and air comes back into her lungs, she looks at her cousin one last time with a heavy heart.

“I’m sorry Marianne,” said Enya, her eyes are burning and a tear streaming down her face. She watch the portal close, and listen to the dark nymph’s outburst of anger one last time. “I am going to miss you.”

Enya close her eyes, the energy she have in her left as a toll for casting this dark magic spell. The Fairy of Blue Fireworks begins to fall downward and into the water with a heavy splash.

Bloom gasped and see Enya sinking into the water, Daphne and Bloom swim up and grabs Enya, pulling her back up to the water.

“Bloom, what did Enya do to my daughter this time?” Daphne said out of fear and heartbreaking look.

~~

This is powerful dark spell require a young ruler to creates this portal to Oblivion. Since Marianne went rouge, it makes sense for Enya to become next-in-line. How Enya obtain is a mystery to both Daphne and Bloom. They questioned Enya where she learned this spell. After Enya recover from her battle with Marianne, they start the conversation off with a question.

“Who taught you this spell, Enya?” Bloom demanded, her concern for her daughter wavered as she wonders who is responsible for teaching. Enya is quiet and refused to answer her mother by turning them away. Enya start crying again. Bloom frown even further and then, Bloom tightens her fists and list the possible suspects who know. Because Enya is unable to collaborate. While Daphne frowns at Enya, disappointed in her niece that she choose to take an easy route instead of taking her journey to becomes a Believix Fairy, then a Harmonix Fairy, and finally a Sirenix Fairy. That way she can understand the struggles of being a fairy and the sacrifices they made. To learns what being a fairy means on her own. Without Marianne’s help. That way she will become mature enough to confront Marianne and save her. She was unable to convince Marianne to fight in her current state.

While she is not too angry for Enya casting the spell because she did it as an act of self defence…. The Queen of Domino is upset that Enya put the current wielder of the Dragon’s Flame into a prison for the worse criminal because in reality, Marianne is corrupted by the growing darkness in the Dragon’s Flame.

So Daphne decides that since Marianne is gone and Enya refuse to collaborate, she have her set up for her a solution that may be seen as blessing, but it is a challenge.

“Since you have dedicated in your quick thinking of striking justice down, before more disasters occur, I hereby declare that Marianne is annulled to her titles and pass it onto you,” said Daphne, causing Enya to stop crying for a moment. “Therefore, you are hereby Enya of Domino! Official Guardian Protector of Domino AND Crown Princess of Domino, my heiress, your fairy journey is over and begins a new chapter of your life as a fairy princess!”

Enya gasped in horror, that means she will not be an active hero in Townsville, and she won’t be able to get to have free time to play games or go to school like a normal kid anymore. Only to be replace with diplomacy and politics.

“NO!” Enya shouted, resume to her crying state and refute, but no matter what she said, it is a fool’s errand. She has stopped Marianne at the cost of gaining new responsibilities at 16.

Very soon, the guilt stricken Enya is now sitting in her own desk in her own quarter, once belong to Marianne’s doing paperworks, Enya looking at the photo frame of a young Marianne, holding a newborn Enya on her desk. “I’m sorry Marianne,” Enya apologized. “I really am.”.

Everyone start calling her a good fairy just like her mom, and praise her for defeating Marianne, and label her as a nymph, whose jealousy towards the Princess Enya, turns her into evil. Enya listens to their praises. While she likes them, but this is not how she imagined her capability to do good and everyone being so proud of her. Because to her, deep down, she is a thief for stole The Dragon’s Flame from Marianne for six years, and now Marianne’s other birthright, the throne.

Enya belongs to @gloriousdreamunknown

Marianne belongs to me

Tie-in to:

Write a piece about someone who takes someone else's place

[blissfulphilospher]

if they adapt Robert's Rebellion

I don't want to give anyone ideas but if they ever make Robert Rebellion's tv or movie version then Robert Baratheon is going to be portrayed as the worst man ever who raped woman here and there and probably assaulted Lyanna.

And that's why she ran away with the tragic melancholic godly prince who was so noble and good but trapped in a marriage with either an unstable chronically ill brown woman or a scheming ambitious brown woman who doesn't love him at all and maybe cheats on him.

Tragic King Aerys who loves his family and wants to burn the whole city because he has a good cause!! Sacrifices will wake dragons! Dragons eggs could have hatched before Dany! Aerys' was a genius. And yes Rhaella supported him and Rhaegar with everything.

It was House Targaryen against the world.

Also, Tywin Lannister was best buddy of Aerys. He sent the Mountain and Amory Lorch to protect the royal family! Those noble knights who accidentally killed the little girl maybe because he couldn't identify whether the Princess was Targaryen or not? Maybe she wasn't.

The Mountain too had similar accidents because Aegon isn't the ptwp or he doesn't exist at all. Problem solved! Rhaegar had no son! This is true! Jon is his only son!!

And let's not forget how hard it was for the Mountain and other guy to climb the building, their struggle to get in Maegor's Holdfast!! They will show us that, than the Princess who is trapped helplessly in a tower with a drawbridge, drawn up and no way to escape with her children.

But no problem that those children died, they were nothing special no one mourns them or their mother. They deserved to be killed and forgotten. House Martell supports Targaryens! They will rise for Jon if they knew! True love of the prince Rhaegar already gave him the only son. Aegon 6th!!

And see a noble honourable Stark lord will raise because 'song ice and fire!' 'prophecy baby' and not because he is the last piece of his sister and that's what any uncle will do.

And… Jon Arryn? Who is Jon Arryn? Why does he want to rebel? He has no reason! (His heir was also murdered idk why people forget that!)

And yes the war was started by Littlefinger if you didn't know before he hyped up Brandon to march to KL. 😄

[solaris-amethyst]

🪻Our Journey🪻

✨Pairing: ateez ot8 x gn!reader ✨Chapter 1. What started off as any normal day for you after leaving your siblings at school ended up as a disaster as you get swooped far away from home by accident. ✨Genre: fantasy au, Elsa Beskow inspired, non romance ✨Word Count: 4k ✨Tag list: ☀️Authors Note: This is inspired by Elsa Beskows stories and drawings which means everyone is small sized like in the pictures above by Elsa herself, I have yet decided if there will be romance in this story it's leaning more towards nonromantic right now but we'll see! Let me know if you'd like to join the tag list💓

<next>

As a young child you had heard stories of what exists out in the big wide world by your father. He would tell you about the faeries dancing in rings out on the fields in the early mornings when the grass was covered in dew and the fog was there as well. He’d tell you about the terrifying meetings with mountain trolls and other creatures that sent shivers up your spine.

Sometimes he’d even tell you terrifying stories about creatures like the wyverns hiding deeper in the forest or the dragons and other creatures lurking out in the world that you have to be careful around other wise you might end up loosing your life.

Sometimes you thought he was only telling you and your siblings this to keep you all in check. To make sure none of you would wander too far off when outside of your little home. After all being so small could make it harder to get home in certain weathers. Rain could be especially dangerous because of the mud it created had your mother told you. 

She had said to your younger self:

”Rain is dangerous if it pelts down, it can strike you down when you least expect it and for us who are small it can be fatal. It creates mud in places you would not expect and falling into it can be dangerous, sometimes it’s deep and you cannot swim in it like you can in the little creek. Make sure to find cover if you are outside when it rains. A mushroom or a flower can give you good cover until it’s safe to go home.”

You always heeded her and your fathers words. Rarely stepping outside when it rained or when it got dark. Sometimes you would do something daring when your siblings were with you but never something that would truly put you in any sort of danger.

Most animals did not get too close to you that could be deemed dangerous since you wore your hat that looked like the hat of a fly agaric. Your mother had one as well just like your siblings, your father was different. He wore a pine cone on his head, that had come from his family before he had chosen to live his life with your mother. He even had an armor made of pine cones for when he had to go out and fight of a snake or two.

”Hey Y/n! Are you ready?? Mama is taking us to school now!” Your younger brother called for you at the entrance of your home, taking you out of your daydreaming which made you groan quietly. You had finished school a few years back and would often be tasked to bring your younger siblings to Mama Owl when your own mother had too much to do.

You had loved your time with her learning about the world and all that existed in it. Mama Owl was a wise creature, wiser than any other in the forest and she shared her knowledge with all of the younglings. Everyone from the birds, the squirrels, the rabbits, you and your siblings and many more had come to learn from her until you reached adulthood.

Very often would you daydream during her lessons about exploring the world. It was something you longed to do but it would take an awful long time for someone so small to explore the world which was oh so big. Perhaps one day you could do so on the back of a chaffinch you would have befriended at some point in your life but for now you were stuck in your small section of the world.

”Hurry up! You’re slower than a snail on a bad day!” Your sister called which made you roll out of your bed and hurriedly putting on your hat, making sure your shirt and pants looked good before running towards the door.

”There you are! Let’s go now, we do not want to be late for todays lessons. Mama Owl does not approve of tardiness.” Your mama tells you as she picks up her basket.

”Mama, I am old enough to walk the kids to school myself am I not?” You ask wondering why she is walking them to class today when that was something you usually did. 

”Oh shush, I want to walk them to class today and make sure no one gets into trouble.” She says which makes you sigh thinking back on how yesterday you had been late with your siblings simply because you followed a butterfly for a while in the opposite direction.

Your parents had not been happy with you once they had heard your younger siblings had been late for class and had scolded you for it during dinner. You had apologized profusely and promised it wouldn’t happen again and it seems like your mother was making sure it wouldn’t happen again by making you company all the way to school.

”I’m off with father today to learn more hunting and fighting techniques.” Your older sister tells you, she had already finished her schooling and were learning from your father the last piece of knowledge she needs as an adult. You and your older brother had yet to been allowed to learn from him the same way she was. The two of you would often watch them from afar and play around with sticks you found practicing the movements she was learning.

You two were considered too old for school now but not old enough to learn some of the adult things like fighting or even building your own house. Your parents often told you to just enjoy this time, meet with friends, explore the forest but obviously don’t go to far from home or you might get lost! Or perhaps find someone you could fall in love with. 

”Last lesson Mama Owl started telling us about the mountain trolls! Have you met one Y/n?” Your younger sister asked and you nodded at her as she took your hand to hold as the five of you walked to the big tree where the school was being held.

”I have! He scared me, Opal and Birk when we were kids! We were playing too close to his lair so he came out and shouted BOO at us!” You imitated the troll and your younger sister looked frightened ”But don’t worry, he didn’t hurt us at all. He just finds it funny scaring us. He’s an old mountain troll and is kind sometimes. But I haven’t met any other mountain trolls so I don’t know if it’s just him that is this way or if all mountain trolls are this way.” You told her before your mother chimed in.

”Let’s hope we never have to meet another mountain troll! They can be very dangerous! Especially since they are so big.” 

”Don’t scare them mama!” You tell her when you feel your sister tighten her hold on your hand.

”Oh sorry my sweet little darling, I didn’t mean to scare you.” She apologizes before helping all of your siblings up the tree together with you once you finally reached it.

The five of you climb up and after a while you reach the branches where the classes will be held. Your three younger siblings hug you and your mother goodbye before going to sit on a branch next to some squirrels, it makes your heart warm seeing them greet their friends and talking happily with the other younglings.

”Behave well and learn a lot today!” You tell them before waving goodbye. 

You and your mother part ways further down on the tree branches with you running around happily enjoying the freedom of jumping from branch to branch, exploring the leaves and to be able to see everything happening from above.

You could see in the distance your older sister Opal training with your father, both decked out in their battle gear. You notice a viper slithering closer to them but you are too far away for them to hear you call out to them. Luckily your father is sharp and notices it coming their way, he shows off a brilliant technique of warding it off and eventually killing it and you know he will later find a hedgehog to offer the snake to as a delicious treat.

”Wow.” You whisper to yourself before standing up on the branch and start pretending you’re fighting a viper of your own, copying his moves. Both you and Birk had been begging a few months back to also learn how to fight but your father had refused saying he’d only teach one person at a time and since Opal was the oldest out of you three she got to learn it all first.

She had been incredibly proud when your mother had fixed her armor made out of pinecone. Lovingly sown together to be a perfect fit, Opal still wore her red hat which looked like the poisonous fly agaric, claiming that it fit her perfectly and gave away a sense of danger.

You however speculated that she wanted to have something that resembled your loving mother close to her even when she is out protecting her own. 

”Take this! Hah! And that!!” You swing a twig around maneuvering around and it all goes well until you almost slip and fall down had it not been for your quick reflexes grabbing onto a small branch hauling yourself up again.

”That is enough fighting up here for today…” You tell yourself hurrying away from the edge and downwards.

You hurry down the tree and once you’re safely on the ground again you run towards the tiny little creek to enjoy the feeling of the running water passing through your legs. Perhaps you’d find a nice looking stone, one that shimmers like the sun in the sky to bring home and create a necklace out of it. 

If you were lucky that is. 

You had only seen a beautiful stone like that once when you were five and your father had found it. He had brought it home and carved it into a lamp for which your mother would put twigs in and light up to give a warm light in your home when the fireplace wasn’t necessary.

”Hello Y/n!! Found any acorns today??” Your friend, Twigs, a beautiful auburn brown squirrel asked running up to you, looking at you curiously with her hands closely held together.

”Hi Twigs, I’m sorry I haven’t found any yet, perhaps there will be some in the creek? I’m going there if you’d like to join me?” You ask her with a smile and she perks up before getting on all four in front of you.

”Get on! I’ll carry you there, that way we can get there quicker and not miss a single acorn.” She says and you laugh before getting up on her back trying to tell her that the two of you might not even find acorns there but she doesn’t listen as she takes off.

She’s quick and zig-zags through the blueberry bushes and for you it tickles in your stomach as she runs and sometimes jump from stone to stone. The wind towards your face feels amazing and you close your eyes as your hands grip her fur gently. The fur is soft and it brings you comfort as the two of you journey to the creek. It sometimes feels like you are soaring through the air like those few times you’ve flown on the back of a bat during the nights.

You take your time to truly admire Twig, she’s truly beautiful, her fur reminds you of the sun setting on the horizon, painting the water orange or the autumn leaves. The tuffs on her ears makes you smile and her majestic tail is something you marvel at. You had only experienced one time when she had curled her tail up around you to keep you warm and sometimes you’d imagine yourself cuddling with Twigs when you went to bed surrounded by your warm blanket. 

You loved her dearly, she was the same age as you. One of your first friends outside of your family and no matter what others said about her you’d always cherish her and her goofy self. 

It didn’t matter that she forgot where she had hidden half of the nuts she had collected because she never let it dampen her spirit. She had a positive outlook on life and that was something you wished you could have all the time as well.

”We’re here!!!” She beams happily while slowing down showing you that you were in fact at the creek. You quickly jump off of her back and run to the water happily.

”Thank you Twigs! Shall we play around in the water together?” You question as the cold feeling climbs up your body when your feet touches the water. 

Twigs sit up on her hind legs looking at you with a tilted head, her hands being adorably held together making her look very curious and polite.

”Are there any nuts in the water?” She asks and it makes you laugh out loud before shaking your head.

”No, I’m sorry there are none in the water, but perhaps there are some over at that oak tree?” You point towards the oak tree knowing she buried some nuts over there a few weeks ago and promptly forgot about it. 

She lights up and like a lighting bolt she’s over there sniffing around for her hearts desire. You enjoy helping her out because her reactions to it all are always so genuine and sweet.

”Now let’s see if I can find something to bring home from here.” You mutter before squatting down and getting your hands into the water, pushing around the sand and rocks under you in hopes of finding a beautiful stone. 

You search for some time but is unsuccessful in finding anything that you had hoped to find. Perhaps your father just had been very lucky at that day perhaps the faeries had given him some luck so he could bring back home a present for the love of his life.  ”I wonder if I will ever get so lucky.” You ask yourself sitting down on a rock near by and letting your feet gently splash in the running water, enjoying the sun shining from above.

It was a beautiful day and when you don’t have anything to do it would be a crime not to enjoy it. You sat there for some time, Twigs coming back to tell you all about the different nuts she found where you had suggested she’d look causing you to smile brightly, happy she found some happiness today.

You even managed to talk to one of the kind snails in the area named Pine by you and your siblings. He was always kind and never in a rush to get anywhere simply enjoying his life in his own pace. You two spoke for a while about how you wished you’d be taught fighting as well to which he responded that it will come in time and that you should relax and enjoy your life as a young adult before it’s time for you to take on even bigger responsibilities which would mean you wouldn’t have time for fun the same way you have now.

”Perhaps he was right.” You thought while walking back the same path where you came from. 

Perhaps you should just try and enjoy life right now before it would be time for you to either leave home to find a place of your own or take on much bigger responsibilities. You had never thought of it that way, always so desperate to learn what your older sister was learning, perhaps it was because you yearned to show everyone you were grown up, that you could handle scary situations like this as well.

A need to prove yourself.

Your feet wander taking you further and further away from the creek, wandering through moss and blueberry bushes, past a spiderweb with a large spider hiding behind some leaves. You’re careful not to get tangled up in his net knowing it will leave a nasty encounter because if he was particularly hungry that day nothing would stop him from devouring you. 

You hum a familiar tune that the sparrows had been singing earlier.

It was a beautiful tune and if you sang loud enough they would respond with their own song, sometimes even trying to harmonize with you. They’d fly between the trees, flapping their beautiful brown wings quickly as they danced in the air. To you they looked majestic as they flew around singing their songs to their hearts content.

”One day I hope I can fly as high as they are.” You say to no one in particular as you stop to take them in. 

You would have stayed there for much longer if you didn’t suddenly remember that you had promised your mother you would bring home some wood sorrel for her to use in tonights dinner. Knowing she’d want a big amount and it took you a while to pluck them caused you to start sprinting to the one place you knew plenty of them grew. Not to be confused with clovers that also grew in the forest you called home. Clovers were okay, they weren’t as tasty as wood sorrel and you much preferred the latter, especially when they were combined with the fruits and nuts your mother cooked to perfection.

Weaving through the fauna so quickly as you did almost made you trip on sticks and stones but you were nimble on your feet and stayed up where younger you would have tripped.

Avoiding the ants in the path was also hard, pissing off one of them meant the whole clan would come after you and that was something you did not want. Birk had once been unlucky and had been bitten by several ants, Opal had managed to get the ants away by throwing water at them and by getting the helps of some birds to scare them away. You shuddered as you remembered the bruises and wounds your older brother had sported that day.

He couldn’t stop crying from the pain, their bites itched and he had trouble laying down and sleeping as well. It had been a lesson for all of you and your siblings to always be in the good graces of ants. They could either be your friend or enemy and you would do better to have them on your side than the opposite. You would often leave them treats, things you’d found when out and about that you knew they liked or needed for their home. That way they never really bothered to go after you when they saw you. 

You were so far friend in their eyes and you intended for it to stay that way.

”There!” You exclaimed in happiness as you saw the wood sorrel come into view, your feet speeding up, jumping in happiness at what you saw.

”Perfect! Mama will be so happy when I come home with all of this!” You say walking up to one that reached half of your height, bending down to pick it up. 

”Ouf hrmmm come on!” You mutter as you squat slightly, gripping the stem tightly and pulling as hard you could and just when you thought you’d have to give up on this specific one it flew up causing you to land on your butt.

”Ouch!” You exclaim as you landed before snickering finding it a bit funny. 

”This better not be happening to me with every single one of you that i’m plucking.” You say out loud as if telling the plant off and that it better behave for you as you get up on your feet again.

The other ones you’re plucking goes much smoother, you’ve plucked quiet the collection when you decide it’s time to take a little break. You move all your sorrel to one big pile before you look for a good place to rest your legs for a while. You wander a bit, trying to find the perfect place and while you’re doing that you fail to hear the sounds of wings flapping coming closer and closer to you. 

You barely have time to realize what is happening until the ground is suddenly getting farther and farther away from you as you hang almost upside down. You look up in fear and see that it’s a greenfinch that has grabbed you by your waist flying away with you. 

Panic start to settle into your bones as you realize the bird doesn’t even seem to realize that what he’s grabbed is not something he can eat.

”S-stop!! Let me down!!!” You yell trying to get his attention and you could have sworn you saw the bird look back at you and chuckle as he continued to fly higher and higher and further away from your home.

”No!!! Let me down!! Stop! Don’t take me away from home please!!” You yell again desperately while trying not to look down. 

It suddenly wasn’t your wish to soar high up in the sky. It was scary how far away the ground were from you and you knew if you were to be let go now you’d surely hurt yourself or die from the fall. You continued to scream in both fear and desperation. When you had wished earlier to fly up in the sky like the sparrows this was not what you had meant. 

It was almost as if the bird was speeding up taking you somewhere you would soon not recognize. The forest was big and you were so small that even if the bird didn’t bring you too far away it could take days for you to find your way home.

The last thing you could do while fighting away the tears threatening to spill was to call out to the two people who always were there for you, who always knew what to do in scary situations. Logically you knew that calling out for them at this distance would do you no good but you couldn’t help it.

Right now everything was scary and logic had been thrown away.

”MAMA!!! PAPA!!!” You wailed loudly feeling terror settling into your bones as the greenfinch flew up and down and in circles as if mocking you, finding your reactions funny. 

There were no mama nor papa there to protect you, to hold you tight and chase away the mean greenfinch.

You were all alone with this mean bird and nothing you said or did made him stop. He had a destination in mind and for some reason he had decided that taking you from your home was something he had to do.

[mortalfaerie]

𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕛𝕒𝕔𝕒𝕖𝕣𝕪𝕤' 𝕥𝕨𝕚𝕟 𝕤𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 (+ 𝕚𝕟 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕒𝕖𝕟𝕒) (pt 1)

this concept is stuck in my brain so...

your were always in the shadow of your twin, jacaerys. he was born only ten minutes before you, but in doing so had outshined you for a lifetime.

while your grandfather might have bent the law further for you if you had been born first, he wouldn't do so for the rest of the realm - and being a girl, the birth of your immediately younger brother meant you wouldn't inherit driftmark, either.

that's not to say that you didn't love your brothers - they were your closest friends, especially after your mother had moved your family to dragonstone.

you missed your aunt helaena, however. at only two years your elder, she was more like a cousin or a sister to you, and as the only other girl you two had idled away long hours with tedious septas together.

for the first few months you wrote faithfully to eachother, but after the disaster at your aunt laena's funeral, an irrevocable schism has opened between factions of your family.

from that day, two more years would pass before you saw her again.

when helaena was thirteen, she came to dragonstone to claim a dragon. it was a cold and diplomatic trip which the king was too ill to attend and the queen had flatly refused to consider, and so the hand of the king escorted her along with a platoon of guards.

you were eleven years old, clasping hands with your twin on the windy shores of dragonstone as the princess' boat came ashore. all of you, even joffrey were ill at ease during this first meeting of factions in years. but, when the princess pulled back the hood of her cloak and stepped onto the beach, you found your heart hammering for an entirely different reason.

helaena had grown taller and more beautiful since you last saw her, though she seemed completely unaware of it as she anxiously took in her surroundings. she had all the beauty of the targaryen line in her, and the beginnings of what would make her a regal looking woman one day. and yet, she was softer in her features and appearance than the rest of your family in a way that was completely disarming.

though the feel of her visit was detatched and lacked the warmth of a family reunion, you found every excuse to seek her out over the duration of it. at first she was wary of you, no doubt because of your brothers and stepsisters and the role they had played in her brother's injury. after a few days though, she warmed and you slipped into a rapport like that before you had left for the island castle.

when it came time to venture up the dragonmont in search of a dragon, you begged and pleaded your mother to allow you to come with the princess - after all, your egg had never hatched and you lacked a dragon as well - and after exhausting the crown princess she relented.

on the dragonmont with a mixture of red keep guards and those loyal to rhaenyra, you and helaena camped on the mount for days, venturing to a different part of the mountain each day in search of dragons. at night, you shared a tent and kept eachother awake giggling and telling stories.

on the sixth day on the dragonmont, you met with the dragons dreamfyre and silverwing, who had belonged to two queens and sisters before you. after the pair of you successfully mounted the dragons and took to the skies, you returned to the beach of dragonstone with a renewed fire inside of each of you.

the night you returned to dragonstone's castle, a feast was held to jointly celebrate two dragons being claimed. you and helaena danced joyfully as the musicians played, and eventually you fell back to let your twin take your place. it was then you felt the first twist of jealousy in your stomach as jace made her laugh.

you snuck into the chamber helaena was staying in that night to recreate the little would you had when sharing a tent. that night, she had said to you before falling asleep, "you and i shall be bonded forever. dragon-bonded," she had said dreamily, then added, "soul-sworn."

before you could ask what she had meant by that, she was asleep.

[safely-in-vhagars-belly]

Fire & Blood: Chapter 24: Time is a illusion (Dark Aemond x reader oc, x aegon ii ) 18+ minors do not interact and MAJOR BOOK SPOILERS/SHOW SPOILERS ATABF reader ocish she has a name its complicated

🔷Summary: After the events of Blood and Cheese and Rook's rest, you return to your husband and your king.

🔷Author's note: MAJOR book spoilers but not all that happens is canon.

🔷Wordcount:3187 (thats short sorry)

🔷Warnings: murder, mentions of toxic relationship, slight smut and BOOK SPOILERS also childloss and child murder targaryens commiting war crimes. war being war.

It seems that the days have become shorter or the nights have become longer. That, or you don’t have a healthy idea of time anymore. 

Time, in a way, has become an illusion. Days may pass, hours may go, weeks end, months follow each other closer and closer up as if entangled in a dance. But you know the truth now: No matter how quick the time goes, it remains an illusion. A lie everyone tells themselves to feel better. ‘’It will pass.’’ Your servant girl said when she was braiding your hair.

You laughed at her words. What will pass, exactly? Pain? You have become used to pain, to grief, to feeling as if someone is suffocating you while in truth that is you, and you alone hiding your emotions. Pain does not scare you. It's familiar, in a way. You hold onto it. But the idea that it will pass, that one day you’ll be left with nothing but acceptance and an empty cradle? A half-burned husband that can’t give you anymore children and you, sitting on his iron throne because he can’t get up from the bed? That is what terrifies you. That one day this rage, this pain and hurt will be nothing.

That you will be nothing.

Months have passed since you last saw Aegon. The last time you saw him awake and well was long before the battle of Rook's rest and your pregnancy. You had his child warmly nestled inside of your womb where no one could hurt it. No soul dared to touch you as Aegon’s wife, safe be for the loyalists of Rhaenyra.

And that is exactly who killed your innocent baby, Helaena on her name day. You named her after the sister Aegon and Aemond shared, perhaps to mend the wound between the two of them, or perhaps to sway their mother to your cause, but whatever reason you may have had in the beginning didn’t matter so much in the end. Before Helaena would see her first morning sun, a dagger ended her life. An assassin’s blade.

You have been called forward now, to see your husband, your king and your longlife friend Aegon who has just awoken as a miracle from his comatic state. He got injured during a battle at Rook Rest, where he and his brother, Prince Aemond slew the traitor Princess Rhaenys and killed her dragon. You were at home, of course, heavily pregnant with his child that would end in a disaster as most things do.

Every instinct tells you to run far away from both Aegon and Aemond. One had captured you in a literal cage for weeks, months perhaps. The other crowned you without your consent, made you his wife for the world to see, and made you a target. Both were boys, once perhaps. You were a girl in love, perhaps. But boys become men, and love eventually dies. That is how life has been before you, why would it be any different now?

Your husband and your king stares back at you with living eyes full of admiration and joy. It is not joy, you notice. It’s something even more heartbreaking then that. He has that look most men have, when they think their wives have squeezed out a perfect heir that will save the husband from damnation. This is what they call ‘’Pride.’’

He is proud of you.

There used to be days you could never not look at the prince, his fierce beautiful eyes, short silver locks and out of this world beauty that was indescribable with any pencil this world and the next could offer. There were moments your daylight extended by seeing his face, as in a way, it protected you from the dark.

O, how you long for such simple times.

To be a girl again, with a book in your hands, smacking a hangover Aegon when Aemond comments that you should behave yourself.

‘’My love, my Brienne.’’ The King speaks, his voice a bit raspy but hearable. You faithfully accept his left hand reaching out to squeeze your fingers but your eyes are locked to the monstrous arm where metal and skin meet one another, and where the fire of a dragon made Aegon part man, part metal. You shudder to think of the nights you will spend sleeping and waking up, suddenly feeling that cold metal arm touch you. 

There is joy and kindness, and hope and brightness in his eyes. Emotions you haven’t felt in months. Emotions you aren’t sure that are real now, or ever were real. Hope for fools, perhaps. Doom for nations, for certain.

Another matter, perhaps but it does prove your suspicion as to why every single soldier, every servant and Maester, Queen Alicent and even Prince Aemond left the room when you entered. 

No one, not the coldhearted Green Queen, not the Terror of the Trident, not the fierce King’s guard or the all knowing Maesters had the guts and the balls to do what is now your task. No one informed him of the passing of your child. No one. That is now your task. The task of a mourning mother, a childless Queen and a shell of the person you once were.

Cravens, all of them be damned.

Aegon forces his hands on the wood of the bed, lifting himself up to sit so he may have some dignity while addressing you. You could not care if he was in a casket or lost all his limbs he could never lose his dignity. Your love is tested for him when you see him winch in pain as the poppy milk wears off, and you are for the very first time in your life unsure if your love is strong enough to face this.

It is not that he has lost his attractiveness. But it is that constant reminder, that constant bug flying in your face showing you how much pain Aegon is in, how much suffering he endures and who you should all blame for that. This war started the moment Aegon was born and it will end with the death of her. 

Aegon pretends to not be altered by his new disabilities, by his new life. He takes a deep sharp breath revealing just how much this is killing him from inside out. A man like Aegon who prided himself with his beauty, with his grace and long legs…..

How much of that light will remain now that the flame has blown out, all that remains is shadow?

In his eyes realisation starts to form and you both come silently to the conclusion that life will be unlike anything it ever was before. It will heal this wound. A new scar will appear. But how much scars can a flesh handle before it starts infecting and begins to rot?

You rub your ring and watch Aegon for a while, your mind thinking of multiple ways to start the conversation, yet they all feel as cheap little lies as you try to hold off the inevitable. You rather watch your husband pass out and sleep than him sitting here awake and in a clear state of mind aware you must deliver the news now.

He knows you won’t speak. So he does. “You look well-”

Your snort interrupts him. Your hair has begun to grey and your skin is full of scratches and wounds where you keep peeling at, until it bleeds and spreads over your skin, just to feel something. Your eyes are darkened and hollow, as a starving girl. You don’t long for food. You long for justice. “I am not.” Is your cutthroat cruel response to his simple opener.

“You are not wearing your crown.” Aegon says, pointing with two fingers to your head. You don’t have the energy to wear the damned thing. It does not help that no one does what you want anyway. You are a Queen consort, not a King born from the womb of the former Queen. You needed Aegon’s approval for everything and while he would give you the world his council would rather see you die yesterday than tomorrow.

“Without you I am no Queen.” It is true. ‘’Your men treat me like an accessory. A fun little token playing dress up. I have been in power for months since you slept and not one time has my word been considered.’’ 

It is like a spell has been broken and a curse has lifted on Aegon as he slowly tilts his head.

 “My son. I deserve to see him.”  He says. ‘’I don’t know why you didn’t bring him. I don’t know why the servants told me he was asleep and I don’t know-’’

A cold idea creeps into your mind, as a dark seed has finally taken root and begins to spread its weed over your mind. ‘’What servants?’’ You ask, faking interest.

‘’The blonde new girl.’’ The king says. ‘’It is not important.’’

You sit down on his bed, breaking the distance between the two of you. You lock your hands into his own, feeling where metal and men meet, feeling where scars are appearing and wounds are healing. You owe him the truth. “It was a girl.” You begin.

Aegon’s brows nearly become one.

“It was?” You understand he must be disappointed. 

You fiercely sit up.

“Yes. I named her Helaena. I know she's not what you wanted nor needed-” Aegon shuts you up with a kiss on your mouth, missing you by a inch as he stumbles over. He smiles, genuinely and happy when kissing you a dozen times.

And yet you deserve none of it.

“My Queen, my Brienne. Where is she? I must see her.” He rambles. 

“Assassins came.’ You whisper in his ear. His smile vanishes within a blink of an eye and you see him figure it out on his own. Yet he plays pretend and dumb, a way he always protected his feelings. 

“They were all killed. I'm unharmed.”

You wish it were guards instead.

“Helaena was not unharmed. They killed her. I watched them kill her, Aegon.” You break down, and you break down hard. You fall from your safe haven of mind and break, shatter and crumble to ashes as you let out the one after the other horrifying sob.

“I have been so alone these last few months. Aemond barely visited me. You were asleep. And my child, who I did not even deserve for the way I resented her early on for not being a son…” Your voice dies off as gasps and cries escape your throat; your vision becomes blurry with tears. “I can't do this anymore. I lost too much. I suffered too many losses. My mother, my father and my sister. And then you and my baby. I will never-” This is not going well. You struggle to breath and the pain on your chest increases.

“You still have me.” Aegon mutters, holding you as well as he can. Yet the moment you see his melted arm, you begin to panic again.

“Aegon, can't you see? Whatever we had, whatever was growing between us: We will never have it back the way it was. I can't find myself. I am lost in a darkness where I can't seem to find light, no matter what way I turn.”

“Then let me help you-” He whispers, no begs, commands and yet wishes in the same sentence. ‘’Please, Brienne. You know I have loved you. More than I have loved everything. I would set this world on fire to see you smile, and I would snuff out every bit of light if the dark brought you comfort, my love.’’

“I don't want to find the light, Aegon. Not anymore. I am the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Your Queen, your lady wife and your love. You took a vow without me knowing so, but you promised to protect and honour me.’’ You tell him.

“I did.” He mutters, staring at the ring that once belonged to his father. When he finally looks up there are tears rolling down his cheeks as well.

Your plan might be cruelty. Your heart will never be pure after this. But honestly: Who cares about purity, who cares about justice, for it has become clear that this world does not. The gods keep laughing at your attempts at goodness, and you have been far too kind with the struggles they have given you. “I want you to get on Sunfyre. I want you to mobilise your army. And I want you to burn everything that even dares to blink in the direction of that whore's Castle.” You vow. At first you see him tear up. Then he silently cups his own face with his hands, crying as he doubles over on the bed, clutching you so tightly you are sure his nails are digging in his skin.

“...Aegon?” You ask.

“Sunfyre…” He begins with a heartbreaking sob. “He'll never fly again. One of his wings got ripped off his body. He'll never fly. Neither will I.” You understand the truth of this horrendous discovery. Your husband lost his beloved pet, and you just lost another great way of destroying enemies. Your husband started this war with Vhagar, Dreamfyre, and Sunfyre under his command and now only Vhagar is in state to ride to battle.

Aegon needs you. But you can’t be what he needs. Not anymore.

“I can't stay with you.” You tell him before pushing him off your body. And as a coward, you run away from him, your royal duties and the looming dread of destiny.

“Brienne! Come back…” his shouts are ignored.

You don’t come back.

—-----------------

The next time the doors open in your face, you are standing in front of Aemond Targaryen’s bedchamber. You have been here various times yet this time might be considered treason. Aemond is surprised to see you, yet lets you in. You follow him closely, shutting the door shut behind you. 

Prince Aemond has never made a secret of his love for you, and you know it is burning brightly still. ‘’How was my brother?’’ He asks. 

‘’As a corpse brought back to life.’’ You respond, looking at the flames in the fireplace, licking at the wood, destroying it.

Aemond crosses his arms, offended. “You don't find him attractive anymore, is that it?” You laugh. You wish it was that simple. 

You sit down in his chair, ignoring the looks he gives. You are the Queen now. “I sometimes wonder how I came to think you were a clever man, so blinded you often are.”

“I watched my husband go from a healthy man to a broken soul with a metal arm in months and saw my daughter die in front of me. I wish it was as simple as not finding him attractive.’’ He still looked so beautiful. Your Aegon. Yet so broken.

You notice that Aemond has taken a seat next to you. ‘’I am sorry, Brienne. I am sorry for ignoring you. I didn’t know what to say after you lost Helaena. It all felt like nothing was good enough.’’ Such funny creatures, humans be.

‘’Anything would have been enough.’’ you confess. Anyone would be enough. Anything is always better than silence. ‘’Yet, i appreciate your honesty.’’ You reach out for his hand but he pulls away as if he burned himself.

‘’What do you want from me, my Queen? The hour is of the owl. You should not be here given our history.’’ History is such a funny thing. Only survivors will determine what is true of it.

You must feed the dragon, awake the monster and pull its reins once more.

‘’Remember when those men in the woods, tried to rape me? Remember how you burned them all? How we burned that city together?’’ You also had sex with him afterwards, good sex, one of the best times in your life with him.

You smile. ‘’I want to relive old times. I heard that the woman who calls herself queen is from the Vale. I heard it has lovely woods and delightful servants that will scream once you blaze them.’’

As if on queu, a servant appears from behind both of you, clearly clutching Aemonds sheets around her body while she makes a curtsy at you. You feel many confusing emotions. You feel shock, rage and jealousy. Yet you are married. You are happy with your husband.

Am I happy or am I surviving?

It’s the same blonde bitch that lied about your daughter being a son and being alive. You trap her easily, the sheets falling from her body. ‘’I was hoping to see you.’’ You tell her, hissing as you become a bit unhinged. She eyes you with big eyes.

‘’The Queen told me to lie! She said it would break the King’s heart to know you delivered a failure!’’ She cries for mercy.

‘’Brienne,’’ Aemond mutters. You don’t listen. ‘’I will come with you. Just let her go. I was lonely and it was a mistake and it won’t happen again.’’ You know he is lying. It will happen countless times again, and every time is one too many. 

You fall back into Aemonds arms as the girl tries sneaking past you both. When she puts her clothing back on, a single sapphire falls down from her pocket. You and Aemond both watch as she becomes as red as tomato, clearly caught red handed. ‘’Y-your grace. I am so sorry. The war has been starving my family. Prince Aemond has many sapphires, I never…’’ You feel compassion grow, finally. 

You feel like yourself again.

Aemond huffs. ‘’You dare try to steal from our Queen?’’ He asks advancing. You know that tone. You don’t pick up on it until it is too late, and Prince Aemond has captured the thief by his window. You can only utter a word before he pushes her outside of it, and you hear her screams as she falls to her death, her remains shattering around like an artistic painting.

Your breath is racing as Aemond advances with a smirk, cupping your face lightly as you try to become the cold queen again. He grins, giving you a soft kiss on your mouth gently bending your face so he may have another taste, and another…and another. ‘’My little bee.’’ He declares. ‘’I see you are still in there, somewhere. I will burn our enemies together with you, and in exchange you let me feel what I wanted to feel for months now. Do we have a deal, or shall I tell the king-’’ You don’t let him finish his threat before your mouth finally finds his again, your hands already tugging at his eyepatch. Aemond groans in response and picks you up by your hips, carrying you to the bed.

You watch the ceiling as the one eyed prince fucks his troubles and your own away.

And soon?

Soon you’ll destroy Rhaenyra.

The same way she destroyed you.

A/N.

I really think Brienne is projecting too much on rhaenyra and not enough on her business with aemond/aegon and whatever the heck is going on at the red keep, who keeps letting these assasins in smh.

Anyway: thank you for reading!!:)

[imonthemoonitsmadeofcheese]

hi I'm learning destiny lore the hard way and I've seen you in my notes, who's Eris Morn? What's her deal? This is an invitation to infodump you seem like the person to ask XD

Oh wow! I will answer your question, despite feeling unworthy to do so, but before I do, since you mentioned you're learning the lore, this is the Eris page from the Ishtar Collective website: https://www.ishtar-collective.net/categories/eris-morn It gives a list of main plot points for Eris up until just before the Season of the Witch and links to all Eris lore that exists in-game, going into far more detail than I can in one Tumblr post.

The Ishtar site pulls a large amount of its info from the D2 API and then supplements anything it can't get from there with human volutneer transcribers pulling from sources like the Destiny Lore Vault: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqJlWJF0IucG7HXcEao78Cw .

If there is lore you can acess in-game, now or in the past, Ishtar has it and it is searchable via keywords. It is official lore, not someone's interpretation of it, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

However, not everyone realizes that the Ishtar Collective also has a Discord: https://discord.gg/v8GsggCV

And that Discord is full of lore nerds who you can just go to and ask obscure lore questions and they will happily answer them (or sometimes get into adorkable near-academic-level debates over them, with citations as well as historical and philosophical references) because that's their definition of fun. They are, for the most part, genuinely lovely humans and I adore them all.

Everything I know about Destiny I learned from either playing the game or reading that website or asking those people.

Now, to answer your question, I'm going to give you a short quick answer and then a longer more in-depth answer afterwards.

The short quick answer is a quote from a story I wrote (A Dance with Vengeance) where I have the Drifter explaining where Eris got her eyes to an Eliksni character I made up:

Please note: this is fanfiction. This conversation never happens in lore, and the closest we've gotten to Driferis in-game is a delightfully sweet hug buried in the lore tab for a sparrow vehicle, but the events the Drifter is narrating (with a bit of dramatic flourish) did happen to Eris in-game.

The longer answer:

Eris, a former Hunter (and Ahamkara wish-dragon slayer), is the sole surviving member of the First Crota Fireteam, a team of six guardians looking to avenge all the friends and loved ones who died in The Great Disaster (when humanity sent an army of guardians to try to reclaim the Moon from the Hive) and, in particular, to avenge the death of a badass Titan named Wei Ning (Eris' friend and lover of Eriana-3, the fireteam leader). Their goal was to kill Crota, the then-leader of the Hive forces on the Moon (Crota is the son of Oryx, who, himself is both a Hive god and the Taken King, brother to the other Hive gods, Savathun, Hive god of Lies, and Xivu Arath, Hive god of War).

Everyone on the First Crota Fireteam except for Eris died horribly and Eris was lost in the Hellmouth on the Moon for a century. Eris' ghost (Brya) killed itself to protect her and Eris no longer has access to Light-based guardian powers. She killed a Hive acolyte and took its eyes (cutting out her own) since she had wished on her bone to know the way out of the Hellmouth but could no longer see. (Ahamkara wish magic is always tricksy - they're basically wish-granting genies who always twist what you ask for into the worst possible outcome.)

Eris has a few titles: "The Forgotten Blade," "Bane of the Swarm," "Crota's Bane" and, more recently in Season of the Witch, "Hive god of Vengeance." She is our main point of contact on the Moon (the Shadowkeep DLC is fantastic and the Moon is awesome and creepy and one of my favourite places to go in-game - I could go on and on about my favourite spots there).

Eris has devoted the rest of her (now mortal) life to exterminating the Hive and has guided the Guardian (the player character) to do so through many adventures, notably the Crota's End raid (where we kill Crota and finally accomplish what her fireteam set out to do), the Kings Fall raid (where we kill Oryx), the Pit of Heresy dungeon, and the Scarlet Keep strike (where she has one of her infamous fantastic lines: "Do you feel it as I do, Guardian? A hatred as pure and potent as sunshine, soaking through your skin?"

Season of the Witch is all about Eris becoming the Hive god of Vengeance to deal with Xivu Arath. If you've ever watched Full Metal Alchemist, the logistical problem with Xivu is the same: going to war with something that feeds off of violence and death just makes it stronger. Season of the Witch is still available (at the time I'm writing this) and there's some amazing scenes in there. I highly recommend playing through it but if you can't, here's an 8.5 minute video of the 3 main cutscenes including the ending [i.e. this is a spoiler if you haven't played it yet and still want to!]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVUWu-DqZvU

Eris' storyline in-game is all about recovery from trauma. Many of her quests are either helping her seek vengeance or helping her find peace (such as recovering mementos of her fireteam from various spots on the Moon). She is haunted (literally) by the ghosts of her past (here's 19 seconds of her yelling at them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lcs1io-kvdg ) and her recovery from that has made her the unofficial trauma therapist for the Vanguard.

In Season of the Haunted (sadly no longer playable) she guides Zavala, Crow and Cabal Empress Caiatl through combatting and laying to rest their own nightmares-of-the-past-made-real. Here's a link to a 9 min video of the main cutscenes from that season (there's more content if you watch a full playthrough): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWHphu-iT3w

Eris taught herself how to wield Hive magic from a combination of her century of wandering on the Moon and the journals of Toland the Shattered (one of the members of her fireteam who betrayed them to the Hive and is now a floating sparkle-ball who sometimes helps us and sometimes just insults us on the Moon).

Eris is the Vanguard's Hive expert and Darkness expert. She is also one of Ikora's Hidden (Ikora is the Vanguard spymaster and the Hidden are her network of spies.) One of Eris' main story elements is that most people don't trust her, and not without cause. Another D2 character, Elsie Bray, aka the Exo Stranger, has been living her own personal Groundhog Day time-loop hell where she has watched humanity fail over and over against the Witness and then goes back in time to try to stop it. In most of Elsie's time loops Eris succumbs to her trauma and the corrupting nature of the Darkness powers she wields, goes full Hive, and leads the forces of evil to wipe out humanity in what is referred to as "the Dark Timeline."

Eris is constantly dealing with accusations that she's crazy, that she's evil, that she's unstable, and every time it's proven she's not, but people still find her untrustworthy and it isolates her from most of humanity, noteworthy exceptions to this being Ikora, Queen Mara, the player character, and the Drifter.

I am (obviously) especially enamoured of the relationship between Eris and the Drifter, and their in-game banter is absolute top-tier (he flirts and Eris roasts him and it is glorious), but the very core of their relationship is built on comfort and understanding. He trusts her (something almost no one else does) and she gives him hope (which is genuinely impressive and beautiful because the Drifter's own backstory is brutal and bleak as fuck).

Throughout most of Eris' narrative in-game she is a recovering survivor, but in Beyond Light (the DLC where we get our not-ice magic Stasis powers) we get to see Eris not just psychologically and emotionally recovered, but also getting to be a badass in battle. This is, in my opinion, the best cutscene in the entire game: (it is 1 min an 35 seconds and far, far too short): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAD6E_vESJY

I love this cutscene not only because it is visually spectacular, but because Eris has, for most of her narrative, been an injured survivor needing the player character to fight in her place because she no longer can. But in Beyond Light she is now able to kick ass and, perhaps even more importantly, be a part of a fireteam again.

There's more but I'm going to stop there. Eris is badass and amazing and creepy and fantastic. She uses the weapons of the Hive against them. She uses her own traumatic experiences to heal others. Her dialogue lines are evocative and snarky and brooding and poetic. The voice acting for her is some of the best I've ever heard anywhere. Her character has a complex, empowering, healing, hopeful, and beautiful narrative. And I love her intensely for it.

Ideally, this has answered your question at least somewhat, but do feel free to ask me any follow up questions you have about this or anything. I maintain I am not an expert in D2 lore. I am a writer and I don't just have biases, I use them to make art. But I do love the game and while I am not an authority on anything, I have immersed myself in much of the lore with wild abandon and will happily point you to places where you can find more information where my own understanding is limited.

And with that, I leave you with another fantastic Eris quote that so many people have connected with and found beautiful but that also encapsulates "who is Eris Morn" pretty well on its own:

"Recovery is a spiral, not a circle. You may return to the same patterns, but you will break free." —Eris Morn

[horizon-verizon]

It's amazing how you talk about misogyny to mask your own misogyny towards a female character. You think you can end your ridiculous essay with "she's just empty and not compelling" then blame it to sexism and the writers. All you have to say is you hate that they gave Helaena a compelling ability that you wish your favs have. Have you actually seen the next seasons of this show to know they're not doing anything with her character and the dreamer ability itself? You know you're going to be so disappointed with your wishes. You're just seething they didn't give show Dany the dreamer ability and projecting your spite towards Helaena. So transparent.

Well this is awkward.

You're just seething they didn't give show Dany the dreamer ability and projecting your spite towards Helaena.

Let's say that them not giving show Dany her canon dragon dreams was part of my thoughts when I was writing the post you respond to.

Dany actually had dreams...while canon Helaena, you and no one can ever prove that she did, so the real question is why is there a discrepancy in your mind as to why Dany shouldn't/couldn't have her canonical dreams while a less important character like Helaena should/could? Makes no sense.

I don't really care or feel strong emotions for or about Helaena bc she doesn't do much. Not because she is on the green side and little to do with her own choice in the matter. GRRM clearly uses her to make other characters compare Helaena to Rhaenyra, the Shepherd, the coming Dragonpit disaster, the degredation of Rhaenyra's control over KL, etc.

Also, why do you think it' a good thing or acceptable that they removed Dany's dreams, which are critical to understanding her arc, the Targs, the climatic catastrophe that is the Others, AND as this is a fantasy series...we need magical elements?! So, back to the discrepancy, I rather think it is you who is showing a bit of sexism: bc unlike Helaena, Dany is not a girl-woman who succumbs to the patriarchal violence but fights back and is going to enact revolutionary violence. If you say "Dany is an incest child", you should know that so are a lot of Westerosi people AND Dany is still that revolutionary, anti-exploitation figure.

It doesn't sound like you care much about "truth" or bigotry, so much as you are entertained and validated in the bigotry you already carry.

Have you actually seen the next seasons of this show to know they're not doing anything with her character and the dreamer ability itself? You know you're going to be so disappointed with your wishes.

If it takes 2 seasons to properly distinguish a character (aside from establishing that they have an ability) as to what kind of person they are and that you had since the second half of the first, you've done something wrong. So, yes, HotD dropped the ball and it does have to do with sexism either on the writers or the execs, like how Legend of Korra wasn't given as much of a chance as it should have been. Whether bc of production stuff or imagination. Espec since there have been characters people actually made into real people in just s few scenes (the rest going off from that point) and that has not happened for Helaena yet...when it should have in the first season. And if you say "bc studios and execs are cutting down stuff for costs", then that just hammers in the point that this is not a good story bc it was not allowed to breathe and develop. It's just unearned spectacle after spectacle.

Right now, Helaena is still just a person who says stuff and people ignore or to characterize/reflect more on Aegon and Jacaerys (dance scene).

All you have to say is you hate that they gave Helaena a compelling ability that you wish your favs have.

If you only talk of Dany, no, already explained above. If you mean the blacks, no, bc i think that no one should be having dragon dreams amongst them. This is supposed to be an uncommon ability and none of the characters of the orig canon Dance story show signs of having these dreams. I'd rather we focus on story given. The anon who's ask I link first above reminded me of Duncan (Maekar's son) and Patchface and how this adaptation could have made their Helaena more interesting while keeping her dragon dreaming. I still prefer the canon a little more, but with their post, I'm much more amenable to vision-having!Helaena as long as she's the only dragon dreamer and she has actual dreams and not Raven-Symone visions where she's fully awake for them. You can go check that post out. Or don't, not my issue.

[cruciomee]

Westeros would not know how to handle Coriolanus Snow. Lies, manipulation, and murder. Let the dance of dragons truly begin. 

I need someone to write this fanfiction and I need it now! here I'll even start it for you!

At first Alicent was ecstatic when her son’s eyes did not turn the signature Targaryen purple. The light blue reminded her of her mother’s own coloring. Another positive was Aegon’s bright eyes were filled with an intelligence just like her father’s, he was hers all hers. The only thing was that the longer she stared into his eyes the more she became unnerved. Babies were not known to have the kind of intelligence that she saw in her little Aegon. The final nail that broke her love for his eyes was the day that Viserys said that they remembered him of Aemma’s. It had taken everything in Alicent not to scream at him. Those were her mother’s eyes, they were hers! They had nothing to do with him and his insufferable family but the idea was stuck in her head now and Aegon was the one to suffer because of it. She could no longer look at her baby, at her son. Where once she would personally feed him, taking pleasure in staring at his face, his curls already coming in more gold than silver. She no longer could but the wet nurse had long since stopped producing milk herself and Alicent had not been able to find a suitable replacement for her. So here she was feeding her son avoiding his intelligent stare. knowing that while he may have been tainted in her mind, she would not let him be tainted in the mind of the small folk. Aegon would be a magnificent king, and she would do everything in her power to make it happen, her mother’s eyes will be loved by all who saw them even if she could not stand to see them herself. 

—

Coriolanus Snow did not particularly like his new name especially when his old one was so much more. The name Aegon Targaryen was just a reminder for everyone around him who his ancestor in this life was. The name held its own kind of power and he would use it to its full advantage but he would always be Coriolanus Snow even if it was just to himself. He had once asked his new younger sister to call him his real name, what a disaster that had ended up being. Helaena could not properly say the syllables adding that her voice was light and airy it just made him cringe. He never asked again. Coriolanus had not quite figured out how he felt about this new life. Being a prince was nice, food was readily available at any moment he could wish to eat. So none of that starving nonsense but there was more to life than food and Coriolanus found Westeros lacking. So many things he would have to change, and would change this realm in any way he wanted too. As was his right as Coriolanus Snow and not a soul would be able to stop him. 

[team-heavenly]

Chapter 26 - Part 3

You know the drill by now. Part one is here, part two is here...

Yeah, so uhhh, fun fact! In all my years of playing this game, I never once tried to leave Aegis Cave apparently, because this genuinely surprised me. THERE'S AN INVISIBLE WALL. YOU CAN'T LEAVE. YOU CAN ONLY FINISH THE STORY LINE, FAINT, OR USE AN ESCAPE ORB.

And this kinda upset me because, y'know, for the first time this entire damn run, I finally had a pile of Orans and Apples and other basic things, and I wanted to drop them off in storage to make room for more.

The good news: I did in fact pick up an Escape Orb, so we said SEE YUH!

While we were back in town, I fed a Wonder Gummi to Celebi via Rotom's juicebar, and we got two surprises packed into one!

WUH- OKAY THEN.

And now, some moments that nearly gave me a freaking heart attack.

Damage runs deep </3 Hell of a line.

Also, moments that nearly make your eyeballs fall out of your head until you remember your Garchomp has Huge Power.

Speaking of, here is a non-inclusive list of the moves and abilities I remember seeing from the Unown (either in dungeon or from recruits):

Moves:

Ice Ball

Faint Attack

Thrash

Hyper Beam

Luster Purge

Lunar Dance

Gunk Shot

Dark Pulse

Extrasensory

Hammer Arm

Spit Up

Flash Cannon

Abilities:

Sturdy

Illuminate

Truant

Aftermath

Natural Cure

Serene Grace

Bad Dreams

Drizzle

Cloud Nine

Snow Warning

Heatproof

Filter

A true grab bag, which was honestly kind of fun when it wasn't trying to kill us.

Anyway, we only had to go through three times before getting all the stones we needed and then some! IYKYK.

When we return to the waypoint, we do a funky little dance just kidding, we only close our eyes.

So, here I am, entering the Nonsensical Expanse, getting pumped we get to find out who the first of the three Regis are, right?

But then I have something so unexpected happen that my 3DS nearly falls from my hands.

Wh-

WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT ISN'T HERE?!?!?!

No, but I was legitimately upset over this. I consulted my friend @exploring-the-sky to see if love knew anything about it.

Well, this is what happens when you use a build from nearly two years ago, I guess.

At every portion of Aegis Cave, I left at least once and came back, and it was always the same. There was no one to fight. So now we'll never know who Regice is! That beautiful guidepost I put together to translate every character and place from their canon counterparts? You know, my actual pride and joy? I literally CAN'T put anything down for Regice now except ??? or ERROR 404.

THANKS A LOT, GAME!!! >:l

Or just replace it with any Pokémon you want, I don't make the rules here.

Next stop: Neat Creek.

We already have C and K so this shouldn't be too painful... I hope.

Nevertheless, when we inevitably come back around, we find what looks like a letter...

Wait, did y'all actually run into a boss? DID Y'ALL ACTUALLY FIGHT A BOSS?? PLEASE, TEAM CHARM, I'M BEGGING YOU-

Ugh, well. Guess we're about to find out, anyhow. We enter the Colossal Rift and hold our breaths...

OH THANK ARCEUS, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HAPPY I AM TO SEE YOU!!

...Words said before disaster, Part 21,894-

Despite our one-two punch of Meteor Mash and Powder Snow on Celebi, Rhyhorn wouldn't go down easy. In fact, he got off some Dragon Dances , which made me kinda nervous! And Seed Flare missed, like, 4 times in a row?? Then I REALLY started to panic when he used Mirror Move! But in the end, we persevered.

Ohhhh, I see... so, Not Regice just granted us the guardian's permission pre-emptively and went "lol bye losers, I'm out"? That's the explanation I'm going with, anyway :P

When we approach the Nonsensical Trench, there seems to be no sign of Team Charm...

We picked up two E stones in the last segment of the dungeon, so all we're missing is S, T, and L.

Why, hello there! This one even gave us a stone right away :)

It turns out Unown S and T also spawn on this very first floor! I stuck it out as long as I could and, lo and behold, we didn't have to go through more than once! \o/

Okay, now you gotta do the ritual thing to move on to Part 4.

[thephantomcasebook]

Who do u think murdered jahaera?

Is it weird that i am suspicious of velaryons? because lord unwin peake was found as scapegoat and mastermind behind this griveous murder but lord unwin peake had lost his power after jahaera’s murder . And who won power back after jahaera’s passing? The velaryons.

lord unwin peake was a green supporter who wanted his own daughter to be queen or mistress to aegon the second and influence him so that he can be powerful regent enough to act as a king

and he was like a stupidiwr version of otto. And who disliked otto more than anyone? Daemon targaryen

i feel daemon targaryens’s daughters would know the secret passages all around the red keep and captured jahaera . Because how else jahaera jumped from a room which is not her true bedroom and she was said to spend all her time in bedroom with dolls and kittens

it was baela and rhaena who wanted power and say in the ruling of seven kingdoms because if anything dance of dragons taught them, being able to stay alive and saving your head means getting rid of potential threats from very very very start

they were aware and suspicious of potential threat jahaera could become when she becomes older and they also didnt want a regent whom doesnt have their back

alyn velaryon wanted to be regent but he was sent home

right after jahaera’s death, velaryons gained power. Velaryons put velaryon queen , velaryon had put velaryon regent. Velaryon rule came back

what do u think of jahaera s murder or suicide?

You want to know who murdered Jahaera?

HBO murdered her.

Like I said, in "A Song of Ice and FIre", FOR DECADES Jahaera was Aegon III's wife - it was read out in "A Clash of King's". Then, after Season 5 of "Game of Thrones" Martin got a development deal in which he got a blank check and immediately started changing his lore.

Around the time that "Fire & Blood" came out, there was a uproar about a shit ton of changes to the lore that seemingly came over night. Jahaera Targaryen not being Aegon III queen, like it was stated in "A Song of Ice and Fire" and "Dunk and Egg" was a big one. The sudden rising of prominence of the Velaryons out of nowhere - the fucking losers who even Davos makes fun of in "A Storm of Swords" are now these badasses of old? Corlys Velaryon, "The Sea Snake" ... who the fuck is this guy? If he's so badass and cool ... how come no one in the books mentions him?

The Velaryons are the corporate Hollywood Targaryens - made up out of nowhere to serve as marketable characters for franchising. And the more that HBO Corporate got left leaning and agenda driven the more the Velaryons became prominent, Rhaenyra became sympathetic, and the more villainous the Greens became. Complicated and multi-faceted characters like Criston and straight up traditional heroic characters like Daeron who started out as honorable badasses that all of Team Black feared to face in the field got sidelines and cut down. Alicent and Helaena got no characterization but victim and evil stepmother. And Daemon started getting excuses for why hooking up with an underaged black girl was a 'beautiful thing'.

Jahaera Targaryen was murdered by wokeist corporatism that took a nuanced story that had villains on both sides like Larys and the White Worm, heroes on both sides like Daeron and Jace, and nuanced characters like Criston and Daemon ... and white washed them into "All Greens are bad because they're traditionalist conservatives! And All Blacks are good, because diversity and girl bosses!"

I'm still sore about her death, because, it was a completely unneeded change to the lore that came, because, they wanted a twelve year old Mary-Sue to take her place, because, some Hollywood asshat thought it would be 'like super badass" to have a POC queen of the seven kingdoms ... And GRRM would do anything not to fall into obscurity after the TITANIC Season 8 disaster - the biggest in Television History.

[eccebitch]

hotd & the anarchy

I did a poll recently about how much people knew about the Anarchy, a period of civil war in early English history, and most people said they were not familiar with it, or not very familiar. I was originally going to do a really long post explaining all the historical context, but let's be real, you have access to wikipedia and nothing I'm going to say is going to be more researched than a wiki entry. what I can do for you is put it down quickly and easily, so! the anarchy, and what it has to do with asoiaf / hotd / the conflict known as the Dance of Dragons* in Fire & Blood.

*From here on, when I'm referring to the Dance of Dragons, I'm specifically referring to the events that take place in F&B, not the book with the similar name in the main ASOIAF series.

THESIS:

the Dance of Dragons is based on the Anarchy.

making Rhaenyra based on, or at least inspired by, Empress Matilda.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN:

The way the Anarchy ends historically is extremely similar to how the Dance of Dragons conflict ends in Fire & Blood, and will probably have some bearing on the ending of HOTD. So stop reading if you want to avoid spoilers.

WHAT ARE THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THESE CONFLICTS? The granddaughter of William the Conqueror (the obvious basis for Aegon the Conqueror), Empress Matilda was a really interesting historical figure who isn't well-remembered today, which is a shame because her life was batshit interesting.

Below is a very (very!) brief overview of her actions, and how they compare to the events in the Dance of Dragons:

While Matilda's father King Henry I had many children, he only had two in his legal marriage. One was the prince and heir, and one was Matilda.

The prince, and about 298 other people, fucking died in the White Ship Disaster. (The White Ship Disaster is really interesting in and of itself and I could go into more detail, but you ain't here for that, so I'll spare you. But at least give the Wikipedia page a look if you're interested in bizarre episodes in royal history. Anyway, moving on!)

Daddy needs an heir! He grabs his daughter - who had been married to the Holy Roman Emperor (thus the title Empress) - and made all the lords in England and Normandy swear to accept her as heir.

(exactly like Viserys does with Rhaenyra)

Matilda is extremely hesitant to marry - after an emperor (he's dead now), everyone's a kind of a letdown. Eventually, she marries a foppish French duke, Geoffrey V of Anjou. (This is where the Angevin dynasty started, for those keeping track.)

(could Geoffrey V be an inspiration for Laenor? Entirely possible! I do think one of Rhaenyra's kids being named Joffrey is a homage; Matilda's second son was named Geoffrey after his father.)

When King Henry I dies, Matilda is away in Normandy with her family.

(similar to how Rhaenyra is away at Dragonstone when Viserys dies)

Matilda's cousin Stephen of Blois takes this opportunity to crown himself king as the eldest male heir.

(could Stephen of Blois be an inspiration for Daemon? I think it's possible - at the very least, the Dance of Dragons feels partially like a what-if scenario: what if Matilda had been able to shore up her support by marrying another male heir? What if Henry I had more legal children? etc)

When Matilda finally comes back to England, she does so with full military force, and the conflict between her and Stephen's forces plunge England into a period of war so bad it's commonly known as 'the Anarchy', because no one was in charge.

(Similarly, the period of civil war between the Greens and the Blacks gets its own soubriquet, though, in the Fire & Blood book, it's noted that the 'Dance of Dragons' name is too poetic and hides the real bloodshed)

During this conflict, Stephen's wife - also named Matilda, but we'll call her Maud to differentiate - briefly commands some troops in London; Maud is held up by contemporary sources as an ideal woman for her daring and bravery... things that Matilda is castigated for in the same sources.

(This is, to me at least, similar to how Alicent is treated vs Rhaenyra, because Alicent tries to work more within the extant political systems - only claiming power for male heirs, not herself etc - while Rhaenyra does similar but is seen negatively for it. I do think that Maud is a partial inspiration for Alicent.)

Neither Matilda nor Stephen are ever able to completely claim victory over each other, and eventually, the war ends in a stalemate.

By this time, Matilda's son Henry II is grown. (This is the Henry II who married Eleanor of Aquitaine and is played by Peter O'Toole in The Lion in Winter, for those keeping track.)

Matilda stops trying to claim power for herself and begins putting her son forward as heir. Henry II is an excellent commander who becomes known to the people of England. When peace talks with Stephen finally begin, they're between Stephen and Henry; Matilda stays in France.

Eventually, Stephen agrees to declare Henry II as his heir, and it goes smoothly enough; Henry II is king of England.

(This is similar to how Rhaenyra never definitively 'wins' the dance of dragons, but her son is king.)

tl;dr the clear similarities between these two events, one historical and one fictional, point to GRRM's interest in medieval history and his continued use of it as a source of inspiration in building out Westeros. I think his tragic ending for Rhaenyra is extremely intentional because it reflects Matilda's real life.

[dreams-of-cerulean]

“It’s true,” Llfyr casually affirms as if the statement didn’t make your life a hundred times more complicated. Their violet gaze twinkles as they sip their Longjing tea and look at you. You can tell they’re very amused by your predicament.

“Fuck, are all the Dreamers crazy or something?” You don’t even feel hungry anymore because of how stupendously bad this is. “Do they really believe the Dream can offer something lik-” The statement gets caught in your throat. 

> Your mind flashes back to the mission that got you booted from Club Dreamer in the first place. The quest you wouldn’t take, the command you wouldn’t obey. When the Dream gave you a quest to start gathering Faith in your school - when your conscience knew that if you did so, you would bring the school and every kid there into guaranteed disaster - you refused. 

> Not all the worlds the Dream brings you to are Dreams. 

“Fuuuuck,” you groan, “So the Dream knows how to create a god already? And is offering others the opportunity? But why are they offering it to go after me?”

“Hmmm....creating a deity isn’t that hard,” Llfyr says with their casual air of superiority, “You can become a half-step god given enough Faith. But the jump to a full-god is a bit more complicated.”

“How?” You squint.

The dragon simply sips their tea quietly with a tiny smile as you slowly grow more inpatient.

“Llfyr, come on. I’m asking as polite as I’m going to be with you,” you frown. 

“Pfft,” the dragon nearly spat out their tea, “That’s really how you politely ask for something?” They click their tongue in amusement, “Fine fine. I’ll stop teasing.”

 They motion to themselves with a wave of their hand.

“First, the vessel.”

They point to their head.

“Second, the soul.”

They wave towards the crowd outside the bookshop.

“Third, Faith.”

“All three are required in sufficient quality to become a true god,” Llfyr grinned, “It’s probably why the Dream wants you dead - and will do it any cost.”

“Why? My soul?” 

> You can’t ever forget the bright Something sealed within that lightbulb. The thing that was both separate yet united with you - what was likely both the source of your strength and yet the worst enemy you’ll eventually face. The piece that made you both of Keter and of Thaumiel. 

The dragon raised an eyebrow, “No. The Dream doesn’t want a soul that won’t obey, not after...” They shake their head before smiling, “Anyway, it wants your body instead.”

“My body? There’s nothing special about it,” you look over at yourself, “Beyond whatever enhancements the System gives me.”

“You should already be aware of what you house,” Llfyr said with significant care before turning casual again, “Do you really think that can be contained with an ordinary vessel? Even if you’re only like supporting a part of it right now.”

“Wait, you knew about the -” You feel something dangerous like a gaze locking onto you - and you knew why Llfyr didn’t tell you sooner. Like facing a mean referee right when you were about to break the rules - and who had the power to punish you for it too. 

Taboo.

“Why is that under the-” Your eyes widened as the same feeling came back again. “Ugh. This is annoying. Tunglr isn’t like this.”

Llfyr laughed, “Now you know how I feel whenever I’m talking to you. I don’t think I would’ve mastered dancing around the subject as well if I hadn’t met you. The threat of potential harm is a good way to develop a skill.”

“Did you really treat our relationship as a training exercise? That’s why you talk to me?”

“Disappointed?”

“...Maybe a little,” you reply with candid honesty.

Llfyr snorted. “I don’t interact with any other humans but you - and maybe my food suppliers.”

“Your fanfic writers, you book-eating wastrel.”

“Same thing,” Llfyr shrugged. It really was. They glance over.  “Fine. This is the only time I’m going to say it. I do care. There. That’s it. Bye.”

“Awwww. If we’re going to admit things, I’ll say I care too,” you reply with a cheeky grin.

“Tch, doesn’t count. Reciprocating my comment makes it sound like you’re just being polite,” Llfyr sniffed, “Find a proper occasion and then admit it.”

“And this is a proper occasion?”

“I’m telling you why the Dream wants you to die. Doesn’t that count?”

“Fair. So what makes my body - my vessel - special?”

“Because it can house a soul that has the potential to become a god - your soul has that characteristic, ” Llfyr says, “So long as it has your body, it doesn’t have to go searching for an ideal candidate. It could just raise the soul to fit the body.”

“You mentioned before that the Dream...did something like... this be-”

You pale as a sudden crushing pressure fell onto your shoulders, making you cough out the soda you were drinking. A feeling of grave danger fills every part of you. You knew that if you pushed forward with your inquiry, you will die here and now. 

The dragon grins with some strain, clearly suffering the same sensation you were feeling. Looking upwards, they smirk defiantly and then say three words. 

“The Nameless Goddess.”

Your gaze fills with white as retribution came swiftly in a bright flash. Before you realized what happened, Llfyr is standing above you with a hand outstretched, the scales on their hand singed. Your mind catches up to your perception.

The World just tried to kill you and Llfyr with a bolt of lightning. 

Your surroundings were blackened from the ash. Glass is everywhere. People in the area were screaming in terror - but the only casualties around you were the people watching you at the time - the Dreamers that you’d have to deal with once you left the safety of Llfyr’s presence - the mundane folk were left alone.

Llfyr stood up from the table, looking at their singed hand and shaking the soot off. Not even a single blemish.  

“Well, I think I’ve given you a lot to think about,” Llfyr chuckled, “And you can treat your dead pursuers as a freebie from me. Cause we’re friends.”

They walk towards the now broken door to leave.

”See you around, little dragon child.”  

[terra-phantasia]

Muses

Traditional Fantasy

Name: Hedgie, The Hedge Witch, Guardian of the Forest

Former name: Blodwyn

Age: ?

Race: Fey-Eladrin

Class: Druid

An ancient Druid that has taken up the mantle of Guardian of an even more ancient forest after defeating the great evil lurking there centuries ago. She reigns as the protector of said forest, living in harmony with all its creatures and ensuring that the local villages are taught to maintain the balance.

She can be quite mischievous and isn’t the most experienced in dealing with social interactions beyond those seeking her out for knowledge or aid, leading to her not entirely understanding human social cues. Despite this, she is incredibly social.

As is fey tradition, Hedgie often dons a glamour of an old crone draped in dirt and moss for first meetings and strangers to determine how much kindness they bear in their hearts. She also, much like her fey brethren, doesn’t hesitate to grant boons or curses based upon the treatment she receives. Unlike her brethren however, her curses are often mild and release once the lesson has been properly learned. Because of this, a dear wizard friend of hers will often send apprentices to test their mettle and keep their ego in check.

Name: Markus

Age: 30

Race: Half Orc

Class: College of Swords Bard

A jovial half orc with a love of performance and making a dang good soup, Markus’s past is one of mystery. After losing his memories during his coming of age rite, Markus returned to his village to find it wiped clean from the world in a catastrophic natural disaster. A lone survivor, an old man taking his last breaths, told Markus his name and what little he could about Markus before passing. Markus now travels the world as a man, hoping to discover the truth of what happened to his family or perhaps find happiness in a new tribe.

Markus is a kind person, quick to laugh and offer his help to any in aid. He is quite the skilled soup maker and carries a magical pouch of seasonings that constantly replenish.

He also managed to attend a Bard’s College, where his skills and prowess with a halberd was discovered as well as his love of performing with it. He will occasionally put on sword dancing shows with his halberd, using the magics he learned to create magnificent light shows with its spinning. He carries his halberg on his back.

Steam/diesel Punk + Fantasy

Name: Evangeline Flamegrinder

Age: 25

Race: Human

Class: Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer

A spunky human with dragon’s fire in her veins, when Evangeline isn’t helping her dad in their machine shop with their many gadgets and gizmos, she’s manning the noodle restaurant up front.

Her powers come directly from her father, manifesting when she was a child after horrific explosion in the machine shop mangled her right leg and covered the left side of her face and torso in terrible burns. Her leg was eventually amputated and she was left scarred but now incredibly resistant to fire. She now uses a prosthetic leg made by her father, and looks for adventure where she can find it in hopes of collecting enough money to not burden him with its upkeep.

She’s a bit of a pyromaniac and can be often found tinkering on various gadgets and explosives of her own creation. She also has a terrible tendency to hide bombs infused with her dragon’s fire in her tops, using the illusion of being well endowed to get away with sneaking her bombs.

[horizon-verizon]

If we're going to use the YT version of the dance I'm just going to point out that VB are blonde and it's only mentioned that they're bastards in one of them. If you watch just the video that narrates the beginning you might even think that the 5 are Hero children with Daemon and Rhaenys is her mother

Probably an answer to this post. And the Blu-Ray recorded narration for the Dance of the Dragons is this video.

The Youtube Video of the Dance portion was Published 7 years ago, March 16, 2016. Fire and Blood was Published November 20, 2018.

The entire "Game of Thrones: Histories & Lore" animated series of six installments that began back in 2012, ending 2019. *EDIT- 10/18/24* Found out I already had a post about this, and the episode came out in 2016, AND it was based on "The Princess and the Queen" more, and not F&B. The latter has Cregan's short stint as Hand; the blu Ray doesn't have The Hour of the Wolf...which canonically occurred before Aegon and Jaehaera marry. If that's not enough to pose this Blu Ray rendition of the Dance and its aftermath as irrelevant, esp when GRRM completed his telling of the Dance and its aftermath in F&B , then people are lying to themselves. Or stupid. *END OF EDIT*

Yes, they were blonde in that narration. Rhaenys was also at first white-golden haired before GRRM changed it.

Still, I don't think it's bad nor does it undermine Rhaenyra's claim to admit that her kids might not be Laenor's; me, I think they weren't and I thought that since before HotD bc the timing is just too off and I really don't think that Aegon III and Viserys II would let such a weird inconsistency (that their older brothers were brown haired, yada yada) go nor in the popular tale nor in the Citadel.

Yeah, Rhaenys has Baratheon blood and Baratheons have dark hair and perhaps the details abt the boys' dark eyes and "pug" unturned or "button" noses could have come from her genes from again the Barathons (the eyes, not so much: Baratheons don't typically have dark eyes, they have grey to blue...mostly blue). Yes, perhaps Aemma had dark hair herself.

But Rhaenyra getting pregnant by Laenor 3 times...for each boy to come out having all these same physical characteristics when he didn't really stay around even after a certain event occurred? When he himself had purple eyes, white-gold hair, etc.? That's a bit much.

Why does it not undermine the "legal" claim (if there had been no greens)? Because they are claimed by the necessary parties and are Rhaenyra (the heir)'s children. Legal vs ideological; in Westeros and often in real life, even bigots often move way if they find themselves unable to really enforce their own ideals if they don't have much money or resources to do so. What more self concerned nobles who have luttle to really gain by inviting royal punishments on themselves if they were to say her kids weren't Laenor's? Again, it does matter, but it's not necessarily a 100% death sentence for either Rhaenyra or her kids; and if handled right, the probability of disaster lowers. What Rhaenyra's issue was that Alicent provided dragonriding sons and a daughter (who was made pretty inactive aside from giving babies) who she then made sure to think they had to usurp Rhaenyra to gain their "birthright" as males, which gave them a chance to access what Otto/Alicent wanted when she was married off to Viserys--the throne. Alicent was also the Queen consort. Thus, they had a reason and ability to indirectly accuse Rhaenyra of infidelity and lying to the King to ruin the line of succession.

I don't think anyone should really stress that much over the boys' appearances/indications of paternity as much as this whole "they had pale hair" thing leads people sometimes.

It's valuable in getting green fans to shut up about a supposed lack of ambiguity GRRM wrote for it, about their parentage and thus them trying to close what I described as legal vs ideological meaning and effects of "bastardry" for Rhaenyra (history showing us what "bastard" meant and how one applied it functionally). Which was always meant to make readers think and guide them to why it doesn't really matter in the way they think nor in the degree they think in the first place. Meant to put to question what sort of "fault" they should apply and to whom to reveal biases or misunderstandings of human behavior and intent.

[bonesandpoemsandflowers]

contemplating various character options

but MOSTLY

trying to decide if period piece ballerina protagonist can be faithfully reflavored to be the mage / cartomancer character in the shadowrun-esque playing card based solo journaling RPG. the setting is a kind of sketchily, lazily lightly post apocalyptic (the creator wrote this shit mid 2020, so, you know, that was a vibe), but also a little cyberpunk-y, and I feel like that genre is very essentially about blue collar characters, so professional ballerina at a prestigious institution is right out. and what do ballerinas do when ballet isn't an option? if they don't end up teaching pilates? that's right. this is a STRIPPER alternative timeline. getting that done faithfully and well would be a big deal if this was a novel, but if it's a self indulgent little game mostly for myself, I can slap my pole dance specific knowledge on there, sprinkle in some stories from my long ago stripper friends, and call it a day.

I think I want her in Appalachia because I have so much region specific playing card lore I've collected, but she would never go there so I think that, say, post theatre closures she moved back to South Florida, but Miami had some sort of water based disaster and she barely made it out in time and is just stuck in the mountains somewhere (overcorrected, fled to high ground).

however, there are, of course, other options, some of which would be funny

there's skittish subby werewolf boy, a crowd favorite. pros: very blue collar, has the right sort of generally pessimistic attitude that fits right into the genre, already vaguely hates corporations. cons: why the FUCK would he ever start binding demons (or whatever) into playing cards? he's just not enough of a nerd to be an occultist. he has no interest in The Lore. what are the theological implications in a setting with werewolves and spirit binding magic? he is, also, specifically a loner--lone wolf, hahaha, SHUT UP--and the game set up requires that you have some sort of "community" you're tied to and protecting, and that would actually be difficult to swing here. almost everybody else is easily slotted into a pro-social role, even most villains, but he's just sort of a sad boy, you know? who can bite your face off. he's just very self sufficient. it would honestly take him a while to notice any sort of mild apocalypse happening. IRL this motherfucker wouldn't even notice covid until deep into 2020, riding into town on his horse to pick up the mail.

his also werewolf evil ex boyfriend: honestly...actually. put a pin in this idea, self. he also goes long stretches of time not werewolf-ing it, so there's that. also, arguably you could translate his character to a normal human and it could work. biker guy occultist isn't even a stretch. his aesthetic is already perfect.

the eventual canon Human Love Interest: the lawyer is absolutely enough of a nerd to be an occultist and enough of a bastard to bind things into cards and use them. however, would almost certainly be some rando corpo in this kind of setting. there are ways to work with that and still hit the right spirit for the game, but it would be complicated and this is supposed to be easy and fun. still, running a corpo deck is something people in the game community are already discussing, and I would be better at it than most people attempting it. he is LA based, which is a different feel. east LA latino punk mage would be a baller time, though. maybe if he's younger and only just on the path to eventually going corporate.

this dude's BFF: hilarious. he is never specifically physically described in any of the novels because he's actually a changeling in the dungeons and dragons sense and looks like whatever. He is only described as handsome, so the reader can imagine whatever, but it's also my deepest of in jokes that he appears in some capacity in every single thing I've written, however briefly. There is never anything in the text of the novel that indicates that he's not just some normal human person. I think this is the first time I've posted about it in ANY public capacity. anyway, outright unfair to have a planeswalker in a relatively low magic setting. also however very funny. but no, it doesn't work. still, VERY funny. possibly also why eventual lawyer boy is binding spirits into cards at all--his bestie is an unstable magical field. weird things happen. possibly this motherfucker himself is bound into a card by accident. "the FUCK do you mean, you're a demon?" no no no bro, not a demon, that's propaganda--please put down the salt, bro. bro. c'mon.

sabor latino reluctant necromancer hot dad: of all characters who probably COULD bind spirits into a deck of cards--of all characters who would resolutely NOT--idk, also very funny but for different reasons. not enough of a nerd to know The Lore. very resistant to learning any lore. would probably bind something on accident and spend the whole time going "shit shit fuck oh shit oh fuck" and trying to get rid of it and instead ending up with a whole deck of demons or ghosts or whatever. pros: he's already a noir character with occult elements. he's very tied to Miami so whatever vague disaster I want to write, he's there, dealing with the fallout. cons: lots of jumping through hoops if he's in genuine danger because the in character correct answer is that no matter how much magical bullshit he's forced to deal with, when shit gets really real, he's like, "yeah okay I cast glock." brings a gun to a mage fight. IDK, it might be fun. perpetually tired and done with everyone's shit, you think he's gonna do mage bullshit and then he just punches you. funny.

his retired art thief love interest: canonically the nerdiest of occult nerds. knows The Lore and then some. would absolutely bind a bunch of entities into a pack of cards. would also probably object to the ars goetia demons, like I do, but on aesthetic grounds, not because she's a pansy. would not feel the least bit bad about binding and imprisoning almost anything in her deck of cards. but like. it would actually be boring to write. it's too easy, except for how slumming it gives her the vapors.

some AU version of erikphantomopera himself: you can't put this motherfucker in a setting with magic in it. he would ABSOLUTELY go apeshit with it and not give a fuck about the ars goetia demons being, yknow, demons. he'd just do it. his bleakness of attitude is too well adjusted in the general misanthropy of a cyberpunk setting. he'd be like theft theft demon ritual theft extortion theft MURDER theft theft I HAVE WIRTTEN A CONCERTO theft demon ritual theft theft.

like the mage above him on the list, I have trouble picturing him as a true blue collar protag--he's a fancy bitch and his attitude is aristocracy coded. I hate an actual aristocrat in my fiction, but somebody who gets there via crime is fun. like the mage above him, he's actually too smart. besides, he can't be a playable character because he needs to cameo in the former ballerina storyline. possibly as man who leaves a gigantic tip but is unsettling because how long was he standing there before you noticed? also he never speaks to you. also your rival is mysteriously absent from her prime time shifts and switched to day shifts for some reason. what crazy random happenstance.

[theautumnaldemon]

PANDEMONIUM

chapter 1

warning: there WILL be spelling mistakes. I made this Like a few months ago

Actual warning: violence :)

Another foggy night. 

Days like these were often spent by the Empress Deathcap and her equals from neighboring colonies dancing the night away in a drunken state almost as hazy as the sky. 

The vigorous amounts of cranberry wine would always soon turn into disaster when the next morning Deathcap would lazily stagger out offered, tripping her own talons.

Waddling down the stairs feebly like a dizzied penguin, She would barely notice anyone at all. She could barely hear things straight.

Like the careful footsteps leading to the royal treasury.

Or the sounds of jewels rattling, metal ringing as it fell to the ground.

And the bloody cry of royal guards’ throats being slit.

“MOOOOOOM!” The small cry of a young girl, curiously trying to locate the noises.

The purple dragonet rounded the corner, met with a fluffy gray dragon with large ears collecting the assorted jewels and artifacts from the dimly lit treasury. Blue blood spilt from the neck of the chief guard.

Staggering backwards, she called for more guards as the bat dragon creeped towards her, bloody blades drawn, the light reflecting off them like glass. 

It was a blur. Guards rushing from behind her, pushing her all around as they tried to subdue the bat dragon, until one guard pulled her out of the mess. She could make out the guard was yelling about her safety.

“Princess Inkcap,” they shouted. “Princess Inkcap!”

“Inkcap!”

“INKCAP!” Morel pulled the bedsheets off Inkcap in attempts to wake her from the dream.

“Morel?” Inkcap asked, her voice low and tired.

“Yeah! You need to get up! Breakfast ends in 30 minutes! 5 minutes to walk to the mess hall, 5 minutes to find seats, and 5 minutes to let out food cool down equals 15 MINUTES TO EAT!” Morel screamed.

“Got that math quiz today, Morel?” 

“Yeah! I think I’m getting better — DON’T CHANGE THE SUBJECT! Throw on your cloak and let’s walk to the mess hall together!” Morel ran out of the bedroom, leaving Inkcap to remember the dream. It wasn’t  like her other prophetic dreams she would usually have, this one has already happened. Before Morel was born, when she was only 6. 

She looked around her room, the two beds shaped like bird nests (but infinitely more comfortable) draped in soft blue blankets, the oil lantern hanging above their nightstand, and the closet on the right side of the room near the door. She walked over it, occasionally popping her bones, stiff from laying in a weird position all night.

She tied the black ribbon around her neck as she put the cloak on, fastening it in place. Outside of the room she found Morel pacing up and down the stairs, muttering simple math equations.

“4 x 5 is 20. 20 - 5 is—“ she stopped when she saw Inkcap walk out of the room. “Hey, are you ready?” She asked, walking over to Inkcap’s side.

Inkcap exhaled sharply, before answering “For breakfast, or for the day in general? Because those are two different answers altogether.”

Morel laughed heartily at Inkcap’s joke. “Well, I sure hope its breakfast you’re ready for. Im starved!” Morel fainted dramatically onto Inkcap’s wing, putting her wrist to her forehead like they practiced in theater class.

It was a terrible class, that’s why they practiced the dramatic faint — to mock it.

“Lets go, then. Lead the way.” Inkcap gestured to the stairs, which Morel happily hopped down moments later. Inkcap followed after her, worried about what the day could bring, as per usual.

ok this is way worse than I remember

if you enjoyed this, let me know If I should post chapter 2!

Poster for me and my cousin’s Wings Of Fire Fan-world, called Pandemonium

From left to right:

Inkcap

Morel

Scorpia

Fortuneteller

Neco

Peach