#yep alyn is 95% of the time at sea i barely think of him

[thaliajoy-blog]

Let me tell you all about my current headcanons of their life after the war actually. I'm a bit pissed that they seem to have been forgotten/killed off at some point in the reign of Aegon III because them & their kids are apparently irrelevant to the later part of his reign and that of his kids + that of Viserys, like, it makes no sense, they should have been very tightly knit together after the trauma they went through & the fact they're the last of their family. So I made up stuff about it. It's very fanfic-y. I'm both ashamed & very proud to show it.

1) So for one Baela & Rhaena lived at court for some time, but Aegon & them (specifically Baela, i'd say) kind of has a fallout/big argument. Probably over dragons - I'm thinking about possibly Aegon's refusal to give their children eggs or allow them to try to claim dragons (since we know some did hatch independently). Baela & Rhaena left court & went to live on Driftmark with their kids. I'm fond of this concept of this "Driftmark court", an alternative to that of King's Landing, where the twins lived some of their best years in each other's company, living in the fashion of Queen Rhaenys, with dancing, poetry, music, and the occasional tournament.

And with their kids obviously :) in fact it plays a big part in their lives with how their own childhoods were ruined & they want to provide the best they can for them. To make some parallels :

2) they betrothed their eldest kids together ; Daenys Hightower & Jacaerys Velaryon (cause that's how Baela called her baby boy 🥲). But they didn't get along that well & Daenys ended up marrying the eldest son of Lyonel Hightower, her (other) cousin. Jacaerys instead fancied Rhaena's second daughter, Alysanne Hightower (see where I'm going 😉 - Baela gets to see another version of her & Jacaerys and she fancied that they themselves where a new Jacaerys/Alysanne).

3) Daenys was actually a shrewd & proud kid who wanted to live in Oldtown (her father's fancy city) & marry well + have some power. She admired & got along very well with her step-mother Samantha Tarly. She's an ancestor or Margaery !

4) While Alysanne & Jacaerys where some Baela/Jace parallel, Baela's oldest kid, Laena, was in a relationship...with a woman 😙 some Laena/Rhaenyra parallel Baela might have appreciated. Laena never married & the great love of her life was Daleyne Hightower, herself the eldest daughter of Lyonel Hightower & Samantha Tarly. In fact early on they both had situationships with Daenys, who is bisexual. Their story is sweet but bitter too, if not downright tragic - Laena wasn't married but Daleyne was, and it greatly complicated things. But Daleyne became a legitimate part of the family on Driftmark, as she lived with Laena there for some time.

5) Baela had three kids : Laena, Jacaerys, and Saenyra. Both Laena & Saenyra were considered as potential brides for Daeron Targaryen, Aegon III's heir. Laena declined (+ she was much older), while Saenyra liked the idea of the match & developped a bit of a beef with Daena over it. To add to this, Aegon III's kids were not close with their cousins, both because of the separation & because they were a deal younger. Saenyra was born later than her siblings & Hightower cousins, so she's the closest in age to Aegon's kids. But she didn't really end up getting along with them.

6) My headcanon is Daenaera outlived her husband but did not stay at court - she went back to live with Baela in Driftmark, who had been her foster mother a long while before (trying to find a new pillar in her life after she lost the first one, her husband). She had a great fondness for Laena, and her daughters Rhaena & Elaena visited her a few times there (the closest all these cousins managed to be, really - Daena didn't come because of Saenyra). She herself later got married again, starting back her life on new grounds. She lived long enough to see the bloody conclusion of the first Blackfyre rebellion 🙃.

7) Baela died a year or so before Alyn had an affair with Elaena, of an illness that had lasted years. Her eldest kids Laena & Jacaerys died at sea a few years after. Rhaena got to live very old, with several of her daughters (including Daenys !). But Alysanne died young in childbirth (very GRRM of me 🥲 I know).

8) Jon & Jeyne Waters, Elaena' & Alyn's children, were raised on Driftmark, first by Laena, Jacaerys & Alysanne ; but later, when they all died, the Rivers twins were raised by Saenyra alongside Jacaerys & Alysanne's only son, Corlys. Maybe with the help of Daenaera & Rhaena.

I plan to do some drawings for everyone here (especially want to do a "Driftmark Court" drawing) but I'm way behind schedule for canon characters already so idk when that will happen 😅😅😅

Wait a minute hear me out, the things I could say about Baela Targaryen, the things left in the shadows, her, the legitimate heir of the Velaryons if it wasn't for her (illegitimate) stepsiblings one of whom is her beloved fiancé ; her who lost a dragon to see her beloved sister gain one (so much potential so much for a story about a troubled mix of deep love & envy). Baela and Rhaena, each other's mirror. Rhaena's desire & envy becoming Baela's. Them maybe getting to ride together for the first time on Morning, when they never could on Moondancer. Baela forever mourning & regretting & idealizing the boy she never got to marry, when she got stuck with a man who maybe echoed him but fell short of any expectations she had when the was fourteen & convinced to be the new Alysanne to a new Jaehaerys.