joycieillustrations

[joycieillustrations]

Weird Questions for Writers (because writers are weird)

1. What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting?

2. If you had to give up your keyboard and write your stories exclusively by hand, could you do it? If you already write everything by hand, a) are you a wizard and b) pen or pencil?

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

5. Do you have any writing superstitions? What are they and why are they 100% true?

6. What is your darkest fear about writing?

7. What is your deepest joy about writing?

8. If you had to write an entire story without either action or dialogue, which would you choose and how would it go?

9. Do you believe in ghosts? This isn’t about writing I just wanna know

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

11. Do you believe in the old advice to “kill your darlings?” Are you a ruthless darling assassin? What happens to the darlings you murder? Do you have a darling graveyard? Do you grieve?

12. If a genie offered you three writing wishes, what would they be? Btw if you wish for more wishes the genie turns all your current WIPs into Lorem Ipsum, I don’t make the rules

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you write about? What is easy?

14. Do you lend your books to people? Are people scared to borrow books from you? Do you know exactly where all your “lost” books are and which specific friend from school you haven’t seen in twelve years still possesses them? Will you ever get them back?

15. Do you write in the margins of your books? Dog-ear your pages? Read in the bath? Why or why not? Do you judge people who do these things? Can we still be friends?

16. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever used as a bookmark?

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end. Spicy addition: Questioner provides the passage.

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

20. If a witch offered you the choice between eternal happiness with your one true love and the ability to finally finish, perfect, and publish your dearest, darlingest, most precious WIP in exactly the way you've always imagined it — which would you choose? You can’t have both sorry, life’s a bitch

21. Could you ever quit writing? Do you ever wish you could? Why or why not?

22. How organized are you with your writing? Describe to me your organization method, if it exists. What tools do you use? Notebooks? Binders? Apps? The Cloud?

23. Describe the physical environment in which you write. Be as detailed as possible. Tell me what’s around you as you work. Paint me a picture.

24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story?

26. How do you get into your character’s head? How do you get out? Do you ever regret going in there in the first place?

27. Who is the most stressful character you’ve ever written? Why?

28. Who is the most delightful character you’ve ever written? Why?

29. Where do you draw your inspiration? What do you do when the inspiration well runs dry?

30. Talk to me about the role dreams play in your writing life. Have you ever used material from your dreams in your writing? Have you ever written in a dream? Did you remember it when you woke up?

31. Write a short love letter to your readers.

32. What is a line from a poem/novel/fanfic etc that you return to from time and time again? How did you find it? What does it mean to you?

33. Do you practice any other art besides writing? Does that art ever tie into your writing, or is it entirely separate?

34. Thoughts on the Oxford comma, Go:

35. What’s your favorite writing rule to smash into smithereens?

36. They say to Write What You Know. Setting aside for a moment the fact that this is terrible advice...what do you Know?

37. If you were to be remembered only by the words you’ve put on the page, what would future historians think of you?

38. What is something about your writing process YOU think is Really Weird? If you are comfortable, please share. If you’re not comfortable, what do you think cats say about us?

39. What keeps you writing when you feel like giving up?

40. Please share a poem with me, I need it.

[joycieillustrations]

🤭🤭🤭

A random 950 words of a Gilded Age HOTD AU with the Velaryons, with King's Landing taking the place of New York and flat-out pretending interracial marriages were a possibility for the upper classes because you can pry the casting out of my cold, dead hands:

King’s Landing loved activity: parties, dinners, bazaars, society. Opera, plays, concerts. Gatherings and gossip. The city was wealthy in abundance and had an abundance of wealth, amongst a select few. They enjoyed showing it off, crafting a perfectly constricted and constrictive Eden, living off of a prescribed order of things. What King’s Landing did not like, and could not stomach, was a commotion. 

And one had arrived right in the middle of the city.

Across the street from the old Hightower residence was a new build: floors and floors of white stone, so polished it almost looked as if it were purposefully glaring at the other red-bricked houses opposite. A palatial work of rigid columns and glittering windows that were regimented across the exterior like a line of new pins, eclipsing anything surrounding it. It had been constructed so quickly there had barely been time to protest it - builders and craftsmen had worked, happily bankrolled and without delay. 

Whispers had been as constant as the hammers. Whispers on who was responsible, without any confirmation at all on an answer. No one knew a thing about the ostentatious building, other than what they could deduce or assume. Some loved it. Some loathed it. Most loved to loathe it. 

In the past few weeks, as the scaffolding had been taken down and the rougher looking workers had turned to skilled artists and respectable peoples, Alicent Hightower and her best friend, Rhaenyra Targaryen, had looked out of Alicent’s bedroom window, across the street, and traded their own theories and gossip and opinions. 

What had their fathers said? What had their mothers heard? What of Rhaenyra’s great-grandparents, had they mentioned it? The Targaryens were well known for being good at knowing the great and the good, and dictating who exactly fell into that category.

Now the occupants were finally moving in. As soon as Alicent had realised, she had had a message sent to Rhaenyra, as well as sending her lady’s maid to find out what she could from the new staff across the street. She was determined to have the answers by the time Rhaenyra arrived.

All too soon, Rhaenyra was there, and they sat in the window seat, peering through the curtains. Alicent had already seen the man of the household - or, at least, whom she had taken to be the man of the household. He was very tall in his top hat, with dark skin and a greying beard. The man now known to her as Mr Corlys Velaryon, according to Talya, who had it from one of the kitchen maids from the house. They were calling the great building “High Tide”. She told Rhaenyra as much, as more carts and carriages arrived and sofas and trunks and furnishings were unloaded.

Mr Corlys Velaryon and his family. Two children and a wife. He made his name in shipping and exports and had grown almost ludicrously wealthy over a short period of time, when his family had been very low before. They’d been away, abroad, for many years but now they were taking up permanent residence in High Tide and intended to stay.

When Alicent finished, Rhaenyra had that curious expression on her face that meant she knew something.

“Do you know who they are?” Alicent asked.

“You've not seen Mrs Velaryon yet, have you?” Rhaenyra pointed out of the window. Alicent all but pressed her nose to the glass, in time to see a woman climb out of a carriage opposite. She wore a great feathered hat, to match a pure white gown with bronze embroidery and a gorgeous light blue trim. But Alicent could see the silver hair pinned and styled underneath the hat.

It took Alicent only a second to put the pieces together.

“Rhaenyra!” She cried out, playfully hitting her friend for keeping the secret to herself. Of course, only one family had ever, ever had hair like that.

Rhaenyra smiled.

“She’s my father’s cousin.” She explained as both girls watched the woman, unable to hear what she was saying to the butler attending her, but able to get a greater view of her as she turned. The woman had an imperious face: with keen eyes and a proud chin. “I've never met her, naturally. Rhaenys, her name is. My grandfather’s brother’s daughter.” She listed, a little proud of solving the mystery.

“And now they’re opposite us!” Alicent breathed. Then a horrifying yet fantastic thought struck her. “You don’t imagine you'll visit?” 

Alicent couldn’t keep the shock from her voice. It didn’t matter what maiden name she had, that woman was now her husband’s: she was new money. She’d lowered herself in taking such a match as a businessman. It made no sense at all. But in any case, surely, if Rhaenyra had never met her, never even known of her before now, Rhaenys Velaryon couldn’t be appropriate company.

“I hope so. I wonder what it’s like in there. I wonder what they’re like!”

“My father says we’re to have nothing to do with them.”

And what Otto Hightower says normally went, in their house and beyond. He knew better than anyone else how society was meant to function. Rhaenyra waved her away: she’d always been unafraid of Otto. Her own father, Viserys, was so indulgent that it seemed to cure her of any deference towards father figures.

“Look at her dress!” Rhaenyra almost sounded envious. A silly thing: she was a Targaryen heiress. What did she have to be envious about? Perhaps not envious. Perhaps she was impressed. “I don’t think that’s the sort of woman who will take ‘no’ for an answer.”

They watched Rhaenys as she picked up her skirts and walked to the entrance of her house. Then she paused, and looked back, as if surveying her new lands, a small victorious smile on her face. For a brief moment, it looked as if she was staring straight at them.

[joycieillustrations]

Just thinkin’ about Alysanne and Silverwing 🥹

Please do not repost anywhere without my permission!

[joycieillustrations]

I wish you would write a fic where...

Send me an anymous (or not) summary of the fic you wish I would write. (maybe I will write a tidbit)

[joycieillustrations]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/42450834/chapters/171612919

The final chapter of Salt and Smoke is up! ❤️

[joycieillustrations]

😅🎨🤗 for the writers ask! Thank you <3

😅 What's a story or scene you've created that you're a smidge embarrassed exists?

I have a brief attempt at writing ABO for Corlys and Rhaenys tucked away in my drafts that will never ever see the light of day 😂

🎨 How do you feel about fan art of your stories?

Gosh, I’d love that so much! I draw a lot stuff for my fics myself, which might put people off, I guess? But for the record, I’d absolutely love to see how someone else visualises what I’ve written. I know how much time and effort and love goes into drawing — to have someone do that for something you’ve written? What a treat.

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

I was a bookseller for five years, so I’m somewhat biased — but read. Read anything and everything: different genres, different authors, classics and new fiction, books for adults and for children. Everything you read has something of value to teach you — even if you read a book and all you do is hate it, you’re still learning about what you want to see in your own work. I’d also really recommend listening to audiobooks, as you can learn about what rhythms you enjoy and how to give characters distinct voices without the distraction of written text. Audio dramas are also incredibly useful for this, as you’re mostly reliant on dialogue; and it’s actually a great writing exercise for description as well, as you can sit and think about how you’d describe what you’re hearing if it were a fic.

Thank you so much for the ask ❤️ sorry it’s quite a late reply!

[joycieillustrations]

For the Fanfic Writer Emoji Ask, pls:

✅🤯✨

Thank you!

✅ What's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean to?

Pregnancy 💀 It’s not something I set out intending to write — even Office Hours, ironically now a babyfic with about forty chapters outlined, didn’t start out with pregnancy as a theme! I just don’t seem to be able to write Corlys and Rhaenys bonking without them then either thinking about their future children, planning to have children, grieving not being able to have children, or accidentally making them. I think it’s partly that my siblings have had kids and I see the effect being a parent has on them, and also partly that it’s just such an integral theme for these characters and their arcs that it inevitably is brought up.

🤯 What's a genre you struggle with as a writer (ex. romance, action, etc.)?

Does fluff count as a genre? Gosh, it’s so hard to make things happy 😂 that and maybe action? I’m not one for big battle scenes, I get too bogged down by describing things in detail, which I don’t think makes for exciting reading 😅

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

I’m British, so this is exceptionally painful and difficult for me to do 😂 Hmmmm… I suppose I shall say that I’m not afraid to handle difficult topics, and I (hopefully!) do so with care. It’s very important to me to explore things that are sometimes difficult to talk about, and I hope doing so helps people!

Thank you so much for your ask (and I’m so sorry it took a while to answer!) ❤️

[joycieillustrations]

For the fanfic writer emoji ask: 💋 🍦⛔

💋 First kiss fics. Love em or hate em?

Love ‘em! I’m a sucker for any kind of big romantic reveal and first kiss — and with fic, you get to read them over and over! You get to enjoy all that build up and emotion and suspense, then the joy and awkwardness and life-changing-ness of it all! What’s not to love?

🍦 What's the sweetest fic you've created so far?

Out of my published fics, I’d say Ex libris/Ad amorem, though it hasn’t been without its share of angst and miscommunication! Out of my WIPs, it’s definitely A Hand to Hold — baby Aemon and Jocelyn are so stinking cute, even if I do say so myself!

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

Both of my Gallifrey fics are sadly unfinished! Maybe one day, if/when the Doctor Who bug bites me again, I’ll get back to writing them. As for my HOTD fics, I haven’t scrapped any of the ones I’ve started — even if it takes me a long time to update, they’re all marinating in my brain! 😂

Thank you for your ask 🥰

[joycieillustrations]

🎶, 💔, 🌞

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

I am never not listening to music! I curate soundtrack playlists for everything I write and am constantly on the lookout for more OSTs to add to my mix! Also for the past 5 years, Ramin Djawadi has been my most-listened to artist on my Spotify wrapped and I’ve been in his top 0.05% listeners worldwide — which I think speaks volumes as to how often I think about the ASOIAF universe 😂

These are some of my writing playlists:

As for what I’ve been listening to lately, I don’t know that there’s been just one song! My current go-to playlist at work is the ‘UK 00s bangers’ playlist I made for my American wife because finding out that she didn’t know who Girls Aloud and the Sugababes were broke me. I don’t know if she’s listened to it, but it’s certainly getting played by me!

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

Of what I’ve published so far, it has to be Salt and Smoke — I can’t believe I put them Through That after everything Rhaenys had been through at the Great Council. It has a happier end, but good grief it’s not without a lot of sadness beforehand.

🌞 Do you have a preferred time of day to write?

Any time I shouldn’t be 😂 But usually I like to write in the evening or when I’m lying in bed, I’ll just jot down ideas and scenes as they come to me - usually out of order- and then I’ll reorganise and refine it the next morning (I prefer to do this when I’m commuting, something about writing/editing on a train tickles my brain)

Thank you so much for your ask! ❤️

[joycieillustrations]

Fanfic Writer Emoji Ask

😅 What's a story or scene you've created that you're a smidge embarrassed exists?

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers?

✍ Do you have a beta reader?

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

🎢 Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

💋 First kiss fics. Love em or hate em?

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

🛠What tools/programs/apps do you use to write?

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

🙋‍♀️ Do any irl people know you write fanfic?

🍦 What's the sweetest fic you've created so far?

🍷 Do you drink and write?

🍆 Do you write the spicy stuffs? If so, what's your most popular nsfw fic?

🌞 Do you have a preferred time of day to write?

💖 What made you start writing?

💌 How do you feel about comments and feedback?

❌ What's a trope you will never write?

💲 Would you ever open commissions?

🧐 Do you spend much time researching for your stories?

🏆 What's your most popular fic?

🎃 Do you write fics for certain holidays? Which is your favorite holiday inspired fic?

🎯 Have any of your readers accurately guessed major plot points? Care to share which?

🎨 How do you feel about fan art of your stories?

📈 How many fics do you have?

🦅 Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

💞 Who's your comfort character?

🧠 Pick a character, and I'll tell you my favorite headcanon for them.

🤩 Who is your favorite character to write?

🤲 Would you please share a snippet of a wip?

😬 Which of your fics would you be most horrified for friends, family, or coworkers to stumble upon?

🎉 What leads you to consider a fic a success?

✅ What's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean to?

📚 Would you ever want to turn writing into a career?

⌛ How long does it take you to write a fic, or a chapter?

🤯 What's a genre you struggle with as a writer (ex. romance, action, etc.)?

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

💥 How do you feel about criticism?

🤭 Do you have a favorite tag to use when posting your works?

🥰 How do you feel about reader interaction? Are you open to receiving questions about your fics?

[joycieillustrations]

♡ asks ♡

 Do you have freckles? 

 Do you drink tea or coffee? How do you take it? 

What was the last song you listened to? 

Do you sleep on your back, stomach or side? 

Do you sleep with a stuffed animal? 

Do you prefer drawing or writing? 

What’s your ideal number of blankets to sleep with? 

What’s your favorite band/artist? 

When is your birthday? 

How tall are you? 

What color are your eyes? 

Who are five (or more) people you want to hug right now? 

Fears? 

What’s your favorite color? 

What’s your favorite season? 

Want any tattoos? What of? 

Want any piercings? Where? 

Who is the last person you texted? 

Do you have a best friend? How long have you been friends? 

What/who do you miss? 

How was your day today? 

How much sleep did you get last night? 

Do you believe in aliens? 

When was the last time you cried? Why? 

What’s your favorite decade? 

What are some seemingly childish things you like? 

What’s your favorite book? Or just one you’ve read a few times? 

How are you, really? 

Does it take you a long time to make decisions? 

What are you looking forward to in the near future? 

What are you looking forward to in the distant future? 

If you could go anywhere right now, where would you go? 

Do you sleep with your door open or closed? 

What’s your favorite flower? 

Do you currently have a squish? 

Do you like your middle name? 

Do you prefer dogs or cats? 

Do you have any phobias? 

Do you stay up late?

Do you like the beach? Do you prefer it sunny or cloudy? 

What’s your favorite cartoon? 

Tag 5 of your favorite blogs

Do you have siblings? How many? 

Who was the last person you said “I love you” to? 

Is there anyone you would die for? 

What do you need when you’re sad? 

Have you memorized your phone number? 

Who’s someone you can trust with your life? 

What does your last text say? 

Wild Card. Any question, ask away. 

[joycieillustrations]

Pirates, anyone?

[joycieillustrations]

Hello @dalyblue! Sorry for the delay in replying, but there is some kind of glitch with the actual ask that wouldn’t let me answer it!

I don’t have any update for Office Hours, I’m afraid! I’m actually going to be putting the fic on hiatus for a bit, as I need some time to just let inspiration strike and also to prioritise my health as I’m feeling quite burnt out and have a lot going on with family right now. This fic is massive and complicated and I just don’t have enough room in my head to do it justice at the moment and I know that if I force myself to write, I won’t be happy with the result.

I’m really sorry, I know that’s not the answer you would like - but please rest assured the fic is not at all abandoned, I just need some time!

Thank you for your ask ❤️

[joycieillustrations]

Forgive me for participating in the game once again but curiosity is killing me: for the ask game "Infidelity" and "Girl" (Aemon and Jocelyn.

Hello again! Ask away, it’s lovely to see your questions in my inbox 🥰

So Infidelity is little more than a concept at the moment and I’m not sure if it’s one I’ll ever follow up on, but never say never! It resulted from @youleavethetardisbrakeson and I discussing what would have happened if Rhaenys became Queen and she was subsequently made aware that Corlys had had bastards, for which we both wrote down our own ideas. We were talking about Rhaenys being torn between her duty as Queen to have more children herself and the meddling of her council in this regard, contrasted with the very personal pain of processing Corlys’ betrayal but still needing him to be her consort and to father her heirs. I suppose in the end it would be a story about forgiveness and falling back in love whilst they try to keep their relationship purely ‘transactional’, as it were. In this scene, after having lived separately for some months, Rhaenys arrives at High Tide to tell Corlys she wants to try for another child:

“They actually produced moon charts today,” she sniffs, “of the most opportune times for the Queen to bed her husband in pursuit of heirs. The maesters, it seems, have been tracking my bleed.”

“To what end? You have a son.”

“Laenor cannot be heir to Dragonstone and High Tide both, as my council is wont to remind me.”

Corlys remains silent, watching her shrewdly, lounging in his chair. She scoffs at his insolence, gloves still held in one hand, and tilts her head in consideration of all he has not said.

“They fear a crisis of succession,” she elaborates stiffly, “and their solution is to breed me like a bitch.”

Still her husband says nothing. He merely watches her, watches the agitation and discomfort creep up her throat in a red flush. She draws herself to her full height, mouth thin.

“I cannot, however, deny the underlying truth beneath it all. You need an heir — a legitimate heir — to pass on your name and titles; and as Queen, I need more heirs than a single son.”

The unspoken hangs heavy between them.

“And you come to levy a tithe from me?”

“I come to discuss our obligations to one another. I am not a man. I cannot sow my seed where I wish and reap the yield when it suits my cause. For all we are discontented, I am your wife: my children are to be yours.”

“I am not discontented.”

“Do not mock me, Corlys. There is only one in this marriage who has found the other lacking and it is not I.”

Girl is from the Aemon and Jocelyn fic One Hand, One Heart I’ve been dabbling in! Jocelyn is quickly becoming one of my favourite characters to write — there’s so much to explore, what with her background, and I’m also just fascinated by parent-child dynamics in general, how we pass on our legacies to our children. This WIP would be the first chapter of I think about six, detailing different stages in Jocelyn and Aemon’s relationship from her perspective. Girl is their first meeting:

The Queen guides her to a long, ornately-decorated table. Two boys sit at the centre of one side, spectators to the festivities below, and immediately, Jocelyn knows that they must be Alys’ sons — that they must be princes. She has never before seen children dressed so handsomely, not even Bor on his name day. They wear matching tunics of red and black, a pattern of golden scales worked down their fronts, and each has a short silk cape falling from one shoulder. The clasps at their necks are decorated with rubies and onyx, and one boy — the elder — wears a beautiful ornament of golden dragons in his hair, illuminating the back of his head like a halo. Both boys have inherited their father’s — her brother, she reminds herself with wonder — silver hair, both far paler than the blonde baby on Alys’ hip.

“And how are my favourite boys?”

The smaller of the two princes grins, tilting his head in a manner he evidently believes to be endearing. “Hello, Mama.”

The taller boy stands and bows to the Queen very seriously. “Good evening, Mother.”

Alysanne’s face softens with affection and she cradles her eldest son’s face in one hand, leaning down to press a kiss to his brow. “My little one, how very sombre you look. Whatever shall I do with you?”

“I am quite well, Mother. It is just—”

The prince’s eyes flicker briefly to Jocelyn. She averts her gaze. It seems a private thing, the confessions between a mother and child; she wonders idly what it is like, to have someone to whom you might confess all the secrets in the world. She stares down at her slippered feet and wiggles her toes nervously, watching the movement beneath the stiffened satin.

“Dragonstone should not be mine,” the boy continues softly. “It should be Dany’s. I do not like that we are celebrating so when she should be here.”

I’m really looking forward to posting this one, I love writing about Aemon and Jocelyn ❤️

Thank you so much for your ask (and sorry for the delay in replying!) x

[joycieillustrations]

Ooo... Pleasures of the world?

Haha, Pleasures of the World is a continuation of the scene between Corlys and Rhaenys in 1x05 when they are discussing betrothing Laenor to Rhaenyra. This was the scene that made me go ‘Oh, these two… these two are a couple I could get into’ so I couldn’t resist having a play around with how I think the scene continues.

“The children could return at any moment.”

“Then we had best be quick, my love,” he insists, “and quiet.”

He guides her across the hall, mouth insistent, as if he plans to win her silence by his tongue tangled against hers.

“You like it not when I am quiet,” she sighs as his lips find the edge of her jaw, “it leaves you dissatisfied.”

“Then I shall have you again tonight,” he vows, voice low and hungry in her ear, filled with the confidence that had first drawn her to him, “and satisfy myself with the sound of you then: in the privacy of our own chambers, spread upon our bed.”

He turns her in his arms and her eyes flutter shut for a moment — caught in the heat of his breath on her neck, the steadiness of his hands upon her hips — before she tilts her head to fix him with a shrewd, half-amused smile. “You or I?”

“Whatever best pleases my lady,” he grins, moving to taste her neck.

Thank you for your ask! 🥰

[joycieillustrations]

Hi! I hope you are doing well. I am very curious about the "bed scene" (something spicy, heehee) and "last night" (something angsty?). Take care and thanks for sharing your numerous talents with us! :)

Hehe, actually it’s somewhat the other way around 😉

Bed scene is a prelude to — funnily enough — the bed scene in Season 2. I’m just fascinated by these two and how they operate within their relationship, especially in this moment: we can see that they’ve reconciled physically, that they’re comfortable around each other, that this is normalcy for them. It’s the most united we see them that season, and I just wanted to explore it, especially following on from their reunion in 1x10.

She slinks into their bedroom in the hour after dawn. Hues of pink and orange seep in around the long, heavy curtains, in the slither of horizon revealed with each swell of the breeze. Driftmark never sleeps – not truly – but its lord does, more so now in the wake of his blood fever, his invalidity. The years have worn at him, crashing down again and again like the weathering of the shore: the scar on his neck, the new lines on his brow, the retreat of his hair. Yet they are a small price to pay for the comfort of his arms.

Rhaenys pauses, stealing this one brief moment for herself: her husband in her bed, returned to her after so long a separation. The outline of his silhouette is both familiar and unfamiliar. Despite all his absences throughout the years, she had never once become used to sleeping alone – though she had become used to her nighttime companions being smaller. She had become used to little fingers clutched in her nightdress, to a head of silver curls tucked beneath her chin: Laenor, seeking comfort from a nightmare; Laena, wriggling and restless without her father’s stories; Baela, crying for her mother.

He is a changed man, yes; just as she is a changed woman.

“You smell of dragon.”

Her husband’s voice is muffled against their pillows. A dark eye cracks open to watch her as she seats herself, turning to look over her shoulder as her fingers work on the clasp at her throat.

“And you smell of brine and tar and unwashed sailor,” she replies, voice hoarse and weary from thin, cold air. “Mayhaps we are well matched.”

Ok, I lied — last night is angsty and spicy. It’s set during 2x04, after Rhaenys confronts Corlys at the docks and he comes to Dragonstone. Medieval-style warfare takes longer, what with the moving of soldiers by foot, so I imagine Rhaenys would have enough time before needing to leave that she would have one last night at Dragonstone (that way she and Meleys are well rested, they have time to strategise, etc. etc.). This imagines what her last night with Corlys might look like:

The sweat of his brow is slick upon the back of her neck. His breath is hot, suffocating, tangible against her skin, heavy like a shroud. The fingers of their free hands – their left, with his, as ever, eclipsing hers in size and strength – clutch at the jagged contours of the headboard. She’s glad he’s chosen to take her like this, that she doesn’t have to look into his eyes.

She’ll forgive him if she looks into his eyes.

The arm holding her back against him loosens. His palm slides higher, past her stomach, up between her breasts, coming to rest flush against her sternum. She can feel the thud of her own heartbeat, pounding within her like a war drum — and what is it she feels now? Anger? Desire? Resignation? Oh, this man, this man who burrows beneath her skin, claws his way back into her affections, nestles within the cage of her ribs like a part of her very self.

“It’s you, Rhaenys,” he gasps, the bed groaning with each frantic roll of their bodies. “Whatever I have done, whatever I have— it’s always been you. Only you. I’ve only ever loved you.”

I do plan on continuing both of these, but I don’t envisage finishing them any time soon — I’m planning on working through my multi-chapter fics in chronological order now, so this one won’t be in my active WIPs until at least Ad amorem and Salt and Smoke are both finished.

Thank you so much for your ask! 🥰

[joycieillustrations]

Hi!! I adore Office Hours so much and reading it made me realize how much I like modern Rhaenys x Corlys AUs. I would like to know what you have in mind for your Politician AU :)

Hi! Thank you so much for your lovely words 🥹 I’m so glad you’re enjoying Office Hours and other modern AU fics ❤️

My politician AU is inspired by a production of Oedipus @backjustforberena and I saw in London with Lesley Manville and Mark Strong — and it also had Phia in it! It’s one of the best shows I’ve seen in a while and I was thinking about it for weeks after (still am, if I’m being honest!). Obviously plot-wise this AU had nothing to do with Oedipus, but the vibes of the production very much inspired this bit I have written down. In this scene, Corlys has scouted a location from which Rhaenys will run her campaign, and he is showing it to her for the first time:

The space is wide and unoccupied, a blank canvas for their ambitions.

“It’s perfect,” she sighs, happiness swelling in her chest, rising so swiftly and so fiercely it threatens to choke her. “Corlys, it’s perfect.”

He grins at her from the sidelines. Folding his arms, propping himself against a concrete pillar, he watches her in the space he has carved for her. She is a lone figure against the bare white floors and the flimsy temporary walls, like a dancer on a stage. The room echoes with her reflection as she wanders alone into its centre, the heel of her soft suede boots resonant.

She is so bold and bright against the emptiness, snug in a black cashmere jumper to ward away the November chill, her red skirts swirling about her calves as she turns to beam at him again.

I don’t have much planned beyond this. I think this one would be a one chapter AU, just examining the relationship between them at that point in time!

Thanks so much for your ask ❤️