#greenseed

[yokobai]

Couple Picrew

Got tagged by @the-silver-chronicles to do this picrew! I have to say I really like this one, I love the artstyle. Also omg, mustache options??!!! Yes. Please.

Greenseed (FC5- John Seed x Brooklyn Greenwish) Stabe (Fc5/Fc:ND- Staci Pratt x Cabe C'Lobo) Whirlybirds (Fc:ND - Roger Cadoret x Captain Boobstache) (Not tagging anyone bc I'm late but if you haven't done it yet, then consider yourself tagged!)

[starry-eyer]

magic in asoiaf is genetic. and that is intresting. and the fact that grrm doesn’t shy away from the implications of this makes me love asoiaf even more.

because it’s very understandable that these people who could ride dragons would see themselves as more gods than men. it’s understandable that the practice of sibling-sibling incest would become common in order to keep this ability in the family/to not lose said ability. it’s also understandable that these people would see their race as superior because they are able to do these things that others could not.

it also makes complete sense that this human civilization collapsed in a horrific magical event due to their own hubris because they saw themselves as gods when they were always only men.

and that is peak world building.

some more peak world building is that the noble houses of westeros also clearly gained power and held onto their power through the use of their magical abilities inherited from their ancestors.

a godlike existence like Garth the Green being the ancestor of all the oldest and most noble of the reach houses makes perfect sense for this world!and it also makes sense that the lords without this ancestry are discriminated against in this region that still holds onto the values their society cultivated in the past in order to maintain their magical superiority, even though most of these noble and old houses no longer exhibit these abilities.

and it also makes sense that these people no longer have access to these abilities as they no longer practice the religion that was centered around these powers; plus their blood is simply diluted at this point as these houses have married into a different ethnic group so often that the magical gene just doesn’t surface anymore.

but the fact that it still matters if you can trace your ancestry back to Garth the Green? peak! peak! peak!

george does such an excellent job showcasing the stagnation of westerosi society here because why should it matter if you’re connected to this magic guy if magic is no longer commonplace? however, it also makes total sense that the ruling class of the reach still harps on and on about this as it’s how they maintain the status quo and differentiate themselves from those they consider lesser now that they no longer have access to magic themselves.

and this is also why it’s very important that the Starks still retain the blood of the first men. because the first men interbred with the children of the forest and other elder races, which is what gave these humans these powers. it’s also worth noting that before the direwolves connected with the Stark children, none of our current Starks were able to awaken their abilities by themselves, which shows that even now they are very far removed from their ancestor who’s genetic makeup gave this bloodline these abilities. and it makes sense that the Starks experienced this slow magical decline because magic itself was declining in the world after the doom of valyria.

another reason for this decline is because Andal culture started heavily influencing the North and slowly changed the way magic was perceived. so now in the present, a warg/skinchanger/greenseer has become something to fear being because that’d make you different and therefore puts your life at risk, which means that there’s now practically no safe environment to cultivate these abilities and no secure way to pass down any knowledge you do have about said abilities.

i can’t help but be reminded about how Jon Snow has rejected his nature and how that has led to the stagnation of his abilities, and then i think about Arya and Bran and how their new environments have led to an astonishing growth in their abilities, which shows that it’s not just genetics that matter, environment is also just as, if not more, important.

i bring all of this up because magic being genetic in asoiaf is not as problematic as people try to make it out as. in real life, sometimes people just have genetic gifts. some people can become olympians, and some people are disabled. some people are born 10 times smarter than the average human, and some people believe that covering their faces in lemon juice would turn them invisible. that is reality. and in this universe, some people have access to magic and some don’t, and it’s all based on genetics. it’s unfair! and that makes it realistic.

not everyone gets to ride dragons and not everyone gets to travel back in time, and that grounds asoiaf, which is what grrm was going for.

and how these societies have organized themselves in response to these genetic abilities and the dangers they pose makes absolute sense. on one hand we have the valyrian freehold, which was a magic hotspot and the people who lived there used magic to propel their society to new heights, and on the other hand we have the seven kingdoms that demonize anyone too different, and all magic practitioners are different from normal humans.

and the fact that george decided to go this route with asoiaf is so juicy to me cause:

we have characters like Varamyr and Euron who use their abilities to commit great evils and we know that their powers have influenced the way they see and interact with others. on the other hand we have characters like Dany who use their abilities to fight against evil violent institutions. and through characters like her we learn how vulnerable fledgling magic practitioners/characters with these abilities are to these older and more dangerous institutions and individuals who are perfectly aware about the knowledge gap between them and these younger characters and know exactly how to exploit them.

so, while it’s understandable that the fandom is uncomfy with the practices and values that grrm has written about, this isn’t bad world building by any means. it’s logical and well thought out. and i truly enjoy that grrm doesn’t shy away from writing about the more worrying aspects and implications of magic being a matter of genetics. i also like how the seven kingdoms and the valyrian freehold are kinda extremes on the matter of magic and how this is/was detrimental to both of these societies and at the individual level. a horrific magical firey doom is not any better nor any worse than a slow drawn out icey decline.

imo, what is important to remember is that in the world of asoiaf, people with magic are the ones who are discriminated against (bc most POV characters are in Westeros and magic is a no no there). so they are the ones who are in danger if they out themselves as magic users. now, it is true that some societies are more tolerant (Qarth is a great example of this and Valyria before the doom was likely the most tolerant to have ever existed in this world), but as of now most societies simply aren’t. remember jojens warning? he didn’t pull that out of his ass. bran would’ve been in a lot of danger if he came out and told the wrong people about his dreams/abilities. also, jon’s assassination may have been partly motivated by the mutineers fear of wargs. this is the life-threatening danger magic practitioners are in for simply existing in an intolerant society.

tbh the reason i typed all this up is because it’s very annoying when people try to ignore the reality, which is that the dragonbond depends on genetics. now, i’m sure there are other ways to ride a dragon, as dragons are magical animals so of course there may be a one in a million chance of a dragon allowing some rando to ride it, but this doesn’t change the fact that there is such a thing as a genetic ability that gives these certain humans the ability to form a connection with a dragon.

(another example that i can’t help but remember is that melisandre was able to get ghosts approval by using some of her tricks. of course there could be other reasons for ghost to have done this, but the most likely reason is that ghost simply fell for melisandre’s trick and this influenced how jon saw mel. but this doesn’t change the fact that melisandre will never have the kind of bond jon and ghost have because melisandre is not a warg. this is also another example of how vulnerable fledgling magic practitioners are to older ones.)

so, sorry not sorry that george decided to create a realistic representation of what a society would look like if only certain bloodlines were able to ride dragons <\3.

[rriverrunning]

meera :)

[stheresya]

larys strong had it right. climb up the social ladder and then use your psychic abilities to turn powerful lords against each other just for shits and giggles.

[chappythegardener]

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[atopvisenyashill]

au where catelyn brings some ladies north and also puts her foot down w ned and is like “we don’t have to talk betrothals but sevens above ned the point of having a big ass castle is to take in some second sons and eldest daughters from other people that’s literally why you were in the vale we’re getting our kids some live in friends that aren’t hostages!!” so when they march south during agot robb has a magical greenseeing bestie from the crag who is like “your mom is right about grey wind btw you gotta start opening your third eye.”

the girls keep the wolves for long enough that they’re both Aware They’re Warging (can’t see the direwolves lasting long no matter what tho) so one day Myranda Royce & Dacey Mormont are in the godswood w the girls and hear the faint whisper of a voice on the wind that almost sounds muffled (bc the weirwood is gone but the connection remained) and look at each other suspiciously, then look at the girls and go “first one to start skin walking that squirrel over there gets to choose our next outing” and when Arya does it in three seconds flat so they don’t have to hang out with the lannisters and sansa gets soooo huffy bc she warged the bird isn’t that supposed to be harder, they go to wyman & ned and are like “so new development here, ned, warg that dog we wanna see something”

[banefort]

implications of greenseeing being genetic: one in every million northerners has interesting but vague prophetic visions

implications of dragonriding/taming being genetic: symbols of power and legitimacy are only endowed to direct descendants of The imperial eugenicist empire

the reason why greenseeing being a strictly inherited ability from the first men/cotf is acceptable and dragonriding being a strictly inherited ability from the valyrians isnt, is not bc theres a grand asoiaf fandom conspiracy to strip the valyrians of all special traits its because it legitimizes their eugenicist regime and racial superiority beliefs

[agentrouka-blog]

Okay so... if the Long Night in the show was handled stupidly (which no one can argue with bc wtf was that) then what should have happened?

What should the books do?

Not being shitty btw, I'm not pulling a 'well how would YOU do it' I genuinely want to hear an alternative bc the show was disappointing

I think they veered very very far away from the book scenarios.

I am not saying I know how it will go, but at this point in the books we neither have a Night King figure nor Jon fighting White Walkers. (Sam did that while Jon was on a political undercover mission.) The warging and greenseeing play far larger roles. As do themes of historical grievances, grief and wrath and the futility of war.

The show made the Long Night devoid of meaning. A dude needed to be stabbed by a randomly prophecied Stark daughter? Because some COTF stabbed him first? What?

The history of the conflict and how it relates to House Stark and its origin and powers (warging, direwolf connection, greenseeing, kingship) will have to be central. And more than likely this will reveal something unflattering about House Stark, a debt that needs paying or a crime that needs reparation. And Bran Stark (all those Brandons) is the key to that. The actual key. The boy who clings to vast magical powers because he unjustly lost his mobility, who is abusing those powers to escape his grief. Tell me that this won't be part of a meaningful historical and thematic mirror?

Whatever he is learning now through his time with Bloodraven will enable him to create a lasting peace, probably involving the sacrifice of the magic he clings to, righting a historical wrong in the timeline. Probably at Winterfell, yes, in some carefully calibrated scenario. A meeting of some kind, a form of negotiation, a pact, a trade, a peace. The counterpoint to the murder before the young heart tree and the blood Bran could taste in his mouth.

I also have a theory that we will find out how Bran has been subtly manipulating the timeline to arrange pieces to fit for that purpose throughout the story, up to and including not preventing his own terrible injury. And who can and should bring the Wall down if not a Brandon Stark?

Basically, no big zombie battle massacre, though defending against the wights and white walkers will doubtlessly be necessary in the lead-up. But GRRM will never glorify war and battle like that, nor employ it as carelessly sensational as the show did. Instead, there will be something much more complex and cathartic on an emotional level that centers Bran.

[visenyaism]

Asoiaf asks 2 - minor house you want more lore on?

the REEDS!!!!!! love their mysterious swamp castle that moves around and greenseeing powers and the way in whcih they have a distinct culture from the rest of the North. Would LOVE to hear more from them. Or the Ullers.

[blue-mint-winter]

Theory: Targaryen psychic bond

Incest in ASOIAF is an uncommon practice that's revolting to a majority of people. However, Valyrian dragonriders and later house Targaryen did it often enough that it became a tradition. What's really strange is that often the incestous marriages were love matches. This obviously goes far beyond just the pragmatic desire to "keep the dragon blood pure". Full siblings raised together or other similarly close blood relatives falling in love seems extremely unlikely, but it occurs regularly within house Targaryen and only them. I think the cause of this oddness is connected with their magical or rather psychic abilities.

A Song for Lya, a short story by GRRM, features a pair of psychics, Robb and Lya. Robb is an empath, he can read people's emotions, Lya is a powerful mindreader. The story contains a concept that a bond between psychics is deeper than between "normals". Psychics can share their thoughts and emotions with each other, open their minds to each other and even join minds while having sex. Intercourse enhances the psychic bond and makes the connection stronger.

Many characters in ASOIAF also have psychic abilities - skinchanging, warging, greenseeing, magic, bonding with dragons. Targaryens, the dragonriders, are especially strong psychics as they are able to claim dragons by establishing a psychic bond with them for a whole life. Some Targaryens claimed to have prophetic visions like Daenys the Dreamer.

My theory is that Targaryens not only establish psychic bonds with their dragons, but also with other psychics. Often, the person they're bonded to is their own relative, which would explain some of the incestuous relationships, those that shared real love and passion and weren't merely forced by duty and tradition.

Perhaps a Targaryen having 2 life-long psychic bonds - one with a dragon and another with a spouse - is the true meaning of the saying about the three heads of a dragon.

The first example of a couple with such a psychic bond would be Aegon the Conqueror and his sisterwife Rhaenys. It was said that he married her for love and favoured her over their older sister Visenya, who he married only out of duty. Also, Aegon burned Dorne in revenge for Rhaenys' death. That campaign was known as Dragon's Wroth.

Another character that I suspect had a psychic bond was Rhaena, the Queen in the West. My main evidence are the words of king Jaehaerys:

“My brother Aegon died at the hands of our uncle in the Battle Beneath the Gods Eye,” His Grace said at her funeral pyre. “His wife, my sister Rhaena, was not with him at the battle, but she died that day as well.”

Though I'd say it's unclear if the one Rhaena was bonded to was indeed Aegon the Uncrowned or her girlfriend Melony Piper who also died in that battle. However, the idea that a lover's death caused so much psychic damage to the one remaining behind, that it can be likened to a death, strongly suggests a presence of a psychic bond between the two.

Jaehaerys and Alysanne seem like another bonded pair. They defied their mother's will and eloped together. Despite quarreling and being in separation Jaehaerys never cheated on Alysanne and refused other women's advances. Also, their own dragons, Vermithor and Silverwing, were a mated pair and stayed together after their first riders were gone.

Next were Baelon and Alyssa. They shared a close bond, Alyssa trailed after Baelon since childhood, they were inseparable, after wedding they were known for a passionate relationship and spending most of their time together, often having loud sex. Alyssa's death shattered Baelon and he never remarried.

Daemon and Rhaenyra probably shared a psychic bond as well. They seemed to have a close relationship in her childhood:

Princess Rhaenyra was also enamored of her uncle, for Daemon was ever attentive to her. Whenever he crossed the narrow sea upon his dragon, he brought her some exotic gift on his return. 

After he came back from Stepstones, they spent a lot of time together. It culminated with the incident when they were caught in bed together and Rhaenyra said that she was in love with Daemon and pleaded to marry him. Their quick, scandalous marriage after both Laena and Laenor died is just more proof of mutual passion between Daemon and Rhaenyra, especially since Rhaenyra already had 3 healthy sons so she had no true need to remarry. During the Dance with Dragons, Rhaenyra didn't believe Daemon would betray her of his own free will, he had to be bewitched. Daemon chose to sacrifice his own life to kill Aemond and Vhagar for the sake of Rhaenyra. It can be argued that Rhaenyra felt Daemon's death. According to TWOIAF it happened on the day of riots, which means that she lost both Daemon and Syrax at around the same time. It could explain her actions later on, like her fearfulness and illogical obssession with going to Dragonstone and claiming another dragon.

Next bonded pair is Aemond and Alys Rivers. Alys was reported to be a witch, she was capable of seeing visions in flames. As a psychic she could have bonded with Aemond. Their bond appeared strange to other people as it came out of nowhere. She was a bastard and was much older than him. He killed the Strongs, her whole family, but he spared her life. Daemon was immune to her powers when he stayed in Harrenhal, probably because he was already bonded to Rhaenyra.

No trueborn Strong was spared, nor any bastard save…oddly…Alys Rivers. Though the wet nurse was twice his age (thrice, if we put our trust in Mushroom), Prince Aemond had taken her into his bed as a prize of war soon after taking Harrenhal, seemingly preferring her to all the other women of the castle, including many pretty maids of his own years.

Alys had such a strong influence over Aemond that she could stop his murderous rage:

The loss of King’s Landing and the Iron Throne had enraged him, and when word of the Fishfeed reached Harrenhal, the Lord Protector had almost strangled the squire who delivered the news. Only the intercession of his bedmate Alys Rivers had saved the boy’s life. 

Aemond refused to go with Cole's army to the Reach because of Alys Rivers:

Mushroom suggests that the two men had become rivals for the affections of the wet nurse Alys Rivers, who had used love potions and philtres to inflame their passions. Septon Eustace echoes the dwarf in part, but says it was Aemond alone who had become besotted with the Rivers woman, to such an extent that he could not bear the thought of leaving her.

I think it wasn't love potions, it was a psychic bond. Later Aemond also came back to Harrenhal when Alys was captured by Sabitha Frey and took his pregnant lover back. Alys even claimed that she married Aemond and their son was trueborn. If it was true, Aemond defied all logic and political sense (he was betrothed to one of Borros Baratheon's daughters), which could only be explained by love because of psychic bond with Alys.

There's a lot of signs that Jaehaera had a psychic bond with her twin brother Jaehaerys who was brutally murdered by Blood and Cheese. The twins hatched dragons together. Jaehaera's description after the war shows how badly damaged she was by her loss:

“These are not normal children,” Munkun wrote. “They have no joy in them; they neither laugh nor play. The girl wets her bed at night and weeps inconsolably when she is corrected. Her own ladies say that she is eight, going on four. Had I not laced her milk with sweetsleep before the wedding, I am convinced the child would have collapsed during the ceremony.”

It's known that young children are resilient and recover from traumas, but two years after losing her twin and later her hatchling Jaehaera's mind was still damaged.

Another case of Targaryen twins with a psychic bond could be Aelor and Aelora. They get only a short mention in TWOIAF:

Rhaegel’s son, Aelor, then became the new Prince of Dragonstone and heir to the throne, only to die two years after, slain in a grotesque mishap by the hand of his own twin sister and wife, Aelora, under circumstances that left her mad with grief. (Sadly, Aelora eventually took her own life after being attacked at a masked ball by three men known to history as the Rat, the Hawk, and the Pig.)

Aelor's death is descibed in a very vague terms, but since it was a mishap, I assume it was some sort of an accident and Aelora wasn't really at fault and definitely didn't mean to kill him. What's most telling is that she became "mad with grief", suggesting the existence of a psychic bond which was severed, similar to Jaehaera's bond with Jaehaerys.

Next possible couple with a psychic bond were Bloodraven and Shiera Seastar who both were thought to practice magic:

Bloodraven proved to be a capable Hand, but also a master of whisperers who rivaled Lady Misery, and there were those who thought he and his half sister and paramour, Shiera Seastar, used sorcery to ferret out secrets. 

Using sorcery to learn secrets sounds like using psychic abilities, such as mindreading and empathy, exactly like Robb and Lya in A Song for Lya.

Prince Duncan and Jenny of Oldstones are a very similar example to Aemond and Alys Rivers. Duncan was also betrothed to a Baratheon lady, but instead married a witchy woman from Riverlands.

His Grace did all he could to have the marriage undone, demanding that Duncan put Jenny aside. The prince shared his father’s stubbornness, however, and refused him. Even when the High Septon, Grand Maester, and small council joined together to insist King Aegon force his son to choose between the Iron Throne and this wild woman of the woods, Duncan would not budge. Rather than give up Jenny, he foreswore his claim to the crown in favor of his brother Jaehaerys, and abdicated as Prince of Dragonstone.

Duncan's choice of a spouse seems to be mad, but a psychic bond would explain his later actions and giving up the Iron Throne to stay married to her.

Jaehaerys II and Shaera were a repeat of Jaehaerys and Alysanne:

Next was Prince Jaehaerys, now Prince of Dragonstone. Though King Aegon had acquired a distaste for the Valyrian custom of incestuous marriage during his years amongst the smallfolk, Prince Jaehaerys was of a more traditional bent, for from a very early age he had loved his sister Shaera and dreamed of wedding her in the old Targaryen fashion. Once aware of his desires, King Aegon and Queen Betha had done their best to separate the two, yet somehow distance only seemed to inflame the mutual passion of this prince and princess.

They also eloped and married on Dragonstone, breaking their previous betrothals.

Seeing how the children were likely to have psychic bonds, it seems they inherited their psychic abilities from their parents - Aegon V and Betha Blackwood:

Aegon V had married for love, taking to wife the Lady Betha Blackwood, the spirited (some say willful) daughter of the Lord of Raventree Hall, who became known as Black Betha for her dark eyes and raven hair. 

Blackwoods are descendants of First Men and they seem to have magical blood. Bloodraven's mother was a Blackwood. It's very likely that a love match between Aegon V and Betha was due to a psychic bond and they passed the ability to their children who also found such matches.

The last example of a love match that was probably caused by a psychic bond are Rhaegar and Lyanna. Rhaegar was obssessed with prophecy. He was married, he was very intelligent and he became a hope for many people who were tired of Aerys' mad reign. Rhaegar's actions regarding Lyanna were completely out of character for him, like he lost all reason and was consumed by love. He disappeared with her, causing events that led to a rebellion that destroyed the Targaryen dynasty. With what is known about Starks and Lyanna herself, it can be assumed she had psychic abilities as well. The psychic bond must have formed between Rhaegar and Lyanna in Harrenhal, where he started behaving illogically when he crowned her as his Queen of Love and Beauty, publicly spurning his wife Elia.

Outside of Targaryen family, I think an example of a couple with a psychic bond could be Cregan Stark and Alysanne Blackwood. Alysanne was able to talk Cregan out of executing Corlys Velaryon for poisoning Aegon II. Despite his intention to continue the war and destroy the greens, Alysanne convinced him to change his stance and accept the compromise for peace, which was surprising and out of character for Cregan. Their quick affinity for each other could have been a result of a psychic bond as both of their families are known for their magical blood. On the other hand, after Alysanne's death Cregan remarried to a third wife Lynara Stark, a distant cousin, and had four sons and one daughter with her. The lack of a strong reaction to a lover's loss is an argument against Cregan and Alysanne having a true psychic bond with one another.

In conclusion, it seems that Targaryens were often drawn to other psychics which resulted in love matches, both incestuous and not. I didn't cover all possible couples with a psychic bond, only those that looked like they had one due to the strength of their love causing strange, extreme behavior or extremely bad reaction to the death of a lover. It's unclear and unconfirmed if other, non-Targaryen psychics could develop psychic bonds with each other.

Only Targaryens entered into incestous love matches. It could be that dragonriding requires much stronger psychic ability which makes a person also capable of developing another life-long bond with a lover. It would explain the "dragon has three heads" saying.

[greenbloods]

techno au of asoiaf where everything and cyber and mechanical and pulsating with technorganic energy. harrenhal is haunted with electronic holographic ghosts flickering in the forgotten half-dark, and bloodraven has a machine growing through his body and it would pulsate and be alive and glow with a faint energy that is warm but not kind and there would be a low hum in the air and a smell like ozone everytime he greensees and his eye would glow a pale sickly red. sandors skin is replaced with a cyberpunk synthetic skin. victarions flaming arm is a prosthetic that is alive and responsive but somehow malicious as well. roose gets his blood pumped out every day through thin glass tubes that spiral and spiral around the room. the high lords hook themselves up to new cyber implements while the smallfolk are helpless in their fields and towns eking out their existences as if nothing is different. dragons are unmistakably made of fucked up experiments in the mines of old valyria breeding humans with firewyrms. the aerea incident is pretty much exactly the same.

[crimsonlyinglilly]

Princess Viserra's line

Guess who let themselves think to much HotD and Mikaelsons together.

@riderofblackdragons mostly your fault, you encourage, I share I over think.

also can be blamed on @nightingale2004 Post here

Viserra our drunken horse riding princess got picked as the Mikaelson's Targaryen link so she lives yay, get gets to be the mother of the start of this nightmare mess

Warning for incest, I couldn't pick which parent was the Targaryen before I realised why did I need to pick just one.

Slight changes to Characters names

----

Princess Viserra was once known as the most beautiful of Queen Alysanne Targaryen's daughters, after her marriage she became better known as the cold dragon.

Following her marriage she vowed to give her father what he wanted and never return south, King Jaehaerys wanted his daughters out of his sight so he would never lay eyes on her again.

She kept her word, when years later following the birth of her first child; she refused to present her to the king and queen. 

Queen Alysanne flew White Harbor herself with offers and promises, princess Viserra’s children would be princesses and princes of the realm.

Still the princess refused to leave the north instead Queen Alysanne returned to king's landing to present Princess Daehlia to the king, this was repeated the following year for Prince Mikael and a couple of years after that with Princess Aesther.

Theomore Manderly was clearly proud of his youngest children but after the birth of Princess Aesther he refused to share his wife’s bed claiming he had been widowed enough that he wouldn’t risk losing his princess.

Even when King Jaehaerys grew ill and it was said pleaded for his daughters and wife, Princess Viserra, his last living daughter, laughed and refused at both the letter summoning her south and her children’s request.

Her father didn’t want his daughter running about the kingdom, she had sworn a vow and she would keep it.

—

As the children grew it was clear while Princess Daehlia had gotten her mother’s dark purple eyes and fine features even if she had gotten the dark hair found in northerners, her younger siblings were thought of as the king and queen come again.

Yet the arrangement came from kings landing that princess Viserra’s eldest children would wed as the Targaryen way, however Princess Daehlia vanished before the wedding could pass and Prince Mikael and Princess Aesther wedded.

Rumours spread that Mikael had done away with his dark haired sister so he could wed his golden one.

But however it happened, the marriage proved more fruitful than the royal couple’s with their second child coming just days after the princess Rhaenyra’s tenth birthday.

While the lost of their first born Fraeya was said to have gutted the prince and princess the safe delivery of another son just months after her death was considered a breath of hope; but no one knows why, when any mention of how much the new child favoured the lost Princess Daehlia was met with rage from the new parents.

—--

“Brother please” his little brother’s normally controlled voice contained almost panic when he discovered in his room “don’t do this.”

“Aelijah.“ Finn sighed pausing in his packing, “I can't be father’s heir.” he tried to explain.

“And I can?” Aelijah heaved a sigh forcing Finn to turn to look at his little brother, just turned four and ten years old but with his hands set on his hip and looking at him with a serious look in his dark purple eyes he looked far older. Aelijah could be the perfect heir if not for birth order and the other misfortune of birth.

Finn stepped forward the moment he noticed the expression crumpled, Finn wasn’t sure if it was greenseeing of grandfather’s northern blood or the dragon dreams of grandmother’s but the dreams had left AElijah overcome with moments of fear and confusion. Finn had grown up managing his brother’s slip ups, he knew Niklaeus was just a versed, he wasn’t truly needed anymore

“Finn the things that are coming,” AElijah muttered into his chest “the house of the dragon is going to snap and claw and bleed itself and I can't face it alone.”

“Alright, I'll find another way.” He lied.

Prince Finn was last seen travelling with a flame-haired wildling woman.

—-

Rumours abound that Hayley Stark’s daughter is the child of Niklaeus’ not Aelijah’s, and Cregan used the shame to bring the calmer of the royal brothers into his house than lose his sister to another but whatever the truth was Prince Mikael’s rage at losing another heir was clear to all.

There was no talk about the marriage itself the north knew better than to question whatever is going on between the younger sister of Cregan Stark, Prince Mikael’s former heir and Lord Knott, it was their marriage and the mountain clans had their own way of doing things.

—-

Klaeus hates his father, that Mikael’s grasping reach for power was the reason Aelijah took the first chance to flee to House Stark.

He knows Mikael blamed him for everything, that Niklaeus’ arranged it all so he could wed Rebaekah himself but he wanted his siblings to stay with him losing Aelijah to the starks was not part of it.

He was just glad he could still over over him though the ravens, it was how he knew the dreams were getting worse.

Klaeus grew up with Aelijah's dreams and then Rebaekah’s he knew to listen and read them, House Targaryen was going to tear itself apart and Mikael's want to be a part of it, for the power, was going to destroy them.

Klaeus was going to need to do something about his parents before they got them all killed.

[asoiafreadthru]

A Game of Thrones, Bran III

Finally he looked north.

He saw the Wall shining like blue crystal.

And his bastard brother Jon sleeping alone in a cold bed, his skin growing pale and hard as the memory of all warmth fled from him.

[ginger-danica-snapps]

AU. Manip only, no actual story written. Lyanna lives, hidden as the wife of Lord Reed who died in childbirth only a month before Jon's birth. Meera Reed and Jon are raised as twins. Jon grows up to marry Sansa Stark when Lord Reed greensee's Ned's death if he betroth's Sansa to Joffrey.

[the-fiction-witch]

I Saw That Too

Media - Game Of Thrones Character - jojen Reed Couple - Jojen X Reader Reader - Y/n Stark Rating - Sweet + Flirty Word Count - 893

We walked along the grassy paths heading north towards the wall in search of the three-eyed raven for my younger brother, I walked with them of course in my grey dress with fur over it to keep me warm. The stream babbling and bubbling along beside us, the wind whistling through the grass, my feet hurt but I ignored it and hurried along behind everyone, I was half listening as my brother Brandon and Jojen chatted to each other. 

"When I... told my father about your father... that was the first time in my life I saw him cry," Jojen explained,

Which made me listen a bit more intently, 

"your father is Halwon Reed?" bran asked,

"Yeah," Jojen nodded,

"He saved my father's life. During the rebellion."

"your father told you about the rebellion? Mine never did," He chuckled, "But I saw that too."

"Saw it?" I asked, 

"yes," he smiled, 

"How did you see it?"

"The sight allows me to see things, miles from here, years from this moment,"

"In which direction?"

"Both," He shrugs, 

"What sort of thing have you seen?" I asked jojen and I walking side by side now as Bran began to chat with Meera, 

"The rebellion, your father's execution, the wall, all sorts of things really, why do you ask?"

"...Curious... do you choose what you see?"

"Sometimes, I can walk and change where I want to be."

"Hum..." I pondered and a thought came  into my mind as I looked at him, "So... theoretically, you could greensee yourself into any brothel you want just to sit and watch?"

He froze up, eyes wide as if he'd just seen a dragon. He gulped, "In theory." he said sheepishly like a child been caught with their hand in the cookie jar, 

"Have you ever done that?" I raised an eyebrow making sure to keep eye contact even if he couldn't even look at me, a pink tint growing on his cheeks,

"Ohh ughhh I ughhhh I ummmm I ughh I've never uhghhh never really uhjhj though to uhh do such a thing," He stuttered, 

"Mhm...." I smirked, "But you could if you wanted to?"

"I uuuughhhh I could," 

"But you never have?"

"....no."

"Okay... I believe you," I lied, I didn't believe a word out of his mouth but I had a feeling digging would only make him redder and thus less likely to tell me the truth, "Have you seen anything in the future?"

"Some things yes," He nodded,

"Have you seen my future?"

He rolled his eyes a little, "I am a greenseer, not a fortune teller,"

"That wasn't a No?"

"...Yes."

"oooohh tell me,"

"no."

"why not?"

"Because people shouldn't know their own future,"

"Ohhh come on Jojen! I wanna know,"

"No."

"But if I know I can be better prepared,"

"I said no Y/n." 

"Just one thing, just tell me one thing you saw of my future." I plead, 

He sighed, "I saw your wedding,"

"Ooooohhh..."

"No more questions,"

"But jojen! Please! Was it by the heart tree in Winterfell? Was it snowing? was I beautiful?"

he sighed again, "Yes. yes. and Very much yes." 

"Awww you thought I was beautiful?"

"I did." He blushed,

"Awww that's so sweet, well hopefully you'll get to see it twice,"

"Humm how so?"

"Well, I'd want you and Meera at my wedding," I shrug, 

"Yeah I uhhh we'll certainly be there." he smiled, 

"You didn't see me after my wedding did you?" I glared,

"Ohhh uhhh..."

"You didn't green see my bedding did you?"

"...No." 

"Jojen! You little perv!" I argued,

"I didn't mean to!" he complained, "I wanted to see where we were going-" He immediately clamped a hand over his mouth, 

"...What do you mean we?" I froze up, 

"Nothing I-"

"What do you mean to see where WE were going!" 

"I ughhh I ughhhh..." 

"What do you mean We jojen!"

"... look a dragon!" He said moving my shoulders to look over the trees of course nothing was there but when I turned back jojen was bolting through the grass,

"Oh no you don't! Get back here reed boy!" I yelled hitching up my dress and running after him, 

I chased after him for a good while before I grabbed him and forced him down onto the grass pinning him down even if he tried to squirm away.

"What did you mean We."

"...Okay... So... I ughh i did see your wedding, in the winterfell godswoods, infront of the heart tree, with snow falling,"

"Yes."

"And uhh I was there."

"You where?"

"Yes. not just in my vision but physically. Me. Meera. Bran. all of us were."

"And then you followed me? and our my bedding ceremony?"

"I didn't know what was happening I was us... kissing... under the tree and I got confused so I followed us and... yeah... I uhh I saw us... more than kissing."

"Why would you be kissing me at my wedding?!"

"Our wedding Y/n." 

I was frozen and collapsed on the grass myself looking at the sky, "Ohh my god..."

"Yeah,"

"We're gonna..."

"Yeah,"

"And we actually..."

"Yeah."

"Well... it'll be interesting to see how that happens,"

"I imagine we fall in love? or our family wed together... both seem equally probable,"

"Either way," I sighed but I kissed his cheek, "At least it'll be fun finding out how it happens,"

"Yeah, it will," he blushed, "and at least I know my bride will be... endlessly beautiful on our wedding day" 

"Cute, come on before they get to far ahead," I got up,

"Yes dear." he chuckled,

"Not married yet jojen, don't call me that." I glared,

"I know," he got up too and began to follow me, "Only a few months to wait." 

[horizon-verizon]

Why are some people just so unwilling to admit that hotd's writing is BAD. Why do they jump through hoops trying to explain and "analyze" anything the writers make the characters do when at this point it should be impossible to ignore that the writers make the characters so whatever the hell they feel like? It's honestly frustrating because there are some people out there with some genuinely good analysis skills and knowledge about the patriarchy and "time period" but when they refuse to acknowledge bad writing at this level you see how hard they work to strrrrreeeettttch. Which would be one thing but they also tend to insist that they're more enlightened than the people pointing out the issues

I think it's bc people, generally, are not familiar, willing to become so, or deeply in tune with misogyny as it happens when it comes to framing an argument that eventually leads to a sexist or slanderous effect. The most recent example is Daemon (I am not saying we're being sexist against Daemon!) at Harrenhal with Alys. Because a lot of people hate Daemon and attribute lots of their biases against Targaryens more against him than Aemond or Aegon AND how they generalize medieval men into the same degree and persona of "sexist medieval man", they aren't very willing to think about how disengenuously Daemon AND Alys might be written. And they think that bc they understand misogyny as well as Daemon's simpleness of being a sexist, they think the writers' direction of him realizing he really isn't the shit is "complex". A modern regression of a sentimental Victorian play posing as a "deep" drama series. It may even manifest as them feeling that bc people think Daemon is less "evil" than they want to believe him to be, less intrinsically bad for Rhaenyra (themselves bc a lot self insert) both personally and politically, that the show is "making it obvious" that he is evil just for them and for the good of the "toxic ship loving" masses. And bc it is very true that some people will misapply discrimination where there is none and it's just criticism of a person with a marginalized identity (Hyuna of KPop and some people claiming it's sexist to hate her they way a lot of the world does right now), so people become even more defensive of keeping what they immediately perceived as simple misogyny finally getting its ass kicked.

Second, bc they underestimate Daenerys and magic (thus not know the diff b/t greenseeing, warging, Valyrian dragon bonds and blood magic, etc. or at least acknowledge they don't know shit) bc near-magicless Game of Thrones lulled them into an ignorant state where it's a lot easier to chalk up to the smoky, borderless force that is "magic". Daemon is dreaming? Alys is doing magic, she's a greenseer...meanwhile, they can't define or explain the limits and abilities of an actual greenseer when asked. And the lazy habit of attributing everything not properly explained or really explored in the show also goes for Helaena and her non-"dragon dreams". You don't know? Which itself comes from people used to coming up with unsubstantiated headcanons and theories to explain the plotholes the writers leave so they can excuse themselves continuing to enjoy the current show.

Third, they overestimate how GRRM creates and sets up that mystery vs this mystery. There are mysteries that are unlikely to ever be "solved", like what exactly is going on in the 4th continent--Ulthos-- of the world and knowledge of all the living creatures of Sothoryos. And then there are mysteries like the wyverns vs dragons and the blood magic of Valyrians that were made that will eventually be revealed bc it will give us specific clues as to explain how Dany is bonded w/her dragons. And people tend to lazily attribute any mystery like these as unworthy of speculation (thus they never find out any possible connections and weight them against each other for likelihood of truth); and all mysteries feel like they are the exact same kind.

Fourth, they are feening for a live representation--any live thing--for any ASoIaF story. So they underestimate the story GRRM is telling about the Dance and hot it relates to Daenerys like all the F&B stories inevitably do.

Fifth, there are "enough" genuinely well written scenes that "makes up" or misleads them into not really thinking about the implications.

Sixth, I think that people like the whole Gothic romance thing show!Rhaenyra and Daemon seem to be on...but the book likely wasn't like that, least not after they married. And they can't conceptualize that with all the incest and Daemon being so willing to have a moral value system that rests entirely on his family's existence and legacy and Rhaenyra being very proud of her standing, so they want to stick to the seemingly counter-Gothic writing. It's more digestable, people don't like gothic/gothic-inspired stories, therefore it's more "believable" that way.

Seventh, as this TikToker states, HotD loves to create character from parallel that is actually replicas rather than character from personal action. The constant contrasting and making characters when (most) of them [Helaena-Rhaena; Aegon-Jace; Rhaenyra-Alicent, but specifically that part of epi 5 where they faced men around them shutting them down] don't make sense as parallels-actually-replicas and already had foils set up in F&B. foils are different from what these writers are doing. These writers are making it such that, for example, Daemon is a negative presence in the Riverlands as well as incompetent; Aemond is also a second son and will seemingly do anything to get it, so that must mean that Daemon must have lingering feelings about the same and has the same desires....No, Daemon raised at least 2 armies for people when he didn't have to or when he easily could have used them himself and he mustered many Riverland houses without any real incidents--only the Tullys and Brackens were issues and they were taken care of. Aemond? He is the one who caused--and DIRECTLY!--many noble and peasant families' deaths when he chose to fire on them all after losing KL in Daemon's trick. Rhaena may have been something like the "odd one out" for not having a dragon, but she was hardly as on the fringes of her own family as show!Helaena was and likely kinda was in the orig story. She was actually very much an "It" girl and inherited her confidence from both Daemon and Rhaenyra, but used it in a different way from Baela. Specifically in a way that is perceived as inaccessible to men. Baela was fiery and a bit tempermental (so was Rhaena but she "reigned it in" better), down to fight, able to climb walls, not afraid of dragonfight, which are all attributed more to masculinity under a Western/Westerosi gender paradigm. Whereas Rhaena's schmoozing with lords and ladies while looking cute, Rhaenys the Conqueror-style, is seen as more "feminine" and undesirable, yet it can't be understated how her doing all this enabled her to keep important connections in the Vale and utilize Arryn/Corbray support for her brother later on so her and her family could continue to have some sort of backup against the rising Peakes. So either people never realized this, OR they saw this and resented how this brought more power in such a "unmasculine" way, a way men are not expected or cannot access or use for themselves, that they pretend/convince themselves it's not important. Which helps them to convince others totally ignorant has no value, and the writers, I fell, do not understand Rhaena's purpose at the Vale OR they have no plans to show how she and Baela work towards their family's survival and freedom away from the Hightowers 2.0. Meanwhile, book!Helaena is essentially a breeding machine for her side of the family who kills herself from her kid getting killed and being forced to essentially participate in destroying her own tiny nucleus of a family.

That bring me to the eighth thing. The bk!greens are pretty simple in terms of characterization. Now, I actually love what they did with Aegon for the most part. Have some gripes with Aemond's and many with Helaena and esp with Alicent and love Otto's. But because people have this idea of parallels the same way they thought of constant subverting in GoT, some believe that bc the greens have had rounder characters, the blacks must also...as if it were automatic without them actually thinking of how the show has actually shown that.

Ninth, people are very used to stories that do a lot of telling and not enough of showing, and underestimate how important and different that looks in high fantasy adult fiction vs virtually everything else.

Tenth, people love a female protagonist who is very simply bad vs good imbued with liberal anti-violent-no-matter-what sentiment (that was meant to protect the 1%ers interests), like Rhaenys-Hilary-Clinton, and they don't link anti-militance to privilege specifically in a modern, neoliberal capitalist world. Instead misapplying such a thing to feudal women. Even as they also like to say that Alicent and Rhaenys are like "ordinary" medieval noble women in terms of their internalized misogyny...which doesn't match their definition of "wise" and is both contradictory & reductive bc:

real medieval noblewomen frequently waged/plotted/initiated war and when they did peace calls it was either bc they didn't think they'd win/get out with the right sort of lives intact OR bc they were, they just aren't very much featured as fighters or political strategizers themselves unless it's in the name of a son, husband, etc., and then this works to make people ignore that these women directly participate at all----so Rhaenys and Alicent can't be nonnegotiably wary of violence while also being a "typical" medieval noblewoman

Alicent & Rhaenys frequently show how much they really care about smallfolk/vulnerable people like women, or keep them in their thoughts when they talk about "peace"....it's all ideological, not substantial, but it's played-framed as if they are being for real; the same tool of leveraging stability of male dominance that Gyldayn uses against BOTH Alicent and Rhaenyra, the show Alicent and Rhaenys but Rhaenys esp, uses against Rhaenyra as to why she should rule or have support while trying for her claim, and it's really just so false!

It's so weird, bc they say the nobles this, this, and that shouldn't be killing each other and in lieu the helpless smallfolk, but they refuse to recognize how both women still rely on violence against those ranked below them for their own ends, whether psychological or physical. And it really comes down to who is licensed to dole out and use violence and when and against who, which always turns out to be the nonconforming "instigator" of this particular ASoIaF story, Rhaenyra. And that esp comes from this bias against Targs and the belief that they somehow bring out the worst in nobles, when its actually that nobles fight for land, power, survival all the time and have since before the Targs. And there is this strange moral-victim heroine complex that people want to see in their female protagonist and mistake in as a meet replacement and worthy copy of Daenerys, the childbride/exiled princess turned self-made Queen and protector of the masses.

As for why they "insist that they're more enlightened than the people pointing out the issues", the first reason I pointed out.