#cradle bond

[horizon-verizon]

Most tg stans claim that: "but Rhaenyra's son are bastards! They have brown hair! That's proof enough to declare them as such!"

I mean... is that how it works? (Im seriously asking)

No. Even today and in real life, you can't always now for sure a person's child is not so-and-so man's child just by looking at them--100% of the time.

The greens of the story (the characters are not TG, TG are their fans and stans) were trying to prove Rhaenyra's sons weren't Laenor's through the fact that both Laenor and Rhaenyra had the typical Targaryen features: white-yellow hair, purples eyes, and pale skin. As opposed to Alicent's children who had Viserys as their dad and all had the typical Targ/Valyrian look.

They were thus essentially trying to prove that none of Rhaenyra's sons were "true Targaryens" or real successors/ineligible to be in the line of succession, since typically heirs are those who are legitimate scions of a man [in this case Viserys] and the preference is to have scions from a "male line". Which means that a person who can draw their descendance from a ruler through their mother or grandmother has less claim than a person who can do so through a father and/or a grandfather. And the medieval idea of fatherhood-trait inheritance (bc again, no access or knowledge of genetics beyond the superficial) was that children inherit the most favorable or impressive of traits from the man, not the woman. So there was also a time when the court at KL (possibly through Alicent's attempt at drawing approval and note towards her kids by trashing on Rhaenyra's for that contrast) kept referring to the idea of how "true" Targaryens hatch their eggs even as early as infanthood. "Cradle bonding". It comes from the legend of Rhaena the Black Bride putting Jaehaerys I & Alysanne's eggs into their cradles, thus jumpstarting that bond. However, this court idea is stupid bc the Targaryens/those related mostly have always bonded more often with dragons when they were much older: Aegon I, Daemon, Rhaena the rider of Dreamfyre Laena, Alysanne, Viserys I, Baelon, Maegor, a few of the Dragonseeds. And every single one of the Velaryon boys' dragons were hatched infanthood & all three bonded with them at their infanthood, whilst two out of four of Alicent's kids Helaena & Aemond had to bond with their dragons at an older age (we don't know where Aegon II or Daeron bonded with their dragons). It really just showed/proved how stupid and pervasive male-first, patriarchal logic is really unnatural.

Also, there are dozens of Targaryens both before and after the Dance generations who didn't have typical Valyrian looks but were undoubtedly children from Targaryen or Valyrian-descent men: Baelor Breakspear, Alysanne, Alyssa (Meleys' rider), Duncan the first prince, Valarr, Rhaenys (Meleys' rider), Duncan the 2nd prince. and we still have Daenerys Stormborn from these people's line. Daenerys, who both through her lineage and her own will becomes the Mother of Dragons and much more than a dragonrider.

Finally, the greens were obviously unsuccessful in their attempts at proving them not-Laenor's with Alicent having to do all that she did to have Rhaenyra usurped.

[myymi]

mangey hiding behind his brothers is my favorite genre

[cicerfics]

Listen, I see Bond as a person who is deeply, fundamentally, self-sacrificially loyal to everyone at MI6 who is loyal to MI6. If they are loyal to the organization, Bond is loyal to them! He will kill and die for them! He will place himself between his colleagues and dangerous individuals! He is very livestock-guardian-coded!

It's just...his enthusiasm for this task varies based on the individual in question. For some (Mansfield!M and Q), he is only too happy to kill and die for them. He is vibrating with the desire to eliminate all threats to their person, and looking for opportunities to fling himself into danger on their behalf.

But for certain other people, like Skyfall/SPECTRE-era Mallory*, Bond's attitude is more like, "...I will kill and die for you, but I won't be happy about it. 😒 It's rotten work. Especially to me. Especially if it's you. I'll do it, but Jesus Christ."

All this is to say, I really want a fic where Mallory has been abducted and Bond (very effectively and efficiently) rescues him, while make it clear the whole time that he views this as a tremendous imposition. Like, he's going to do an absolutely A+ job of rescuing his boss, but he's going to complain about it the whole time.

He's going to sigh so heavily as he cuts through Mallory's bindings and removes his gag. He's going to shake his head so condescendingly as he takes down the baddie standing guard so he can secure Mallory's escape route. He will be bringing this up during every argument he and Mallory have in the future, and he's already making that clear.

Does this fic exist already? Someone please throw me a link if it does.

*As per usual, I am choosing to ignore what NTTD did to Mallory's character

[starry-bi-sky]

ive been hesitating to ask this bc youve been on a roll with the clone^2au (which i am frothing over) but could i poke you for some childhood friend au? bc GOD i wanna see how danny reacts to reuniting w jason or how the rest of the batfam react to learning jason never told danny of his resurrection or wondering if dannys gonna put jokers dead body on a display/offering to jasons grave. i havent been normal about this since i first read it and was wondering. thank you for your writing.

RAAAAHHHH DON'T BE HESITANT I AM JUST AS FERAL OVER MY CHILDHOOD FRIENDS AU AS I AM WITH CLONE^2 I AM DELIGHTED BY THIS. Like.,,,, i literally love them,,, so much. I can't listen to The Crane Wives without thinking of them.

(which is my fault - the ao3 fic of them has literally only crane wives lyrics for each chapter title and summary (posted AND the ones not written) so of course im gonna associate with them.)

(if you wanna listen to some of their songs while thinking of cfau here are my recommendations: "Once & for All", "Here I Am", "Hollow Moon" is a Danny AND Jason song to me, this would be my go-to song for an animatic of CFAU if i had the skills for it. "Tongues and Teeth", "Curses" and "take me to war" is a heavy cfau danny song to me, and of course, "the moon will sing")

Like they're BEST friends dude, they're two sides of the same coin and when they were kids they would do this thing where their 'fingers crossed'/'double-crossed' was them hooking their index fingers in the fingers crossed gesture.

and i'm actually currently rewriting my original post into a more fic-like format, and when I'm done I'll post it on here under the cfau tag - with the original post still in tact. But its,,, gonna be so long dude,,,, the original behemoth was just over 9000 words,,, and I've written 3k words already of the new one and we haven't even reached Jason and Danny reuniting at the gala yet,,, i need to get back to that,,,

and then to answer your questions!! god im almost hesitant to answer because i dont wanna spoil the little fic i had planned for it but also like,, its not like im gonna spoil everything, right? and answering the questions isnt the same as writing the scene down so!!

i love danny and jason's reuniting, like i've thought about it SO much and I've thought about it happening after Danny kills the Joker. I know the reveal could have been before that, and it could have been equally just as dramatic but like??? Thematically, doing it after danny kills the joker is SO good. To me at least.

Because like?? Jason's been in somewhat denial about danny's plan to kill the joker for months. ever since danny told him that he wanted to at the gala. And from Jason's pov its not even technically a plan. He sees his best friend for the first time after five years and his best friend still isn't over his death. He hasn't stepped foot in Gotham since his funeral and now suddenly he's here.

And he's still so full of grief over his death that he tells a masked vigilante that he's going to kill the guy that did it, who lives in said masked vigilante's city. And danny's got that look in his eyes that Jason knows so well that means he's being serious. And yet he still doesn't know if he should believe him or not.

And then he does. Danny kills him. And Jason can't fucking believe it. And when he goes and sees Danny, Danny's hands are still covered in blood. And that reunion? God like a fucking firework show. Danny's so fucking angry, and pissed, and hurt, and so goddamn overjoyed that he's alive and here that he sends them both to the ground, and if he doesn't calm down he's gonna take out the power in a five block radius.

there's just so, so much yelling on Danny's end. And then so much crying, first from Danny and then them both. because god, you're alive. you're here. i've missed you so much. i'm never letting you out of my sights again.

and Joker's death! God I don't want to actually say too much about that, but the way I have it set up thematically makes me actually not want danny to take any part of the joker with him as an offering. and he may actually forego that particular ghost etiquette and offer something else as an offering to Jason in substitute to not bringing him the Joker's heart/head/ritualistic body part.

Because you know what the last thing a man whose been spending the last two decades of his life building himself up to be larger than life would want? A death that's unremarkable. :) and that's all i'll put on the matter for now.

and the batfam!! they technically already know that jason hasn't told danny he was resurrected, and plenty of them have mixed feelings on them. largely bruce and dick i think, considering they saw firsthand how close jason and danny were when they were kids.

Dick was honestly surprised at first when he found out that Jason hadn't told Danny he was alive - and on one hand he understands the reasoning for it, and on the other hand he isn't sure if it was such a good idea. Especially after he sees Danny again after he arrives back in Gotham and sees just how badly Jason's death was still affecting him. But it's not like he's going to try and convince Jason to tell him - he can make his own choices, even if Dick has questions about them.

Bruce has much the same thoughts as Dick, so there's not really much to add here other than he might bring it up once or twice to Jason like, vaguely. And then immediately drops it when Jason shuts him down. He might actually somewhat...?? prefer that Jason hasn't told Danny because that raises a lot of questions and could jeopardize their identities. However, again, Jason can make his own choices and there's not much Bruce can do about it other than disapprove from afar.

Tim who knew of Danny from stalking the Wayne family shares similars sentiments of being surprised that Jason didn't tell Danny, but again, yeah, understands the thought process to some extent. Doesn't bring it up ever.

Everyone else who hadn't seen firsthand how close Danny and Jason are don't really have much opinion on it -- Jason didn't tell his best friend he was alive, great, he also didn't tell them either so it's not like its that much of a surprise. It would've been more of a surprise to them if Jason had told Danny before he told Bruce and co. Damian may make a comment or two about Jason not telling Danny, but its not about how he can't believe he didn't tell him or anything like it.

[atopvisenyashill]

on reflection the fact that we didn’t see laena claim vhagar, and now didn’t see the moment addam got on seasmoke either? kinda annoying me

[haveihitanerve]

Sam: *sick* oh look at me, I’m a super soldier with perfect health and a fast metabolism and super strength so I don’t have to work out or try at all! Peter:… I just asked if you wanted soup Bucky: relax Samuel  Sam: oh fuck both of you so much

[fandomfriend33]

i will always be here for lance with altean marks. im traumatized, but im still here.

[hiccupbutpurple]

I love turn and burn cause Hiccup looks so small and cuddled up against Snotlout when they get trapped and it makes me go awwww cuddles! Even tho they are angry but Snotlout is cradling him I love it

[flockrest]

unprompted / always accepting / @gloryseized ( Link )

     So it's a pretty slow-going night for collecting star fragments, as it turns out.

     Which is totally fine! Really! They can't all be winners — and it gives Tulin all the more time to get Link caught up on everything that's happened to the flock while he was away!

     But. Well.

     Even in knowing this, the disappointment that ruffles his feathers is a hard thing to ignore. It's been too long since they'd last hung out like this, both ( mostly Link ) too busy with their own dedications and responsibilities ( mostly Link ) to find the chance to have fun just for the sake of having fun, and now the fun's not even gonna have the decency to start when they're all prepped for it to?

     Go figure.

     He chatters on some more 'bout the ( thankfully harmless but very hilarious all the same ) explosion Molli accidentally ignited on Master Revali's Landing the other day, continuing to try pacing his restlessness out along the deck of the Stormwind Ark near where Link's seated himself, before eventually flumping down beside him with a sigh he can't quite keep locked behind his beak. He lolls back 'til his head's on the hero's shoulder, semiplumes squished up 'gainst Link's ear and cheek.

     "Sorry it's so boring up here," he says, feeling ridiculous for it a second later 'cause it's not like Tulin has any sorta control over when and where stars fall. It still feels like it's kinda his fault for how things are going, though — they were s'pposed to be in Necluda's skies tonight ( they were s'pposed to be there two moon phasings ago, actually, but who's counting ) as per their routine, but his brother had arrived at their peaks real tired and Tulin hadn't wanted to push him into being, like, dead-tired. Even if Link insisted otherwise.

     The shoulder beneath his head rises and dips in what he's fairly sure is probably a snicker. Tulin turns then, playfully offended squawk already building up in his chest, 'cept Link isn't actually laughing at him.

<< I'm glad you're here. >>

     Oh.

     Feathers puffing with a delighted, tickling warmth, Tulin feels the joy that always sweeps over him when Link's being real nice like this all the way down to the tips of his talons. To all the tiniest spaces between his bones! They're flock and nest, 'course, so this isn't the first time he's been told something along these lines, but the love that radiates from that quiet smile and those assured signs just seems— heavier. Fuller. Link's-talking-'bout-more-than-right-here-and-now-er. It's seriously hard to resist bowling him over with a hug in the face of it.

     Tulin's getting better at not immediately ruining a peaceful moment when he sees one though, and that tends to require a more delicate touch. ( Or, uh, as delicate a touch as he can manage. )

     "That makes two of us!" he laughs, beaming with barely contained giddiness and nudging at Link with a wing. Then, y'know what, he gives the night sky around them one last look, scoots closer, and plops the back of his head right down onto his brother's lap. If the stars remained still for whatever time they have left before they gotta go, Tulin decides he wouldn't mind it if it meant being together like this just a while longer. "I'm glad you're here, too!"

[horizon-verizon]

What do you think Laena's and Daemon's relationship was?

*EDITED POST* (4/23/24)

Disclaimer: A Headcanon, bc We simply Don't Know The Deeper Stuff Apart from he loved her and she him.

I've said this before (Post #1 and Post#2 and Post#3), but I think not long after they met & married, they came to love each other platonically and romantically; that his motives for pursuing her were political as well as emotional/romantic/sexual.

A) HotD & Its Racism

Honestly, even in the original canon, the Velaryons lose a lot throughout their connection to the Targs and Corlys' ambition. However, HotD made some decisions that make them look less impressive or intelligent than was needed:

Laena not having her Vhagar-claim scene despite her saying over and over she wants to embody dragon-riding and her heritage for its own sake since she was 12 (Aemond is because he wants to prove himself against bastards) -- also her having that dragonrider pride Daemon has, yet that not being enough for him to love her?! How does this not also invalidate or throw into doubt the central ship these people are trying to push (Daemyra)?! Self contradictory.

her daughters not getting a glance from Daemon in that 7th episode (I could be tripping for this one, but idk)

Daemon's apparent "trouble" with Rhaena not having a dragon bond yet despite he himself not having claimed/bonded with Caraxes until he was in his late teens and how more likely it is for him to actually expressively encourage her to be okay with that and know how to do that/be persistent! [more on his fatherhood below]

Laena gets that self-immolating treatment (a common wife-riddance social tool in some cultures' literature and actual history) when dragon riders actually don't die often in fire nor is that even a desired death by anyone in canon. It's simply a flashier way to go and to provoke watchers while giving more pain to an already dying, lonely woman (as she wasn't surrounded by loved ones like in canon, and in Driftmark her childhood and ancestral home).

Laenor got punched up by a Kingsuard while becoming the next Prince Consort of a ruling Queen, and yet doesn't recompense through Criston's exile or death.

Laenor loses his lover to a nonsensically-allowed outburst of rage from Colon in the midst of his engagement feast. In canon, Choler kills Joffrey in what could be reasonably excused, at least, during a melee, where anyone could get killed in a competitive fury. Thus Cholera escaped death and punishment that way.

those wigs were just not it (being semi-facetious) and comparatively worse-laid than the ones for white actors

I did not like that we did not get more of Daemon giving her the respect he gave her in F&B concerning her desires to live in Driftmark when she explicitly said that she wanted her kids to grow up in her ancestral home when he himself has been clawing at the bit to live close to his own family...canonically. There is a clear difference in emotional support and care the writers or producers or whoever thought Laena would get from Daemon, and that partially comes from what they think of Daemon and the men of this world but with how they treated the Black characters thus far and with Laena's death, I can't help but see a racial bias at work as well.

(Watsonian) I didn't think that Daemon being more distant with Laena than he was/is w/Rhaenyra was about race while I was watching because in the HotD universe, (not the book or pre-HotD world of ASoIaF/original!) the Velaryons' Blackness does not seem to affect their in-world how other nobles in-world regard them nor the wider cope of prestige the Velaryons canonically had. Racism is not baked against the Velaryons from other houses. It simply isn't there. So "in-text" (text of the show that the writers think they are giving, not the book), Daemon is more distant from Laena bc she wants to live as a free dragon rider while he wants to lick his wounds and feels guilt for still wanting Rhaenyra. Again, this is what the writers tried to convey but fucked up because they wrote against the Velaryons as a whole as well as made Laena's death less emotionally impactful for both Rhaenyra and Daemon by removing the women's friendship.

We need to separate the show from the books, because the Velaryon women have been erroneously and sexistly rewritten. I talk about Laena HERE. And I don't mean that her blackness is the mistake; how they rewrote her relationship to Daemon. We only have their life together in a few scenes of one episodes, first of all, which constricts our understanding or the material for it to one episode that's shared with other characters. I this lone epsiode, we only get to see that despite Laena herself a prod dragonsrider of the dragon his dead father was bonded with and of the rider whose sword he carries, Daemon seem sto treat Laena or regard her more as a nag than a companion. They don't have moments of peace or simply enjoying each other's companies, too, without it going back to their public dragonriding performance, which coincidentally (not really) pushes Laena to try to make Daemon see reason to go back to KL. Meaninwhile, bk!Daemon makes the decisions himself and does what show!Daemon of episode 3 refuses to do and appeal to his brother Viserys so he can move the pregnant bk!Laena to Driftmark so she can do as what show!Laena wanted and have their kids grow up in the place she did. In the show, Daemon is upset and uncommunicative to his own daughter both before and after LAena dies, and some people argue that he's just too upset with the prospect of Rhaena not having had a hatched egg in infancy...meanwhile, not only does Daemon himself only bond with Caraxes until he's 16, MOST Targaryens/Targ-descents bond with a dragon in ther preteens to even adulthood! There's no reason for show!Daemon to feel as he does towards Rhaena.

And the show changing Daemon hugging his daughters to him just leaving them to cry is such a clear attempt to recharacterize Daemon and his relationships to his family a something much more dysfunctional than it was to coincidentally match deadbeat dad energy...bc apparently Daemon cannot feel as close connections to his black family as he can his white ones (Viserys and Rhaenyra)? that's the conclusion you very much can go to, since the writing simply makes no sense when we think abt the actual lore. "Oh, it's so hard for him bc he had all these grand ideas about dragonrider legacy and Rhaena not making her egg hatch messed that up"...I've had to listen to people claim that Daemon was not ignoring or mistreating Rhaena through neglect...I'm sorry but this makes bad parenting, NOT being a uwu babygirl! Your children should not have to experience emotional withdrawal from a disappointed parent and be left to feel as if you are the issue.

And yes, show!Daemon makes Rhaena feel like she is the issue bc if we say that he was disappointed that she's not a "proper" dragonrider, we are saying that he's not the issue, she is! We're more concerned about how Daemon's prospects are not aligning how he wants them instead of how he's performing his fatherly duties. We're practically encouraging deadbeat dadism, and why? Meanwhile, people get on about Rhaenyra beign a bad mom bc she "allowed" her sons to be born WHILE SIMULTAENOUSLY sayinf she shouldn't have left KL for Dragonstone even though she clearly wanted a better life for her and her sons away from Alicent's attempts to denigrate their positions at court. Fostering a more negative environment for those boys. Sure....

Why all this change, and towards the negative?! And why do so many fans love it so much?! I am a Daemyra fan, but really, I don't need Daemon to hate every women he's married to for the sake of the ship. The ship, to me, stands on its own. And GRRM confirms it many times. If you need a ship to be discriminatory (in terms of making its adapted version more fraught with discord), then you probably have some bigoted shit or ideas about relationships to work through. Or the ship itself is logically unfeasible even with all the fanons made for it, and you are desperate to make up for it.

I think that along with the racism that just "automatically" governing the reasoning for the writers in regards to the Velaryons, they also wanted to make Daemyra that much more central for marketing value. The hot OTP couple made even hotter for all our consumerist needs.

B) Fire and Blood

That being said, I read F&B before the show existed. The changes I mentioned above (apart form the Velaryons becoming black) didn't need to exist at all. Laena and Daemon of canon had their own secure, unique, and charming relationship.

At the same time, while I do very much believe that Daemon and Laena loved each other (I already gave an example of him writing to Viserys above) before the show, I never thought Daemon fell in love with Laena or first pursued her for her personality and bearing alone. Similar to how he loved Rhaenyra and her him for some ideas of their political roles.

After they marry, they spend a year together traveling and in the next year, they stay at Pentos for Laena to give birth and to take care of their twins before going back to Westeros-Driftmark, where they eventually build a life with Rhaenyra for the rest of their marriage (1-2 years). In all, they were married for 4 or so years.

I believe that with Laena, Daemon became a real father of action and practice and settled; Laena lived her happiest, freest days. But as I said in this post about him maybe marrying and fucking Rhaenyra not long after Laena's death--just from the biased, unforthcoming, short, undetailed account of people who were not there to witness Daemon-Laena at Pentos and the rest of Essos...they canonically did not seem to have quite the same potency--that je nais se quois--for each other as much as Laena had for their kids and Vhagar/dragon-riding and Daemon for the Targ-Valyrian heritage, their kids, Viserys, and Rhaenyra. However, we don't get a lot of detail/as much detail as even the already -not-very-elucidated relationship b/t Daemyra for Laena x Daemon in-text, so make of that what you will. 🤷🏻‍♀️

For me, it's not about Laena being inferior, it's just about someone else being what you would have chosen if you had a chance bc that bond was strong and it matched your core needs as well as critical desires. It wasn't about "second choice" so much as different type of connections and timing.

Again, could just be the fault of lack of access to them as they lived and traveled. It easily could just be that Daemon was very loving and affectionate and attentive to her, and by his letter to Viserys it very much seemed so. (I am one of those who believes that Rhaenyra also really loved Harwin...it's just that Daemon was what she had in her heart for years until both of their deaths, she could live her own version of a freer life with Daemon [she could never be "out" with Harwin and she wasn't keen on giving up her throne], they were well matched, and it wouldn't take much for her to settle into a life with him.)

I think Daemon was sexually attracted to Laena in the beginning, liked she was a dragon rider like himself and thus could pass on that legacy and ability to their kids, got to know her and liked her, and her being of close family blood and a Velaryon and made the whole thing sweeter. At the same time, I just never thought of Laena/Harwin being those people Daemon or Rhaenrya choosing to be with if they had that freer choice. Even though it reads as the "healthiest" to some people for Daemon--Harwin for Rhaenyra. Yeah, it works for you and what you want for the characters/people in general, but what about who these characters are (as long as no one is being abused, and no one was in the orig Daemyra)?!

Account of Daemon and Laena Before Leaving Westeros:

Why Daemon Killed the Son of Braavos for Laena/Wanted Her

They had met for only a few weeks tops? I mean lightning strikes and rarities and all that, it's possible he did fall in love or develop limerence or whatever for Laena in this period of time. She, him? Sure. But...it certainly doesn't hurt that he, as a Targ, manages to bring the Velaryons closer to his family through his marriage and I don't think this was far from his head when he planned what he planned with Corlys.

I think Daemon fought for her/killed her betrothed because:

he wanted to get closer to both/either Rhaenyra & Viserys to aid in any political upheaval/add his own sword/reputation (Driftmark is really just a dragon's flight away from either Dragonstone or KL)

(another "partnership" with the salty, still-grumbling Corlys) it is one way to get back at Viserys for Mysaria's exile/his loss of a child--the rebellion/self affirmation deal again--this girl who Viserys rejected wills till birth technical heirs to the throne through Daemon

it gets the Velaryons/Corlys even more on the Targ side and their interests bc their kids are officially Targaryens as well as potential heirs/claimants of the Velaryon seat

Laena was gorgeous. And he was definitely attracted to her and her manner (movements, bearing, attitude), and I think this was the draw/icing on the cake. She already had an adventurous, bold spirit which is what he was already attracted to and this is why she and Rhaenyra likely first were endeared to each other and how got along so well. She bonded and flew Vhagar before she ever went into her teens.

Laena is a Valyrian-descent dragon rider, one who rode the mighty Vhagar -> impressive and prideworthy to have such a spouse for their connections to your own history (part of the point of feudal marriages), and a good deterrent/speed stops for those greens.

Some of these could be bonafide plans and intentions...some or all could be thoughts and strong feelings as he acts or circles in his mind as he interacts with various Velaryons.

The Other Lords and Ladies of Westeros

Reasons 1, 2, & 4 are enough to explain why Daemon would feel "passionate" about winning Laena's hand and killing her betrothed. He doesn't really care about people outside of the family he recognizes nor about what people outside of his even smaller circle think about him as long as it fulfills his purposes. His reputation as a fearsome, unpredictable wild card serves him, and he got it by not adhering to much Andal-Westerosi mores of behavior and restraint or caring what people thought of such behavior as long as it didn't blow back hard against Viserys or Rhaenyra. His willingness to kill: setting up an army for Viserys before the Council ever happened, his "work" in the Stepstones, his brutal handling of the accused rapists, thieves, and killers in KL while being Commander of the City Watch. Why wouldn't he kill Laena's betrothed even if he didn't "love" her at first sight if he expected and observed what I already listed above?

Getting criticized for killing him is not enough of a hypothetical deterrent for Daemon in his considerations to marry Laena or not.

The Sealord's son had even less connection to any Westerosi house by the time his Sealord father died and he himself started to drain his own family's funds for stupid stuff. Daemon was willing to butcher and maim several people in KL in the name of the King's "peace" and he got some flack for it; even though those KL people were commoners versus the Sealord's son having been of nobler birth, the Sealord's son wasn't favored or very familiar amongst those at Driftmark...at least positively. We have to remember that in the negotiation w/Corlys, Corlys likely gave the okay or would have to be okay with Daemon killing this guy, which may give Daemon (for what little trepidation he may have had) more incentive to say "Let's do it" and expect even less backlash or criticism from others. If he made other nobles' criticism/side-eye/disapproval the only or primary consideration to kill or not kill the Braavosi guy, then their observance of how Corlys allowed Daemon to marry his daughter with little to no protest (in lieu of their suspicions of Daemon being ambitious for himself) would also be good enough for Daemon to "risk" actual practical disadvantages in killing this guy. If Corlys doesn't care, they have less right to protest--because he, the house leader and lord under whom both the son and Daemon were receiving guest rights--allowed it (asked for it in some theories) and there was no backup from Braavos for this same son of a Sealord. Daemon instigated the conflict between him and the son by insulting the kid many times for him to "defend his honor" and walk into getting killed. And it was definitely on purpose because it was still a fight that would have been recognized as a real duel because it was about keeping one's honor and public respect. There didn't seem to be actual laws against or for duels from the monarchy at any time in Westerosi history, which means that the only sort of enforcement or limitations or punishments for duels & their results were the local lord's allowance, whether the men followed through, public opinion, and the host lord's powers.

Kinda like how Daemon and Rhaenyra married so soon after Laena's death, Daemon dueling this Braavosi kid was considered in extremely poor taste. It certainly made more/others fear him, but also a part of this feudalist social fabric of militarism and machismo AND Daemon, in my view, likely would have been fine/indifferent to glad of it because he wants to make others think twice before going against him and the other Targs or immediate family.

While he would have known of Laena before he met her 23-yr old self, I don't think they hung out enough before for him to suddenly want her for her. Again, the guy places his closest family above all, and while Laena is his cousin's child:

he did not grow up with her

she is a Velaryon daughter of the ambitious Corlys who still wouldn't see Viserys very well (but perhaps Daemon was fine witht hat since he also wasn't fond of Viserys then)

and he did not spend much time around her as much as he did Rhaenyra

Therefore, all people could really do is talk about a guy they already either loved or feared. And that they were concerned with how Daemon, in their suspicions, messed around with the preconditions of a duel by purposefully killing this Braavosi for his own gain and without fear of getting reproached for messing with said "rules". What was there to fear, for Daemon and from his perspective?

But again, I think this was all a blip to Daemon when he was thinking and planning on marrying Laena.

It's possible that Daemon would rather not induce make Viserys blow all the way up by marrying Laena Viserys' reaction. However, they already had a contentious relationship after Daemon did whatever he did with Rhaenyra, which Viserys likely saw as a power grab for Daemon's sake alone. Because Viserys ruined Daemon's chance to have his first son with Mysaria.

But actually, marrying Laena brings the Velaryons more into the fold while Daemon has his little "revenge" against Viserys for a bit by marrying Laena. Viserys allow them back quite easily.

Why? Corlys and the Velaryons and Viserys need to be on their good side for his own reputation, that fake "harmony" he thinks is necessary to hold the dynasty together, peace of mind (Rhaenys being passed over and Corlys still being likely salty about it), and Rhaenyra's support. Their marriage was Corlys' decision. Viserys also can't really protest against the marriage as much as the Sealord's son being killed.

What About the Singers?

On the one hand, their songs or claims about Daemon falling instantly in love with Laena at first sight and wanting her for her could be an amplification or an exaggeration of the observable, genuine attraction he had for her. Because it's not what they or what his reputation allows them to imagine from him.

Or it could be a way for these singers to spread the news of Daemon's "changed"/"changing ways" by Corlys to give/amplify this marriage a veneer of sentimentality and diminish whatever outrage against it, a way to diminish the suspicions of this being a typical political allowance. We remember that singers and bards often entertained local lords at dinners and gatherings and wrote songs in their honor or whomever they thought would get them in good with the lord and any/particular ones in the future. "The Rains of Castamere" was definitely, at least, encouraged by Tywin Lannister to add and build his own reputation. And such was the practice of real-life troubadours of medieval France/Normandy and bards of other Western/Italian regions.

Could be both.

I do also find it a nice narrative contrast to observe RhaenyraxDaemon versus LaenaxDaemon in how well-reported the respective emotional connections were. Daemyra has more suggestive pieces while Laena and Daemon have the singers and Daemon's reaction to Laena dying (more explicit pieces).

After Wedding

Because of the personalities they had and their going well together, they definitely grew closer after they married.

The way Daemon carried her to her bed and was distraught after her death seems enough to show how much he cared. He also quickly wrote to Viserys directly so he could safely move back to Westeros after they had their dragon twins. And they definitely flew together both in Essos and Westeros. These are the things explicitly said about him and Laena in canon and they imply great care, interest, and respect. Which indicates and proves his love for her.

At the same time, I also think that Daemon still desired & yearned for Rhaenyra in all of his marriage to Laena. Marriages don't cancel out long-time deep connections and attractions to others, esp when they start out political. That would take time and maybe some personality changes.

Like how some theorize Ned loving Ashara Dayne and wanting to marry her then moving on with Catelyn, Ned totally and surely reorient themselves to love their new spouse for the sake of their future happiness and because they genuinely see their spouses' qualities, but it's not a guarantee and takes TIME. Ned is not Daemon, who not only is more willful but is also a proud Targ prince of emotion who's been suspected of trying to kill/undermine his own family for power for years.

[ayrennaranaaldmeri]

Vermithor and Silverwing are the only real examples we have of dragons that actively had a bond with each other.

[lcerys]

also ― since i was talking about his survival verse, while by the end of the dance (spoilers for the book f&b btw. i regularly talk about the book and it's in my rules, but still -) there are mentions of eggs hatching to make attempts to claim a second dragon so it's left implied that it could be attempted (although it's never confirmed as no more eggs hatch and there are very few dragons left alive), i genuinely cannot imagine luke either wanting or trying to claim another after a.rrax's death. his thought process is very much : he had a dragon and he got her killed, if it's an au where he's alive and she's not. he has ? absolutely no desire to bond with another dragon and no intention of getting yet another dragon killed because he knows that if he were to succeed ( which also: he thinks the odds are low enough he doesn't particularly want to try ), it'd be for the war so... he straight up doesn't want to.

[hauntingblue]

I loved this movie about nami and her ex situationship reconciling and also anti capitalism

[hearteyedbunny]

I put on that bingo meme that I would kiss Arty but it's more like. id give him platonic forehead or cheek kisses. or even a soft little neck kiss, platonically. I love him very much. if I think too hard about cuddling him I will cry

[lauronk]

i just rewatched X-men first class and can i just say

charles and erik were such boyfriends like COME ON

[asterdeer]

the 2021-2 world is so full of media that i adore getting new/final seasons which range from "mediocre, sort of enjoyable but has lost the spark of what it was" to "this has actively made me dislike this story" but mythic quest has pulled pure magic out of its ass and 3 episodes in i care more about these characters and their relationships than ever. how. they are so good at what they do it's unreal