pinkblossomart

[ride-thedragon]

Aemond claiming Vhagar gets a little more layered when you realise that her and Caraxes are the only dragons those girls have known properly when it comes to dragon bonds. Like Baela has moondancer, but Rhaena specifically is being ignored by her father for the most part because if she didn't hatch a dragon egg, that means she could claim a dragon which would mean going back to Westeros.

Which is something he's clearly avoiding. Laena has to comfort her saying there are many ways to claim a dragon because Rhaena thinks they'll abandon her for not having one.

So when the dragon her mother has had her entire life is 'stolen', the exact meaning is that that was her mother's dragon, she doesn't have the understanding that Aemond does of going to the dragonpit and looking for dragons to claim.

To her, Vhagar was a family dragon, her family specifically, and the best chance she would have to claim one like her mom said.

Again, her dad ignores her and makes it seem like there's some hierarchy when it comes to hatching dragons and claiming them and not hatching them at all simply because he doesn't want to go back. He doesn't want to help her claim a dragon in King's Landing because he's a selfish bitch.

Aemond does not see it that way because of a similar inferiority complex, that the world's largest dragon could help absolve, and because he has the understanding that dragons aren't inherited. He is also aware that he's at a funeral and that the reason Vhagar is unclaimed is that Rhaena is mourning her recently dead mother.

I think my point is to blame Daemon and Viserys for being evil little men really and giving their kids or facilitating environments where their kids feel inferior based on their own targeted perceptions based on nothing over dragons and dragon bonds. They are responsible.

[lagosbratzdoll]

Ryan did a bunch of interviews recently that I've been reading and I have some thoughts. You can find the interviews here and here.

There's a lot of terrible stuff in it but I don't have the time or inclination to bother with all that. I'm going to be focusing on two things he said in the interviews.

Starting with this from the House of the Dragon podcast which I've linked above.

In it, Ryan talks about why he decided to contrast the lives of Hugh Hammer and Ulf the White with the lives of the privileged Targaryens. It was fascinating to get a peek into his head.

Ryan reads a rapist and thinks "this is a person worth deepening. We need an in-depth exploration of what goes on in this rapists head. We need the audience to sympathise with them."

Which wouldn't be so bad on its face, there's always room to analyse a fictional rapist. The problem is that he then reads about a little Black girl who raised herself on a tiny island rising up to become a dragon rider on her own merit. A little girl whose Valyrian heritage is constantly debated and discounted. He reads that and decides that there's nothing worth exploring there. Her story isn't unique. She isn't unique. In fact, she's so common that while we adapt and humanise not one but two rapists, we're going to erase one Black girl and turn the other into everyone's punching bag.

Then I read his puff piece from Big Think.

This is a fascinating glimpse into his thought process. I read this and Ryan Condal's baffling decisions began to make a little more sense.

By his own admission, Ryan's ideal show is one where Black women are erased, flattened and ignored. He claims to write powerful women but we've not seen hide or hair of these women. In Ryan's show, nothing is ever deliberate and the women are largely passive participants in their own lives.

In Ryan's ideal show there's no room for a little black girl to claim a dragon with nothing but faith and her wits. In Ryan's ideal show we need all of the rapist men but the Black women are interchangeable AND replaceable.

In Ryan's ideal world, it is too much to ask that a Black girl be adored, have songs written about her and knights joust for her favour. In Ryan's ideal show, Black people aren't fully developed characters, they're props that he forgets about for episodes on end.

And that is why the show will continue to drop in ratings. When I saw the Nielsen numbers for the premiere, I laughed until I cried. The biggest streaming day ever for Max and they couldn't beat The Boys or Your Honour. The most recent numbers are even funnier.

But don't worry gang, House of the Dragon is doing great. It's now number three. It finally beat a four year old show! Everything is fine.

[throwawayasoiafaccount]

i think most people would hate him if the showrunners decided to stick with canon

let’s not forget Bitterbridge and Tumbleton

daeron the war criminal deserved his pathetic death

[sihtryggr]

A raven has told Rhaenyra that her son is dead. She needs to know it for certain.

[cassmouse]

I think I'm more prepared to go to war over Lucerys' murder than the Targaryens are

[seyo]

[sharkieboi]

little details, I love that as soon as Mrs. Coulter is introduced to the idea that she can wear pants she never voluntarily wears a skirt or dress for the rest of the series

[simplegenius042]

Music Monday

Tagging @inafieldofdaisies @icecutioner @derelictheretic @shallow-gravy @voidika @socially-awkward-skeleton @shellibisshe @direwombat @strangefable @rhettsabbott @josephseedismyfather @josephslittledeputy @imogenkol @cloudofbutterflies92 @skoll-sun-eater @cassietrn @carlosoliveiraa @adelaidedrubman @g0dspeeed @wrathfulrook @afarcryfrommymain @strafethesesinners @aceghosts @turbo-virgins @raresvtm @softtidesworld @starsandskies @ladyoriza @la-grosse-patate @florbelles @titiagls @minilev @yokobai @thewanderer-000 @omen-speaker @justasmolbard @alypink @thesingularityseries @nightwingshero and @noodlecupcakes + anyone else who'd like to join.

Songs for The Silver Chronicles, Life, Despair & Monsters and Wings And Horns respectively. You can find the songs below the cut:

Elsa Omar is Silva's younger sister, they both managed to escape to America together along with an infant Persephone, where Elsa would have quite the reputation in Hope County, but they'd have around two or three years of peace before Elsa perishes in an accident. Ezekiel is Thomas Rush's future Captain in Security in Old Dusk, and has a rebel attitude towards authority he does not respect. However, back on the Archipiélagos, Elsa was the damsel-in-relative-distress lying and manipulating her piece of shit father as she shared info with the local rebellion about the Congregation's patrols and whatnot, while Ezekiel was an orphaned Tumultite street kid who looked up to the likes of Alvarich and Paul, despite being very anti-authoritarian in general. When these two first met... they hated each other. But hate turned to grudging respect. Respect turned to horrified crushing. Crush turned into deflecting by flirting. And that annoyed everyone else. Even 26 years after he last saw her alive, Ezekiel still yearns for his star-crossed love. And I think this song definitely describes how much their connection may as well have been fated, even if it was for a short time.

"I don't mean to be so uptight But my heart's been hurt a couple times By a couple guys that didn't treat me right I ain't gonna lie, ain't gonna lie 'Cause I'm tired of the fake love, show me what you're made of Boy, make me believe." "Whoa, hold up, girl, don't you know you're beautiful? And it's easy to see."

"If it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be Baby, just let it be If it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be Baby, just let it be So won't you ride with me, ride with me? See where this thing goes If it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be Baby if it's meant to be

So come on, ride with me, ride with me See where this thing goes So come on, ride with me, ride with me Baby if it's meant to be."

"Maybe we do." "Maybe we don't." "Maybe we will Maybe we won't.

But if it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be Baby, just let it be ("Sing it baby")* If it's meant to be, it'll be, it'll be ("Come on") Baby, just let it be." ("Let's go!")

[*Changed the word to "baby" instead of leaving it as "Bebe"]

Cecil Royce is the daughter of Daemon Targaryen and Rhea Royce, conceived after a drunk night of hate sex. Cecil, unlike her cousins, does not hold any admiration towards her father. Throughout The Thorned Crown Of Iron Thrones, Cecil is particularly hostile towards Daemon, and pretty much rejects the Targaryen name and practices in favour of her mother's. Though after the "accidental" death of her mother, she is put underneath Daemon's care... and he honestly tries his best. Through many trials, and many errors, as well as very slow-paced bonding experiences and the apparent mutual agreement that Rhaenyra should be heir to the Iron Throne, they manage to get along, and find in themselves an actual father-daughter bond suited for two rogue Targaryens. Until of course Cecil learns from him that he murdered her mother... and unlike Daemon, Cecil actually loved and looked up to Rhea. A bond fractures and there's just this uneasiness between them that stays long after the first fic ends and the second fic begins. How does "Summertime Sadness" fit into all of this? While the song itself is a yearning for the loss of a lover, here the context is Cecil's conflicted grief and yearning after the loss of Daemon, when he buys her time to fight the Court King, where he is knowingly severely outmatched and slain in the encounter. Despite the fractures in their relationship, Cecil can't really get over the fact that, while Daemon was no where close to perfect, he was her father, and the bond they had combined with the sacrifice he made is something can't help but grieve over.

"Oh, my God, I feel it in the air Telephone wires above are sizzlin' like a snare Honey, I'm on fire, I feel it everywhere Nothin' scares me anymore (One, two, three, four)

Kiss me hard before you go Summertime sadness I just wanted you to know That, baby, you the best

I got that summertime, summertime sadness Su-su-summertime, summertime sadness Got that summertime, summertime sadness Oh, oh-oh, oh

Think I'll miss you forever Like the stars miss the sun in the mornin' sky Later's better than never Even if you're gone, I'm gonna drive, drive, drive

I got that summertime, summertime sadness Su-su-summertime, summertime sadness Got that summertime, summertime sadness Oh, oh-oh, oh."

Wouldn't It Be Nice if Metatron and Xiang could just sit down and get along for a few moments while looking past their species prejudices and work on agreeing that something needs to be done about the Soulmate System, because it's definitely malfunctioning? Said by Azriel and Jezebel as they "fight" while their caretakers are getting deep into that steel on steel, sword on bullet action.

"Wouldn't it be nice if we were older? Then we wouldn't have to wait so long And wouldn't it be nice to live together In the kind of world where we belong?

You know it's gonna make it that much better When we can say goodnight and stay together

Wouldn't it be nice if we could wake up In the morning when the day is new? After having spent the day together Hold each other close the whole night through

But happy times together we've been spending I wish that every kiss was never ending Oh, wouldn't it be nice

Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray it might come true And, baby, then there wouldn't be a single thing we couldn't do Oh, we could be married (Oh, we could be married) And then we'd be happy (And then we'd be happy) Oh, wouldn't it be nice

You know it seems the more we talk about it It only makes it worse to live without it But let's talk about it Oh, wouldn't it be nice?

Goodnight, oh baby Sleep tight, oh baby Goodnight, oh baby Sleep tight, oh baby Goodnight, oh baby Sleep tight, oh baby!"

[ride-thedragon]

"She wanted to come home, and he denied her."

Daemon I'm your worst nightmare actually.

[mattsmithisweirdlyhot]

Okay, soo .... can we finally admit that Viserys was literally the only person who loved Daemon unconditionally, despite all their fights and flaws??? And that on some level, Daemon realizes this - which is why everything he did was ultimately motivated by his brother.

And that if either of them had ever actually communicated this to the other, so much suffering and strife could have been avoided. Do you really think Otto or Cole could have created the Greens with Uncle Daemon hanging around??

[akajustmerry]

I truly do blame the Andrew Scott Fleabag discourse for the way ppl will now say shit like "this actor is the female gaze/ this male character is the female gaze" as shorthand for them being attractive. can we PLEASE bring back just saying ppl are hot??? what happened to that? don't intellectualise your horniness where it has no intellectual value. it's okay to just say you think the person is hot and that you find them attractive. I promise you that attempting to circumvent your weird shame around finding someone not conventionally attractive hot by pretending it's somehow intellectually or morally superior to find them hot does nothing except signal to everyone your own insecurity. stop bastardising specific academic terms because you have no conviction in your own taste and need to make it everyone's problem. either just own you think someone is hot or keep it to yourself.

[maglors-grief]

Why do these showrunners hate Daemon so much 😭 They make him look terrible every chance they get. GRRM please stop them next season 🥺

[silver-dragonborn]

What is up with the HOTD fandom's obsession with hating on Laena Velaryon? Laena haters screech and stomp their feet simply because Laena committed the unforgivable sin of pursuing a man she was attracted to, getting married to him, and having his babies. Y'all act like Laena forced Daemon to marry her and that she "betrayed" Rhaenyra. No, you're just mad that Laena, a black woman, got"in the way" of your ship and you punish her by writing dozens of fanfiction where she either dies horrifically by dragon fire, dies in childbirth, becomes this wicked seductress who lives to torment Rhaenyra, etc.

Even worse, Laena's stripped of her personality and turned into a yes-man for Rhaenyra without any thoughts or opinions, or her twin daughters are erased out of existence in every single time-traveling fix-it fic. The blatant racism and hatred towards Laena, Laenor, Corlys, and every single member of House Velaryon is tiresome.

"But she stole Daemon!!!"

Laena didn't steal anyone and Daemon's not a prized horse to be taken when he CLEARLY showed interest in marrying Laena in the show and killed her betrothed in the book to marry her.

"But she betrayed Rhaenyra because she knew Rhaenyra loved Daemon!!"

I'm confused. Do you mean to tell me that Laena deliberately went after Daemon with the sole purpose of marrying him just to hurt Rhaenyra? Just for shits and giggles? Yeah. Okay. Keep thinking that.

"Laena and her family are all greedy and grasping for power!!"

Yeah and so is every single House in Westeros. Everyone wants power and Corlys wouldn't be the Sea Snake if he didn't have the wit and ambition to seize power for him and his family. He elevated his House, married Rhaenys Targaryen, had two wonderful children who became dragon riders in their own right and became the grandfather of royal dragon riders. But yeah, House Velaryon are all wickedly evil for DARING to tie their House to the royal family. Mm-hm. Yeah. Sounds about right.

"Daemon never loved Laena! The show is proof of that!!"

I don't even like Daemon, but I mean this from the bottom of my heart when I say that the show did a complete disservice to Daemon and Laena's relationship. Reducing her to second-best and giving her a brutal death instead of honoring the tender final moments between her and Daemon in the book was insulting as hell.

"Laena and Daemon shouldn't have gotten married!!"

You know what? I'll give you that one. Laena was too good for Daemon and she and Rhaenyra should have been dragon-riding girlfriends who held hands, smooched, and had a Valyrian wedding in secret :).

[aegoneggon]

Actually insane that HOTD set up the daemon/aemond final boss fight by giving us a few scenes of them having stare downs and mentioning each other but then have completely dropped the ball on setting up any kind of rivalry between aegon/rhaenyra. It’s actually insane that the one scene they share together as adults will be the last scene they share together.

[dcrthvcder]

aegon is a rapist btw

so is every other man in a song of ice and fire universe so where do we get from there

[rufflesandbows]

How They React: to you patching them up

You notice someone close to you has been injured. Perhaps without their knowledge, or they tried to hide it from you, knowing you would worry. Whether they fight your assistance or welcome your care, you pull them aside and right their wounds.

Characters: -Daemon, Jacaerys, Lucerys, Harwin, Rhaenyra, Baela- -Aemond, Aegon, Criston Cole, Larys, Alicent, Helaena-

Blacks

Daemon He’d fuss at you to leave him alone, at first. It’s a small cut, comparatively to what he’s had before. So he’s leaking blood all over the floor. So it’s soaked through the (not well applied) bandage. Daemon simmers down when you grip him and force his hand on your lap, your touch abruptly softening as you begin to clean him up, chiding him all the while. But he’s not quite listening; he’s watching you. When it’s done, he starts teasing you mercilessly. What, do you care about him or something?

Jacaerys Genuinely didn’t notice he was wounded. You point it out and he gives a “Oh, would you look at that!” You drag him off and he seems almost bewildered before you start patching up the cut. The air gets quiet, and the light blush in his face grows a shade darker the more you touch him. When you glance at him, he gives you a shy smile and his fingers curl to touch you back. He’s having a hard time facing you directly. You just look so beautiful under the sun. 

Lucerys He tried to hide it but he’s the worst liar you’ve ever met. You demand he show you and bashfully, he pulls his hand from behind his back, looking at you like a guilty pup. It amuses you, not teasing him though it would be easy to. Instead you lead him aside and patch him up. Listening to him, huffy but proud as he defends himself on why he shouldn’t have gotten wounded at all. You listen intently, smiling and nodding as you work. When it’s done, he knows how ridiculous he sounded, politely thanking you.

Harwin Teases you endlessly. You’re a flustered mess trying to patch him up. He’s not fighting you or making it physically difficult, but he’s calling you out that you care about him and, well, yeah. But he doesn’t have to make it sound like you’re stumbling over your own feet in his presence (which you sometimes are). You are a professional. You can patch up a small cut, even though your hands are shaking you're so damn flustered.

Rhaenyra She tries to laugh it off. You can tell just by the look on her face she wants to tease you for insisting on cleaning it up. However that want fades quickly. She admires your focus, as well as the feel of your hands gently but firmly holding her and inspecting the area. She watches you, you know she is but you try to remain on task before she throws a cheeky remark your way. Chuckling at your clearly flustered response.   Baela Much like her father, she’s annoyed you’re worrying so much, until she locks eyes with you. It’s so clear that it matters to you that she’s hurt. It makes her cheeks hot, all her annoyance simmering down quick as she nods and allows you to lead her. She’s insistent that it’s nothing to worry about, though now a bit more shy in her approach. She appreciates how gentle you are with her, admiring your skill as well. By the end she can’t stop smiling and doesn’t know why.

Greens

Aemond Is never going to tell you he’s been wounded in any way. You’ll have to spot it for yourself and even then, he’ll try to shrug it off and claim it doesn’t hurt. But on your insistence, he’ll cave and follow where you lead, impatiently allowing you to fix him up. Overtime, he gets comfortable with the idea. Looks forward to it even. He’ll ask you for little things. Rubbing sore muscles or ointments in over the bruises and burns he gets from training and riding Vhagar. Checking in with you becomes apart of his everyday, even when he doesn’t need anything.

Aegon He is always getting into brawls in Flea Bottom. Often coming home with cuts and bruises and scrapes. It’s become routine that the start of your day is cleaning up these wounds because he won’t do it himself. Yet the entire time, he appears like he’s being endlessly pampered on. Smiling and obedient as you gently clean the area and bandage him. You since gave up chiding him, now you simply ask what happened. Sometimes he has a wild tale, sometimes he can’t remember, but most of the time is spent with him quietly savoring your touch.

Criston Cole Tells you not to worry about it, but the moment your hand touches him, he freezes. He can’t say a thing and leaves you to lead him. He doesn’t resist, but you’re gentle because you can feel the tension in him. His eyes scan around for others as you clean and patch up the cut. Neither of you say anything, and you smile at him when you’re finished. You can practically feel his heart racing in the look he give you. Before it’s shuffled away and he quickly leaves your presence, forgetting to thank you until later. 

Larys He was keen to keep it to himself. He was used to keeping quiet when it came to pain. But you caught him and asked about it, worried about the light swelling around the cut. He smiles and tell you it’s nothing. However you do have everything nearby, so you offer to clean and patch it up for him. He opens his mouth to refuse, but stops, before quietly nodding. Larys is almost mystified by your work, making your face heat with his focused attention. Mistaking it for discomfort, he strikes up conversation, it lasting long after you’ve finished.

Alicent It isn’t often the Queen finds herself physically wounded, but shes always so distracted that she never notices. It shocks you to see a cut on her, rushing to her aid. She’s just as surprised, assuring you it must have been an accident from earlier. You want to fix it immediately, but you have to ask first. She looks at you with confusion, it’s not even bleeding anymore, before softly agreeing. She’s almost too shy to look at you as you work, but she can’t stop stealing glances, feeling a heat in her at your gentle and careful touch.

Helaena Blood quickly drips down her finger and she can’t take her eyes from it, until you wrap her hand in a cloth. A big wave of relief washes over her and she sits with your lead. You handle everything and Helaena continues her conversation without pause, trying to expel the nervous energy. She blushes and apologizes for rambling, but you smile and assure her you enjoy hearing all the things she knows. Every time she looks at the cut now, she thinks of you, long after it's healed, and a smile graces her lips.