#aeron tag

[kingsmoot]

as far as opening lines to anything go, this one takes the cake for sure

[halloweenism]

on the topic of different icons/layouts you've had one of my favorites is probably when you had your blog themed after the animated Rapunzel show. that was a really nice one in my opinion

OMG!!! WHICH ONE !! I ALSO LOVE TTS RAPS

[pulksten-blog]

[flysafepapi]

idk if this has been done but you can't tell me im wrong

[beware-of-pity]

I don't really mean for this to sound mean, at all, and this is honestly meant to be a sort of constructive criticism but I've been at my wits end these past few weeks when going through stories of some of my favourite characters because all I've been seeing are characters x reader stories being tagged as so only for them, in the end, to turn out to have been character x oc stories all along. I know some people probably do not care to tag correctly their posts, and some probably do so with the intention of posting them in hashtags that are intentionally misleading for the sake of readership and likes, and whatever not, but Tumblr is not ao3 where you can filter out certain characters or certain tags to clear the search of any unwanted characters or triggers and etc, etc because at its core Tumblr is a blogging platform where certain dedicated people and fandoms post fanfics of their favourite characters, which is why it does not possess such a feature like ao3 in the first place. I understand that new writers, probably, also cannot differentiate between a reader-insert and an actual original character created by them for their stories. But I fear it may be, common knowledge that when someone is specifically looking out for an x reader story they more than likely do not want most of the tag to be filled with people self-inserting themselves in the story through an oc. I know that no reader-insert will ever truly be a reader-insert because there is no way that the person reading the story will ever come close to the personality or appearance that is needed of the reader to make the story work but all I ask, at the very least, is for people to be honest about what kind of story they're putting out there and to not mislead people by posting stories that have nothing to do with the tag that it's been posted under only because it involves the character it's being matched with.

Again, this is only a general criticism, and it's not supposed to target anyone. Also, my main aim is not to be either rude or mean but it's something that's been going on for a while and that has been frustrating me so I felt I had to finally speak up about it.

Also, ps for certain writers, if you don't like using Y/N maybe reader-insert-centered stories are just not for you, because by then naming the reader it automatically makes the story an oc story.

[lullaebies]

summary:

It was not forced, and not offensive. Davos can be a terror, his hand choking any opponent in a spar; he’s not beyond such tactics at all, but then he held his nape, and dug his fingers onto his brown hair. They were mere seconds from a tussle over a misunderstanding, but their gazes met midway, green eyes to black ones and that had been the first time he felt understood.

And it was robbed of him, cruelly so, when Davos ran away the moment Aeron tried to reciprocate. He should’ve slapped himself, for being such a fool, and he should’ve killed Davos, for making him act like one.

Aeron finds himself with Davos once more after their first kiss cemented the distance between them. Blackwood and Bracken, push and pull — that distance never lasts long, and they wouldn't have it differently. aeron/davos fic | 3k words | smut | no warnings | read on ao3

“So you are afraid of me now, huh?” 

Davos’s grating voice came from the other side of the hallway. They were at Riverrun, for the annual tourney Lord Grover held. The old paramount lord had been blind as a bat in his elderly and ailing age, and Lord Elmo had been a rather stern host in his stead, but the streets of Riverrun had still held cheer worth visiting for. 

“I did not realize you would be here,” Aeron answers. He had paid for a private room for himself and his party. His older brother had said he and their cousins will join him soon. Raylon had been stuck on a gambling game in the streets, and after seeing his bastard brother lose thrice, Aeron opted for a reason to leave before Raylon asked for more coin from his pocket. “Fuck off.”

Davos flashes a grin at that. He looks somewhat inebriated, chuckling in a manner more laid-back than forcefully purposeful. “I paid to be here too, and before you,” he says and lifts a half done bottle of Arbor red, his fist clenched around the neck of it. “So I stay!”

Aeron exhales. Perhaps I should’ve stuck with Raylon instead.

“All by yourself?” he asks mockingly. He hadn’t seen any of his cousins or friends within the tavern, but he guesses it shouldn’t matter to him. He huffs and goes to the room he bought. If he wants to be a pitiable imbecile for all to see, he can be my guest.

“Only if you keep hiding,” Davos says, making long strides over to him. The Blackwood has the most audacious habit of coming up to his face, ever since they were children. The first time he ever talked to him almost resulted in headbutt, and then Davos had tried to be friendly. This time, he isn’t; but Davos’s forehead does end up touching his. “You’ve been running from me all day.”

Aeron pushes him back, frowning. “ You are the one that fled first,” he tells him, properly upset. Blackwoods are haughty and idiotic, but he had been special amongst his murder of crows; last time they met in such circumstances, Davos kissed him. Davos kissed him, and ignored him for the rest of the festivities. 

The most embarrassing part of it was how bothered Aeron had been about it. He hadn’t had anyone to tell of it; his half-brother and cousins always found his lack of care for women an odd point in him, and even if he did tell them a Blackwood had kissed him they’re likelier to assume it had been a perversion hailed from Raventree, forced upon him. 

It was not forced, and not offensive. Davos can be a terror, his hand choking any opponent in a spar; he’s not beyond such tactics at all, but then he held his nape, and dug his fingers onto his brown hair. They were mere seconds from a tussle over a misunderstanding, but their gazes met midway, green eyes to black ones and that had been the first time he felt understood . 

And it was robbed of him, cruelly so, when Davos ran away the moment Aeron tried to reciprocate. He should’ve slapped himself, for being such a fool, and he should’ve killed Davos, for making him act like one.

“I am here now,” Davos says in a whisper, his hand squeezing on his arm, the same time the tips of their noses touch. “Do it again.”

He breathes in deep, trying to control his beating heart. Fucker. Aeron knees his leg. 

“As if I should be grateful to have you come to me with a bottle in your hand and a stink from your throat,” he shoots back at him, and rips his arm from him. His hand is on the private’s room handle when Davos lifts the Dornish Arbor bottle and flings it across the hallway. It breaks loudly and shatters, shards of glass and splashes of red all over the wall and floor. Aeron is flabbergasted, turning to him with a frown. “Are you out of your fucking mind ?” 

“I don’t need that fucking bottle,” Davos tells him, seething. His dark eyes had a sheen of fear in them, of all things. “It didn’t help, not even a smidge. It should’ve, but it couldn’t drown a thing .”

Blackwoods act easily on emotions. An observed habit of all of those making up that wretched family. The way Davos stands in front of him, he thinks he is moments from bursting, but still, he waits, with his beggar’s eyes. Restraint is not his strong suit, not at all, but perhaps he had been trying.

Aeron had felt Davos’s eyes on him for the better of the day, after all.

“What was that noise?” a serving girl rushes over, only to stop in place when she sees them. She seems rather nervous at their sight. “Th-there is no fighting in the tavern,” she says meekly. She clearly already understood she stands before two lordlings.

Davos glares at her wordlessly. Aeron moves away from him, though he can feel his hand tug on his clothes. “It was an accident,” he tells the serving girl. “I apologize. My friend is drunk,” Aerons says, and reaches a resolution. “I’ll take care of him.” 

Relieved, the girl nods and rushes away to safety, but Davos releases his grip on Aeron’s clothes, rigidity in the squint of his eyes. “Friend, you say?”

Birdbrain. His focus is entirely wrong, and it’s positively infuriating. I said I’ll take care of you, can you not hear me? He wants to choose conflict, each time, and Aeron knows this; everything to deflect from the truth. Davos knows what he is, as Aeron knows what he is. 

It’s hard to accept, but it’s even more embarrassing to admit, that Aeron accepted it for him.

“I couldn’t say the pain in my arse, could I?” Aeron answers evenly. “You aren’t brave enough for that.”

Davos nails him against the wall again, eyes gleaming with rage. “And you are?”

Aeron swallows, uncomfortably vulnerable. No, not really. He likes to imagine himself brave, to be able to slay Blackwoods with no fear and and kiss whoever he’d like with no concern, but he finds himself unsure in most things in practice. His dreams make a concoction of those things, having Aeron kiss Davos and winning against him in this war of taboos. Steps beyond that seemed far-fetched, and even frightening. 

Yet still, he can’t help but imagine…

“I was brave enough to kiss you back.”

He looks down, embarrassed still. Davos brings a hand to his waist, squeezing it tight. They share that look again, and he can feel Davos’s lips on his even before they touch him. “Then do it again,” the Blackwood asks him, and the softness of his lips is a strike of lightning against Aeron’s. 

Aeron brings a hand to Davos’s shoulder. “Anyone can see us—” he says between the other’s fervent pecks. His heart is beating out of his chest; dreams are so easy to have, but reality is incomparable. This should be impossible, in every way, and he’s never been a pioneer in a thing. He’s not like Raylon, able to bet on things so easily; he wants, he needs to win. If he is to lose, why should he play at all?

It feels so easy now, but he doesn’t want this stolen away. 

“I don’t care,” Davos says plainly, leaving him no place to breathe. Davos brings a hand to his jaw, holding him to kiss his proper. After pressing a particularly hard kiss onto him, he breathes out. “I’ll kill anyone who interrupts.”

It sets him on fire. Aeron does not doubt that he would, even as Davos’s fingers thread themselves into his hair, parting it in slow wonder. Davos is smiling against him, as if every touch is a breath of clean air coming back to his lungs. The rigidity in black-haired boy’s muscles is all gone as he melts against him.

Davos is a free spirit; too much of one, at times. He has to take care of him, before he becomes too loose a canon. He finds his freedom in this, but Aeron needs control. He would not have anyone take it away from him.

He opens the door to the private room, dragging the black-haired idiot after him. Davos chuckles as the door shuts behind them, ready to pounce on him again, but Aeron pins him against the door himself, knee wedged between Davos’s legs. 

“If you want to keep going, don’t get us killed,” Aeron tells him. He doesn’t let him open his big mouth, shutting him up with a kiss the other can’t escape. Even if Davos tries to flee from the truth again, he will not let him forget.

Davos groans against his mouth. He has no sword on his being but he is clearly deep in his adrenaline, having to hold onto something and in particular, the braid that framed Aeron’s hair. One hand holding it, the other hand wedging under it, all for the sake of holding his head.

Aeron only realizes Davos hardly relinquished any control then; he holds his head to manuever him into his own kisses, and when he tires of that alone, the Blackwood boy bites his lower lip for the halt to take place. He doesn’t depart the lips without a proper suck to them, though.

Aeron breathes heavily from the parting, and Davos looks him up and down. Readjusting himself, he lowers one hand to hold Aeron’s clothed thigh, pressing against him further. “You are so pretty against me.”

Maybe his eyes widen a little, at that. Being named pretty has him provoked most times, but now it gives him the most unpredictable shivers. Inhaling sharply, he tries to dryly retort, flushed as he is. “Is that why you headbutt me all the time?”

“No,” he says, and picks him in his hands; Davos sits him down on the table behind them, the hand on the back of his thigh rises to where his trousers had become tight. “It’s because you are fucking infuriating , keeping your respectable distance.” 

He sighs out at the feeling. Davos’s hand is warm, he can feel it even beyond the fabric. This is exactly why; he feels mad when they’re too close. He wants more when they’re too close, and he knows Davos will be brave to take that step. Davos can’t help himself, and it is so much easier than admitting he himself can’t either. 

Aeron brings his hands to the metal raven clasp on Davos’s collar, all while wrapping his legs around his waist. I don’t give a fuck anymore.

Davos palms him while Aeron opens as much as he can of the Blackwood's shirt. He has tan skin; if Aeron had been sunkissed with freckles, Davos had been sunkissed with depth of color. His black hair is messy silk, but his chest is a sweatied field to feel. He kisses him on his bare throat first, shyer at the attempt. Davos responds to it well, sighing aloud while trying to keep being mindful at his own ministrations.

He hasn’t chosen to do this for Davos to have restraint now of all times, however.

“Undo the lacings already,” Aeron whispers as he lowers himself to kiss Davos’s chest. His hands come on top of Davos’s hand, caressing it in a tease. Aeron could swear he feels the other’s heartbeat against his lips. Davos halts as if nervous, and Aeron’s eyelashes lift from the half-lidded downturn they’ve been in, all to look at him. “Please.”

Davos doesn’t dare to refuse him. He does quick work the tyings of his pants, and soon has his cock in his grasp. Aeron tries to continue to kiss his chest, but Davos hold him firm, and then drags his grasp just right. 

“ Ah— Davos!” he sighs, feeling as if he might crumble any minute. Aeron holds the Blackwood’s wrist, just to give himself a breather. The anticipation alone is too much, the touch itself has his blood bubbling through his veins. He had never reached such a point, even in his mind, and he could never have expected it would have him so weak in Davos’s hold.

Davos presses his forehead to his again. “Do you know how many times I imagined this?” he asks in a whisper. “Holding myself, thinking of what I’d do if it were you..” he says, playing with the slit of his cockhead. Aeron gets teary at the feeling, and he leaks some seed below as well.

Davos swipes his thumb at the white substance, and leaves his cock to taste what his finger gathered, swallowing. He could see the gulp going down his throat, through the exact spots Aeron had previously kissed. 

Aeron thinks he is about to lose his mind. A hot flare of bashfulness runs through him. Knowing he is red as one of Davos’s capes, he exclaims, as compromised as he is. “You can’t— that’s disgusting —”

Davos’s shit eating grin is all he can see before the boy kisses him shut, tongue entering his mouth. He can taste himself on Davos; he can taste Davos’s pride and joy at their mix and match. He can feel his palm returning to stroke him, more languid, yet at a steady, intent pace.

His stomach is doing somersaults and his hands rush to the mop of Davos’s black hair. Aeron doesn’t care if any of it is disgusting, not at all. Even if he feels the filth of earth anywhere else, he feels just right here. Clutching onto raven locks, he kisses him back hard.

Davos quickens the pace of his strokes, and Aeron feels towards the end of his wits. He tries hard to keep himself from climaxing; he didn’t want to finish this so soon. He still wants him to touch more places, kiss him more; he hates it, but he knows it’s true, he will miss him. He will miss him so much when it is over. It feels like he is set to lose with Davos, it’s all about overpowering one another — but rather than winning, he realizes all ever wished for is a chance to play.

Davos stamps a prolonged kiss on his lips before he demands his victory. “ Yield ,” he says, voice low and steady. Aeron tugs at his hair, feeling Davos weasel his hand under his shirt, squeezing on skin there too. His dark eyes stare into his, swirling with need; a need only Aeron can satisfy. “Yield for me.” 

He climaxes, hot on Davos’s hand. He shudders all through it; he had never felt it so strongly. It feels as if the weight of stones dissipates from his muscles and he himself is no longer grounded in his place, having to hold Davos as he deals with the overwhelming feeling. 

Aeron refuses to let him go for a while, not realizing the desperate embrace he is maintaining. In truth, he does not even care; he just wants to melt into his hold. He yielded; he’s too easy to beat, but he just needs him to stay. 

He isn’t brave enough to speak. He’s only brave enough to reciprocate, kiss, and show Davos that he doesn’t wish for distance. A full kiss for Davos’s full lips. I can match you.

Davos, surprisingly enough, does not rush him to anything else when they part. Aeron realizes he still needs to take care of him, but Davos is in no hurry. He nuzzles his face against him like a pleased, black kitten, ever pleased with the proximity. 

He’s about to ask if he should do anything, when he hears something.

“Aeron?” Raylon’s voice from outside the room, as well as some of their cousins parroting him. “Are you here?”

Aeron freezes. “He’s here. My brother—” he says nervously, suddenly the whole world crashing on him. 

“The bastard?” Davos asks, and Aeron doesn’t even have the time to chastise him. Just slap his shoulder to move. 

“He’s here, and my cousins,” he says urgently. There’s a knock on the door, and he’s mortified to his core. He had been teary from the  touches, but now he feels like he could truly cry; they’d kill him. They’d kill Davos. “They’re here.”

“Aeron, are you here?”

He didn’t mean to play himself like this. He should’ve kept his distance, he knew they would be coming. And yet—

Davos, disheveled as he is, presses his thigh hard. “I’ll handle the horses’ horde,” he says— horses’ horde?! He should slap him— “just wait.”

Aeron swallows, and watches him turn, stepping towards the door. He only opens it enough to peer out of it. Aeron rushes to the side to not be seen, half considering killing him, but listening instead, as he hides on the sofa in the room. 

“Wrong stables, shitheads,” Davos says, with the brightest grin he can conjure. “No hay here.”

“Blackwood?” Raylon asks, and clearly very confused at the state of the man in front of him. “What are you doing here? The owner said a Bracken bought this room.”

Davos huffs. “And perhaps I stole it away from him.He’s not here. Blackwood lands, now.” 

“Huh? What did you do to my brother? ” Raylon exclaims in anger, trying to step in. Davos blocks him. “Seven hells, you smell like shit—”

“I said Blackwood lands ,” he says. “This room and everything in it is mine.”

“Are you fucking drunk?” Raylon asks, appalled.

“Even better,” Davos laughs. “Now fuck off.” 

Davos slams the door shut at Raylon’s face, and turns back towards Aeron with a big smile as cusses are heard from the other side of the door. Raylon and his cousins eventually do leave, and Aeron manages to breathe again.

Davos’s words are not lost on him, and he sinks against the sofa with warmth in his belly. Blackwood lands, his arse, but fuck — he said it. He’s his.

It’s all he truly needed to hear.

“See? Handled the horde.”

Davos is all too proud as he weasels back beside him. Aeron huffs.

“A group of horses is called a herd, you birdbrain,” he tells him. 

“Yeah?” Davos asks, chuckling. He clearly couldn’t leave less of shit.

“You are making it hard to want to help you…” Aeron says, his hand reaching Davos’s crotch, only to realize it was of moist fabric too. “You already?—”

“I told you you are fucking pretty against me,” Davos says, and pulls him on his lap. “I want to kiss you again.”

Holding back a smile, Aeron holds onto his arms. “As long as you know these are Bracken lands, and anything here is mine .”

Davos snickers. “Prove it.”

No separation stones will force them back into distance. Aeron lowers his face to kiss him again, he’ll mark them until it’s abundantly clear; Davos, all of this, is his. No one will rob this of me.

Davos grins against his lips, willing to take the challenge. They’ll have this dispute forevermore, but that is well and good — lay a claim on me, and I will lay claim on you. Bodies melting against one another, forever wrestling for touch—

This is just the right distance.

[korkiekenobiconfirmed]

I’ve started referring to fandom’s tendency to heterosexualize mlm relationships as the Sterek Effect. yk, when you have one dude always feminized to high hell while the other becomes an egregiously hyper-masculine caricature of himself??

they could be the same height, age, status, build, temperament, physical prowess…doesn’t matter. one’s in a short skirt and the other can bench press 873 pounds.

[moonrotting]

missing when brackwood/davron was at its peak after episode 3 😔

[skz-miroh]

This is the face of a man who’s been rejected. Davos heartbroken because Aeron has refused to run away from this inevitable war with him.

That right there is a heartbroken man.

[stabbythespaceroomba]

Okay okay okay I know Aeron died by his own sword to his neck, I know we don’t have any other wounds on him canonically

I know people are a fan of ‘he’s such a bad swords man someone took his sword and killed him with it during the battle’

However!!!! I can’t stop thinking about the positioning, the way the sword is stabbed straight up.

I am a strong believer that he was staked to the ground as a message? As a sign of disrespect for daring? To highlight him out when the Lord’s come for their dead?

The sword is a grave marker and a taunt in one.

He’s in the river, but they’ll make sure his body isn’t washed away

The sword has to be pinned into the ground, his neck alone would not keep it straight up like that (even though the screen shows it as the blade’s tip, the physics of it just wouldn’t work to hold it up), which would require a fair bit of force.

There isn’t even that much blood

The neck’s isn’t torn either - it’d be a much fleshier bloodier sight if he was able to fight or move and yet it looks like he didn’t struggle.

Sure you can say that it’s soaked into his doublet? Jerkin? (I really need to refresh my fashion history) But there’s not a lot on the sword, nor in the water around him, you can still see the brooch and pin clear as day.

Was Aeron dead before they pinned him?

He’s mainly covered in mud - you can see it matted in his hair as well. Like he’s been dragged on the ground.

I’m quite sure that’s his cloak underneath him. The weave looks similar from what I can see. And the brooch looks Bracken

The weave of his cloak is rather distinctive and different to other clothes, like Davos��� cloak.

And yet if that IS Aeron’s cloak, he’s both not wearing it and yet the brooch and pin are in place.

-

Really there’s two ways Aeron ended up like that

A - Aeron was already dead. Maybe he’d gotten gutted, maybe he’d hit the back his head against something in the fight. Maybe Davos had relieved him of his sword and wrestled him to the ground in the field while both houses got reinforcements. But Aeron is dead and the scene is arranged in mockery? To literally stake the boundary back into place. First the Bracken cloak spread out, then the Bracken knight atop it and his own sword to mark the boundary as a final mockery????

B - Aeron’s alive when he’s stabbed and he’s most likely held down and into place. He’s recognised as an heir to the Bracken lordship or recognised as an instigator. His hair matts with mud as he tries to thrash free and can’t. The wrestle that gets him on the ground pulled his cloak off and he’s looking up at the person who kills him until they force his head to the side. His eyes close instead of staring up, trying to make something of his death at least on his own terms - he won’t give them the satisfaction of a beseeching gaze.

“You wouldn’t dare” - Aeron would dare and that’s why the Blackwood’s have to make a mockery of him.

And let’s not forget that Davos dies so close to him. An arm flung out in Aeron’s direction. What the fuck is that all about. Did Davos kill Aeron? Did he hold him down or did he try to stop a dishonourable slaughter? Do you think he didn’t know and is dumbfounded and struck down as shock fills him to see Aeron dead or dying like a Blackwood Trophy???

[murmel-malt]

[halloweenism]

I come sharing the gift of my latest pookie:

Dr. Allison Cameron from House

(she's who I have as my icon rn 🤭)

is that jennifer morrison

[mummer]

thinking about prophets, and false prophets, as fundamentally people who are desperate to be believed. and how that intersects with being a victim of serious abuses. their prophecies have to be real because if they arent real would anyone believe what happened to them was real?

[sunfeyre]

Can I request you to stop putting every tb character in your tags? You are crowding the tags with unnecessary and irrelevant posts

if I'm making a post involving a character, I'm gonna tag it. that's how tagging works 😱

[dontbotherwiththepronunciation]

Warning: Religion, God-critical (that term makes me feel like I'm writing meta that bashes a teen girl or pretends she is the villain), nihilism, explorations of suffering according to abrahamic faiths and particularly christianity, canon fucked upness in Aeron and Theon's stories. LONG POST.

I've been thinking about the Drowned God. I know people usually connect catholicism with the faith of the seven, which is fair especially when looking at it as an institution, and the faith of the Drowned God gets compared more often to Scandinavian/Norse mythology, more specifically to Valhalla as the afterlife (although I think the feasts given by Ægir and Ran in Skáldskaparmál would be even more fitting, but that's only me nitpicking), but the catholic catechism sees suffering as something that is both redemptive and also empowering and this reminds me of Aeron and Theon.

Christianity on itself believes that suffering, when united with the Passion of Jesus, atones for one's sins and thus allows entry into heaven. Catholicism specially sees suffering as an inherent part of the human condition brought upon by human sin against God.

“As long as [Adam] remained in the divine intimacy, man would not have to suffer or die.”  - Catechism of the Catholic Church

But since Adam and Eve committed sin by eating the forbidden fruit (or as I like to see it in my I-view-very-important-religions-as-basically-high-fantasy interpretation, Eve chose agency & knowledge and cut the strings this divine puppeteer used to limit her with), suffering was casted upon them and all their descendants. And then, according to the incredibly specific official bible timeline from the Houston Christian University, 3974 years, six months, and ten days later (skdghsfbdhaaahahahahahah) Jesus was sent to earth to cause some havoc and basically tell everyone that the suffering, the struggle, the oppression and all the horrible things that happened to innocent people in our world would eventually have a payoff after death.

The more strict practitioners (ex. flagellants) used to (and some still do) find spiritual benefits when causing physical pain upon themselves. Corporal mortification was seen as an act that brought you closer to purity. Suffering made you ascend in the eyes of God. Suffering was encouraged. Suffering was noble.

Suffering was a promise of hope.

The promise of eternal life (and the eventual bodily resurrection) allowed people to believe that, as long as they placed their faith in Christ, the suffering would not be tied to a tragedy.

The phrase "God is Dead" first appears in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables but it became more popular through Nietzsche's The Gay Science (Insert SpongeBob hand gesture). A simplified summary of the themes explored in The Gay Science would basically be Nietzsche claiming that christianity invented an ideal inexistent utopia that is too farfetched from reality. He sees christianity as a common, anti-intellectual philosophy for simple minded people that enslaves its believers. But by seeing it as something inexistent and false, by "killing God", the illusion of divinity is lost and all the hope and consolation that came with it are gone too, leaving humanity in a state of tragedy; nihilism.

God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it? - The Gay Science

To some extent I feel like he is the reborn Eve in the narrative. By denying the superior force he feels he gains control over his own person, but is left in a world of pain at the burden of his existence being tied to mortality and purposelessness (oh, sweet paradox)

Nietzsche was a self-proclaimed nihilist although he didn't seem to want to be one. He saw nihilism as the result of the loss one felt at the realisation that life, and all the suffering in it, had no greater purpose. "God is Dead" was calling the readers into finding a way to cope with the situation.

And for anyone who started reading this because I mentioned the Drowned God, sorry it took so long to get here, but I relate all of this specifically to Aeron and Theon and their connections to religion. I believe in Theon's bind to the Old Gods and, as he is in ADWD, it seems he has come to vaguely believe in both of these faiths, although the Old Gods are more present in his story. Aeron though, is so reminiscent of this concept.

And I know that christianity is not the only religion tied to the faith of the Drowned God.

The Osiris myth is arguably the most important one in Egyptian mythology and I think the motif of "What is dead may never die, but rises again harder and stronger" is just as if not even more present in that one.

In it, Set murders his brother Osiris. The reasons behind the murder vary depending on source, but one of them portrays it as revenge for Osiris having sex with Set's wife, Nephtys. Set usurps his brother's throne while Nephtys and Osiris' wife, Isis, search for his body, then mummify and revive him. Personally I don't consider it to be very similar to the myth of the Drowned God but it feels more resemblant to it than Jesus' very normal "came back without a scratch" resurrection. Osiris doesn't get that benefit. He comes back bruised and bandaged, with death being visible on him.

Christianity also has refrained from sacrificing their own but Quetzalcoatl and Tláloc, aztec deities, would demand human sacrifice through drowning during Etzalcualiztli (the sixth month of the aztec calendar) and Tláloc specifically promised an utopic afterlife to those who had water-involved deaths, but even more to those who willingly gave themselves to the water. Celts also practiced drowning sacrifices, but I know too little about them to be honest.

What I am trying to say is, if actively searching, one could alway find similitudes to other faiths, but because abrahamic faiths have been the ones that prevailed through time and the ones I've experienced most, I will focus on them.

Alright, Florence play "What the water gave me"

Drowning, baptisms and water imagery

I wonder what it would be like to be a Catholic, to dip your hand into the cold water and to believe in its holiness. - The Moth Diaries (Yes, I read the Moth Diaries, shut up! It is what if Carmilla and Twilight had a child.)

Christianity is kind of basic when it comes to water symbolism, but it's loyal to its theme.

There isn't a lot to speculate on water, it "washes yours sins away" but there is a common pattern in characters that belong to the Bible that is repeated over and over again and somehow Aeron embodies it pretty perfectly.

We are confronted with characters who have lived sinfully.

On the other hand, I do wonder what would be considered as "sinful" according to the Drowned God. Their religion is passed down orally and has no scriptures that I know of, so a set of rules can be more ambiguous depending on whoever is preaching. Lust, greed, wrath and pride, all considered official sins by christian doctrine, are encouraged by the faith of the Drowned God in the form of salt wives, raiding and their beliefs of ethnic superiority. The only sin I can think of that is specific to the them is that Ironborn shouldn't kill Ironborn, but even that is absolved when water is involved since drowning another Ironborn is alright and a death near the water is considered a good death.

We are born to suffer, that our sufferings might make us strong. - The Prophet, AFFC

Suffering is also encouraged, so I am assuming that any type of hedonism would be seen as sinful too (which would-be contradictory to what I stated above, but alright maybe GRRM was a little weaker when it came to world-building this time or maybe I am misunderstanding something. If so, please correct me, I genuinely am curious about these topics), if that is the case, then yeah Aeron was sinful and has reasons to look down on his former self.

Young I was, and vain, but the sea washed my follies and my vanities away. That man drowned, nephew. His lungs filled with seawater, and the fish ate the scales off his eyes. When I rose again, I saw clearly. - Theon I, ACOK

Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptised, - Acts 9:18

Here is one of the many character allusions I think one can identify in Aeron. Saul of Tarsus, disputed Apostle, leads a violent life persecuting early christians until lightning strikes him during one of his travels and blinds him. For three days he starves and spends his time praying until Ananias of Damascus comes to his rescue and baptises him.

It's one of the less obvious ones, but I just like how they used the scales-blindness imagery and while this storm was one at land, not at sea, there is another biblical character who shares more similitudes with Aeron.

As a kid the book of Jonah was one of my favourites, so of course I love Aeron!

A prophet, an equal, but weak in his beliefs, too tentative when he should be nothing but certain in his faith! God tells him to go overthrow Nineveh (east) and, because these prophets never learn not to contradict the narrative, he tries fleeing to Jaffa (west). On the way there, the ship he is traveling on is barely holding on because God has sent a storm against them. The sailors blame Jonah, Jonah takes the blame and goes "alright, you know what? Just throw me over board and the storm will cease." The sailors refuse, but Jonah goes overboard anyway. He comes back to the surface three days later reborn in the water as as a new man, now fully convinced to follow his path as a prophet.

Depending on the translation there are a lot of similitudes between the texts. Even the imagery used for describing settings is alike. I know religious scriptures get a bad rep because of all the atrocities committed in their names (valid, very valid), but viewed simply as text, they have some truly beautiful prose and the Book of Jonah is so vivid and precious, and it is very reminiscent to some of Aeron's chapters.

From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said:  “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.  From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,/out of the belly of Sheol I cried,  and you listened to my cry./and you heard my voice.  You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas,  and the currents swirled about me;  all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, ‘I have been banished  from your sight;  yet I will look again  toward your holy temple.’  The engulfing waters were at my throat,  the deep surrounded me;  seaweed was wrapped around my head.  To the roots of the mountains I sank down;  the earth beneath barred me in forever.  But you, Lord my God,  brought my life up from the pit.  “When my life was ebbing away,  I remembered you, Lord,  and my prayer rose to you,  to your holy temple.  “Those who cling to worthless idols  turn away from God’s love for them.  But I, with shouts of grateful praise,  will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good.  I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”  And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. - Jonah 2

The seaweed in his head, the belly of the beast (Silence/Sheol), the crashing of the waves, the engulfing waters.

I won't even really go into The Forsaken with the Jonah comparison, because to me the Forsaken is the most open "Jesus in the dessert" analogy, but I still find it compelling to imagine Jonah and Aeron, both inside the whale/ship desperately praying to their God. Only one of them finds salvation and it's not Aeron.

But asides from setting and aesthetic there are these:

The god took me deep beneath the waves and drowned the worthless thing I was. When he cast me forth again he gave me eyes to see, ears to hear, and a voice to spread his word, that I might be his prophet and teach his truth to those who have forgotten. - The Prophet, AFFC

Ears that hear and eyes that see— the Lord has made them both. - Proverbs 20:12

Otherwise that they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed. - Isaiah 6:10

They have mouths but cannot speak, eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. - Psalm 135:16 & Psalm 115:5

There is a singer from my country, she wrote a song called "Thanks for life" and then killed herself three months later (Iconic behaviour). The song is still considered a "humanist hymn", which I think is morbidly hilarious. In the lyrics, she keeps thanking life for things that should be basic to life; for having eyes, ears, mouth and hands. I think there is something interesting in how these are all basic atributes most people are born with but these acts of gratefulness, at least in Aeron and Jonah's case are not made in bad faith. They are genuine and true.

 The Drowned God gives every man a gift. - The Prophet AFFC

Are these seen as the God's gifts too? If so, are these acts of gratefulness supposed to make the believers humble and less ambitious? Or is it just that the God is a niggardly one? We know of Aeron having thought his gift was that he could piss longer and farther than most, and later on he recognises the power of his speech, his eloquence. Surprisingly, Aeron is never stripped of that gift once Euron captures him.

His eloquence is his strength, through it he preaches, leads religious rites, advices lords and convinces others to join the faith. And of course, he also baptises.

Baptisms, baptisms, baptising, cleaning the sins way, water as a metaphor for blood, birth, rebirth, John the Baptist!

This is where the storm -> near death experience -> spiritual reawakening pattern ends, but the similarities become more clear when we recognise both of them as heralds whose strength lies in their reputation and their oratory, something both Euron & Herod recognise and it is what keeps them from killing him (or in Herod's case at least for some time).

I have mentioned on my blog that I don't buy a lot into the Jesus-Theon comparisons and I will mention it again later but, since I am a hypocrite, I will take the Theon-Jesus bait and use it as a prop for my Aeron-John thing. As of now there are just two instances involving Theon that actually make me think of Jesus:

Psalms 22

His baptism

Jesus baptism marks his place as "messiah" but it also announces the beginning of his true calvary. By having the Holy Spirit descend on him after the water has cleansed him, he accepts his destiny as his father's (God) lamb to the slaughter. According to Matthew's Gospel it is even Jesus who has to beg John to baptise him, although John is initially reluctant. After the baptism Jesus departs to the dessert knowing of the suffering that awaits for him. This is not the case for Theon. Theon initially doesn't even want to be baptised. It's almost like he is subconsciously trying to escape what is to come after the baptism: the anguish.

Lifting the skin, his uncle pulled the cork and directed a thin stream of seawater down upon Theon's head. It drenched his hair and ran over his forehead into his eyes. Sheets washed down his cheeks, and a finger crept under his cloak and doublet and down his back, a cold rivulet along his spine. The salt made his eyes burn, until it was all he could do not to cry out. He could taste the ocean on his lips. "Let Theon your servant be born again from the sea, as you were," Aeron Greyjoy intoned. "Bless him with salt, bless him with stone, bless him with steel." - Theon I, ACOK

I love Theon's baptism by Aeron. It goes badly and it's tragicomical. It feels like a mockery of Jesus' baptism. A satirised Monty Python type of scene.

Here he comes, our cocksure young man who sees himself as the chosen one, holding a promise of paper while thinking there is an entire comet heralding his return, here he comes, our prodigal son, all "Don't need no advice! I got a plan! I know the direction, the lay on the land! [...] Nuh-nuh-nothing can break-nuh-noting can break me down!" only to get cold feet and be made to kneel in the mud, annoyed at the custom that would have actually anointed him, and then having to blink the tears away because it hurts him. @/shebsart has a really beautiful and intense but also comical depiction of the scene and I really love it.

It's also a little sad. It shows a disconnection from what should have been his culture and faith. The saltwater washed Aeron's follies away. Aeron embraces it, he drinks saltwater, bathes in saltwater and would probably not mind it on his eyes. The saltwater nurtures Aeron, but to Theon it only gives pain.

Ok now, to

Reek, Aeron, Job and Jeyne, Falia and Job's wife

(I think a reading of The Book of Job could also be applied to Lancel Lannister with Amerei Frey taking the role of Job's wife and Jaime Lannister acting as Job's friends, but I won't write about him and even Aeron will be in second place. @/nosaeanchorage wrote meta about the religious journeys Theon, Aeron and Lancel experience involving trauma responses which I found to be very interesting and well formed, so yeah I'd recommend reading it!)

The book of Job has a theme in its story. Can you guess it? It's further suffering!

(In a very deep voice: Where were you when I feel from grace? A frozen heart, an empty space)

So, Job is this guy living a rather fulfilling and morally righteous life; he is happy with his wife and children, has a few friends, is wealthy and healthy and, most importantly, he is God-fearing. Satan tells God that the only reason Job is loyal to him and serves him so dutifully, is because God has been good to him. God gets insecure and tells Satan "alright, let's see if you are right. Go torture him a little. You can take his riches, his children and his health in that order. You can take pretty much everything he values, but keep him alive!"

Job becomes a miserable wreck of a man.

It's not a favourite of mine, but it has a pretty good interval of "pathetic wet kitten blorbo" and "angry, scornful almost defiant in his resentment survivor" so I still enjoy it. And it also opens the question on whether "divine punishment" is really something inherently based on justice and goodness, it defies the way many religions tend to preach that bad things can only happen to bad people and, unlike the suffering promised by Christ, there is no redemption to be found through it. Job at some point gets healthy again and his riches are restored, but this was not a given. The suffering is pointless unless he finds a meaning to it.

This doesn't really sound a lot like Theon or Aeron. Both of them were deprived of well adjusted, happy lives since childhood, but Theon's behaviour towards Ramsay sometimes reminds me of Job's feelings for God, and Euron literally claims himself to be a God.

Ramsay is never directly compared by the text or any characters to a God (well maybe he himself does, but that's arguable), the closest we come to such is this:

“The gods are not done with me,” Theon answered, wondering if this could be the killer, the night walker who had stuffed Yellow Dick’s cock into his mouth and pushed Roger Ryswell’s groom off the battlements. Oddly, he was not afraid. He pulled the glove from his left hand. “Lord Ramsay is not done with me.” - A Ghost in Winterfell, ADWD

But Theon's fear for him sometimes makes me think of one. He is so terrified of Ramsay and sees him as this unbeatable force, but keeps telling himself and others that whatever Ramsay has done, as nefarious as it is, is an act of mercy and goodness. I know there are different interpretations to that behaviour. Some readers tend to believe that he has successfully gaslighted himself, others see it as a remnant of his sardonic and sarcastic sense of humour. Personally, I imagine it's a mixture of both. There is enough textual evidence for me to believe he does not truly think Ramsay is justified in his actions, but I can imagine how he might try telling himself that no punishment goes undeserved as a way of coping, which is what he tells Jeyne too.

In the Book of Job, our poor little meow meow goes through different reactions as his torture starts, many of them resemble Theon's thoughts, never fully by text, but very much in spirit.

He would crush me with a storm and multiply my wounds for no reason. He would not let me catch my breath but would overwhelm me with misery. If it is a matter of strength, he is mighty! And if it is a matter of justice, who can challenge him? Even if I were innocent, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would pronounce me guilty. - Job 9:17-20

How long will you torment me and crush me with words?  Ten times now you have reproached me; shamelessly you attack me.   If it is true that I have gone astray, my error remains my concern alone. If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me and use my humiliation against me, then know that God has wronged me and drawn his net around me.  Though I cry, ‘Violence!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice. He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; he has shrouded my paths in darkness.  He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head.  He tears me down on every side till I am gone; he uproots my hope like a tree.  His anger burns against me; he counts me among his enemies.  His troops advance in force; they build a siege ramp against me and encamp around my tent.  He has alienated my family from me; my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.  My relatives have gone away; my closest friends have forgotten me.  My guests and my female servants count me a foreigner; they look on me as on a stranger.  I summon my servant, but he does not answer, though I beg him with my own mouth.  My breath is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own family.  Even the little boys scorn me; when I appear, they ridicule me.  All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me.  I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth. - Job 19:1-20

That, the ambivalent conviction that they deserve to be punished, and the overall fear of their torturer's omnipotence are written similarly. Of course in Job's narrative the omnipotence is real, in Theon's it is only perceived, but so, so strongly.

And this is where Jeyne takes an interesting role.

Job's wife is a fun character and I admire her. To some extent she and Jeyne serve similar purposes in the story, since they defy Job and Theon's conviction of their fate being unescapable. Sadly, in Job and his wife's case, she is wrong because you can't defeat God and you can't escape him, but I still appreciate her condemnation of Job's passivity and God's supposed goodness. The text focuses on Job's pain but never on the collateral pain that reaches his wife. She might not have fallen sick, but since her living condition is tied to that of her husband she is affected by all this. She has lost her riches, her happiness, her children, and only because of God's whims, someone she begins to hate. She also begins to loathe Job and the way he keeps making excuses for God and justifying the tragedy that befalls them. So, she tells Job:

“Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” - Job 2:9

(fucking metal, I love her, iconic behaviour)

The holy scriptures are not very compassionate to women who defy men or God, they get vilified and punished, but I applaud that bravery.

In Jeyne's case, her defying of Theon's conviction that Ramsay is unescapable is done much more gently and the relationship between them appears to be one of mutual compassion; Theon often tries to victim-blame her in the same way he blames himself but never seems to truly internalise that, Jeyne apparently doesn't hold his participation in her abuse against him and considers him her saviour. But still! Jeyne, as meek and scared as she is, is the one who by constantly asking for help, by acting undignified in her suffering and not simply taking it without question, manages to water this seed of doubt in Theon's mind, even if he himself isn't fully aware of that.

And it's kind of fun to think how, although Jeyne and Falia are narrative props with similar purposes, it's Jeyne and Aeron who take the place of Job's wife. Falia is Job, fully sure that Euron is merciful and will treat her with respect and care for their children, that Euron will not forsake her, while Aeron is immediately telling her to run for her life.

Maybe because, unlike Theon, his faith is already placed in a God.

Jesus Christ & The Forsaken (and Lodos and Theon)

(Need new song...Wow a yard SAIL!)

Lodos

I'm going to clear the issue with Lodos very fast, because he too seems to be like a wink at Jesus Christ. Lodos literally claims he is the Drowned God's Son, dies, then supposedly comes back from the dead some time later like "'sup", leads a rebellion against the current ruler of the Iron Islands and dies again this time with all his followers being persecuted and killed, so yeah, he seems like a satirised version of Jesus Christ but there is not a lot more to that.

Theon

I have seen people claiming connections between the two but never in a manner I could agree with, and I feel so stupid because I don't get it. People sometimes compared his and Robb's relationship to Jesus & Judas, which aside from the suicidal thoughts post "betrayal" doesn't seem very alike. The "betrayal" was done for different reasons, the reactions to the "betrayal" are different, and the guilt also comes from different places. By placing Theon as Judas we also sanctify Robb in a manner I find almost insulting since Robb condoned and approved of Theon's torture by the Boltons. If I'm going to compare Robb and Theon it will be more to God & Satan, but even there it's only a superficial similitude.

Now, Aeron, Aeron, my love, Aeron!

My God, my God, why have thou forsaken me? - Psalms 22:1

“Still praying, priest? Your god has forsaken you.” - The Forsaken, TWOW

Even the title feels like a reference. The trajectory of Aeron's belief during the chapter resembles the psalms too and, although I never believe in anything I think, their similitudes are what makes me hopeful about Aeron's fate; the idea that he is not truly forsaken.

As hinted above, the Psalms begin lamenting themselves over the anguish that God is seemingly not stoping, yet as they continue the psalmist becomes even more convinced of his God being a merciful one who will provide a cure for his afflictions, one whom the world should praise.

For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.  From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you I will fulfil my vows.  The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the LORD will praise him— may your hearts live forever!  All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep themselves alive.  Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord.  They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it! - Psalms 22:24-31

According to most interpretations, the psalmist himself is Jesus. This is the suffering of Christ and from Psalms 22:22-31 it is spoken by him after coming back from the dead. He encourages others, those who have witnessed his anguish, to believe. This is also what Aeron does once Falia is bound to the prow with him, he tells her of better times to come.

“Falia Flowers,” he called. “Have courage, girl! All this will be over soon, and we will feast together in the Drowned God’s watery halls.” - The Forsaken, TWOW

This also slightly mirrors Jesus and the Penitent Thief, who is crucified next to the Messiah and fears what is to come after death. He asks Jesus to not forget him.

Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” - Luke 23:43

It's so remarkable and moving to me how Aeron has always tried to protect Falia from Euron. He doesn't know her, if he were to have known her he would have probably looked at her with scorn, to some extent she has acted as an accomplice to Euron in his captivity, and yet...he promises this frivolous greenlander girl that the two of them will feast together...

The end of the chapter also carries christian imagery that seems to stem from Christ's crucifixion.

“Your Grace,” said Torwold Browntooth. “I have the priests. What do you want done with them?” “Bind them to the prows,” Euron commanded. “My brother on the Silence. Take one for yourself. Let them dice for the others, one to a ship. Let them feel the spray, the kiss of the Drowned God, wet and salty.” - The Forsaken, TWOW

When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.  Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.” This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said, “They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.” So this is what the soldiers did. - John 19:23-24

They bound Aeron Damphair tight with strips of leather that would shrink when wet, clad only in his beard and breechclout.  - The Forsaken, TWOW

The overall mental image summoned by that description is also rather similar to the typical depictions of Christ on the cross.

And even prior to The Forsaken, there are still some smaller, more superficial similitudes between the two.

Aeron lives sparingly, has no material possessions save for his waterskin and robe, he has a cult of followers devoted to him, and disregards governmental authority since he obeys to a higher power, one who encourages suffering in the same manner christianity does. Aeron fasts, goes swimming in cold water, drinks salt water, all this as a way to serve his God and become a living example of their teachings.

So yeah, in my opinion Aeron is the closest we have to an ASOIAF Jesus reference. It's not Theon, Theon's torture by Ramsay and the torture he imposes on himself afterward have no ideological purpose, it is pointless and unwilling. In my opinion, it's not Jon, it's not Beric, it surely isn't Robb, I hope it's not Dany (although I see a lot of abrahamic imagery in her (Moses + Lot's wife)), it's the Damphair. And I love that. I love how (according to the the author) one of the least sympathetic characters in this story has been somewhat equated to Jesus. A bold move, one that I've enjoyed a lot.

Anyway, in order to further develop this.

The Storm God, Euron and the Devil

Let's go!

I feel like Euron would appreciate this type of stuff he is flamboyant, weird and comical. If we ever get an ASOIAF musical I like to believe this could be inspiration for a duet between them.

Monotheism is a rare concept in ASOIAF.

The Many-Faced God could be the closest we have to a (explored in text) monotheistic religion, although it is monotheistic in the way Hinduism could be considered monotheistic: The belief in one supreme god whose qualities and forms are represented by a multitude of different deities, all which emanate from one alone. 

Out of the religions that are explored in the books none of them are really monotheistic, although some of them demand for their worshippers to worship them and no other.

Most real-life monotheistic religions have a type of "anti" to their god, who is not a god themselves, but is a being superior to humankind meant to drive them to perdition. They function more as a tool for testing human's moral compass and will to follow the true God than a foe. The word "Satan" means "adversary", but this is in reference to his relationship to humans, not to God.

In Goethe's Faust, God and one of his devils, Mephistopheles, make a bet and Mephistopheles is fully devoted to winning that bet. He does everything in his power to prove human virtue isn't true and that corruption will always prevail. The story proves he has a point. Faust does some completely despicable and heinous stuff and is very immoral, and still Mephistopheles loses anyway because God decides to pardon Faust's misdeeds and allows him to enter Heaven. Mephistopheles never stood a chance. He was fighting the narrative and the writer of the narrative and he could only be defeated by them. He is only a minion of God who doesn't comprehend his position and believes he is capable of surpassing a creature who is above all.

This is pretty compliant with christianity's views on the devil.

Hoverer, it is not the case with beliefs like those of Aeron and Melisandre. They don't regard the Storm God and the Great Other as mere petty minions doing the Drowned God's or R'hllor's dirty work. They see them as threats and all other gods as their petty minions.

"There are no gods but R'hllor and the Other, whose name may not be said." - Victarion I, ADWD

"Your Drowned God is a demon, he is no more than a thrall of the Other, the dark god whose name must not be spoken." - Victarion I, ADWD

The Storm God is considered an enemy of the Drowned God, and although his labour is similar to that of the christian devil (driving men/sailors into their doom), he seems to be his own creature.

And still! When comparing Aeron's role to Jesus Christ in the Forsaken, I can't help but think of Euron, the Storm God, and Satan as one.

“Kneel, brother,” the Crow’s Eye commanded. “I am your king, I am your god. Worship me, and I will raise you up to be my priest.” - The Forsaken, TWOW

(Not gonna lie, I think it's very fun how out of all the Greyjoy's the one whose name is directly derived from "God" is actually Theon, but alright, whatever...)

We don't really know what triggered Aeron's religious awakening. With Theon, Ramsay and his time in Winterfell is the easiest answer, with Aeron it's a mystery and I don't dare to say religion was a coping mechanism for Euron's sexual abuse or Urri's death because, based on what we know, the more plausible options are that alcohol and sex were the coping mechanisms.

We only know he went down in a storm and washed up ashore. On itself that is enough to be traumatic, so I don't know how much we should speculate on it.

A smile played across Euron's blue lips. "I am the storm, my lord. The first storm, and the last. - The Reaver, AFFC

I don't even have a theory, I don't have any proof or a structured idea. This just seemed remarkable to me. The concept that Euron might be involved in whatever happened during that storm is tempting and fun, nothing more.

Now, if Aeron is playing the role of Jesus, with Falia as the penitent thief during the "crucification", then I think I can claim Euron is taking the role of Satan; especially during The Forsaken.

After an undetermined, but apparently long period of starvation and isolation, Euron finally comes to Aeron, dressed in black and red, and presents the equivalent to the Devil's three temptations.

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”  Jesus answered,  “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.  “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ”  Jesus answered him,  “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will kneel and worship me.” Jesus said to him,  “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ ” Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. - Matthew 4:1-11

“That’s it, priest. Gulp it down. The wine of the warlocks, sweeter than your seawater, with more truth in it than all the gods of earth.” - The Forsaken, TWOW

“Pray to me. Beg me to end your torment, and I will.” “Not even you would dare,” said the Damphair. “I am your brother. No man is more accursed than the kinslayer.” - The Forsaken, TWOW

“Kneel, brother,” the Crow’s Eye commanded. “I am your king, I am your god. Worship me, and I will raise you up to be my priest.” - The Forsaken, TWOW

I'm not going to pretend they are the same, with exception of the third one, but even the others have small resemblances; nourishment of some sort after starving + trying to get the other killed, although the later one reminds me more of an encounter between him and Victarion.

Euron turned to face him, his bruised blue lips curled in a half smile. "Perhaps we can fly. All of us. How will we ever know unless we leap from some tall tower?" - The Reaver, AFFC

The last temptation, is the most interesting to me, because Euron has already distorted Aeron's faith into being chosen as King. He played at the edge of legality and won! And yet now, during The Forsaken he is experiencing a sort of existential defeat. Aeron is not being rescued by any god, but he would rather die as a martyr or accept even more torture and suffering rather than serve him. It doesn't matter how much Euron tries to convince him that his God has abandoned him, that he is a greater force, like Jonah, Job and Jesus Aeron refuses to abandon his faith.

And I think this persistence is what will keep him alive.

I've always found it very fun and interesting that Euron never threatens to cut Aeron's tongue out.

When wondering why, the Theon-Ramsay answer would be that Euron likes to hear Aeron's pain, which makes sense given how Aeron is a more targeted victim of his compared to ex. Falia Flowers. But Euron very clearly intends to gain Aeron to his side. He knows of the power Aeron holds in his voice and speech, of his reputation as a holy and respected man among the Ironborn, and how much of a waste it would be to simply throw away that power. Remember Varys' "[Cersei] knows a tame wolf is of more use than a dead one"? An eloquent priest is of more use than a mute one.

But this also backfires on him because since Aeron's integrity can't be broken, he manages to keep defying him and even continues spreading the word of the Drowned God, even as he is in a situation of mortal peril.

And still, even if the end of The Forsaken is somewhat triumphal, I can't believe it.

Yes, he is strengthening his faith, this obviously is a victory over Euron, his persistence and loyalty, but how long will it last? Weirdly enough out of my five favourite POV characters, Aeron is the one whose death I'm convinced of the least (sadly), and whenever I try picturing him after managing to get away from the Silence I can't help but imagine there will be a change in his mindset and I don't know what form it will take.

“Even a priest may doubt. Even a prophet may know terror. Aeron Damphair reached within himself for his god and discovered only silence.” - The Drowned Man, AFFC

Maybe it is because the chances of getting to my 30s are very narrow, and in the mean time I am in physical and mental pain, that I find there is something very beautiful and empowering about showing that the horrors are not always meaningful, and that they are continuous. The horrors are trying to live before, during and after the horrors.

So anyway, the reason I brought up Nietzsche way earlier in this is because I don't think the suffering in characters like Aeron or Theon is of nihilistic nature and it baffles me when people pretend it is. This is not suffering for the sake of suffering because suffering is inevitable and pointless and blah blah blah blah misery porn blah blah blah trauma porn blah blah blah moral outrage blah blah blah. It is suffering, it is inevitable, it can be pointless, and it makes a huge point in the narrative and the characters lives! And it is important to me that we see characters go through these things; to see them lose, grieve and hate, to see them being imperfect examples of victimhood, even if their feelings on the matter will vary. Some might attach some personal value to their trauma and others won't and both should be allowed to exist in media without people pretending only one of those is valid.

Theon's suffering is something very rare and precious to me because it serves no greater purpose. It started before he even met Ramsay and hasn't known at end ever since. I don't consider it redemptive, it's not a justified karmic punishment either. It carries no ideology and it's not for the sake of others. There is no consolation for him or anyone else because of it. The blood will coagulate, dry and be washed away, the wounds will scar and heal, and he will gain weight and muscles back and none of his mental issues will be solved. The torture doesn't fix him.

And I think that his possible outlook on it will be very interesting to see in contrast with Aeron's and their respective religious journeys. Theon's religious awakening is different and still genuine. It is in servitude to another faith that would be looked down upon by Aeron, and whom even Theon himself denied back in ACOK, mockingly referring to them as trees.

"Tell me true, nephew. Do you pray to the wolf gods now?" Theon seldom prayed at all, but that was not something you confessed to a priest, even your father's own brother. "Ned Stark prayed to a tree. No, I care nothing for Stark's gods." "Good. Kneel." - Theon I, ACOK

And I can't imagine an Aeron who, after going through an event this world-shattering (being tied to the prow of a ship while living unspeakable horrors, being drugged by the person who sexually abused him as a child and has now confessed to killing their brothers, one of whom Aeron seemed fond of, being confronted with the victory of a self proclaimed god whom he despises, and starting to form his own connection with a former mean girl whom he would have spat on, now co-victim), would be as judgemental to his nephew's newly awoken beliefs, even if they differ, even if he keeps viewing his own calvary as something divine, even if to Theon the suffering will never be a positive.

With all this said, I will admit I long for some evolution in Aeron's faith as the story progresses. I am open to pretty much every ending, but I love the possibility of a rupture between him and the faith that has been sustaining him for so long. Perhaps not a full negation of his God, but some questioning of his religion. The unsettlement of the "God is Dead" sentiment crawling in the cracks of his doubt.

So, simply out of curiosity in case anyone actually managed to get here:

[ladymorghul]

i was thinking about brackwood and skam and that scene where isak's like "wow the teacher's really gay" and gets called out by his best friend but instead i was thinking of aeron at uni seeing a gay couple kiss and feeling both like "god i want that" and like "ugh why do they have to display themselves like that?" and it all being so confusing.

like he's finally at uni and exploring the world and these two worlds suddenly clash a little and put him on a path of self discovery.

and of course... in comes davos blackwood who has his hand in turning aeron's world upside down.

davos is lowkey secure in his sexuality (although traditional, his family isn't that religious and they kinda, sorta, mostly got over it when his aunt aly came out) but deals with having feelings for a bracken and what that means for him, his friends and his family, who despise the brackens too, and aeron has to confront his feelings for a man, but also feelings he buried within him for a long time

the idea of them navigating family feuds, a potential romance with a rough start AND aeron's religious guilt is so delicious

and idk it's not that the brackens are religious fanatics, not at all imo, but it's just something that was present in aeron's life, who lived in a bubble for most of it, and who took it all to heart even more in fear of sticking out when he started experiencing his feelings the first time

so it's not too extreme on either side but these conflicts still exist in a way that causes these boys trouble in finding each other.