#was going for something asoiaf inspired

[violet-moonstone]

The Wings of War

Summary:

Fifteen years have passed since the battle with Drago Bludvist. Since then, Berk and its allies have lived in relative peace, banding together to fend off whatever trouble finds its way to the Archipelago. But as The Gathering of the Chieftains arrives, rumours abound of an encroaching dragon-riding army, tinging the ceremonies with dread rather than joy. Hiccup and the other dragon riders will be faced once again with an old foe; their children will try to find their way in childhoods interrupted by violent conflict; and Toothless will rediscover parts of his past thought to be forever lost. In a tale of love, grief, and revenge, none can escape the shadow cast by the wings of war.

Read the first chapter on AO3

[whumptober]

Anatomy of a Whumptober Prompt

We get a lot of questions about prompts, so I thought this might be a helpful post for how to break down a Whumptober prompt and get ideas.

Each day of Whumptober has 4 prompts: a theme trope, then three ideas. You can use any one, two, three, or all four in your work. Each day’s prompts loosely relate to each other but could also be taken individually. They can be interpreted as literally or figuratively as you want.

Let’s look at an example. I’m a writer, so I’m going to talk in terms of storywriting, but just remember that this challenge is open to all sorts of creative works, including art, gifsets, headcannons, crafts, or whatever else you can think of.

ICARUS

cage | “You'll say you'd never let me fall from hopes so high” | crash landing

(Fiona Apple, Never is a Promise)

So the theme is Icarus, with additional prompts of a place, a song lyric, and a situation. Taken together, you could write a story of Icarus, who was caged with his father Daedelus, flew too close to the sun on the hope of freedom, and crashed fatally to earth. But you could also look at each prompt in isolation for ideas.

Icarus:

themes of hubris

themes of freedom from captivity

winged characters

a child trying to prove themselves to a parent figure and failing

Cage:

being literally caged

feeling figuratively caged

breaking free of something (literal or figurative)

themes of imprisonment and freedom or false freedom

“You'll say you'd never let me fall from hopes so high”:

regret

promises made or broken

an accident and its aftermath

bitterness after betrayal

guilt after betrayal or accident

Crash landing:

literally falling from a height

being high (drugs, mania, medications, love, sugar) and crashing

plane/helicopter/airship/dragon/spaceship/winged creature crash

an angel falling to earth or hell

comet or meteor impact

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but just some brainstorming ideas I could come up with quickly. In a few of my fandoms, I could write about Bucky’s fall from the train and Steve’s guilt (MCU), Basch fon Ronsenburg’s fall from grace or languishing in a cage for treason (FFXII), Sephiroth summoning Meteor (FFVII), Chell being dragged back into Aperture after thinking she’s free (Portal), a dragonrider battle (ASOIAF/HoD), crashing into the Chionthar after victory (BG3), Geralt coming down after battle when the potions wear off (The Witcher). Any of these scenarios could be inspired by one or more of the four prompts for that day – my problem is always deciding which one I want to use!

“But Yenn,” you say, “what if I can’t think of anything for any parts of the prompt, or I don’t like the prompts, or they’re too much for me in some way?” No problem! We also have a list of 15 alternatives that can be substituted for any day (once per prompt). If you’re still stuck, you can always come on Discord and ask for brainstorming help. Everyone is super nice there, especially for a community of people that live to put blorbos in discomfort.

I hope this post helps give people ideas. We’re working hard to get everything together and should release the prompts in a couple of weeks! In the meantime, our 2024 playlist will be loading soon...

[amartworks]

Elia Martell, princess consort of Rhaegar Targaryen, and her children, Rhaenys and Aegon

I like how while Elia isn’t in the books, she haunts the narrative just as much as her husband – down to her daughter’s kitten literally haunting the Red Keep.

Artist notes below cut for freaks who like that

Oh god this took so long. Oh god why did I let it go this far. Here's the original sketch. Referenced from JookPubStock… I think. It's been so long.

This painting is quite blatantly inspired by Franz Xaver Winterhalter’s The Royal Family. It's decidedly rococo/neo-classical and wayyyy too late for ASOIAF but I don't care.

Elia Martell is described as flat chested and quite sickly. I see her being easily exhausted and therefore wearing dresses that do not weigh much, so as to not put pain on her shoulders and tire her out. I also gave her a strong nose because I am very fond of Pedro Pascal’s Oberyn, Elia’s brother.

Elia is wearing a simple ambigious renaissance dress with small sleeves and a light corset. Kind of cobbled together from looking at Hans Holbein the Younger’s works. The fabric the dress is cut from is however meant to be Dornish – I drew inspiration from this beautiful Ottomanian textile.

Her crown is completely made up. I searched “sun crown” and was greatly inspired by the works of jewelry maker SunFlames.

King Aerys refused to touch his granddaughter Rhaenys because she “smelled Dornish” which tells me Rhaenys probably favored her mother.

Rhaenys was difficult. I looked up what renaissance children wore, and the answer is they wore exact copies of what adults wore. I don’t know how, I feel like the moment you were done with a sleeve the child in question would’ve outgrown it. I decided to freestyle it a little.

Aegon is wearing a christening gown. As far as I can tell the Faith of the Seven doesn’t mention baptisms… but considering the catholic inspiration I think it makes sense. Also I think it's sweet.

They both have deep indigo eyes. My personal headcanon is that Targaryen eyes are purple in the same sense that Elizabeth Taylor’s eyes were purple. Moreover the definition of colors change over time. During the Middle Ages, there was no word for the color “orange” – instead you would say red or yellow. Similarly a lot of languages will use the same word for blue and green.

HOWEVER, this is something that has come with later generations – the first Valyrians had inhumanly violet eyes, which I will be doing concept art for�� sometime.

Finally here’s what I know you're REALLY here for, and the part of the painting which I am the proudest of – the 3D model of the chair and table which I made in Blender because I couldn't find a good reference for a renaissance era chair from the angle I wanted.

[jonsnowunemploymentera]

I could say that ASOIAF is a very medieval lit story at heart and you’d be like, “well no shit Sherlock, tell me something I don’t know 🙄”.

And I’d say: “Ok bet. ASOIAF’s medieval core is best exemplified through Jon Snow and Bran Stark, two distinct yet mirrored iterations of one hero-knight whose origins can be traced to Percival and his magical quest. Both are Percival (and both are potentially the grail king) but one is as close a 1:1 copy as we can get (Jon) and the other is the Percival archetype completely flipped over its head before it even begins (Bran). Jon, by the author’s own admission, is the fantasy hero in the most traditional sense. He’s Percival who was inspired by the knights and left his mother’s castle to chase after chivalric glory (Jon III AGoT), only to find out that he has a massive misunderstanding of the knight’s purpose and honor (ACOK/ASOS arcs). No one told him of the ethical dilemmas involved with being a knight. No one told him that he could meet the fair maiden and either be completely incapable of helping her (Gilly) or help her, leave her, and be burdened by her death (Ygritte). No one told him how hard it would be to have his entire world view upended and upon going back to his fellow knights and saying ‘hey friends maybe we should all re-evaluate the system in which we operate and how it might be causing us to betray the vows we swore’ he’d be met with disdain. No one told him that, like Percival, he might look back to his mother’s home and see what has become of it (and his sister whom he left) and upon making the decision to go back to it he dies before he can even get his foot out of the gate. Percival made it back home and Jon might too, but where Percival still had his mother’s shirt to remind him of his boyhood Jon had to kill the boy because the fate of the world depended on it. Jon stumbles and rises, only to stumble again. But nonetheless, he gets to be a knight. But on the other hand, there’s poor Bran! He doesn’t even get to fail at being a knight in the first place because that storyline was fucking taken from him before he could realize his dream of leaving his mother’s home. Jon at least got his call to action. Bran’s dazzling dream of knighthood doesn’t even get off the ground (quite literally). He climbs, falls immediately, and once his eyes are awakened he realizes that he is now incapable of being Percival as he’d wish to be. There’s no battling evil knights. There’s no saving fair maidens. But then he’s visited by a wizened old man who’s like ‘hey Percival, you can never be a knight but I’ll teach you how to be a mighty wizard!’ And that would be cool and all….BUT BRAN WANTS TO BE A KNIGHT GODDAMNIT! When he auditioned for the medieval lit play, he picked up the Percival/Arthur script. Yet that’s not what he ultimately got when the cast list finally got out. Because who the fuck switched it out his hero-knight script for the Merlin one??! So now he has to try and figure out how to be a knight who’s actually a wizard, and it fucking sucks y’all.”

[nitewrighter]

Is it just me or does the poster guy for Elden Ring's DLC have kind of an Elric vibe to his design? Or at least the high fantasy artwork of Elric with exposed arms and thighs.

I mean, Elric is the guy who brought the sickly antihero look into at least something adjacent to the mainstream of fiction (if you can call 1960's/1970's Pulp science fiction and fantasy adjacent to mainstream fiction, which I'd argue was more of a subculture that eventually became mainstream). Miura, the creator of Berserk, which was a major visual inspiration for all the Soulsborne games, has cited Elric of Melnibone as a major inspiration for Berserk--so it stands to reason that that would carry over from Elric, to Berserk, to Soulsborne games including Elden Ring. Also absolutely worth noting: Elden Ring also got a lot of its worldbuilding from George R. R. Martin of ASOIAF/Game of Thrones fame, and one of his biggest inspirations has always been, you guessed it, Elric of Melnibone.

Wait hold up I have to update something.

There we go.

[melrosing]

a while back you mentioned bran being a fisher king type of figure if he becomes king. i am so intrigued by that concept. can you tell us more?

so full disclosure, I don't have a great deal of familiarity with Arthurian legend or British/Welsh mythology, which is what the Fisher King really draws upon, so I don't think I can say anything of real substance on this subject! i keep meaning to just sit down and swot up on this stuff but it's. not really something you can do in one sitting lol

HOWEVER i think even to a wiki peruser it's patently clear that GRRM is drawing on the Fisher King concept with Bran (as in, once you know he's doing that, you realise he isn't even trying to hide it). and I do tend to think that GRRM is more likely to stick with the top line of a myth or historical event he means to parallel rather than get lost in the minutiae - e.g. Matilda v Stephen succession crisis inspiring Rhaenyra v Aegon, the Black Dinner of 1440 inspiring the Red Wedding, this is GRRM taking the substance of an event but not the details of how it came to pass.

I'm going to guess that rather than getting into the finer details of the Fisher King mythos, GRRM is going to utilise it much like he's used Shakespeare's Richard III for Tyrion, which is another inspiration that seems painfully obvious from the moment you spot it, but is hardly lifted beat for beat, and I seriously doubt that Tyrion's story ends up anywhere like the end of RIII. but you can see GRRM taking the bits and pieces of RIII he finds interesting and twisting them for Tyrion in ASOIAF.

so with that in mind, I'm just going to quickly list the key points I can personally gather from the Fisher King myth that seem to gesture to Bran, and why I think these are probs interesting to GRRM as a writer (but as I say there are people who know lots about arthurian legend and british/welsh mythology who would probs have a lot more to say here):

the Fisher King is usually depicted as being wounded in the groin/legs/thigh - this is considered synonymous with his inability to have children and so propagate his line. immediately obvious parallel to Bran, and I think through both ASOIAF and F&B, GRRM is trying to show that ruling through dynasties where everything hinges on how the next guy's son turns out, is not a viable way to run a country. Bran will not be succeeded by children of his own blood, but I think much in the way that he himself has succeeded Bloodraven

the Fisher King is one with his land as such: his welfare is the welfare of the land, and when he takes a wound (and becomes infertile), the land too becomes barren. the Fisher King awaits a hero who will heal and restore him and so the land (but I can only imagine GRRM would subvert this - it's clear through GRRM's writing of disability that he doesn't see value in just 'curing' his characters. he wants to actually write them as disabled people). and I think there's a lot in Bran's story about man learning to respect the land he lives upon - the children and the first men's peace pact was agreed upon the grounds that the first men would essentially preserve Westeros and its weirwoods etc, and so I think it's generally agreed ASOIAF could end with a similar kind of pact to end the Long Night (or after the end of TLN)? so again, think this point is about Bran representing a renewed relationship between the lands of Westeros and its peoples - the welfare of all is tied together through him

the Fisher King is guarding the Holy Grail. im way out of my depth on this point, someone with more knowledge re. the Holy Grail needs to weigh in here lol, but I would guessssss that maybe this has something to do with Bran ending the story on the Isle of Faces, protecting the peace from there or SOMETHING idk

then the most obvious point: the Fisher King as he appears in Arthurian legend is thought to draw on the figure of Brân the Blessed, a character of Welsh mythology - which immediately recalls Bran the Broken (something Bran literally calls himself several times). the name 'Bran' also translates to crow or raven in Welsh, so, duh. and Brân the Blessed's story ends with his requesting that his head be buried on the White Hill of London - and as long as it remained there, Britain would be safe from invasion. more about Bran being tied directly to the welfare of the land and its peoples

(again there's doubtless a lot more that could be added here by someone who understands the Fisher King myth better than I do, but these seemed like the most obvious points that anyone could draw on)

anyway I absolutely take it as a given that Bran will be King at this point, and whilst it's really hard to imagine what that looks like, I do think it resonates. GRRM likes writing about dynasties but I don't think he believes in them. I'm sure he feels much the same way about feudalism, but I doubt that will be gone by the end of ASOIAF, too, so this is how I picture it??

KL: destroyed. red keep: fucked. some level of politics may continue here post-series, but I think it will no longer be the heart of westeros. the fact that it is in AGOT is I think GRRM trying to show the corruption at the heart of this country - KL is constantly described as a cesspit where the rich play their games and live and eat luxuriously directly atop the shoulders of the poor and downtrodden, divorced from what's happening in the rest of the 7K.

the new heart of Westeros will be the Isle of Faces. this is where I think Bran will end up. we don't know much about it, bc noone is able to sail there, but this was where the pact between the COF and the First Men was created, and it's one of the last places in the south where weirwoods still grow (here, in abundance). and apparently there was once a Green King of the Gods Eye?? if the Green King, of the Rivermen, is in any way the role Bran will soon be occupying, maybe this is where his Tully heritage is somehow relevant. and also like 'god's eye', Bran's whole thing is about learning to see all, so. likely place for him to be. ultimately, I don't think Bran will remain in Winterfell; the story is supposed to be about unity I think, and not northern exceptionalism, so a remaining Stark sibling will take up that seat and as I said before, I tend to think that will be Sansa.

and I guess the most I can imagine beyond this point is Bran living alongside the COF (perhaps in the company of Meera idk?), functioning less as a political entity and more as a figurehead, perhaps an oracle, who lives for the welfare of his people. there will still be politicians to run the country, but they will be guided by Bran in some way, and like Bloodraven, Bran will choose his own successor. what the intricacies of any of this look like i have no idea, but this really does sound to me like the start of GRRM's answer to all his concerns re. dynasties and corruption etc etc

sorry this was all garbled as hell but this is basically what the Fisher King endgame means to me for now. in short, not a whole lot that I can make sense of but I like the feel of it, I think it's consistent with the themes of the text and suggests the start of real change at the end of the story, rather than the start of yet another dynasty.

[humanpurposes]

There isn't any point to this, I'm just ranting.

Lately, posting fanfiction feels like screaming into the void.

This isn't to say I'm not grateful for those who do interact with my posts. Since I've started posting fanfiction I've gone through phases of having a lot of motivation, having little motivation. Phases of comparing how many notes I get compared to someone else, then reminding myself why I started writing fics in the first place, because I can do exactly what I want with something I write. And I so appreciate all the comments, likes, kudos and reblogs I get on my fics.

There can be a whole load of different reasons why engagement in fandom lately has been not great. Season 2 being a mess, toxicity and petty drama within the fandom, dwindling attention spans, general disinterest in HotD and ASOIAF. I get it. I haven't felt particularity inspired by the latest season, I'm not very 'Tumblr sociable' and tend to stick to a few mutuals, I also haven't been interested in reading as much fanfiction for a few months.

And if someone doesn't want to interact with me or my content, for whatever reason, that's their business and it's completely valid. I don't write to hit a certain number of notes or followers. I write because I enjoy it. I started posting because I thought there might be a few people out there on the internet who might like what I was doing. In a way I have found that, and I know I wouldn't have stuck with writing this long if I hadn't started posting. But I won't lie and say it isn't disheartening when you get nothing or very little back after putting a lot of time and thought into a chapter.

And on top of that, some comments are just... the worst. What goes through someone's head that they feel the need to read a fic they don't like, comment all the reasons why they didn't like it, AND insult a writer who has posted this FOR FREE. We're all doing this as a hobby. The fact that fanfiction is public is not an open invitation to criticise, all you're doing is discouraging people from sharing their works or writing altogether, which damages our community. Fanfiction is not content simply there for you to consume. It's a pure form of creativity (in my opinion), because it doesn't come from necessity or obligation. If you don't like what you're reading, stop reading it. Find something else, or go write a hateful review of an actual book on Goodreads because at least that author got paid.

Or even just people being so stubborn about their dislike of certain characters. I can't tell you how sick I am of people taking the existence of Alys Rivers so personally in fics. Or wishing death upon characters that are clearly central to the plot or main relationship in a fic (why are you reading an Aemond fic if you hate Aemond)??? This fandom can only operate in extremes, apparently. There's no room for nuance or emotional complexity and it's frustrating when someone projects that on a fic.

I don't really have a point to this. Read what you want. Read the tags first. Reblog posts to keep them alive. Ask writers about their fics and OCs. Be nice to people.

[laurellerual]

Hi !!

So I have a question and you kinda seem like the person to ask...

I know you do a lot of research for the costumes of your asoiaf art and I was wondering if you had any ressources for weapons ?

For context, I'm trying to draw Book!Needle but I don't know what would be the real world equivalent to said sword ? I looked it up and a few people are saying it's close to a rapier or a smallsword (which is what is on the wiki too) and it fits the description but in the illustrated version of a game of thrones it just looks like A smaller sword made for a child which seems less accurate (but also swords for children were actually a thing in Europe so that didn't help)

I really hope I'm not bothering you with that

💜💜💜

Maybe for the sake of simplicity, when I draw Needle, I go for a stereotypical little sword. With a cross guard, without the typical “rings” of a rapier.

However, I share the opinion that the main historical inspiration for the Braavosi blades are in fact the rapiers. We know that waterdancers use their swords mostly for duels or for personal defense. This are swords for civilian use, therefore they should be designed to be hold by a person whose fingers are not protected by the gauntlet of an armor. This is why it make sense for them to have a more protected grip like that of a rapier, or something similar like a side-sword.

(I'm not an expert, just an amateur, so correct me if I say inaccuracies)

[misguidedasgardian]

The Winter Sun (24)

24. SnowStorm

MASTERLIST

Summary: An unknown ray of hope

Pairing: Cregan Stark x Fem!Targaryen Reader 

Warnings: Cursing, medieval and asoiaf customs, AGE GAP, Cregan is 12 years OLDER than reader), arranged marriage, war, and all that comes with it, implied forced imprisonment, and implied non-con, pregnancy, angst, might miss some warnings

+18, MINORS DNI

Wordcount: 3 k

Notes: I don't know what is gotten inside of me, I'm inspired hehehe, remember that the timing on this has been paced by x3 haha

Nobody talked to you, nobody told you anything, but you could tell something was wrong, very, very wrong.

People seemed nervous and skittish, Aemond was gone for most part of the day, and night, he left you alone, and you took the opportunity to relax in your bed

You were grieving, but it was so hard, you had no process, no nothing, Cregan was far away, and suddenly he was dead, but you couldn’t process it, you couldn’t even think about it

A single tear fell down your eye as you touched your belly

Was it Cregan’s? or was it Aemond’s?

You couldn’t possibly know

Yes you had bled, but the maester said it was common having a little spotting in early stages of pregnancy… but still… you were showing up quite early if you were to believe it was Aemond’s 

But you couldn’t help but wonder…

You guessed you had to wait until it was born.

You hoped it was a girl but… if it was Cregan’s you doubted Aemond was going to let you keep it, you could only pray that he would take the time to take it to Winterfell where she or he could be safe… but if it was his…

You cried louder

Once you stopped crying and were laying on your bed, Aemond entered the room

“I have news”, he said, his voice sounded strangled, you sat on the bed and looked at him wide-eyed

“What?”, you asked

“I will take you out of here”, he said, like it was good news, perhaps they were

“Are we going to King’s Landing?”, you asked, your voice plain

“No, I’m taking you to your home in the Vale”, that really surprised you

“What?”, you asked, not believing him

“I’m already making the arrangements”, he said, he was serious, but not like always, he did not have that superiority demeanor that always accompanied him

“And King’s Landing?”

“No”, he answered sharply, he wouldn’t tell you anything, a war had broken outside these walls and you didn’t even know what was happening, but one thing soothed you… If Aemond was here, he was not in the field, possibly killing members of your family.

The love of your life and father to your babies might be dead, but at least, at least, with your personal sacrifice, you could help your family in gathering and preparing, distracting the man with the biggest dragon in the world

it was a consolation

But not knowing what was going on outside those wretched walls did make you feel uneasy, the fact that Aemond was here the entire time made you believe that rather things were going terribly well with the Greens, or he was out of it completely

Aemond after looking deep into your face, prepared to leave

“What happened?”, you asked him, and then he looked at you, his eye then fell to your belly

“You are with my child, this is a terrible and dark place, you need to be in a more nicer place, if we want the child and you to thrive”, he said so seriously, like he was talking about a political arrangement 

You wanted to remind him that it was Cregan’s baby, but you stopped yourself, one because you didn’t want him to… “get rid of it” as he threatened you he would do, and two, you weren’t even sure.

“When?”, you asked

“Tomorrow”, he said shortly, and then he abandoned your room.

You were almost blinded when you took a step outside, having seen the sunlight directly in months. You almost had forgotten what the clear, pure air smelt like, being trapped in that hellish room. Some days you thought you had lost your mind.

But here you were

You should be happy that you are going back to your own home, some place you had the advantage in, but then… the advantage for what exactly?

Trying to kill him again?

That would backfire terribly

Trying to escape?

And where would you go? back to Winterfell? your loved ones would pay the price of your actions, you knew it.

And if it was Aemond’s baby?

You whimpered when you realized… there was no way out of this, of him…

Vhagar roared in front of you both to prove it, in a greeting, and she made you tremble. Aemond grabbed your hand and led you towards her, your own dragon wasn’t even in sight, Aemond helped you up the ropes first and then he followed you closely.

Under normal circumstances you would be on the other side of the castle away from this wretched beast, but you didn’t want to fight, you didn’t want to upset him. 

You accommodate yourself in the saddle, and Aemond arranged the leather straps around your thighs carefully and then he chained himself to the saddle, you felt him at your back his hand surrounded you to take the reins 

You didn’t miss his fingers ghosting over your belly.

Vhagar was heavy and slow and yet, she took flight easily. Soon you were in the skies, the last time you had done so, was when you surrender yourself to Aemond

You leaned back, your body fully pressed against Aemond, trying to push up your own body was making you have a cramp, and you didn’t have the strength to endure one, not right now.

Aemond smiled, he took to the skies, with you in his arms, your body leaning completely on his, his baby in your belly, he felt like the King of the world, and how could he not?

“When I’m in the skies… it feels that this is where I belong”, he whispered in your ear, “specially with you in my arms”

And the funny thing is, you also felt the same when you were in the skies.

“This is why they say Targaryen are closest to gods than to men”, you said back, wanting to avoid the subject

The flight was longer than you had expected, Vhagar being slow. Or perhaps it was the company that made it dreadfully tiring

You were glad the wind made it difficult to sustain a conversation.

You wondered how Aemond knew exactly where your home was, but you tried not to dwell on it too much, for your own peace of mind.

Vhagar landed heavily on the ground, right in front of it. It was just like you remembered, from four years ago when you escaped the Red Keep when… When Aemond tried to pressure you into giving him your maidenhead

People started coming out of the castle, to your surprise, they didn’t even seem surprised to see Vhagar there, they had been expecting you… although… The people, your own people, seemed scared to see you, you remembered some of them, specially from when you escaped the Red Keep and spend here a couple of months, but they even dare to look at you

Perhaps this what Aemond had meant when he said “he had already made the arrangements”, meaning terrorize the servants of the castle out of their loyalty to you

The Vale was loyal to Rhaenyra, he surely needed to make sure nobody was going to open their mouths about you being here.

“It is quite beautiful”, Aemond said, placing his hands on your hips, encouraging you to enter your childhood home, where your father had raised you with his kindness and his love. You were sad it had to be tainted by Aemond, and what he was going to keep doing to you

You entered your home slowly, drinking everything in, you had missed it, it had huge windows and wide, colorful, sunlit rooms. It wasn’t as big as the seven great castles, but… it was a castle nonetheless 

He walked the halls as he knew them, perhaps he had been here in your absence, and that made you even more scared, about how deranged Aemond was

You wanted to go towards your room, but Aemond continued down the corridor towards what it was your father’s old room

“Aemond”, you called, “that is…”

“The master bedroom of this castle I took”, he said, opening the double doors, signaling for you to enter behind him.

You weren’t fazed to enter the room, your father’s things had been taken away years ago, and.. you don't quite remember it from your childhood when he was alive.

The room had huge windows, a balcony, a huge bed freshly made, you could tell, a table with chairs in one corner, and nightstands on each side of the huge bed with a wood canopy. 

“I could get accustomed to this”, Aemond said, you didn’t look at his face, but you could picture perfectly his smug face, “you, and me, reigning our small castle, with an army of silver haired children”, you sighed, already tired of his fantasy, you walked towards the windows and looked over at the sea and the risks of the Vale. You placed your hand on the window, longing for freedom, even though you wouldn’t know what to do with it.

Cregan was gone.

You felt the bed move behind you, and you turned around to see Aemond sitting on the edge of the bed. He taped the mattress by his side

“I want to feel you”, he moaned, and you only walked towards him, surrendering yourself to him, so broken to even fight him on this

What you didn’t know is that the greatest army the North has ever seen, had been gathering, marching from every corner to the coldest realm, already recuperated from the Winter, and ready to eliminate any threat to the reign of Rhaenyra Targaryen.

The Northerner Army met in Caitlin’s Vale, all around the castle of the same name.

Nobody knew who was going to lead said army. They had been called by Lord Roderik, to avenge their Lord, and they had all answered to the call.

For avenging Lord Cregan Stark. 

Cregan 

The huge camp was a sight to behold, each house of the North, the great one and the smaller ones, all of them had come.

And as their leaders met in the middle, to discuss strategy and where they were going to meet the Knights of the Vale, the remains of the Winter Wolves marched into the camp, leading them, as a hooded figure.

Every soldier made way for the huge stallion that led the main leaders of the small army, as they bowed their heads, they didn’t know who it was, but the bare figure demanded respect 

The leaders of the Great army both payed attention to the group approaching, and it was only when they were in front of them, that Cregan removed his hood, revealing himself to the camp amongst gasps and cheers

“CREGAN CREGAN CREGAN!”, they started chanting for their Lord 

“They embushed us!”, he shouted, “they burnt us! and yet… we are here!”, he said, to everyone’s cheers, “Aemond Targaryen, the Kinslayer, has taken my wife, the Lady of Winterfell, his brother the usurper, has taken our Queen’s throne!”, he said and he heard them booing, “For our burnt fathers and brothers, for your lady of winterfell, for the justice for the traitors, WE MARCH!”

With those words the army was fired up to march south, to kill every Green that stands in their way, to recuperate you

Cregan joined the leaders in the main tent.

“This time, we will not be alone”, he said firmly, “Daemon Targaryen and his dragon will meet us in the Crossroads Inn, he said, pointing to a map, but we, before that, we will join the Knights of the Vale, right about there as well”

“And the Rogue Prince will take care of the dragon?”, asked Lord Cerwyn

“That is what is expected, yes”, said Cregan.

“Is the Lady (Y/N) going to be in Harrenhal?”, asked another

“Our job is to take the castle, the real battle will be after we take Harrenhal and march souther still

“This is the greatest army the Seven Kingdoms has ever seen!”, said Lord Roderik, “it is impossible that we are going to march undetected through the Riverlands”

“In that case, the Baratheons and the Royal army of traitors will be there to meet us”, said Cregan, “and that will work to our advantage, it will save us a trip, we end half of the Green forces in one attack, they will have no chance against us”

The determination of their lord inspired all the men, this time, they will not fail

And so they started the slow march, as their number tripled the one of the last time, the pace was three times slower. 

Cregan wanted them to know, he wanted all his enemies in one place, to kill them all at once. You were the only thing on his mind. 

This was going to take him months, much to his dismay, but he knew his Queen held the Capital, he knew his son and his home was safe, and he knew you were alive, that monster might take you, but he wouldn’t harm you or he would have learnt about it by now.

You were waiting for him, he knew it

It was all that kept him sane, the thought of you, waiting for him. 

It was in moments like this he wished he could fly, just like you, he wished to be strong just like you, his beautiful wife, mother of his child.

He wondered if you thought he was dead, he really didn’t hope so, although he knew the Kinslayer would have told you. He wondered if you were pregnant with his baby, he was sure you were when he left you in Winterfell, he had learnt to know you and your beautiful body.

He sighed as he saw his army march from over a hill

The only thing he wanted to do was to have you by his side, cuddling you, and his son on his chest, your pregnant belly pressed against him. 

Soon, he thought 

Aemond looked at you, you yourself were looking at the window, touching your big belly, he could not tell if what he felt in his chest was something good or something bad, it was a crippling feeling, a burn so intense he believed it could burn him whole. 

He had to leave you for a few weeks, having to go to the battlefield, but his return was swiftly. His brother, the King, was missing, his mother was captured, his grandfather executed, and his other brother…

They said he died on his successful campaign as his burning tent fell on top of him, others say he was murdered in his nightshirt by a myrnise. 

Anyways, they were losing this war

The only front that was winning was the seafront on the East, and the Lannister Army on the West, this was not lost yet, but his sister, was also a prisoner of Rhaenyra, he was scared of what they might do to her after the murder of his nephew, 

And rumors had reached them that a huge Northerner army was marching from the North, he was longing to face them on the battlefield, to burn that wretched country once and for all. 

He did not feared them, for they had no one to lead them, the last remaining Stark couldn’t even talk, it was a baby in a crib 

Which led him back to…

“When I fantasized about being with you, I have never picture this”, he said bitterly, you turned to look at him, seriousness in your eyes

“You didn’t expect to kill my husband?, threatened my infant son? rape me? go figure”, you asked, you had become more bold as your pregnancy progressed, Aemond said it was because of the dragon inside of you, he had never been rough with you, he has been rather patient.

“I said you were mine and I was going to do anything to prove it”, of course it was your fault, perhaps if you had accepted the marriage with him in the first place, nothing would have ever happened, maybe Cregan would still be alive, “but there is no point on dwelling of what might have been”, he said, his voice plain.

It was hard to know what was going on inside his head, really

“I want to know what is happening”, you said firmly, looking back at him

“What do you mean?”, he asked

“What is going on with the war that broke out when you killed Lucerys?”, you asked firmly, he chuckled darkly

“What would you know about the intricacies of war?”, he mocked

“Is my family dead?”, you asked firmly

“If it was, do you think we would be hiding here?”, he asked

“Perhaps they all are, your brother regions on his usurped throne”, you bit back. He looked at you, analyzing your face, really wondering if he should tell you about what was going on

Perhaps if you knew Rhaenyra sat the Iron Throne, you would be persuaded to try to get away from him, perhaps you would try to escape him, knowing the blacks were winning

“i don’t know where your cunt of a cousin is, but my brother sits the Iron Throne”, he said bitterly, and you lost your attention off of him and back to look outside the window

He didn’t know if you did that because you didn’t believe him, or rather, if you did and you believed everything was lost, that you were irrevocably his

“I arranged for a short ceremony”, he said then, you turned to face him once more, frowning

“A short ceremony for what?”, you asked, angrily

“We are to be wed”, he said

“No”, you whined

“Yes”, he said firmly, your eyes filled with tears

“NO!”, you screamed, “why?”, you cried, accusing him

“You are a widow, and you are carrying my child, there is no discussion”, and his heart broke when he saw the utter despair and hate in your eyes who looked so much like his own. 

more notes: is the baby Cregan's? Or Aemond's? what do you think?

taglist:

@severewobblerlightdragon @missusnora @stargaryenx @poppyreader @chainsawsangel @court-jester-stuff @batprincess1013 @eddiepicker 

@lyannesworld @arujee @kamisunshine @​​mss-nthng @partypoison00 @grimistangel @elleclairez @may-machin @prettykinkysoul @justagurlwithships @champomiel 

@laura-naruto-fan1998 @zoleea-exultant @devotedlythoughtfulanchor @zoleea-exultant @llleon666 @dark-night-sky-99 @bitchigoteverythingissues @harrypotteranna23-blog

@esposadomd @ajanauia @phantomtea19 @let-love-bleeds-red @kishie8 @dreamingofyourmoons @esposadomd @sandronebabyy @kemillyfreitas @​​trifoliumviridi @dreamingofyourmoons @darling-jace @biblichorr @ivvypg @mendes-bae @borikenlove @tssf-imagines @praline357 @alitaar @prettykinkysoul @aelora-a @a-mexican-waffle @ateliefloresdaprimavera @alexa40400 @lrboyd @anditsmywholeheart  @weaselyssss  @scarlettqueen190 @deeeeexx @cloudroomblog @dreaming-of-the-reality @yentroucnagol @crazymusicgirl104 @toodlesxcuddles 

[giurochedadomani]

re: middle age flavoured au absoluely not inspired by the fact that I'm a bit obsessed with hotd at the moment but, I'm kind of enchanted with the idea of Mihawk being Shank's sworn protector

They don't meet as prince and sword, of course. They meet the day the old king is publically executed for treason and they do it in a very, very shitty bar, to which Shanks has gone in disguise. Something in Mihawk, call it sixth sense, call it whatever, [call it he has a Backstory and this whole situation is giving him a huge deja vu about when Someone Important To Him died] makes him approach the sad teen

they don't strike a friendship, exactly, but there's a tiiiiny bit of understanding there, a tiiiiiny bit of something-- at least until a castle guard recognizes Shanks, which prompts him to grab Mihawk and flee thinking about his escapades with Buggy and not taking into account that when the guards finally catch them they're not going to give them a stern talking to, like rayleigh used to do, but imprison Mihawk under the accusation that he has tried to kidnap the prince

Idek we need an usurper for this one, which would probably be either someone from the marines or the world goverment, but I'm not that far into the manga as to know exactly who

but anyway this ends up with Shanks strongly suggesting a trial by combat bc Mihawk can't kill him given that he's the prince and he can give him an easy fight so he can win and thus prove his innocence (idek if grrm can make his own rules for his middle age flavoured story so can I)

Obviously, Mihawk proceeds to beat his ass repeatedly without breaking a sweat and Benn, closest ally of Shanks in court and closest friend, has to stand there as this red head punk makes the biggest heart eyes to some hot commoner goth who might want to kill him for real

Pulling some strings, Shanks & the crew (whatever position they hold in court) convince the usurper's closest advisors to make Mihawk Shanks' sworn protector-- which is the highest honor Mihawk has dreamed of having in his whole life. Will he be able to measure up to the expectations of [Whoever Important To Him That Died In His Past]?

I don't want the brutality of asoiaf but we can leave some things, like the bow the kingsguard makes of no taking land or woman, just bc idek if it'd be funnier to have Mihawk being a huge bitch and pointing out that technically, he hasn't taken a woman, so technically, he hasn't broken his bows; or Shanks trying to convince Mihawk that he needs protection in his bed

idek, idek, Shanks having Complicated feelings about the noble girls who casually happen to wander around the courtyard in the mornings as Mihawk is training in all his shirtless glory (even if he knows for a fact that Mihawk doesn't give a single fuck about them); Mihawk having Complicated feelings about how Shanks seems to have a friend in both the poshest corners in court and the shittiest places he drags him to (even if Shanks always make an effort to include him)

I also have no idea how Luffy fits in this, or even how they have their big break up and make up, I jjust have some very vague vibes about homosexual knights

[ladymorghul]

not my usual type of headcanon but here goes nothing. i'm on season two of tlk just so you know where this is lowkey inspired from.

tw: op's inaccurate asoiaf politics, abusive behaviour, cliches but idgaf cuz i love many cliches. also overlords of other regions who??

did not give this a second reread yet so if there's mistakes in it i might fix it later

--

the assize at riverrun makes the blackwoods resentful of their overlords. that is blackwood land as far as they are concerned, and the decrepit lord tully cannot change what has been theirs for generations. it takes little time for the blackwoods to defy the new border and start a battle with the brackens, one that ends bloodily for both houses, but more so for the brackens as their enemy raids their two villages near the border, burning places of worship, killing men and women, and stealing from their crops.

because of this, their new lord paramount, oscar tully, barely of age (grover tully has since died, rip), summons both amos bracken and samwell blackwood to riverrun, declaring that such acts of barbarity cannot happen again. lord oscar proposes a marriage between house blackwood's heir, davos blackwood, and amos bracken's nephew, aeron bracken. both houses protest, outraged at the proposal. the blackwoods see no purpose in this marriage; it will not solve their complaints, nor will they marry their heir to the son of a second son. the brackens, on the other hand, emphasize that such a marriage will not wash away the bloodshed and that even if they were to agree to this farce of a marriage, which they will not, davos blackwood would need to come live in stone hedge, for their nephew would be merely a prisoner in raventree hall, especially with the reputation davos blackwood has.

what they don't know, of course, is that davos blackwood and aeron bracken are no strangers to each other. they met many times at the stones, since they were old enough to patrol, and have been enemies, exchanging shoves and cruel words, but the time spent at the border, time spent getting to know the supposed enemy, changed things. they have not named their relationship "a relationship" per se, but they had kissed and were meeting in secret at night sometimes. they were testing the waters and exploring this new relationship.

upon hearing about the proposal, aeron is both excited and scared. he knew he'd have to marry one day, both of them would have to marry, but marrying the person that you were falling for stirred something in his chest even if until that moment marriage was not yet a concept he entertained at all. he thought he'd have more time. on the other hand he had no idea how davos would feel about this. sure, they liked each other enough to meet in secret and fool around a little, but marriage? that was for life.

with both houses refusing the marriage proposal, oscar tully falters and the idea fails. aeron feels disappointed but there's nothing he can do. he knew his uncle would never accept such proposal, nor would the blackwoods.

his uncle eventually tells him he'll marry into a different, random house, (have not yet decided which) and although frustrated and sad, aeron doesn't make much of a fuss because he knew it would eventually happen, he knew it was his duty as was everyone else's. but the more he thinks of how far away he'll be from home, from his friends, his family and well, davos, the more it eats at him. he accepts it, but he tries to meet davos one last time. davos never shows and they don't see each other before aeron leaves.

the problem is though, although sweet and polite on sight, the son of the house he's marrying is an actual nightmare. it starts small, with controlling what aeron can and can't do, and as the months go by, with aeron's defiant nature, everything turns worse, especially when his husband's parents die and he becomes lord. because aeron refuses to have anything to do with his husband at all, and has grown lowkey desperate with no allies in this keep, and has started responding back w as much strength as he could, his husband the lord makes him sleep in a cell with the dogs, dogs who overtime become attached to him and basically see him as their master. it helps aeron in a way, as now his husband refuses to even get close to the bars of his cell, but he's still locked up losing his mind. he hadn't been in sunshine for quite a while, hadn't seen his horse let alone ride it in a long time, hadn't had any practice, he was still a knight in his heart. he hadn't even seen a friendly face in so long. he felt like he was losing his sanity with each passing day. from his life in the riverlands to this? he could not live like this. but neither would he give in.

meanwhile in the riverlands, rumors of his treatment are reaching amos' ears. and davos' ears too. samwell blackwood died recently and davos is now lord, feeling both overwhelmed and lonely in his job. he has never forgotten aeron and what they had and had yet to still take a husband or a wife.

with these disturbing rumors reaching amos, amos sends raven after raven to the other house demanding answers but he's met with slightly polite yet short answers denying. the last raven is what sets amos off. the lord of whatever basically tells him that aeron is a married man now and all these accussations and worrying are for nothing. and that aeron is badly behaved as it is so the brackens should be thankful he did them the service of marrying such a man.

through this, the lord of whatever makes it known that he also refuses to grant aeron leave to visit or write to his family at all.

amos is, safe to say, angry. when he realizes aeron is basically a prisoner, much of what he feared would happen if he was married to davos blackwood all these months back, he decides to gather a small army and march on this house. he announces that any man able and willing to fight if it shall ever come to that, should join this march. that an insult to a man of house bracken, his nephew, is an insult to all rivermen. a few mallisters join, a few darry men and women too, a bit from all houses except, of course, the blackwoods.

but before amos can leave with his small army to march on this man keeping his nephew captive, he sees a small group of blackwoods crossing the boundary stones and approaching him and his men. they have with them a woman too, sporting a bow and arrows, looking fierce. at the head of it none other than davos blackwood.

"this is bracken land." amos says, but it's flat and devoid of any of the usual fire or anger.

davos almost smiles.

"we're here to join your march."

"you?" amos looks between them, like he can hardly believe they would.

"we are rivermen and women too aren't we?"

with that amos looks at them for a long time but eventually nods and gestures for them to join the rest of the people.

when davos had first heard the rumors about aeron's treatment, his gloom and heartbreak turned quickly into frustration and anger. how dare they disrespect him like this. nobody had exact details of what had happened to aeron, but he didn't deserve anything less than to be treat with the upmost respect. those vows spoken for marriage are not for nothing, whichever gods would be watching.

of course there were members of his house who strongly protested their lord just leave on a mad man's mission to save a bracken son from a foreigner house, but davos didn't want to hear any of it and although he had been overwhemed by his new responsabilities and nervous on weather he was doing a good enough job, he had found the strength to make his voice heard among his men. his decision was final.

alysanne was also not the happiest about this, but she would not undermine davos in front of the men of their house for she cared for him too much to do it publicly. nor would she leave him to go get himself killed gods know where. if your heart calls for you to go then you'll go and i'll go too, but this is stupid and unbecoming of a newly appointed lord.

in his stead, they left benji, now old enough to act as regent to davos, and they also left trusted men to guide him.

the march was long and not easy, they were not used to this type of long march, but shockingly, davos and amos were slowly forging a bond on their way there. amos was slowly realizing just how much davos blackwood cared about his nephew, that against the word of his house, and as a new, young lord, he'd leave his duties to march so far away for a bracken man. as they grew closer, tolerating each other better, dots were connecting in amos' head and he was beginning to understand with regret that his decisions contributed to aeron's situation.

as they were approaching whatever house, they realized a fight might have to happen when lord whatever sent some men to foolishly attack and immediately die at the hand of amos' small army.

there wasn't much of a fight. lord whatever was a proud man with no knowledge of battle and too few men. they fought but it didn't take much for amos' army to breach the keep and move the fight within.

davos fought in a fury, striking down every man in his path, and amos even saved his ass from being hit head on by a morningstar.

aeron in his cell was hearing the sounds of battle, sounds he hadn't heard since the burning mill, and in his daze, in his madness he stood up on weak knees to hear better, the dogs stirring up from their sleep to gather around him. then lord whatever came down to the cells with a couple of men. he ordered one man to open aeron's cell but all of them feared those "savage" dogs, including lord whatever. one of the men eventually opened the cell. he was also told to to grab aeron so that they can flee to their overlords house for safety. aeron looked between them, a warning with no words, and when the guard, after hesitating, attempted to grab aeron, one of the dogs immediately made for his hand. the rest soon followed, as packs do, and the rest of the guards stepped back, almost fleeing as they watched in horror. once they were done with the guard, aeron turned his attention on the man who had tortured him for the past months. he tried to reason with aeron, telling him savages had come to attack them, that they need to flee, but aeron was too lost in his hatred and rage and dispair to care.

"kill" was all he said and the dogs launched themselves at his lord husband, tearing him apart and making the rest of the guards flee.

when the lord commander of house whatever's forces saw through a window what had occured, he called for a stop to the fight. his lord was dead, many men had died, and there was no victory in sight so this was useless.

amos accepted, he had not actually come to shed blood from the get go, and he told his men to lay down their swords and hoard the remaining men of house whatever into a single place, taking their weapons.

it was then that aeron emerged from one of the entries of the keep, barefoot and dirty, but stil strong enough to walk on his own. the sun bothered his eyes and he cringed as he tried to make out the people before him. his dogs huddled close to him, excited and on edge because of the commotion.

when his eyes laid on his uncle, he took a deep breath, almost like he was breathing for the first time in months, and almost thought he was hallucinating it. time stood still and the world was spinning and he looked around to take in the bloodshed. he was saved. was he saved? what did that mean anymore? his eyes then landed on a bloodied davos who seemed almost as shocked as aeron when their gazes met. it was then that aeron could feel tears forming in his eyes and he was suddenly very aware of the state of him and everything he'd been through.

"you left me," he said to davos but then quickly looked at his uncle, both speechless, "you sent me away and you left me here to rot." he looked again at davos, anger and heartbreak and defeat evident in his voice and on his face. he didn't care anymore that he looked like a mad man to everyone watching.

"aeron," davos spoke first, taking a small step.

"you didn't want to marry me, you never came back for me," he said, anger overtaking all other emotions, "and you," he turned to his uncle, "you sent me away from the riverlands to a cruel man. for nothing."

feeling that aeron was angry and on edge, the dogs around him started to growl and snarl at them, especially when they tried to take a step closer to aeron. everything amos was trying to say was falling on deaf ears.

"maybe i should let them kill you like they did my lord husband." aeron almost whispered, looking from davos to amos, but as he saw their faces, full of worry and heartbreak, he faltered and looked down at himself and his hands, becoming more aware of the state he was in.

eventually he relaxed a bit, the emotion draining him of whatever energy he had left after so much time spent in a cell, and he swayed a little on his legs before turning around and walking back inside. he was by the entrance when he almost lost his balance but a heavy hand caught him in time. there was growling from the dogs but when aeron looked up he saw davos at his side, unafraid. aeron shook davos off gently and placed his hand on top of one of the dogs' heads and they all settled as he walked inside.

THE END

no. of course there is more to this story. more about healing, about forgiveness and who knows, if davos has any game, maybe a rekindling, maybe even an unlikely marriage, but there's quite a long way to that and this is all i have.

[scarareg]

According to the season finale leaks, Alys is TB, does that mean she will betray Aemond? Thoughts? What are you hoping for in S3 between them? I just want someone to understand him IMO.

Hi! I'm honestly not surprised about show Alys being team Black. To me, from the beginning of the season it seemed like they were splitting Nettles' character into Rhaena and Alys. Rhaena has her dragon rider storyline, and Alys gets the romance with Daemon plot.

I am not a fan of the change and I would love to have Nettles in the show, but it is what it is, I guess.

And for S3, honestly I do not think they are going to make Aemond and Alys a couple, and if they do, maybe Alys will seduce Aemond only to betray him ,or something along those lines. That is just the vibe I get, but maybe, hopefully, I am wrong.

I feel they are making Aemond just a villain and he will die alone, which is a waste of a character in my opinion. He could and should have been a lot more complex, after all that is what makes the ASOIAF world so much fun and interesting.

For S3 in general I do not have any theories or hopes beyond seeing Daeron because to me the show stopped being an adaptation and now is just vaguely inspired by F&B. George doesn't seem happy anymore, either. So I guess I will have to mentalize myself for this to be less like the book and treat it more like I would treat a fic if I want to enjoy it

[vampire-exgirlfriend]

So I’m just going to say it, understanding that people are not going to like it and will in turn, make that my problem. 

There is a right and a wrong way to engage with media. That is actually an inarguable fact. And there is specifically a right and a wrong way to engage with Fire & Blood/House of the Dragon. I feel like the divide between history geek tumblr and lit geek tumblr is only as obvious as it is because I spent years actively engaging in these conversations outside of the internet when I was having my ass handed to me in male-dominated academia. You cannot dismantle or properly critique F&B/HotD from a historical standpoint. It is not a history book. The only accurate way to critique this media is through the viewpoint of literary analysis - and there is plenty to critique through that lens! All media is imperfect, that is the point. The author’s preferences and icks and whatever else will shine through in their writing and opinions, which is what drives (or should drive) these conversations. 

We see so many people coming through taking F&B and holding it up to this idea of “this isn’t how it happened in history/the real world so I must fix it,” which is very much an interesting conversation, but not the one to accurately judge the writing through. It doesn’t matter that Empress Matilda was fighting her cousin for the throne during The Anarchy. Rhaenyra is fighting her brother and George outlines his clear preferences in the text - which is where people start losing their fucking minds. It’s fine that GRRM has a preference for a specific side of this family. You don’t have to agree with him! His whole schtick in the ASOIAF universe is magical women and succession crisis. We see it over and over with Visenya and Aegon, with Maegor and Aenys, with Rhaena and Aerea and Maegor, with Rhaegar and Viserys III, with Dany and Jon and Faegon. And the focus on the historical accuracy in regard to the time periods that inspired certain events in his story takes away imo from the real conversations that could be had about this content. Rhaenyra represents magic in Westeros (her fertility, her dragon’s fertility, etc), while Alicent and the Hightowers represent the active suppression of magic in this universe (the faith of the Seven being an obvious representation of the catholic church, the obvious church vs paganism element). At its core, ASOIAF is a story about magic! It’s fantasy. It’s not history porn. These conclusions can only really be drawn when you start engaging with the material from a literary standpoint as opposed to a historical one. We’re not meant to strip the magic away from this story - the magic is the story.

GRRM’s work is catnip for history nerds, and as a history nerd who is friends with tons of history nerds, and it’s so fun to discuss the intricacies of our history vs the history we see in Westeros. But to use history to tear apart the work and claim that GRRM is plain wrong for writing it this way is not what this should be about. This isn’t a historical text, it’s a fantasy series. GRRM gets things wrong and as an author asks “look the other way because this is fiction.” We can’t hold the events of the Dance to a historical standard because GRRM created the laws and traditions of Westeros as their own thing. Viserys was not breaking law by naming Rhaenyra heir, just as Jaehaerys was not breaking law by letting a bunch of feudal dork lords name his heir. They were both simply going against tradition and the consequences of those choices is what makes it fun. Embrace the whimsy, people. 

And then we have the introductions of headcanon as gospel. This is something that is absolutely rampant in this fandom (that’s what happens when you have two years between seasons and very little promo and people start getting bored and feral). Headcanons are fun. We love them. In a fandom that’s pushed forward during the drought by fic, they abound! But they aren’t an accurate way to judge and measure the canon material. So many people are falling into the boredom trap of a few BNFs pushing their headcanons in fic (which is the place for headcanons). But to take headcanons over canon, over the information that the original author has given us is…well it’s not fucking cool and it doesn’t help. It actively tears apart the fandom and grinds to dust any conversation we can have about the canon material. Canon is where the blorbo comes from, canon needs to be considered above the fun headcanons that are birthed in the boredom. You want to blame all the bad things on Daemon because he’s 100% evil and nothing but a menace? Okay, well, there’s no canon basis for that. You don’t have to like him, he can just be GRRM’s special little boy, that’s fine! But that is a headcanon and not based on the canon material. You blame Alicent for everything that happened in the Dance because she’s a proto-Cersei and it’s all her fault. Well, okay. Again, no basis for that in the text or the show. You’re actually crying on your lunchbreak over the idea of Aemond potentially betraying Aegon in s2 because your special boy that’s been manufactured in the fanfic factory would never. Well, F&B says differently. And the level of upset that comes when people disagree with these takes is just getting batshit bananas because we’re all understandable desperate for content. 

You have to have an understanding of the canon material. Without it, what are we even doing here? An understanding of how to engage with any kind of media is necessary. And guess what? It doesn’t take the fun out of it, it just lends to a deeper understanding of the themes that GRRM has been playing with for over 30 years at this point. And those themes, not just the history they are nebulously inspired by or the blorbo that gets you hottest under the collar, are the basis for the material we love and deserve to be treated with respect. 

Tl:dr ignoring canon in favor of history porn or headcanons is lame and irresponsible. No one can stop you, but we can judge you. 

[la-pheacienne]

There is something that has always rubbed the wrong way about the terms of the hotd/fire and blood discourse and particularly how political it always is. Misogyny accusations are super popular and they are being thrown by both sides because they are faster, they are catchy and it's a lot easier to do that than sit down and talk about themes, narrative and consistency under a neutral light. The problem is they often get in the way of a more in depth analysis of media and I say that to myself first and foremost because I do it too. When I say misogyny accusations, I am not only talking about literal accusations (aka if you support team green/black you are a misogynist), I also include all the takes that resemble the following: "my take is better/more accurate than yours because it is more politically progressive/radical/revolutionary/healthy/enlightened/yadayada than yours". Both sides use this, and they use this A LOT. It is almost impossible to take part in discourse over fire and blood/hotd/asoiaf without including this perspective. I'm not saying we should abolish this perspective and never talk about it again, it is always interesting to take this into account. But let's pause for a second and just try to put this on the side just for a little bit. What are we left with? Oh yeah. We are left with the raw materials of the story. Let's talk about that, and only that, just for a little while.

Yes, fire and blood includes a dichotomy between a good woman and a bad woman (although it doesn't exactly do that and this is a very simplistic way of looking at the story). Yes this dichotomy is an old concept. Yes the wicked stepmother is an old concept as well, rooted in ancient patriarcal societal norms and dynamics we are all more or less familiar with, some less than others.

Is this dynamic, which is at the core of fire and blood, politically progressive/radical/subversive? Probably not (huge objection there but I said I will not talk about politics in this post).

Is it a better story than hotd? Yes. It is.

Does it make more sense than hotd? Yes. It does.

I am sorry. There is absolutely no way hotd has more sense than fire and blood. Even if one qualifies it as a more inspired, progressive, unexpected, intresting retelling/revisiting of the original, this will never, ever make it a good story in an organic way.

There is absolutely no way to seriously, unironically argue that going from "we play an ugly game. i see you have the determination to win it" to Alicent usurping Rhaenyra because of a misunderstanding in the span of one episode is a better narrative and makes more sense than whatever happened in fire and blood. It makes Alicent a victim of circumstances, it breaks the dichotomy or the wicked stepmother trope or whatever you want it to break, and all that is cool, but it doesn't make a better story than the one we got in fire and blood.

There is absolutely no way to seriously claim that Alicent being sexually harassed by her servant makes a better story than her controlling her servant. It is not something that would actually happen in real life under any circumstances whatsoever. It is extremely forced, weird and overall nonsensical (not to mention politically problematic for 100 reasons because again, I will not talk politics in this post). The average viewer that does not wish to write essays about how politically enlightened it is to "break the dichotomy" will look at this scene and say "what the fuck is that". Would showing Alicent owning her role as QUEEN and playing the game be reminiscent of Cersei and thus "repetitive"? Yes. Would it make a better story? Yes. I'm sorry, but it is the truth.

There is absolutely no fucking way to make the page scene make sense. It will never make sense. A ruler that has just been usurped has the chance to execute the traitor and doesn't do it because the traitor shows her a page of a book. Right. She has just lost her baby because of them, she has lost her father, she has lost her throne, she has lost everything that was important to the life she has been sharing for ages with a man and their 20 children but a page would matter to her more than all of these things put together. Right. You can call this an uber sophisticated/inspired lesbian drama/women being caught in the crossfire of men's wars or whatever you want it to call it but it will never, ever be a better moment than "Tell my half-brother I'll have my throne or I'll have his head". It will never be a better story, not because it is more or less politically conservative/progessive, but for the simple reason that it is nonsensical. Whether a story makes sense or not has absolutely nothing to do with ideology. This particular moment does not resonate with basic human experience, it does not resonate with how female rulers behaved in history. It is bad, very bad writing. Daemon's "the fuck is this" is the only logical reaction to this and it is the reaction shared by the average viewer. Indeed, the fuck is this.

Thing is, you might wanna twist the raw materials of a story you consider boring/conservative/repetitive but that will never make for a better story, because there is no truth in it. """Wicked stepmothers""" existed and still exist. Good women vs bad women exist because good people vs bad people exist and women are people. Their honest confrontation rings true to the viewer in a way hotd's narrative never will. Because it makes sense. It is organic. It has a truth hotd doesn't have. And again I use this supposed dichotomy of fire and blood with a huge asterisk because Rhaenyra is not that pure perfect unfallible character. Alicent being Alicent would perhaps be a repetitive Cersei copy but she would still make a better character than whatever we got. She would perhaps have less importance in the narrative but it's okay because the story doesn't need Alicent to have that much of an importance. It is a good story regardless.

You can preach about how inspired/progressive it is to have women be forcefully carried in the middle of a men's war that they never wanted but that will never make it a better story than a Targaryen woman fighting with her half-brothers for her throne, her life and the life of her children and her husband she has spent a lifetime with.

I got this from David Mamet, On directing film, p. 60 and I think it applies well.

[darklinaforever]

Emma D'Arcy's words about Daemyra and Daemon :

"Daemon is a deeply problematic character. Seeing Rhaenyra being seduced and manipulated as a child by her uncle confirms this, and prevents the public from blinding the public to the problematic nature of their relationship." - Emma D'arcy .

So Emma… I love you as an actor but a few things to point out.

Daemon is a gray character. People need to stop trying to turn him into a villain, or at least amplify his dark side. I'm not saying Daemon isn't a problematic character. There are aspects of it, yes. Obviously, since he's a gray character. But generally the members of the series tend to associate these problematic aspects with things that don't have to be. As does (as Emma D'arcy said so well) that apparently Daemon seduced/groom a child Rhaenyra.

So, you should know that large age differences are common in feudal times and in the world of ASOIAF. Literally, Daemyra is no exception in this. In fact, it even seems to me that they are among the couples with the least age difference in Martin's universe. In the book, when Rhaenyra is a child, Daemon seems to love her in a classic family mode. Nothing indicates anything to move in their relationship. When she is 7/8 years old Daemon is exiled by Viserys and he does not return to Kings Landing until Rhaenyra is 14 years old, without having had any contact with her before or in recent years. Here, by Westeros standards, Rhaenyra is actually a marriage-ready adult, likely already being courted by men far older than Daemon. So that Daemyra had an affair in the 6 months following Daemon's return is nothing shocking or fundamentally problematic (especially when he's not even sure they slept together) Unless you trust Mushroom's version of course. But, it's well known, trusting Mushroom is universal bullshit. The age difference in this universe inspired by feudal times, not to mention the fact of getting married young, is literally the norm. If you accuse Daemon of being problematic in attempting to seduce/woo/marry a 14 year old Rhaenyra, or worse, being a pedophile (what is particularly ridiculous), well know that you are accusing almost all the men and women of this universe and time of being, when in the end it's just about different mores. In this scenario, Daemon is not an attacker. He is simply one of the men trying to woo Rhaenyra. Not to mention the fact that he didn't see her grow up at all due to her exile, which makes the whole thing even less problematic than it might seem to a modern audience. Yes, Daemon knew Rhaenyra as a child, but he didn't see her grow up, that's the nuance. George made sure this didn't happen. He did not see her go from a child to a young woman, because yes, I remind you, adolescence in this context does not exist, there is only childhood and adulthood.

On the other hand, if you're looking for a man who actually saw Rhaenyra grow up in the book, who was extremely and actively close to her throughout this evolution, and finally tried his luck with her once she was older, like 16 years old, and who is suspected (as Alicent did for example, when she hated Rhaenyra) of having had harmful intentions towards her, especially from the age of 13… Which obviously sounds like something particularly creepy… Well you have Ser Criston Cole, knight and protector of Rhaenyra ! So placed in a position of trust in relation to her when she was 7/8 years old. Not to mention that Rhaenyra was apparently under the spell of Criston Cole from that age and that's why she wanted him as her personal knight. Obviously, this aspect of the character of Criston Cole has been completely evacuated in the series with the changes of age. But if you're looking for a man in the book who might fit into the “grooming” category or at least come close to it in his relationship with Rhaenyra, well it's actually Criston Cole. Not Daemon.

And even if Daemon would have seen Rhaenyra grow up, as is ultimately the case in the series, remember that the two are part of an incestuous family. Thus, that they end up getting married does not necessarily mean that Daemon would have tried to seduce Rhaenyra as a child. This idea is based on literally nothing. Moreover, absolutely nothing indicates in the series, contrary to what Emma D'arcy says, that Daemon tried to seduce and manipulate Rhaenyra when she was a child / that he had harmful intentions towards her in this time there. At most, he just seems to have unconscious feelings for her in the first episode when she is apparently 14 years old according to Rhaenyra's words in episode 10… Except that in episode 2, 6 months older late after episode 1, Viserys says that Rhaenyra is 16 years old… Yeah the directors and writers weren't very well done chronologically I think. Anyway, officially Rhaenyra is 19 years old in episode 4 ! You know, the age at which Daemon tries to seduce her in the series…

Tell me Emma, I didn't know that 19 was still being a child, you're teaching me a great thing there ! You too have messed up on the level of the sea chronology… ?

Rhaenyra was an adult at the time, whether by the laws of Westeros, or ours. She also consciously wanted to fuck with her uncle in this episode, no doubt, and has done so probably even since episode 1. However, Daemon didn't do anything in particular to seduce her until this episode 4. Mysaria was literally his mistress in the first 2 episodes. And no, Daemon offering Rhaenyra a necklace is not evidence of grooming. According to the book, Daemon has been showering Rhaenyra with gifts since she was little, it's just a habit he's picked up with her. And no, it wasn't creepy or sexual ! In the first episode, as I said, Daemon seemed to harbor unconscious or repressed feelings towards Rhaenyra without actually engaging in any type of seduction with her. Then he seems to realize his interest in her in episode 2 when she challenges him, and he has feelings for her in episode 4. It's as simple as that.

Also, we can't be certain that Daemon was actively shoved into Rhaenyra's paws during her youth/childhood either in the series. At the start of episode 1, Rhaenyra tells Daemon that it's literally been an eternity since he's been seen in court, and from what has been shown of Daemon's character, that he doesn't really seem to fit in with the nobles and his opinion that the court just happens to be deadly boring, well that would ultimately indicate that he spends very little time there, and therefore Rhaenyra wouldn't have not the pleasure of his company that often. I mean, he's not called, "Prince of the City" for nothing. Without forgetting the 3 years when Daemon goes to war in the Stepstones. A little crappy for someone trying to groom Rhaenyra…

Not to mention no, the situation between Daemyra in episode 4 is not grooming. It's a form of seduction and manipulation to some degree, yes, but not grooming. Already, because it's an event that happens over the course of an evening, and grooming is a fairly precise process that generally takes time, but also and above all, because Rhaenyra is not a child, not even a teenager, she is an adult, whether again by Westeros standards or ours. In addition, besides the fact that Daemon does not manage to go to the end negatively speaking with Rhaenyra, due to obvious guilt and realization of feelings, well he is not doing a fundamentally bad act in itself, he is to nuanced, as the actions of a gray character should be instead of demonized. In this episode, thanks to Daemon, Rhaenyra learns and sees what sexual pleasure can be, that she can find joy and independence in it. Not simply to be cloistered in the “duty” that is marriage, and that despite that she can always take what she really wants. So something positive in itself, and who served her.

You really need to stop with all that Daemon bullshit trying to seduce/groom a child Rhaenyra, because it's literally based on nothing. Actors and directors should really shut up when they talk about the show. Especially since once again, they seem to forget that the age difference is a common thing in this universe. For exemple, Rhaenys and Corlys in the show are promoted as a good couple as Rhaenys was 16 and Corlys 37 when they got married according to the book. Strangely, here the age difference has never challenged or disturbed anyone. It's hypocrisy to point out the age difference specifically between Daemyra as problematic (worse, not to quote, to see outright voluntarily erase the other age differences between couples judged/shown as "good", while the difference is worse than Daemyra for precisely putting a negative emphasis especially on them for x reasons) when in the book and Martin's universe in general, well, they don't particularly stand out for that, and that there are even worse than them. And no one seems to see these relationships as problematic because of these age differences, which shows the obvious bias of some against Daemyra… Not to mention that I love how much the directors and actors (except Matt Smith, because he has a working brain) love to recall the problematic aspects around Daemyra, to the point of forgetting that they are telling a story in a feudal fantasy universe, but besides never touching on Alicent's deeply toxic relationship and Rhaenyra, talking only about the tragedy that separates them and the love they still seem to have despite all the crap (which I won't name, because others have done it much better than I can't do it, and I'm too lazy) that Alicent put Rhaenyra through. But I guess that's it when the show is partly written by idiots… ?

That's all I had to say on the subject. Please feel free to share your opinion respectfully. Cheers !

[jonsaslove]

Please rant about whichever WIP you're most excited about! And also, which one you anticipate to be the most challenging or out of your comfort zone. And why. Just rant in general, lol. All about them. I'm gonna sit here like

Ask and you shall receive! (dying at that gif too lol)

and the stars forgot us

This is the only one on the list that has a title that is likely to change and it is also the fic that has technically been a WIP the longest. I have had this idea for years, basically since I first started writing for jonsa, and it is all inspired by this post.

I have been interested in writing a Jonsa Lord of the Rings AU, or at least LOTR adjacent, just for the elf!Sansa and dwarf!Jon of it all. This isn't going to be some long sprawling tale or anything, it would just be a one off but it definitely is out of my comfort zone and I've put it off so long because I want to get it right!

brimstone and ash

This is one I have only just started working on but it's definitely going to be a challenging one. Also for the @jonsa-halloween event but for the prompt 'Dragon'.

Without giving too much away I am essentially looking to write an AU where the Targaryens have been an established dynasty for much longer than they ever were in canon, still fantasy still ASOIAF similar but with some changes. The Targaryens are falling out of favour and the realm is in a state of unrest. Jon is raised as a Targaryen and Sansa is alone in the world after a failed Northern Rebellion.

The challenge here is that I am really going to play with Sansa's character in a way I haven't before, she will still not be say 'Arya-esque' in that she is not going to be picking up a sword, but she is going to be forced into situations outside of her normal realm of strengths and will have to navigate that.

solace sought//bewitchment bought

This is the last one I'm going to talk about and it is another one I'm super hype for, and again for the @jonsa-halloween event, prompt being 'Magic'.

Our jumping off point is Sansa, unaware of what she's doing, wargs into Lady before Ned can kill her and her direwolf journeys North while she goes to King's Landing like she does in canon. Mostly I'm super intrigued by diving into the warging aspect since it's not something I've really explored in depth before.

Thanks so much for all the asks Orange :D <3