#i really needed to see helaena being crowned

[coppoladelrey]

Scenes I wish we got in House of the Dragon (2/∞)

Helaena Targaryen's Coronation.

After the disaster of Rhaenys running away with her dragon, Aegon II, already falling in his kingly duties said that his sister-wife deserved a coronation of her own, to introduce her as the true Queen in front of the whole city, that suffered a great tragedy due to Rhaenys' actions.

Helaena was nervous but her grandfather and Hand of the King assured her that she would be simply perfect, the Hightower side of her family helped her get ready and put Aegon's cloak on her back.

After seeing the love from the people Helaena calmed down and was ready to face her duty. Her brothers, Aemond and Daeron Targaryen helped her get down from the carriage. Helaena made the same walk her husband made to be crowned. Her mother, Queen Alicent Hightower bowed to her daughter, pride and happiness were the only emotions found on the Queen's face.

Her sons Jaehaerys and Maelor, wanted to watch the coronation with their father. Princess Jaehaera on the other hand insisted on watching with her grandmother and Hightower cousins, she was mesmerised by her mother's beauty.

Ser Criston Cole, the Kingmaker also made the announcement that Helaena Targaryen was the true Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Applause and praise could be heard throughout the whole city, celebrating their new and beloved Queen.

King Aegon was impressed by the Queen's bravery, Helaena hated being the center of attention but she performed her duty like the great Queen she will be, Aegon thought.

Sunfyre and Dreamfyre could be seen flying about the skies, celebrating their rider's happiness.

[farity]

Mistaken Identity

Pairing:  Aemond Targaryen x reader of House Martell

Summary:  Aemond mistakes reader for someone harassing his sister.

Warning:  Smut.

.

“That’s it,” Aemond planted his hands on the dining table and rose, his expression more severe than usual.

“Oh, brother, please, there really is no need-”

He turned to his sister, “I will not allow anyone, let alone some Dornish cunt, to bother you, Helaena.”

He strode down the corridors of the keep, determined to make sure Helaena was left in peace.  Having the Dornish nobles visit at all had clearly been a mistake, but this was personal and Aemond was not having it.

The Dornish should be grateful at being allowed to even set foot on King’s Landing, but overstepping by stealing his sister’s peace was not something he was going to happen.

He reached the guest quarters and saw a maid leaving with a tray.  “Where is the Dornish princess?”

“She’s out on that balcony, Your Highness,” she replied.

Aemond turned, saw a slim figure gazing out the balcony and headed her way.  It would be the work of but a moment to make sure she did not bother Helaena any longer.  Pulling out his dagger with a practiced hand, he reached the balcony, grabbed a slim arm and began dragging it and its owner towards the alcove.

“What?  What is happening?  Who in the holiest of hells are you?”

He shoved the girl against the wall, turning her to face him and was met with the most beautiful face he had ever seen, eyes darker than midnight, and the ripest lips currently parted in surprise.  He allowed his gaze to linger on those lips for a second too long before he remembered his true purpose and pulled out his dagger to aim it at the girl’s throat.

“From this moment on, you will no longer-”

“What kind of ridiculous jest is this?” she screamed, cutting him off.

Aemond shook the girl’s arm.  “Leave my sister alone or I swear, I will risk-”

“Your sister!”

“My sister, your Queen!” he spat back.

She frowned, looking at him like he was insane.  “I have yet to meet your sister.  I mean, Her Grace.”  

He stared at her for a few moments, “you have been provoking her since you arrived and since she is too kind a soul to-”

“I have not met your fucking sister!” she yelled.  “Point that dagger away from me this instant, you do not want my brother to find out one of you Targaryens is threatening me.”

Aemond stepped back, taking her words in.  “Your brother.”

“Yes, my brother,” she said haughtily, “his Highness the Prince of Dorne.”

Fuck.

“I thought you were the prince’s daughter.”

She made a tiny, high-pitched sound that bordered on insult, “that bitch?  I mean, my darling niece?  Make sure you do not end up married to that little viper, you will end up with every disease in the continent.”  

Aemond sheathed his dagger, and summoned the strength to apologize to this princess.

“Your Highness, I must express my sincere regret, my sister has been much troubled by your niece and I was-”

“Defending her?”

He looked up to find her smiling knowingly at him.  

“That’s adorable.”

When his expression fell at her words, she looped her arm through his and began walking, and he had to follow along.  “No, I mean it, that is truly darling.  My brother has never seen fit to defend me from anyone.”

“You will pardon me-”

“Again?”

He looked at her to see she was teasing, and he couldn’t help but smile back at her.

There were worse things in the world, Aemond thought, than walking around with a gorgeous, witty woman on one’s arm.

“You seem to be much younger than your brother.”

She looked at him, widened her eyes, and said, “oops.”  

* * * * * 

You’d thought you’d be bored in King’s Landing.  Instead, you’d been grabbed out of your reverie, pressed against a wall and threatened by the most imposing man you had ever met.  

You’d heard of him, of course, the King’s brother, the one many murmured was better suited to the throne than the one who wore the crown.  He was learned, brave, fierce, and apparently, extremely loyal to his family.  

As you walked, you gathered the gazes and whispers of those you passed, and you wondered how often the prince escorted a woman around the gardens.  

“Yes, well,” you continued, “mother thought she was going through the change of life, but instead, she got me.”

“A much better change,” the prince said, and you smiled, pressing the side of your breast against his arm.  If he noticed, he gave no sign, and continued strolling with you.

“I like to think so.”  There was a lovely breeze that was making the prince’s hair look like pure rays of moonlight and your fingers itched to touch him.  “Tell me, prince Aemond, what do you do when you are not threatening defenseless, unsuspecting visitors to your great city?”

His smirk made you want to squeeze your thighs together, but you didn’t think you could manage it without him noticing.  “I practice the sword, study my books, pick up my brother when he’s drunk.”  You laughed, and he continued.  “Nothing too exciting.”

“Please, do not be modest.  I have heard you ride the biggest and most fierce of all the dragons, is that not true?”

He nodded.  “Vhagar is truly a wonder.  Maybe you would like to meet her tomorrow.  After her feeding, of course.”  He turned so you were headed back toward the main building.

You pressed a hand to your throat.  “I might not survive this visit after all.”

“I would ensure she is on her best behavior, of course.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

You looked at him, the blue of his eye brilliant in the early evening light.  “If I had been my niece, would you really have cut me?”

He was visibly struck by your question.  “Again, princess, I do-”

“Prince Aemond,” you said, leaning in so that you could whisper.  “I am merely curious.”

“No.  I meant to make sure she knew Helaena is not without a protector.”

“Ah.”  You looked around and realized you were in a different part of the keep.  It was quiet here, and there was no one else you could see.  “Where are we?”

Aemond turned to face you.  “If you wish me to escort you back to your quarters, I will,” he said softly, “but these are my rooms.”

You held your breath, watching him.

“Come to my bed.”

* * * * * 

You let him pull you in, let him whirl you around into his room and close the door behind him as his lips took yours, demanding entrance until you gave it, his tongue exploring the sweet warmth of your mouth while you pushed off his jacket until it fell onto the floor.  He kissed you, pressing you against the wall, until you were wrapping your arms around him and curling one leg around his thigh, demanding more.  

He turned you around and you had to press your hands to the wall to steady yourself while he undid the ties on the back of your dress.  He pressed his mouth to the tender skin of your neck and you moaned at how good it felt.  

When the dress was untied he began pulling it off you until you could kick it aside and turn around.  Your embroidered shift was but a whisper, the color of sand on the rich hues of your skin, and he couldn’t help but place a hand, gently, on your shoulder and watch the contrast against the pale porcelain of his own skin.

“You’re still dressed,” you managed, struggling to regain some control.  “Let me.”

You began to work on the richly worked waistcoat over his tunic.  “So many layers,” you muttered, loudly enough tor him to hear you.  After the waistcoat came the tunic, and the lure of pale skin underneath.  You ran your hands under the thin fabric and he obediently raised his arms to help you as you pulled it over his head.

He pulled you in again, another scorching kiss that had you clinging to his shoulders so you wouldn’t lose your balance.  When he pulled back, his eye had darkened to near black.  “I will have you against this wall unless you come to my bed.”

You bit your bottom lip, looked up at him from under your lashes, and again, curled your leg around his thigh in invitation.

Aemond cursed and began pulling up your shift.  “princess,” he murmured, “you are temptation itself.”  His fingers began brushing against your thigh and you gasped, his touch already igniting need inside you.  He was gentle, his eye on yours, searching to make sure you wanted this, and then he found you, your hips canting forward immediately as he began tracing small, maddeningly slow circles between your legs.

You let your head fall back against the wall and he began kissing your neck as you arched against him, wanting, needing more.  “Tell me,” he said in your ear, “do you want to come on my fingers?”

You managed to breathe out a yes as you clung to his shoulders.

“Do you want to come on my tongue?”

The image that appeared in your mind made you moan in response.  

“Do you want to come on my cock?”

“Fuck yes,” you whispered back.  “I want it all, Aemond.”

He slipped two long fingers inside you and you whimpered.  The coil of fire inside you was tightening with every second, and you dug your fingernails into his shoulders, holding on.  His mouth continued its assault on your neck, teeth tugging at your skin, biting on your jaw, and your hips rocked in time with his fingers.

“Please,” you begged shamelessly, needing release from the endless, growing tension inside you.  

“Does the Prince of Dorne know his sister is such a wanton?”

“Do you really want to bring my brother into this right now?”

“Then you must forgive me, princess.”

You sighed, “I seem to be doing a lot of forgiving when it comes to you.”

You felt him laugh against you and his fingertips curled, calloused skin brushing against a most sensitive spot.  You curled your arms around his neck, grabbed a fistful of his hair as your hips rocked.

“I will spend hours,” he said in your ear, “making it up to you.  Now, princess, come for me.”

The words triggered something in you, and you screamed as the sharp lashings of pleasure tore through you.  His magical fingers didn’t relent, curling through every single contraction until you were panting, barely able to stay standing.  As if aware of your precarious situation, Aemond swooped down to lift you in his arms and began walking you towards the bed.

You had barely recovered when you felt him drape your thighs on his shoulders, and he began kissing the inside of your leg.  “I can’t wait to taste you, princess, every inch of you.”

“Aemond, I need a min- oh fuck!” his tongue began circling the already overstimulated knot of nerves between your legs.  You felt his hands clamping down on your thighs, keeping them open.  “Aemond, please.”

He looked up, eye radiating innocence.  “Is this not to your liking?”  He swiped the flat of his tongue over you again.  “I can always stop, princess.”

“Holy hell, no.”

“No it’s not to your liking or no I should stop?”

You rose up onto your elbows.  “Aemond, I will murder you myself if you st-” he gave you another swipe, and your mind blanked, every thought gone but for the pleasure he was giving you.  

He took his time, maddeningly enough, long, slow licks, enough to feed the embers of need, not enough to take you over the edge.  You slipped your hands into his, holding on to him as you fought to take and take the growing pyre building inside you.

You glanced down at him, silver head nestled between your thighs, your mind swimming in a haze of desperation.  The heat was growing fast, spreading out towards your limbs and it would consume you, turn you to ashes unless you found release.  

Aemond pushed your thighs off his shoulders, spreading you open even further, his lips and tongue working you without mercy, and finally, blissfully, you fell, blinded and deafened by the white heat that splintered you into pieces.  Again, he rode out your orgasm until you were panting helplessly, your limbs so heavy you felt unable to move.  

He rose, kneeling between you legs, and you caught a very satisfied smirk from him.  But before you could tell him off, he grabbed your foot and placed it on his shoulder, and began pushing inside you.

Heart of Fire save you, the man was big.  You felt each bit of him as he slowly filled you, and every time you thought he was done, there was still more to go.  “Uh, Aemond, I don’t-”

“You’ll take all of me, princess,” he said, looking down at you, “for I mean to have all of you.”  He leaned down to cup your face, brushing his thumb over your bottom lip.  You turned your face, capturing the tip of his thumb between your teeth.  “Take blood if you must,” he added, “but this,” he added, grabbing the neckline of your shift, “must go.”  He tore the richly embroidered fabric straight down the center, baring you completely to him.

“That was a gift!” you protested.

He snapped his hips in response, and you gasped.  “I will have another made for you, with dragons on it,” he thrust again.  “The great maw aiming for that delicious cunt of yours.”  He filled his hands with your breasts.  “Maybe it should be a three headed dragon.”

You wrapped your legs around his hips, pulling him closer.  “Then I shall have you bared to me,” and you reached up for his eye patch.

He began thrusting harder, each stroke driving you higher and higher, but he leaned down so you could pull the patch off.  His eye bore into you with blue fire as you revealed the sapphire nestled in his eye socket.  

“Aemond,” you whispered, placing your hands atop his, the leather string of the eye patch still tangled in your fingers.  “You are a marvel.  I have never seen anyone as beautiful as you.”

He said nothing, but took your hands and held them above your head, watching your breasts bounce with every snap of his hips.  “I can feel you all around me,” he said, “like butterflies.”

You felt it then, the beginning of it, curling like a blade through you, and you turned your face away.  “No, princess.  I will see you lose yourself.”

When you didn’t turn back, he grabbed your face, “I will have all of you,” he said, holding you in place.  

“Aemond, please.”  The blade of fire curling through you was turning faster, your thighs tightening around him.

“You may beg if you wish,” he smirked.  

“Please,” you tried again, and then the fire ignited within you, your body taut in desperation, a plea of its own as you arched off the bed.  You heard a distant, ragged scream, and the sweet, sweet rain of release fell upon you, your heart pounding in your ears, until you were left, breathless, to simply take.

He was saying something, you couldn’t make out the words, but you could hear the rush, the need in his voice, driving faster as you still fluttered around him, and then he groaned, buried inside you to the hilt.  He dropped onto his arms on either side of you, silver hair falling on your breasts.  

* * * * * 

Aemond had expected a quick toss in the sheets.  

What he hadn’t expected was to be so completely captivated by her.  He’d expected her to play the innocent and demand to be taken back to her quarters or to let him fuck her on the bed once before running off, a meaningless fumble like the few ones he’d had in his life.

But she’d wanted him, and curled herself around him and looked at him with those endless dark eyes and he’d demanded more.  And she’d given more.  And every time he thought she’d pull away she met him equally and Aemond had taken everything she’d offered.

Now he laid next to her, holding up his weight on one shaky elbow, watching the ivory of his fingers tracing along the rich honey of her cheek.  She raised her eyes to his, turning to kiss the back of his fingers.

“I will need some moon tea.”

He nodded.  “Of course.  I will have some brought.”

She caressed his cheek, traced the scar with gentle fingertips, pushed back his hair behind his ear.  There was no fear or disgust in her eyes, only curiosity.  “Does he live?  The little rodent who did this.”

“He does.”

“Hmm.”

He had to smile at her murderous expression.  “Should I expect some news of an untimely accident for poor Prince Lucerys?”

“Oh, is that his name?” she shrugged.  “You know, I heard of a crone in Dorne who made a poison that works through the skin.”

“Very interesting.”

“One hears things,” she said simply.  “You know, nothing in life is certain.”

He kissed her, took a lock of her long, dark hair and twirled it between his fingers.  

“I should go, Aemond,” she said, sighing.

“For now.”

* * * * * 

You slipped back into your guest quarters, your face composed as always until you closed the door of your room, and then you threw yourself on your bed.  Aemond had spoken to one of his servants and moon tea had been discreetly brought while you dressed.  There was something in his expression as he watched you drink, and then you kissed him one last time before leaving.

The visit was for one week, and you couldn’t wait to find out what the next six days brought.

* * * * * 

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[gwenllian-in-the-abbey]

What do you think of book&show!Rhaenyra as characters? And who do you like more?

Hi anon! I've been turning this one over in my mind since you sent it, because I wanted to give it some thought (and anyone who is sick of reading show critical stuff, just skip this one. I don't hate the show, I just think it's interesting and fun to dig a bit deeper). What it comes down to for me is that while book!Rhaenyra is fun, I wish the show had been braver with their depiction of Rhaenyra.

While book!Rhaenyra's motivations are not particularly complex, I feel like I understand her better than show!Rhaenyra. She hasn't heard a prophesy, nor does she feel any real responsibility toward the kingdom to make her second guess the war; her father had made her heir and that was that. Anyone who disagrees can go ahead and die. Her motivations are not particularly noble or self-sacrificing. If anything, it's the opposite. Book!Rhaenyra loves the finer things in life, she's headstrong, and a bit of a mean girl. She goes after what she wants unapologetically, lies through her teeth and never backs down. Book!Rhaenyra never weighs the consequences of her actions, she is vengeful and reactive. She is given terms which would allow her to keep Dragonstone in perpetuity, and unlike her show counterpart, she doesn't even consider them. She says no outright, even before Luke is killed, and replies to tell Aegon that, "I shall have my crown or I shall have his head." And while surely she values the lives of her sons, you get the sense that she never even considers the danger this war puts them in because losing isn't even an option for her. She's going to win because of course she is. And as a reader, you never question her motivations really because, whether you agree with her or not, it is easy to understand that she is fueled by a self-righteous conviction that she will be taking what she feels belongs to her, and woe be to anyone who gets in her way.

Show!Rhaenyra, on the other hand, is more thoughtful. We see this when she's crying at half-dead Viserys' bedside telling him that being heir is a burden, and we see it when she truly considers Otto's peace offer, when she tears up to see the page that Alicent saved from their girlhood. We see it in how she talks to her sons and in the way she apologizes to Alicent at the dinner table. She seems to have some concept of what is at stake, and understands that the throne is a tremendous burden and responsibility, and that the lives of her people are in her hands, and moreover that she does have the option of backing down. When she considers the peace offer, she very clearly states that the prophesy means that she has a responsibility to keep the realm stable, and maybe it is not the best thing for the realm is to throw it into civil war in order to sit the throne at all costs. But all of this, the added sense of awareness of the enormity of the the responsibility and the desire to do right by the realm, while they make her an easier person to support, also makes a lot of her actions that much harder to understand.

One of my main nitpicks with the show as a whole is that the actions of the book characters do not always fit the personalities of the show characters, and so the characterization seems inconsistent. Rhaenyra is aware of the gravity of her position, she learns about the prophesy and the threat to the realm, and then proceeds to have three bastard children (and this is a problem, because it jeopardizes her position. If she gets caught or Corlys/Laenor change their minds and disavow those kids, it's over for her). We have things like Rhaenyra asking for Aemond to be "sharply questioned," which comes from the book, when the episode before she was offering up a dragon and a Jace/Helaena engagement (a show invention, and even though it's not a great deal for the greens if you give it some thought, it reads to the audience as a peace offering). Or you have her telling Daemon she needs his help to fight the greens, and there's this whole conversation about making their enemies believe they're the kind of people who will kill to protect Rhaenyra's claim, but then in episode 8 they have this attempt at reconciliation between Alicent and Rhaenyra and in episode 10 Rhaenyra is going on about how Daemon has "gone to madness, gone to his war." She's seriously entertaining Otto's peace offer (which never happened in the book) while sending her sons off to muster support.

F&B has pretty thin characterization, but what is there comes mostly from the characters' actions and their dialogue. To create a consistent character, the writers needed to start there and ask, what kind of person would say these things and do these things, rather than taking the character they conceived, and trying to shoehorn canon events into that characterization. And the thing is, the show could have created a more fleshed out version of book!Rhaenyra and still made her sympathetic. Take Shiv Roy from Succession, for instance. Shiv is someone who is a victim of misogyny, but also undeniably not the best choice for CEO (neither, of course, are any of her brothers). She's overprivileged and not nearly as experienced or as smart as she thinks she is, she gets in her own way, and in trying to be "one of the boys," she consistently overshoots and alienates actual allies. But she's also a victim of misogyny-- she is expected to provide a woman's touch to delicate matters, but is expected to be as ruthless and cutthroat as the men. Her fuckup brothers are given endless second chances, but Shiv has no such leeway. The specter of motherhood hangs over her constantly-- once she becomes a mother, she will be cast out from the world of men, an asterisk beside her name. And show!Rhaenyra does lean into this a bit (think of Rhaenyra's boobs leaking in the small council, her being stuck giving birth at the moment when leadership is needed in episode 10), but it doesn't commit to the darker side of this. It is not brave enough to make Rhaenyra a bad person as well as a victim.

The thing about Succession is that the show never asked us to view Shiv as good, or as a better choice than her brothers. It didn't even ask us to find her particularly sympathetic, although I certainly do find Shiv sympathetic in some ways. She has a genuine love for her family that makes the moments when she betrays them even more bittersweet, and we can understand her as a pretty bad person while still understanding the ways in which patriarchy screwed her over. In fact, in some ways it was refreshing to see that a woman could be privileged, ruthless and occasionally cruel and still get fucked over (this article is a good breakdown of Shiv-- now imagine a Rhaenyra in this mold!). But central to the difference between HotD and Succession is that Succession doesn't ask us to view the "throne" as a force of good, nor the position as a force of change. The CEO position in Succession is pretty explicitly toxic. Roman refers to the company itself explicitly as a cage. The audience is meant to understand that the person who "wins" is going to be more miserable and more morally compromised as a result. And the Iron Throne is similar. It's a throne made of literal swords! The closer you get to it, the more cursed and compromised you become. But so far, HotD not only insists on casting Rhaenyra as a protagonist, with the addition of the prophesy and the vision of the white hart, winning the throne becomes something she must do for the greater good, her claim something she has been righteously chosen to uphold. And if winning the throne is righteous, then the throne itself must be righteous too. And that's a framing that I don't think can hold up through the Dance, but I fear that the show may have backed itself into a corner by casting Rhaenyra as the correct choice, which inherently frames the throne as something she is right to fight for, no matter the cost to the people, her family, or herself.

[ultralightpoe]

The Court - Aemond Targaryen

Description: You and your best friend Aemond begin to pull away from eachother, which is sad because you really love him 

Authors note: Idk. Please don’t hate this

Warnings: Angst?

Word Count: Over 4k.  

The evening of your name day was spent aggressively sobbing in your chambers, still dressed in the expensive gown from Dorne and your hair done up in intricate braids as your maid rubbed your shoulder in an attempt to calm you as the sobs racked through your body. 

You had shouted for her to leave the second you both made it to your chambers, but the maid refused to. She, as sad as it would be to admit, seemed to be your only true friend. 

“Lady Y/n….. take a deep breath in-”

“I NEVER WISH TO SEE THAT ONE EYED BEAST AGAIN?!” You felt as though you were being a slight bit dramatic, but the rationals were not going to be winning your thoughts any time soon. You were hurt, betrayed, feeling foolish. All the times the females at court told you to stay away from the third bord royal child, and you hadn’t listened. “IF I EVER SEE HIM AGAIN I WILL GOUGE HIS OTHER EYE OUT MYSELF!”

You both stop, your anger releasing for a moment as the tears free fall while you stare at each other. 

“Lady Y/n, you don’t mean that.”

“I do. I do indeed.” You snap, turning away and pulling one of the pillows over your head. “I hate Prince Aemond, and I will never speak to him again.”

It hadn’t started out that way, in fact you had always loved Aemond. 

Your family came to Kings Landing when you were five, and your mother had grown close with the queen who had insisted you meet her children. Aemond was a year above your own age and you both got along splendidly, over years you had grown as thick as thieves. One would not be seen without the other. 

The other girls at court always giggled whenever you two passed by, whispering amongst eachother. You simply didn’t care but Aemond always had. “Wouldn’t you like to be amongst them? You know…be apart of court rather than friends with me?”

“Who would want to be their friend over yours? Don’t be daft.” You laughed, linking your arms together and walking to the dragon pit. 

“Yes, who would want to be friends with the girls in court rather than the weird dragonless Targaryen.” He mutters bitterly, leaving you to roll your eyes. 

“They would rather talk about marriage and babies. Neither of which I want at the current moment. Not to mention you don’t need a dragon to be excellent, Aem.” 

He shrugged off your compliment but kept your arm locked with his as you made your way down to the pits. He bid you farewell, just as he did every day and you walked with Helaena back to the keep because she never wanted to train with her brothers or cousins. 

You had always known Aemond was worried about how people viewed him. He was the son of a great king that would claim no crown, he was the member of a dragon riding dynasty that would claim no dragon. He felt useless and the people of the courts liked laughing at this often. He just wanted to fit in. You never seemed to care enough to do so. 

“Lady Y/n?” Your maids voice fills your mind, drawing you from your slumber with a gentle touch to your shoulder. “Are you feeling alright?”

Sometime last night you had passed out during your sobbing, and your face felt absolutely heavy against your skin. Pulling your face from the pillow and sitting up to find you were still in the uncomfortable gown and hair. “I feel…..”

Your maid, who must have been pitying you, smiled lightly and reached for your hand. “Come on dearest, let’s get you bathed.”

Soon enough you were sitting in the tub, feeling lighter than when you woke up since the ghastly dress was thrown to the corner of the room and your hair was undone from the wretched hairstyle you had wasted. 

Your maid, Agna, was brushing through it now. A gentle touch with a quiet hum that had you relaxing into yourself as she worked the knots from your hair. For a moment you felt grateful that Agna had been with you all this time, since you felt miserable and alone. “Thank you…”

It was a small whisper, one she giggled to and kissed your temple. “Sweet girl, just relax. Things will be okay. Why don’t you tell me what happened, hmm, dearest?”

Aemond had asked you to go with his family to his cousins funeral, down to Driftmark, had insisted on it really. 

He came bounding in the day of the trip with books in his arms and a wide smile on his face. “I found a book on Maegar.”

“Do not jest, Aem.” You snap, fixing your slipper as he jumps to you and practically shoved the book into your arms.

“I would never tease or jest about something like this!” You giggle as you read the title, the excitement getting the best of you.

“But I thought that they destroyed all the-”

“THEY DID?!”

“Then how did you fin-”

“The forbidden archives. Come on, we will read it on the boat.” 

And so you did, as his brother and sister flew over the ship you both hunched over the book on  the cruel king Maegar, whispering amongst yourselves knowing you were not supposed to have it. His father, Viserys, looked over to the two of you often, through the window of the cabin on the ship, eyes squinting as if trying to recognize you both. 

Aemond ignored him as he tried reading faster than you. You laid your head on his shoulder, happy to be in this moment with him. 

If only you knew.

“Things changed after Driftmark.” That much was obvious. Aemond had left with two eyes and come back with just one, and a dragon. 

He always had troubles ignoring the people of the court, how could he when it seemed they were all against him? Though he had never really let it ruin him, you had always been there to cheer him up and root for him. You had loved him, it wasn’t hard. 

But once he came back from Driftmark it was a whole new story. He seemed to let it get the best of him, desperate to fit into the courts as word got around that he was a monster due to the eye. But you didn’t leave his side. 

He began training with Ser Criston, every day. And every day you would sit in the yards to watch him train, when you tell your maid this she just sighs and mumbles that she knows that already, the fact making you blush.  “But soon enough my period came. And my mother began the courting.”

The second you bled your mother had become a mad women. Your mornings were spent with her now, training and learning to be the next great wife. Your dressed changed, you wore whatever was popular amongst the females at court (a lot of cleavage) and your older maid Agna would start styling your hair every morning. 

But you still spent time out in the training yards with Aemond, this time you just drew more attention. Which seemed to bug him more .

You were in the training yard  when you got into your first actual fight with Aemond. 

You hadn’t seen him all morning, having been stuck in lessons with a corset far too tight, and by the time you made it to the training yards you were already in a bit of a grumpy mood. But you still made it for your best friend, sitting on the bench with a book as he practiced, just as you always did. 

But today wasn’t as chaotic as usual, which was odd considering you’d gotten used to the noises of fighting and yelling. So when you looked up to see what was wrong you saw most of the men staring at you already, your best friend glowering at you angrily. 

He stormed over, his gait perfected now, smooth hair blowing around him. “Leave.”

“Aem?” You ask, standing up to his level as he glares. “What’s wrong?”

“Women shouldn’t be in the training yards. If you are that desperate to catch the attention of a suitor you should go to a brothel.” With that he walks away, leaving you there with tears welling into your eyes before you stormed off into the gardens. 

You were caught there by a group of girls from the court, all giggling until they saw you crying softly under a tree. 

“Aw, Lady Y/n.” Lady Tyrell gasps, all of them rushing to hug you and ask what the matter was. You told them of your fight with Aemond and it’s the Lannister girl that snaps. 

“He is a downright monster.” She sneers. “No manners, how atrocious he would ever mutter such words to you.”

“He didn’t mean them, he’s my best friend.” You defend, wiping the tears from your cheek. “He never says those sorts of things.”

You hadn’t seen the look they all exchanged that day, but they dropped the subject, instead choosing to invite you to tea the next afternoon. 

“I remember this, I helped you pick out the dress. Your first tea.” Agna smiles, “First time I had ever seen you be nervous about the girls of the court.”

“I had never cared, but suddenly they all seemed to be my friend and it felt good. Aemond was mad at me, so I tried my best to give him space. I didn’t understand what I had done, but I felt guilty.” You admit, pulling your legs into your chest as she works out the last knot in your hair, brushing it out a few more times before reaching for the oil to rub in your hair. 

“Keep going dearest.” 

So you did.  You told her about your first afternoon with the girls, and what soon followed. 

Afternoon tea became a ritual after your lessons with your mother and your tutor, and soon enough you were excited for them each time. It had been 2 months since Aemond told you to leave the training yards and you hadn’t seen him since. So you spent your time with the girls and found yourself fitting in. 

This was how you got an invite to Lord Borlis’ name day celebration, your friend Lady Baratheon telling you that all the young bachelors would be attending. For the first time you grew excited at the thought, asking her what dress you should wear and allowing yourself to melt into their excitement on the potential suitors as well. 

This is what is expected of you, why not? What’s so bad about it?

So you got ready for the name day ball two days later, braiding your hair with pearls and wearing a gorgeous blue dress just as the others would since Borlis’ house colors were blue. You walked with the girls, arm in arm, to the ball and giggled mercilessly when you saw the great hall decked out for the celebration. 

Lady Tully kissed your cheek before she made her way over to the feast laid out upon the tables, and just as Lady Baratheon leaned in to whisper about Lady Tullys weight you caught eyes with Aemond across the great hall, his eye already set in a glare. 

“- And I already know what you are to say Lady L/N, she is our friend and blah blah about how her weight is perfect for child bearing so we shouldn’t target such matters because she is beautiful-”

“And yet you make your comments anyway.” You tease, forcing yourself to turn away from the prince as she grips your elbows. 

“Are you alright? You look flushed.” She wonders, pulling you to the side. 

“Oh I am fine. You should go dance Lady Bela. Find a handsome suitor.” You giggled, and so she listened. Kissing your cheek once before moving to find a partner for the dance floor. Just as Bela Baratheon disappeared from sight your old friend Aemond appeared. 

“So you are one of them now?” He asks, disgust written in his voice.

“One of them?” You try to keep your voice neutral, the blush climbing your skin in a heat as your arms cross behind your back while he glares down at you. 

“The ghastly fools of the court? You’ve joined their ranks?” 

“You don’t have to be such a brat, Aemond. I have friends within the court, they don’t speak about you in that manner.” 

“Oh I am sure they wait until your back is turned to speak their insults on me. Do not forget you used to be a part of that, Lady Y/n.” He snaps, leaning in.  “Though it seems you were just wearing sheep skin until you could go back to the wolves.”

“You were the one that chased me off. Telling me to go to a brothel.” You snap back, turning to walk away.  He follows closely, bumping shoulders with a knight. 

“You were parading around the training yards, How is anyone supposed to train if they are all staring at the beauty seated in the sides.”

Your skin grows hot as he calls you a beauty, and you stop fast enough that his chest runs into your shoulder as you whip around. “All you had to say was that I was causing an issue. I would have left.”

He stares at you for a moment before nodding his head and stepping back, his shoulders relaxing as he clears his throat. “I am deeply sorry.”

“I accept your apology, Aem.” It felt nice using his nickname again, watching as he looks around the room. 

“Would you like to come watch me train some days? Ser Criston and I have moved to a private courtyard as we learn a new method of sword and I know how much you love-”

“I spend the afternoons with the ladies of the court now, Aem.” You are apologetic and he seems to understand this, nodding his head in defeat.  He is just about to open his mouth when another figure appears, Lord Bernak Baratheon, Bela’s older brother. 

“Lady L/N, would you care to dance?” Aemonds jaw clenches as the man steps in front of him, watching as you nod your head shyly and grab the hand in front of you. The lord begins making his way through the crowd and Aemond snatches your elbow before you disappear from sight. 

“How about the evenings? Rides on Vhagar?” His voice leaks desperate as his eye looks at you intently, a blush feeding into his cheeks as Lord Baratheon turns to snicker at him. 

“Sounds wonderful, Aem.” You agree, watching a smile break out on his face before being led off to the floor. 

“A kind lady like yourself should probably stay away from the court freak.” Lord Baratheon laughs, setting you both up to dance. 

“Prince Aemond is not a freak.” You snap, turning to dance with someone else. 

“It seemed like Prince Aemond wanted to court you.” Agna whispers, now braiding your hair. 

“I-I thought that too……”

Your nightly rides became a necessity to your life. Whether or not you realized it. 

You met him in the courtyard every night, a large smile on his face each night as he was dressed in riding leathers. He always holds his arm out to you and leads you to Vhagar. 

The old dragon always huffed out steam when she saw you, warming you up with a giggle that had her opening her eyes and doing it again to make you laugh. Aemond helps you up and straps in behind you. 

It was always silent for the first hour as Aemond took off, wrapping his arms around you as you relaxed into him. 

But the silence would finally be broken, by him usually. He would ask about your day, but something would end up pissing him off, pick your battle. 

Tonight he broke the silence with the same question he always did. “How was your day today?” 

“Oh it was wonderful.” You smile, turning to look at him, blushing a bit when he is already staring down at you.  “Bela found this old diary written by this woman who had affairs with tons of people in court. She wrote about it all-”

“Please tell me you did not spend all day reading th-”

“Not all day! Just the afternoon.” You laugh, watching as a smile cracks out on his face while he tries not to laugh himself. 

“As much as I would love to hear more about this-” He struggles to find the word for it, and ends up giving up, continuing his sentence. “Book, I’m curious to know what else you have been reading.” 

“Oh not much.” You smile, waiting for him to order Vhagar to land on a small island, watching as he climbs down before you follow. 

Once he is sure both your feet are safely on the ground he leads you to go sit on one of the cliffs looking out to the sea. “Don’t be shy, tell me all about the books you have stolen lately.”

“Well I haven’t been.” You admit, not thinking about it. “I’ve been kinda focused on my lessons as of late.”

He looks excited at this, head snapping up to meet your eyes as he smiles. “What lessons?”

“.......Wifely lessons.” 

He stares at you for a moment, blinking and staring, before finally cracking out in a harsh laughter. “Oh Y/n, come on. That was too funny.” 

“I wasn't joking…..”

“I’m sorry?”

“I wasn’t joking, Aem.” You repeat, shrugging as he glares. 

“You have been taking….wife lessons? Be serious.”

“Every woman in the court takes them.” You defend, laughing. 

“That's absolute shit.” He laughs so hard he slips off the rock and hits the grass below him. He curses under his breath as his feet fly in air, boots nearly hitting your head. 

“Hey, watch it!” You laugh, shoving his boot away with a laugh.

“You dare push the Prince?!” He gasps, snatching your hand and dragging you down to the grass with him, both of you laying with your sides in the grass, staring at each other. The moonlight hits his cheekbone perfectly and for a second you feel your heart climb up your throat and you have to clear your throat. 

“I have fun in my…wife lessons, whether you approve or not.” You whisper, reaching a hand to snap his eyepatch off. He rolls his eye at this but lets it fall anyways, laying back to look up at the sky. 

“Well I think you’re wasting your time.”

“Why is that?” 

“Because you would be the perfect wife.” He says, shrugging a bit but not looking at you. 

“And why is that?” Excitement fills you as you sit up to look at him, smiling from ear to ear. “

“Because all you must do is provide an heir.” He laughs and just like that your heart sinks and tears well up. 

“That’s not all you do.” You snap, desperate to gain a small compliment from him. 

“Oh? What else does a wife do?” He smiles, leaning up on his elbows. “You spend all day with the other females of the court, what else do you talk about then?”

“We talk about many thin-”

“Let me guess. How stunning Lord Baratheon looked-” He is cut off by a harsh shove to his shoulder as you stand up and storm off. “Y/n! No!”

“Fuck off Aemond!” You snap, hearing him jump up to chase after you. 

“You used to think the same-” He defends, stopping short when you whirl around to glare at him. 

“Things change Aemond. You changed. I changed.”

“I changed?! How the fuck did I change?!” “After your eye you changed-”

“OH? I apologize Y/n, did a knife being plunged into my eye change me?”

“It did! You became….Became…”

“Say it. Go on pretty girl-”

“YOU BECAME AN ASS! You stopped talking and started training all the time, you stopped asking about me and started talking about your cousins non stop. You’re obesse-”

“I ask you about your life all the time!”

“Yeah! After I became friends with the people in the court! Just because you want to mock them!”

“Because they are absolutely ridiculous.”

“They are my friends.” You snap. “Which makes me-”

“Enough.” He stops you, reaching a hand out to grab your arm. “This is getting us nowhere-”

“I am a part of the court now.” You defend, standing straighter. 

“We used to be best friends.”

“Then you-”

“Changed. I know Y/n. I know.” He mumbles. 

“I want to be your friend Aemond.” You admonish, pushing his arm away. “But I do have responsibilities now, which includes getting married. Please don’t be against me on this.”

“I’m not.”

“I’m confused.” Agna confesses, moving to grab a cloth for you to dry in. 

“I was too, so I discussed it with my two closest friends.”

Claris Tully and Miriam Tyrell had been more than willing to listen to you complain about Aemond, skin heated in a blush as you recall all the information. 

“It sounds like our prince has something for you.” Claris smiles, chewing on a pastry before setting it on the table before her with a deep blush. Miriam scoffs, picking it back up and handing it to her before grabbing some of her own. 

“It sounds like the prince loves you.” She agrees.

“I can assure you he does not.” 

“We should find out.” Miriam giggles.  

“How do we do that?” You snap, reaching to grab some pastries for yourself. 

“On your name day! It’s coming up and everyone knows Aemond hates court gatherings. If he shows up he loves you.” 

“He showed up at Lord Baratheons name day-”

“He was there to find you.” Claris argues, shaking her head. 

“So you made plans for last night?”

“We planned it for weeks Agna-” You snap, stepping out of the bath and storming into your room. “If he showed up I would confess my love-”

“But he did show up, dearest.” She sighs, following you into your chambers. 

“Oh he did.”

You had been so excited when you saw Aemond, had practically bounced into his arms once he arrived. “Aem!!”

“Too much wine.” He mumbles the second his arms wrap around you, lifting you slightly before setting you back down. 

“None actually.” You snap, swatting his shoulder before stepping back to twirl in your dress. “What does the princeling think of the dress?”

“I think it’s exactly like everything else people wear at this court.” He sighs and you feel a rush of embarrassment. 

“I-... I was hoping to speak to you about something tonight.” You smile, but he looks right past you to where the males of the court were all standing. 

“I’m sorry Y/n. But I was going to speak with Lord Baratheon.” He sighs, moving past you. 

You watch him go for a second before moving to dance with someone who had wanted to. 

It took you an hour until you saw him again, this time you were too deep into the wine, stumbling through the halls until you find a private balcony, sitting down and sighing as you took off the slippers. 

Then you heard his voice, or well, his laugh. Which instantly peaked your interest, leaning your head over slightly to see his white hair and two of the males from court with him, passing around a bottle of wine. 

“I thought you had always been a….. I cannot find the word-” Lord Baratheon laughs, taking a swig from the bottle before passing it. Aemond gladly grabs it, pulling it to his chest. 

“Freak?” He supplies, Lord Baratheon laughing even harder.

“YES!” The man cracks up, slapping Aemonds shoulder harshly. “You have surprised me, who knew the wasted prince would be so-”

“I thought the same for both of you.” Aemond admits, laughing slightly. “I always thought the people of the court here were just a bunch of brainless fuckers who drink wine and fuck whores while running around spilling their seed in wives you are so stupid they don’t recognize a bastard their husband brings home.”

It gets silent after he says this, both men staring at him while he chugs from the bottle. 

“And what do you think now?” Lord Borlis asks, trying to smile. 

“I still think that. But Y/n is a part of this world now so I thought I’d try.” He admits, and though your heart was beating through your chest a wave of warmth blooms in your chest. 

“So the rumors are true? You are in love with Lady L/N? Plan on marrying anytime soon?” This was it, the moment of truth. 

“Lady L/N?  No. I’d choose a donkey over her. It took me years to get her to leave me alone.” He laughs. 

“He said that?”

“And then laughed.” You nod, laying against the pillows with a sigh. “He made a mockery of me.”

“What did he say after?”

“I didn’t stay to hear it.” You laugh dryly, slapping the pillow near you. 

“Well what do you plan on doing?”

“Ignoring him. Forgetting his entire existence.” You snap, laying down. “I will get married. And I will be a formal part of this court.”

“And then?”

“I leave this life behind. His included.”

(IM SORRY IF THIS SUCKED. IM JUST GETTING BACK GUYS! IM SORRY)

[darushi-chan]

HOTD Modern AU where everyones dragons are some kind of reptile or amphibian.  Sooo, I finally gathered the courage to add my own stuff to the HOTD fandom, lol. I love reptiles, specifically Komodo dragons, I’ve made like 3 different college projects with them and it was impossible for me to not see Vhagar as one, I’ve seen other really good takes with old grandma V being a snapping turtle, an alligator and so on, and then I decided to imagine my own modern AU were all the Targaryan dragons in HOTD are some kind of reptile pet! -Because Targ shenanigans they do have a special bond with their reptile friend (Thats the only way you get a croc and a Komodo to dont eat you, lol). -The dragon keepers are a special reptile breeder company, the Targs are like one of their most important clients . -To add more lore and stuff I like the idea of them living in a made up european country called Valyria, like Genovia from the princess diaries, or at least just a modern westeros and Valyria being their something something big company where they work. -If they live in Valyria they do have the monarchy problems, but without the murder plis, Aegon ll its like fuck you all and runs away to Italy or France and starts a wine company called “The usurper” xD.  -Because I like Jacegon, Jace goes along with him so he doesn’t die from bad decisions and because I think he’ll be more reliable with the new company stuff hahahahaha, Aegon just tests the wine ok 😂?  -Lucerys its also like, the crown? No thanks, and goes to college to study literature, also in the some college as Aemond, who’s in a History major, they’re roommates 👀. -Joffrey its even less interested in the crown and decides to help his grampa Corlys with Driftmark. -I’m mexican, I dont know how Dukedoms and all that fancy european stuff works, Driftmark can be one of those or something, I’ll do some research after the reptile drawings ok xD? -That way the crown can go to little Aegon the younger without anybody dying yay. -Rhaenyra its not that ok with this, but she loves her kids, and hopes little Egg doesn’t run away too.... Im just starting with my favorite incest deranged couple, Lucemond 😚. I think its obvious this is not completed at all 😅, but I was really exited about it and wanted to talk about it after being working on it all day 😄.

More stuff about the not dragons! -They can’t live the hundreds of years of the dragons, so lets make them live as long as their owner lives, an average 80-90 years, for this HC sake hahahaha, specially because turtles, komodos and crocs are able to live long lives too! So lets make all the other special Targ reptiles/amphibians live longer too 😝. -This makes Grandma V, Vhagar ll, because Vhagar l was Visenya’s, when Laena dies in some kind of accident Aemond claims Vhagar ll so she doesn’t die, specially because she wasn’t that old then, wiki says Laena dies at 27, I havent thought that much about what happens in the Driftmart incident, but something happens 👀! -Then the Viserys l Balerion it’s Balerion ll too! Vissy T gets to keep his croc and makes him an awesome enclosure, lol. Alicent never goes there 😂, but Viserys likes to see when the servants feed him or to just chat with his friend, he has this really nice enclosure like in the zoos where you can go like underground and see them swim.

-Helaena’s kids can have little geckos or something cute like that, I need to think about it 🤔.

-Im not very sure about Caraxes being a red Tegu, they’re awesome, but I don’t know if I should make him be something else, any thoughs anyone 🤔? If you have any other ideas that are different from the ones I have so far let me know 😉!! The only ones that Im very sure about are Vhagar and Arrax, I’m really in love with the idea, and I also like them all being something different, except for Silverwing and Vermithor uwu.

[chasingthedragons]

Oh I agree Anon! The green is all Allicent. I don’t think the rest of the family could care less. Except maybe Aemond and that’s because he’d imitate her. Do we ever see Otto in green? Maybe really dark that looks black? Helena as an adult doesnt coat herself in it, beucase as you point out she doesn’t like her family much. She dresses her own children as she chooses too. Allicent just threw a tantrum all those years back at the heir’s wedding and never let it go. She thinks it makes her look better but it’s just head to toe showing her pettiness. Good example of Daemon, the Targaryens wear their colors because they are proud of their house, as they should be. Because they are dragons and it’s their history. He can def be frilly though. Man had rubies on his armor! His Pentos robes truly made a statement. His walk is perfect, so right. Towers only wear the ruling house colors to use them. Like Aegon being ‘crowned’ Lol I see that you did there! I wouldn’t be surprised if Otto was the one to start dressing his daughter in red, to make her seem less wrong actually. But I don’t think he knew what she would do at the wedding. It was a stupid move, so it wasn’t his idea. True that, Daemyra in black/their colors/together, is everything! Season 2 wardrobe I’m sure will be amazing! Here’s hoping the writing follows it!

of course it is Alicent, since ep 4 when she learns of Rhaenyra's lies, Alicent turns her wardrobe into a sword because she has nothing else to express herself or protest with and that she passes it on to her children because they are HER children, aegon, aemond and helaena of green is a declaration that they are Alicent's children and not Viserys', she makes the decisions because they are hers and hers alone.

Otto on the other hand always wears green (and personally he is the best dressed man in the series), a dark green, that is only noticeable when you look closely, as well as Otto himself, he does his things in the shadows and the rest see from him, what he wants them to see, Otto doesn't let anything slip, he is absolutely neat in his every move (as well as his clothes), I think Daemon is the only one who can see him as he really is. Otto doesn't need to say anything with his clothes, in fact I feel Otto uses his clothes to hide things not to say them, plus he also doesn't need his clothes to express himself, he is a man, therefore he has a voice, plus he is the Hand of the King, there is no more power, no more voice, no more influence to take, he has ALMOST everything.

And one last point about gold and black for Targaryen women is curious, Rhaenyra in gold “the realm's delight”, Rhaenyra in black “Maegor with tits”, Helaena in dark colors belong only to mourning, because it is the image that the greens NEED of her.

What I think is coming for the second season, a lot of mourning, a lot of war and a lot of falsehood, I think our two aspirants to the iron throne will use their wardrobes to show the image they need (but not who they really are) Rhaenyra as an angry and vengeful queen, Aegon with the conqueror's crown on his armor. I think if they could see those images of themselves they couldn't stand it.

[lullaebies]

Helaegon prompt. Aegon tries to comfort Helaena post B&C.

Oh anon, you just gave me way too much freedom with angst and pain. Thank you - and also, ahead of time, I'm sorry. 😂 [half way through writing rn: I am REALLY REALLY sorry] TW's: mentioned body gore, child's death, lowkey mental breakdown

Aegon steps into room, his dread woven into his heavy stomps. The sounds of whimpers and sobs are heard all throughout the Keep, already a resounding dirge for what he knows expects him within. He doesn't want to believe it. He can't believe it, not unless he sees. It was our time. All was going well; all was finally changing.

Why? Why their son?

The room is so dark. The curtains were drawn, and only the last ember of their fireplace remained alight. His servants told him; Helaena is nearby catatonic, and refuses to let go of the body, nor let anyone beside it. But when he sees her, she's so still. The blood stains the floor beside her, flowing on the carpet and at the hem of her dress. She's weeping bitterly, he hears. She is holding him, Aegon realizes, as he sees little feet laying limp against her arm. "Helaena," his voice trembles. His fear is so loud, and her weeps grow quiet as she hears him. He swallows it down, but tears still pool in his eyes as he approaches. It's just half a turn on his heel, when he sees the cut-off of a neck. As if a headsman himself has come to execute his boy, for a horrible crime.

He was just my son; that was his crime. Aegon's knees grow weak, and he falls to them as it all crashes on him. He can't breathe, but he must. He reaches for the boy's lifeless hand. Helaena clutches the body closer, hyperventilating. "No." His tears cascade almost freely. Guilt ran down his being; Jaehaerys died for his crown. He wasn't even here to see, but his entire being is on fire; and Helaena, who has been ice, seems to be melting into their boy, like a mother hen trying to revive a broken egg. "We need to take him to Silent Sisters," Aegon says, ashamed, afraid, in pain. Need to send him away; even though he says as much, he doesn't want to, either. He just got him back. I just got him at all. "No," Helaena says again, as he touches the side of him. "Helaena, please!" "No!" She screams at him. "They already took his head! They took him away from me," she weeps. "No more. Please, no more.." she cries bitterly and folds over their son. Aegon has been so afraid to face her, for so many years. So scared of hurt of resentment, of hurt of rejection from the children. What wouldn't he do, to turn the wheel back, to face them in any way, but this. "No more," he says, trying to reach for her. "There'll be no more," as he affirms she cries louder, and tries to push him away, but he catches her by the shoulders. "They forced me to pick," she says. "I didn't want them dead. They forced me to pick," she trembles as she recounts. "Or they'll rape Jaehaera, or they'll-" she nearly collapses. "It didn't even matter." He brings his hands around her. "It was my fault, I couldn't protect them," Helaena finally says, and Aegon is enraged.

"No," he says, and brings his forehead against hers. It was my fault, he thinks, as their tears mesh on their cheeks. "Not you," he tells her again. "Never you." She sobs loudly when the tears fall bitterly on their son's body. "Those responsible will pay their debts," he says in his wroth. They'll die; his sister, his uncle, and their brood. He too, if need be. He too, if this be his karma. "But those will never be you." Helaena's head drops onto his shoulder, her body wracked with sobs. Holding her tight, the embers of the fire die out; and all is dead. In the realm of the Stranger, all that is known is pain and grief. And if that is the realm that is left to him, he'll take his reaper's scythe and reap what has been sowed.

[anxiousnerdwritings]

oh my gods Viserys forcing Corlys and Rhaenys youngest daughter to marry Aegon because the Velaryons are obviously pissed that Rhaenyra keeps having bastards but they won’t say anything. and whole funeral thing kind of added fuel to the fire. so Viserys thinks having the reader marry Aegon will smooth things over but it really just complicates everything.

of course the reader is her mother’s child. so there’s no way in hell that Aegon goes down the path that he does. homegirl whips him up into shape. and he kind of becomes a fun mix of Oberyn Martell and Tyrion Lannister where he’s always drinking and he always horny for his wife but he’s lowkey deadly. because she absolutely was not gonna be embarrassed by this boy.

and it brings up so many mixed feelings for Corlys because he really wants his bloodline on the throne but Rhaenyra’s boys don’t have his blood despite having his name. and there’s also a small part of him that wonders if Rhaenyra and Daemon really killed Laenor like the rumours say. what if Daemon comes after the boys to install his own sons? so he’s beginning to lean towards the Aegon and the other greens in the court. especially after seeing them welcome the reader with open arms because she was the only one who can reign Aegon in so they fucking love her and know she’ll make sure Aegon is a good king. but Rhaenys is stressing because it leaves the Blues stuck in the middle of the battlefield cause they’re daughter will be crowned queen and their grandson will be made the Prince of Dragonstone soon. and that’s her only living child. what if Daemon comes after the reader and her children? they’d lose everything if the reader died.

Okay but I can’t help but imagine yan!poly!Aegon and Helaena for the Reader in this situation. Like, I can see Viserys realizing after the whole Vaemond outburst that maybe he should try to work something out more with the Velaryons, especially since it looks like even they are torn amongst themselves on whose side to be on. So, why not make it easier for them, at least that’s what Viserys thinks his actions will be achieving. Only it does the complete opposite and makes things much worse, especially for Rhaenyra.

I feel like this betrothal would happen behind Rhaenys’ back because of course she wouldn’t be so willing to marry off her youngest and remaining child, especially not to the Greens. And especially not to Aegon. She doesn’t care that their child will be Queen of the seven kingdoms or birth the future princes and princesses, Rhaenys wants to keep her remaining child as close as possible. She’s already lost two of her children and one of them may have been murdered by his own wife so she surely wouldn’t trust Aegon or the Greens to do something similar to the Reader.

Corlys is apprehensive as well but this could also be a monumental opportunity for not only the Reader but also all of House Velaryon as a whole. He doesn’t want to use his remaining child as a playing piece either especially after losing Laenor and Laena but this may be just what they need. He knows his child well enough and knows they’ll be able to hold their own, especially against Aegon. Corlys isn’t too worried about how Aegon will be with the Reader but he is worried about the underlying threats of others, such as Otto, Alicent, Rhaenyra and Daemon. He would have to mull it over but would inevitably accept the betrothal regarding his child and Aegon. After all, he thinks this would be very beneficial for the Reader in the long run. But, Corlys also knows that this will inevitably cause a rift between him and Rhaenys when he tells her. And Rhaenys would take this as a betrayal on her husband’s part, never forgetting that he put their last remaining child up freely for the Greens to have.

Going off Aegon already having married Helaena and now being betrothed to the Reader too, he would just see it as yet another thing forced upon him. He hadn’t even wanted to marry Helaena in the first place now he has to marry yet again, being stuck with two wives. The only thing that may get him to think of it differently is someone referring to the situation as it being like Aegon the Conquer, Rhaenys and Visenya all over again. Aegon would take that as people seeing him as Aegon the Conqueror and his ego would only grow because of it. But the Reader will be their to knock him down a few pegs or more.

I like to imagine the Reader being pretty free spirited and strong willed. The first time they meet Aegon, whether before or after the whole betrothal thing, he was most likely drunk and either said something vulgar to them or about someone else and they heard it resulting in them verbally handing his ass to him. The next day Aemond, Jace, Luke and others are laughing about the situation which causes Aegon to storm off and seek out the Reader to ‘punish’ them. Only when he finds the Reader to do just that, they physically kick his ass and fuck his whole shit up. After that he sees them in a completely different light. He’s kind of scared of them and ashamed that he got his ass beat but it also totally turned him on cause of course it would. He never really had anyone do something him like that, let alone a woman. He usually always got what he wanted but that was the first time someone really put him in his place and it got him feeling some type of way. Of course he wouldn’t allow anyone else to ever do that to him and get away with it but he’d make an exception for his darling. After that, Aegon wouldn’t be able to take his eyes off the Reader, he would try to get as close to them as possible justifying it with getting to know each other better because of the betrothal. He’d always find his way to their side and if he couldn’t be there then he would take to keeping them in his line of sight. Inwardly panicking a little when he would lose sight of them, automatically fearing that someone had stolen them away from him.

Given that the Reader is a free spirit I imagine that they would always be riding their dragon and going on adventures, which would only cause Aegon even more anxiety. Sure, it’s one thing to be able to go on his own dragon and fly after the Reader but it’s another thing after they’ve gotten married and they insist on him staying behind to manage his royal duties and look after everything like a good king should do. There would be an underlying fear of the Reader leaving and never returning, whether due to them perishing on their adventure or because they decided to start anew and someone else ended up capturing their heart. Aegon would compromise that the Reader either wait until he has the free time and could come with/be able to follow them on their impromptu adventures or stop their adventures altogether if they wanted him to continue keeping up with being a ‘good king’. He would threat to burn all the Seven Kingdoms to the ground if they up and left him again like that, even if they were to always come back. If they ever did leave on their dragon again after he tried compromising, especially doing so just to spite him, Aegon would have no problem hunting them down himself and forcing them back home and once they were back home, he would go as far as to kill their dragon so they wouldn’t be able to leave him again. He may also take to having them locked in their shared room or they would at the very least be heavily monitored. Aegon would also keep the Reader pregnant as often as he could to ensure they would stay in one place and prevent them from trying to flee.

I imagine that Helaena would really be the closest person to the Reader, maybe besides Rhaenyra depending on whether the Reader was still on her side after the rumors about her having Laenor killed. I don’t think the Reader or Helaena would have a hard time getting along and if they both have to be married to Aegon then that would only drive them closer to each other. Aegon may even grow jealous of how much closer his darling his with Helaena then compared to him. He would childishly accuse the Reader of loving Helaena more than him whenever he got drunk, which would be often. And both the Reader and Helaena would roll their eyes and ignore him or try very half assed to soothe his hurt feelings. These little jealous bouts happen more often then not so his darling and Helaena are more than use to them. The few times all three of them have shared the bed together there have been times Aegon will wake the Reader and Helaena out of their sleep accusing them of cuddling with each other more than with him. The three of them have been forced to try and find a sleeping arrangement that would work where Aegon would feel included but to no avail, he’d always find a problem. So eventually he just kicked Helaena out to her own room. But then one night Aegon woke up all alone in the bed while the Reader had slipped away to keep Helaena company in the night. Which led to Aegon barging in and throwing a huge hissy fit. He would complain about it to his mother and his brothers but Aemond honestly couldn’t careless and didn’t want to hear any of it due to his own envy. But eventually Aegon would come around to moving Helaena back into his and the Reader’s shared room. He liked it better when it was him and the Reader but they insist on it since Helaena is a part of the marriage as well. Not to mention it doesn’t feel right when she’s gone. If it bothers his darling so much than he can tolerate it, he supposed.

When Aegon hits his limit with the Reader up and leaving on their own accord and has them kept in their room, Helaena would be their sole company for the most part, besides Aegon himself. (Aemond and Daeron would visit themselves if only Aegon hadn’t banned them from interacting with his darling.) Helaena doesn’t agree with Aegon, knowing that no matter how many times the Reader left or how long they were gone they would always come back to the two of them. But she could also see where he was coming from. She did often worry herself whether their darling would just abandon them or meet their fate on one of their adventures. This way they can ensure their darling is safe and with them always. Not to mention it results in Jaehaerys, Jaehaera, and Maelor getting to have more siblings due to Aegon using that as a way to keep the Reader occupied and to prevent them trying to run away.

Earlier on when the Reader was in the beginnings of shaping Aegon to be a rightful king, there’s a good chance that they could get him to be on good/okay-ish terms with Rhaenyra. Especially if the Reader was still very much Team Black. It didn’t matter whether they actually had any care for Rhaenyra but given that she does have the Reader’s nieces and ‘nephews’ with her I could see the Reader trying to keep peace so as to not cause any harm or trouble for Baela, Rhaena, Jace, Luke, and Joffrey. And if the Reader themself were close to Rhaenyra then I’m sure they wouldn’t want anything to put a damper into that either. It would really be Alicent, Otto, Larys, Aemond and Aegon himself who would ruin the peace. Leading to Corlys and Rhaenys having to choose a side.

Also, there’s a very good chance that Rhaenys moves to King’s Landing permanently once the Reader is married off to Aegon. Rhaenys wouldn’t want to leave her child all alone with the Greens and would certainly want to be there for when her grandchildren are born, not to mention she’s still very pissed with Corlys for even goimng through with this whole thing and is still very much feeling betrayed over it. She would also want to make it very clear to her child that they have support by having her there with them. Although, Aegon wouldn’t like it too much with Rhaenys giving and always being with the Reader and also given that she watches him like a hawk whenber he’s near his darling but his mother would make him bite his tongue to keep Rhaenys and the Velaryons on their side. And if it did mean a lot to the Reader to have their mother with them then he could deal with it, for now.

[bucknastysbabe]

Edit upon edit upon Picsart upon making Ewan’s face into a females for another edit and finding Tudor portraits and ta-da I still don’t like it all the way! But here’s Aemond’s twin really fucking pissed off she’s in a monstrosity of a gown. Then I wanted to write a lil blurb bc I love them

The Portrait - 128 AC

“I look like one of those peacocks,” she sneered, tucking a blonde lock behind her ear. Alicent frowned and clasped her hands, “You look gorgeous darling, maybe lift your lips a little, yes, straighten the back out”

The princess raised a brow when Ser Criston’s palm pushed her spine ram-rod straight. He offered a brisk smirk, mirth in his eyes. Alicent was well aware Criston knew the younger princess hated being in dresses, preferred boiled leather and leggings. More likely to be seen riding a dragon or in the training yard, dueling with a grim face.

Well she always had a grim face. Such was the way of the younger sister burning with a desire to outshine Aegon’s consistent blunders. She took to the yard and the library, rarely seen at a dance, only liked to come to tourneys for the rush. Alicent worried about the girl. Once when she was three-and-ten, a handsome Gulltown Arryn awarded her the Queen of Love and Beauty.

The ‘crown’ was briskly passed to Helaena and the little dragon called down, “Do I look like some flimsy maiden to you?” Ser Criston thought it was hilarious behind closed doors, hiding a snicker as the true queen palmed her face in irritation. She groaned, “I fear she’ll gut whoever gets my girl to the bedding ceremony.” The knight shrugged, “Some are destined a different path, look, Helaena is doing her duty.”

The queen stared at her girl all grown up now. She truly did look gorgeous, hair silky and that Targaryen blonde. Her and Aemond practically looked the same until. Well. They carried the same easy arrogance, inherited the lankier limbs of Hightower blood. Her daughter and Aemond even had the same face, hers just daintier and feminine. Alas they wouldn’t make a good match, too alike, and Alicent’s stomach couldn’t bear marrying any more siblings after the mess of Aegon and Helaena.

The princess complained, “Can Ser Cole stick around for this? I’d rather be entertained with his stories of gallantry, marcher shite, perhaps idiots at tourneys.” The white knight’s lips curled in humor, gloved hand holding her shoulder. He replied, “I don’t think me lurking in the back of your proposal portrait will make a good impression.”

“No, but it’ll show power, what happens if they think I’m some little quim to order around.”

Alicent caught the look on Cole’s face. He was fiercely protective of her. Cole rumbled, “A good point, but this is about you princess. Besides, I think a reputation precedes you. Hush and get this done or I’ll stick you fighting the straw knight.” She groaned and looked at the the stand where the artist would be soon.

“Mother, please, I shan’t do this. I don’t need to get married, Aemond and Daeron can make up for my lack! What if he’s a dullard, or sticks me in a castle? I will kill them! Enough! I look silly enough already,” she snapped while pulling at her thick green dress. The princess began to walk away against Alicent’s commands.

Criston stepped in front of the angered dragon and pointed at the seat, face unmoving. She tried to budge him, step around, dive even. Ser Cole finally snatched her up and chastised, “You aren’t getting out of this, don’t act like Aegon, just get it done. The queen stresses enough as if.”

Alicent had flopped onto a chair— unladylike and worn. She sighed, “Ser Criston, just pose for the painting. It needs to get done, just stand behind. I need to go see Helaena, I trust you to oversee the endeavor?”

“Yes my queen, of course,”

When the green queen stepped out, Criston gripped her shoulder again and hissed, “You acted like a child, you’re to be eight-and-ten, come on now.” He watched her frown and grow quiet. The princess murmured, “I do not wish to be married off. I’m better on the battlefield. I can’t do that if I’m some lords broodmare.”

“Don’t say that.”

Criston hated this too. He didn’t want his favorite princess going anywhere outside of his jurisdiction. Which was quite slim as a Kingsguard. The crown needed stronger ties of course, and to keep the bloodline active. Princesses were just the thing for that. But she wanted to be Visenya— own her destiny. Something he wished he could have the name and power to accomplish.

Criston lightly noted, “Maybe you’ll be like your eldest, find one who despises a womanly figure. Then you don’t have to do anything.” She sniffed, “But I do. No matter. The artist is here.” The knight felt her pain, giving a sympathetic squeeze of her shoulder. The princess promptly moved his hand to her arm— a more possessive gesture. He ignored the words in his head, the pang in his heart. At least the portrait would allow for some nice stories in his head.

“Go on Cole— who was the worst jouster you’d ever seen.”

He returned her gaze, that merlot sparkling with mischievous intent. Gods forgive his sorry soul.

[throwawayasoiafaccount]

honestly, the more i think about it the more certain i become that winds of winter and specifically the kings landing plot/vale/gc plot will significantly parallel the dance of the dragons (mainly the end of the dance).

others have already made great metas on this lol

i think cersei’s downfall will resemble alicent’s. im sad but certain that both tommen and myrcella will be killed (maybe paralleling aegon and rhaenys deaths?). i’m kind of hoping the sand snakes will go through character development and not choose revenge… but i kind of doubt it. i’m sure that cersei will definitely break down even further tho. that’ll be interesting and horrifying to read.

tommen will certainly die first, leading to myrcella being crowned. i think it’s likely that tommen is killed by the sand snakes, but i think myrcella will be killed during the fall of kings landing to (f)aegon. i wonder if the sand snakes try protecting her and fail?

i highly doubt that dorne is going to join (f)aegon. i think arianne will see the truth and will be able to successfully maneuver her way back to dorne. (tho i think she’ll have a run in with aurane which would be cool to read). however, (f)aegon will think that arianne is on his side. i’m worried that lady lance wont leave with the dornish party tho…

anyways, after the fall of kings landing cersei will likely be locked up as she won’t be considered a threat. but this won’t be enough to stop the crazy that will be childless cersei.

the high sparrow will certainly support (f)aegon.

i’m 50/50 on whether margaery marries again. i am worried that margaery will get jaehaera’d :/. i think it’s certain that she’ll be held hostage tho. what if she goes the helaena route… yikes… that’s a sad thought.

at this point in time i think the starks will hold winterfell once again and the freys will have be destroyed. the tullys will probably hold the riverlands again.

euron will be causing absolute havoc in the reach.

i think the vale plot in winds will resemble what happens during the dance. harry and robin will both probably die, so i think littlefinger, who’d be in trouble at that point, would try to gain power through sansa. so i think the knights of the vale will make their way to kings landing with sansa with the intent of making her queen.

this is where the tourney at ashford theory comes into play. though jonsas have it completely wrong, as (f)aegon will be the one taking the place of prince valarr. i’m a bit iffy about sansa marrying (f)aegon due to sansa’s marriage to tyrion… but it could be annulled i suppose? but would the high sparrow do that? i think it’s possible.

i wonder what will happen to trystane and the sand snakes tho? i do think that the sand snakes are savvy enough to be able to escape on their own but trystane worries me :(. and he’s gonna be devastated by myrcellas death.

anyways if the plot does move in this direction then i totally expect to read many littlefinger vs varys showdowns.

this will definitely be a false dawn tho. euron will likely be making his way to kings landing and i’m fairly certain that he will sit on the iron throne at some point. bet this is when cersei is able to rise again.

i’ll admit that this prediction for winds has many holes in it. i may be misremembering some stuff as well and i likely haven’t considered all variables either, so take everything i just stated as a vague prediction.

some questions i’m asking myself rn lol: would the tyrell army go down that easily (or maybe varys friends in the reach will help the golden company win the battle?)? will sweet robin really die :(? baelish won’t be able to try and take back the north bc the starks will hold it once again, and going north would mean definitely giving up his hold over sansa… so wouldn’t trying to make sansa the new queen make more sense? since he’d still be able to isolate her and she’d likely need to depend on him? but wouldn’t going to kings landing again be dangerous for him? well if his and varys interests line up then maybe not… but would the knights of the vale follow him? i guess if both harry and robin died then they’d be totally lost too…

[bronzefuryfic]

Bronze Fury

When the only child of Daemon Targaryen and Rhea Royce is brought to King's Landing to meet with the rest of her family, she finds herself caught in a crisis of succession. The Greens battle for her support... and her affections.

Chapter Ten: Changing Tides / Previous Chapter / Directory

Rhae and Aegon discuss the state of their relationship in light of Aegon's betrothal to Helaena. On the ship to Driftmark, Aemond supports Rhae after a disastrous conversation with Viserys.

"That's it then? You're just going to give up?"

"It's not like that."

"How so?" Aegon paced furiously, his eyes pink and puffy. "They can't do this!"

He kicked the chest at the center of Rhae's room, which was still open from a long day of packing. Ships were being prepared to depart for Driftmark on the morrow, and though Rhae never really cared for how she presented, she'd spent the whole afternoon anxiously choosing between dresses.

But Rhae was not alone in her worries. The prince had been missing since morning, much to the dismay of his mother. While the others went about their preparations, Ser Criston searched the Red Keep high and low for any signs of the Crown's eldest son.

"Our Queen is in a frenzy," Cole had told her, having stopped by Rhae's room that afternoon in his hunt for the heir. "If you've any inkling of where he may be, I need to hear it."

"I've not seen him," Rhae had insisted. It was true... then. 

"And you've no leads?

Rhae thought of the secret passages coursing through the castle.

"Not one. He couldn't have gotten far, could he? I'm sure he'll return soon."

And return he did—slipping through Rhae's door just as the sun set, stinking of wine and his dragon, Sunfyre. 

"Does anyone else know you're back yet?" Rhae asked, folding her arms across her chest. "The others were worried."

"Worried?"  Aegon scoffed. "Spare me."

"You should see Helaena!" 

"I did. She looked devastated."

Rhae grimaced. Helaena had been beside herself when she was told of her own betrothal. After she'd refused Alicent's company, the Queen requested that Rhae and Aemond try their chances at comfort. They'd spent most of the day in shifts, trying to cheer Helaena up. But their efforts proved fruitless. The princess had apologized profusely to Rhae when they were alone, snot bubbling from her nose.

"You've nothing to say sorry for," Rhae had told her, rubbing Helaena's back in large, circular motions.

"I— hic!— don't want to marry Aegon!" she'd wept. "And he— hic!— doesn't want to marry me. You're the one he's in love with. And now— hic!— he's run away!"

"Aegon is not... in love with me," Rhae spluttered, face burning. "And he hasn't run away!"

Now, in the present, Aegon stood before her. Rhae could not quite bring herself to meet his gaze.

"She was afraid you'd left."

"I should've."

"No one wants that."

Aegon let out a strangled bark of laughter, wiping at his face with the back of his sleeve. His eyes averted, Rhae seized the opportunity to stare.

He couldn't have been over ten paces away.

It felt far. Too far.

"They do, actually." His twisted laughter gave way to a mirthless chuckle. "You conflate wants with needs. Rhaenyra would have cause for celebration... Hells, most would! Helaena would not be trapped with me as her husband, Aemond would gain the responsibility and glory he so desperately desires... Daeron probably doesn't even remember who I am at this point. And Mother—"

"Aegon..."

But he spoke louder, pressing onward.

"— Mother would be rid of her greatest pain. And Father, well, he may not even notice I'm gone! Fuck, I'm certain he wouldn't. Which means—!"

"Aegon!"

"Don't!" He snapped. The prince took a few steps forward, fists clenched in frustration. "No one wants me here, Rhae!"

Seven paces, Rhae thought. She held her ground, watching him. A lump formed in her throat.

"That's not true."

Aegon shook his head, taking another step forward.

Six paces.

And another—her breath caught.

Five... four... three... two...

Rhae lost her nerve, looking down at her feet as he approached. But she could not escape him—Aegon now stood so close their toes touched. As her vision blurred, she could only focus on the irregularity of his breath. The prince clasped her trembling hands in his own sweaty palms.

"Then why won't you stay with me?" He choked.

Aegon gripped her fingers so tight it hurt.

She didn't want him to let go.

But before Rhae could reply, a knock sounded at the door. She blinked hard in surprise, tears finally spilling down her cheek. Shit.

Rhae summoned what feeling she had left in her hands to squeeze back, willing herself to meet Aegon's eyes, willing him to understand.

This conversation is not over.

He nodded his head against hers, a glimmer of relief in his expression. Rhae stood on her toes, sealing the promise with a lingering kiss.

Another knock sounded. Releasing their hold, Rhae hurried to clear her face of any signs of distress. Aegon made no such efforts, watching the door with an ugly look of contempt.

"Aemond," Rhae said, her voice still thick. "How's Helaena? Any better?"

"Only a bit," the young prince sighed. "Mother promised she could bring one of her spiders to Driftmark. Picking one out distracted her for a little, but she's still convinced Aegon is halfway to Essos."

"Well, she needn't worry anymore," Rhae pushed the door open further, revealing the heir stood behind her.

"Brother," Aemond said stiffly, looking between the two with a puzzled look on his face. "Does Ser Criston know you're home?"

"Not likely," Aegon grumbled. "You'd best tell him."

"Why can't you?"

"It sounds that I'm several hours overdue for a conversation with Helaena."

Aemond looked as taken aback as Rhae felt. Even at the best of times, Aegon acted as though he merely tolerated Helaena. She'd tease him relentlessly in lessons and at meals, only to be met with eye rolls and sulky sighs. The only time they'd ever seemed to have alone was when flying their dragons. Had indifference masked greater affections? Rhae cast a skeptical look over her shoulder.

"What?" Aegon asked, glaring at them. "She was my sister first."

He brushed past without another word, disappearing down the hall. Rhae watched as he left, perhaps a moment too long, for Aemond spun on her instantly.

"What was he doing here?"

"I dunno," Rhae lied. "He'd only just arrived before you showed up... said he needed someone to talk to."

"Oh..." Aemond didn't seem fully convinced. "What did he say?"

Rhae looked down at the boy that would be her husband. She'd done as the Queen asked, keeping the proposed arrangement to herself—but not for want. She'd nearly confessed to Helaena the night before, and then again that morning, and about a dozen more times throughout the day. But it wasn't her promise to Alicent that held her back. Somehow, Rhae thought, if she did not speak it, then it would not be.

"We didn't get very far." Rhae shrugged. "I'd mostly just told him off for disappearing."

"Good," Aemond said, his brow knit. "He listens to you better than most... Not that that's saying much."

Rhae shifted uncomfortably, guilt nagging at her conscience. She didn't enjoy keeping such secrets from Aemond... but what choice did she have? Knowledge of her and Aegon's relations would only deepen Aemond's insecurities— especially if they were to wed.

Rhae could be happy with Aemond. She knew she could. But could she live with letting go of Aegon? Without so much as an attempt for reconciliation?

Had he been any more willing to do the same, perhaps she could. But that were not the case. Was it as Helaena said? Did Aegon... love her? The questions that followed felt even more harrowing.

His words echoed in her mind.

You're just going to give up?

"It's been a long day," Rhae muttered, already moving to push her door shut. "We'll talk on the boat, okay?"

"Rhae..."

"Goodnight Aemond."

"Would you like me to send for a bucket, my niece?"

King Viserys lurched forward, clapping Rhae's injured shoulder to steady himself. The sun was bright and the winds fierce, stinging her eyes and forcing them into a squint. For that, Rhae was grateful. She did not trust that she could hide the emotions ravaging her insides.

"Pardon, Your Grace?"

"You look ill," her uncle states, still stood uncomfortably close. His face was tinged green. "There's no shame in it. Even kings may find themselves afflicted by seasickness, now and again."

Rhae merely nodded, glad for the ready-made excuse. She had no energy for her normal posturing. Within an hour, they would reach the ports of Driftmark.

"I must admit, it is more than the tides that trouble me," Viserys continues after a moment. "It's been some years since I last saw my brother."

Fourteen, more like, Rhae thought dully. It'd been that long since the funeral of his first wife, after all.

"I'd think you'd find the prospect exciting," Rhae said instead, her eyes fixated on the sky above. Sunfyre and Dreamfyre soared overhead, looking powerful with their wings stretched wide. She'd seen them take to the skies many times now, but the sight still captivated her. Their riders were mere specks amid shimmering scales.

"In another time, mayhap," King Viserys chuckles. "When things were simpler."

"You fear you won't recognize him."

"Shrewd as ever, child." Rhae cringed as Viserys retched over the side of the boat. An attendant hurried over, but the King waved them off. "Truly your father's daughter. You may be the only one who understands."

"Perhaps," Rhae sighed, already exhausted by the conversation. Though I am certain I won't recognize him. Time can't erase memories that were never there.

They stood there awhile, feeling the waves beneath the boards. Rhae tried to focus on the sway of the ship, on the dragons overhead, on the horizon—anything to distract her from the haggard heaves of her uncle. He seemed to recover for a while, but whenever the steady undulation of the tides gave way to a rougher rhythm, he'd clutch her once more, gagging.

"Are we certain he'll even be at the funeral?" Rhae asked, reaching out reluctantly to pat the King's back. The stench of bile was not quite lost to the salty smell of the sea, and she fought the urge to crinkle her nose in disgust. "I was told he was not in attendance for that of my mother."

"Not for want, I'm sure," Viserys said, wiping at his mouth. He looked over his shoulder, sparing a glance, before looking away just as quickly. "Your father was summoned to the Red Keep on my order."

"I'd never known."

"Yes, well..." The King shifted his weight uncomfortably, and something told Rhae it was not for the waves. "Your uncle Gerold was not one to let go of a grudge, was he? Never quite forgave Daemon for a brutal unseating at a tourney, if memory serves."

Rhae recoiled as though he had struck her, anger bubbling in her chest as she ripped her hand away from the King.

"It certainly sounds like Ser Gerold," Rhae lied, giving a thin-lipped smile. "If you'd excuse me, Your Grace, you're right—I feel unwell. I think it best I lie down for a while."

She spun on her heel, stalking towards the door she knew to lead below deck. Queen Alicent and Ser Criston stood nearby, watching her with concern, but Rhae was not in the mood to speak with them, either. She moved quicker, shoving her way past the bustling sailors, fists clenched.

How DARE he lie on Ser Gerold's name?

Mind ablaze, Rhae stormed to Aemond's quarters, throwing the door open without so much as a knock.

"Fuck!" Aemond startled, dropping a dagger from his hands. It landed point down, embedding into the floorboards. "Rhae? What's wrong?"

"Everything!" she thundered, now slamming the door shut. A thousand insults and threats caught in her throat—but she dare not let them escape. The ship was too small and too crowded. To let her hatred slip her tongue could mean to have it removed. Shit. Rhae leaned her back against the wood, sliding to the ground, clawing at her injured left arm, desperate to soothe the familiar itch of her failures.

The young prince could not hide his look of bewilderment, but he rushed to Rhae's side all the same.

She wished to appease his worry, but Rhae could not force herself to calm. She trembled from head to toe, barely containing the brew of anxiety, sorrow and shame that sat heavy in her belly. Worse yet, she could not slow her breathing. Each desperate bid for air expelled from her lungs just as quickly.

Is this what it is to drown?

Aemond reached out, grabbing her hand so that she might stop her incessant scratching. When her fingers curled to continue the motion, they wrapped around his palm, her nails digging into his skin. But Aemond did not flinch—he only held tighter.

"Rhae?" He asks, as though uncertain she could hear him. "What can I do?"

Rhae could not say if it took a minute or an hour, but at last she chokes out an answer.

"A bucket.... I think... I think I need a bucket."

"Okay," Aemond says hurriedly, leaping to his feet. "Just stay here, okay? I'll be right back!"

Rhae dragged herself forward by the heels of her feet, allowing just enough space for Aemond to pry the door open and slip through the crack, leaving her to her heaving.

Alone in the room and unable to breathe, Rhae's eyes dart about. She couldn't say what she hoped to find, but her gaze falls at last upon the dagger stuck in the floor, sharp and unmoving. Remembrance calls at the back of her mind—she recognized that dagger.

Rhae sat up a little straighter, taking a shaky breath. Further inspection revealed intricate detailing—twin dragons twisting up the hilt, wrapped over in worn leather. Their fearsome silvered heads crossed at the top, facing opposite directions, and Rhae imagined for a moment that they were spouting flames. She exhaled again, a little easier this time. It was an impressive pommel, one that could only be made by the practiced hand of a master craftsman. Aemond had shown it to her once before... it was a gift from Ser Criston.

She managed another breath as the door creaked back open. Aemond slipped through, dropping to his knees with the bucket in hand, and not a moment too soon. Panic subsiding, Rhae doubled over as a wave of nausea washed over her. The heaviness in her gut would not remain there much longer. Aemond thrust the bucket in front of her, the pungent stench of salt and fish wafting up her nose, and with a belch came her lunch, moving painfully up her throat and splattering wetly at its bottom.

"It's alright, Rhae, let it out..."

Rhae took the bucket in her hands, pulling it closer as her stomach continued to empty. Her face burned in embarrassment, wishing Aemond would leave her to finish in private, but she couldn't choke out the words. Instead, he busied his hands with her hair, pulling it back from her face. Her only relief came in the gentle feeling of his fingers brushing along her scalp.

"I'm sorry," she managed meekly, when at last she felt certain she had finished. She wiped at her lips with the inside of her cloak. "I didn't m-mean to..."

"Don't be." He murmured, adopting the same soft tone he often took with Helaena. Rhae felt a warmth spread through her chest, grateful for his patience.

"I don't deserve you," she sniffed, pushing the bucket as far away from herself as she could. Her back thumped back against the door as she took her first steady breath. In... Out...

Aemond sidled up beside her on the floor, bumping his leg against hers. "Don't be ridiculous."

Rhae thought of the Queen's proposal, and her promise to Aegon, and felt her sense of ease turn to ash.

If he only knew.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Pardon?" Rhae asked, eyes widening.

"I mean," Aemond looked away sheepishly. "You didn't look all that seasick when you first came to King's Landing. It's about the funeral, isn't it? About... Daemon?"

Rhae gaped for a moment, taken aback by his memory for such a detail.

"How—?"

"—We don't have to talk about it." Aemond hastened. "If you don't want to, it's just, I thought maybe—"

"Yes," Rhae blurted, her cheeks flushing. It wasn't the full truth, but it was most of it. Aemond nodded and did not speak, waiting patiently for her to continue. Rhae sighed, choosing her words with care, speaking quietly.

"You know how your father worships him, as though he's done nothing wrong. " Aemond nodded again, attentive as ever. "A long history of pain and exile has no real meaning to the King. Rather than fearing for his kingdom, his people... Viserys worries only for his brother. He'd invite him back with open arms, consequences be damned. And why shouldn't he? It's not as though he's got anything to fear. Daemon would never hurt him. Not in the way he hurt his wives, and not..."

Not in the way he's hurt me.

She let the thought die at her lips. It all went without saying, really. Not worth so much as the breath required to bring it forward.

"It's stupid," she finished lamely, as Aemond shook his head in defiance. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

"He won't hurt you," Aemond clenched his hands in his lap. "I won't let him."

The thought was equal parts sweet and absurd, and Rhae let loose an involuntary giggle. Aemond puffed his chest, affronted.

"You think I won't?"

"I believe you would," Rhae smiled, now bumping her leg against his. "But you'll at least let me help, won't you? My father is a man grown."

"That won't matter," he insisted, ears turning pink. His leg bounced restlessly against hers—he seemed to grow agitated, as though something inside him was trying to escape.

Rhae's eyes narrowed, a new concern beginning to mount. Surely he wasn't serious? Then again, Rhae wasn't sure she'd even known Aemond to be anything but. The thought made her shudder. A boy with a blade... but what was a dagger to a dragon?

"You honor me," she said. "But I will not see you hurt on my account. Promise me."

He mulled her words.

"Aemond..."

"Alright," he said at last. He looked up at her, a fierce determination in his eyes. "I promise."

"Good," Rhae sighed her relief.

They sat there a moment, their legs still brushed against each other, as Rhae found her gaze drawn back to Aemond's dagger, still stuck in the floor. She nudged him, nodding in its direction.

"Practicing without me, were you?"

"You seemed content to watch the dragons."

"I still would've said yes," she said, rising to her feet. She stooped to pull the blade free, turning it over in her hands, admiring the craftsmanship. "What'd I miss?"

Aemond stood, taking it from her delicately.

"I believe Ser Criston would call it 'needless pomp'."

"And what would you call it?"

"Intimidation tactics." Aemond grinned, motioning for Rhae to step back. She obliged, and he made a dexterous show of flipping and twirling the blade between his fingers. But before Rhae could express her admiration for the trick, it slipped from his hand once more, this time hitting the floor with a clatter. Rhae let out another involuntary giggle. Only this time, Aemond laughed with her. " Future intimidation tactic, I suppose."

"Do it again!" She cheered. "Then I want to try."

And so the last hour passed with blissful play, the pair taking turns practicing with the dagger. By the time Alicent came to collect them, Rhae had nearly forgotten her troubles.

"They're docking this ship," said the Queen, her face taut. "We're here."

Driftmark.

Next Chapter: The Funeral

The Targaryens arrive in Driftmark for the funeral of Laena Velaryon. Aegon proposes a plan to save his relationship. Rhae at last sees her father.

Questions or comments? Be sure to send them my way!

AO3 | Chapter Discussion

Thanks for reading!

[alicenttully]

these are my thoughts on the teaser.  now normally i tag my posts if I happen to be critical of a character (i.e. daemon) but i’m not going to do this here.  If you don’t like what I have to say, just ignore the post or block me.  i don’t care. spoilers below for those who haven't watched it/read fire and blood.

i did not realize that none of rhaenyra’s children appeared until i read someone pointing it out.  granted this is only a teaser but if any of rhaenyra’s sons should have been present, jace deserved it.  on the other hand no sign of daeron from what i can see so nobody’s getting fed in that area i guess.

baela on moondancer.  people are right, she looks so much like laena. looks like they’re changing some things, which could work well.  or not.

now when I first saw baela, i got excited and thought “oh shit, NETTLES!”.  because I wasn’t paying attention to her hair,  I’m sorry! I made a similar mistake with alys rivers and helaena.  both of those shots i thought was meant to be alys. 

if they decide to cut nettles or try to reduce her importance, then @ripley-stark is right.  just because the show has some things going for it doesn’t mean it is actually completely flawless in its messaging of feminism/misogyny/patriarchy. in fact, it's a joke.

because imagine claiming to be a “feminist” show and removing a character like nettles.  there’s no justification.  

rhaenys made my eyes roll.  not because what she said isn’t true, but because anyone could have said it and idk after episode 9 i struggle with her character even though i have considered other interpretations for her actions that give more nuance to her.  season 2 might make me change my mind on her again.  we’ll see.

at least rhaenys’ hair doesn’t offend me as much lol.  everybody looks good, but i’m not really an expert on costuming so idk.  had no fears about alicent, the costuming department does right by her, even in a scene when she’s being attacked she’s still giving vibes on always passing the assignment. if being beautiful was a crime olivia cooke would get a life sentence.

people are either predictably gloating or getting upset over said scene.  and like.  the direction of that scene is very likely not going to be what these people hope it is.  if I’m right, they’ll be rioting because of FOOD SHORTAGES (caused by a blockade that was ordered by you know who), they could give less than two shits about rhaenyra’s crown being “stolen”, same for whenever aegon is actually a usurper or not.  ofc the smallfolk are not a monolith, but i’m not going to be shocked if that’s the point of the scene.  and this is something greenies need to understand as well, sorry.  just because they rioted against rhaenyra in the text doesn’t mean they’re not capable of doing it to the other side.  like I don’t know what to tell you.   

I have no idea what that scene of alicent in the white dress is meant to be.  i don’t keep up with the leaks/speculation.  but she looks good. and her voice, OMG. i had not realized i missed it.

[dragondreamerhelaena]

I made bracelets for my favorite characters!

For aemond I wanted his to be kinda simple and more masculine. I knew he needed to have a sword and a big dragon charm! When I found the sapphire eye charm I immediately knew he needed it!

I think helaena’s bracelet got the most love because I love her so much lol I wanted it to be very soft and feminine. I also didn’t want a lot of green because to me she’s not really a green she just had the misfortune of being born on that side. To me she’s very blue or teal. She obviously needed bugs so she got a dragon fly and a spider! I also gave her a blue sapphire because helaemond lol I also wanted to give her a dragon because she IS a dragon rider! Hopefully we can actually see her on a dragon next season 🥲

I wanted daemons to be more simple and masculine. I was super excited to fine volcano rock beads because that screams daemon to me. I also loved that the dragon charm I got for him has a longer neck because I love caraxes!

I wanted Rhaenyras bracelet to be very queen like so it had to have gems and a crown! I also added the volcano rock beads that daemons had ♥️

I wanted Alicents to also be very queen like so she has to have the glamour and the crown. I also had the last minute idea to add the dagger for the where is duty? scene 😈 (it’s my favorite Alicent scene)

[puffballlofdoom]

On (show) Helaena, Aemond and Alys.

Yes, yet again, I am wondering about how underrated the show Helaena is. At least 2 of her prophecies turned out to be true (personally, I believe her remark about desire to be just a keen observation rather than another riddle) , but her kin do not seen to take her seriously anyway. The book Aemond, however, used to believe in Alys' visions. I'd wager the Prince might have been fascinated with his lover's vaguely supernatural powers. Here, I'd like to ask why the hell the show Aemond ignores Helaena's clairvoyance even after he indeed lost his eye the night he claimed Vhagar and, in addition, called "an eye for a dragon" a freakin EXCHANGE? Wonder whether in se2, Aeddie would start to reckon with what his sister has to say? Admittingly in se1, we never had the opportunity to see them talking, but from how the siblings were acting in each other's presence, I gather they were pretty dear to one another (Aemond seemed protective about his sister, he was clearly one of the very few people whose touch Helaena tolerated, and we could even assume he used to spend more time with Jaehearys and Jaeheara than theur bio dad did). So, finding out about Hel's gift (or curse) might have been relatively easy for Aemond. Especially given he studied history and could have been familiar with the story of Daenys the Dreamer.

I want to make it clear- I am not into dumbass ship wars. Personally, I consider the above mentioned phenomenon childish and wouldn't want to spoil anyone's fun just because they indulge in creating the crackiest ships ever. Here, I must admit I would have never come up with the idea of helaemond. But for lovely Tumblr/Twitter and AO3 communities, I would insist on Aemond embracing the role of the Man of the House , since the terminally ill Vizzy was bed-bound and unconscious, Aegon- busy , well, being Aegon, and Otto was the Greens' maternal grandfather and did not bear the Targaryen name. In this scenario, Aemond simply tried to be a worthy scion of Old Valyria, perfect son , great warrior , well -educated price and also... A proper father figure for his irresponsible brother's son. Or maybe the teenager was a tad like the show Samwel, and simply had a soft spot for young kids? In addition, Aemond might have come up with the idea he needed to protect Aegon's wife, for he could have noticed the good-for-nothing , always drunk crown prince used to dishonor and neglect Helaena? Let alone the fact he was no warrior? Frankly speaking, taking up responsibility for Hel's safety would mean Aemond actually embraced one of (stereo)typical, husbandy duties! I'll be deeply satisfied if se2 confirms Aemond and Helaena love each other as siblings, all the "Targaryen Things" aside. I think I enjoy this idea more than the scenario in which Aemond dumps his depressed sister-girlfriend and goes for the new war bride. Speaking of Aemond's war bride... I'd like to stress it that the show Helaena seems to have much in common with the book Alys. It's such a pity they would probably never interact 😭! A fanfic, in which Aemond sends a raven to Hel, asks her to take Jaeheara and Maleor , mount Dreamfyre and come to Harrenhall to meet her new sister could really be a thing!

[simplynotcapable]

If Baelon just incarnated as Aemond properly, from Day 1, and he and Visenya were able to communicate this to each other, would that solve any of the issues? Just, any of them?

I just genuinely don't think the Dance would happen.

Aemond kicks off the Dance. He kills Luke in the storm and signs the death warrant of his entire family and all of the dragons. You can keep tracing the fuse back as far as you want, but Aemond is the one who strikes the match and lights the bitch up.

Aemond does this for several reasons:

He's a hothead with a little bit of that dragon brand madness

He's spent his entire life with his mother telling him that Rhaenyra is a threat to him, to Aegon and Daeron, to Helaena and her children. He has had it pounded into his head that Rhaenyra is going to kill him and all the people he cares about, and Rhaenyra has never given him any reason not to believe this.

He's also spent his whole life in her shadow, in Aegon's shadow, in Jace and Luke's shadow--and those last two chafe. In their shadow when he knows they're bastards, when they're not as good as him, when they never have been, and his father still looks right through him and into them. Always has and always will, doesn't matter what he does.

He's just got this raging need to make himself seen because he's never been seen before someone else. He's not the firstborn, not the firstborn son. He claimed a dragon last. He's the one with the missing eye, with the deformity. Aegon's the one deemed worthy to have a Targaryen wife and a crown, and Aemond's just there to shore up his brother and want. He exists to covet. That's all Aemond is: covet dipped in blood.

So he looks at Luke, who took his eye, who has been laughing at him all his life. Precious, perfect little Luke, the some day Lord of the Tides when he doesn't have any blood claim to the seat he's taking. A bastard staring back at him, a bastard with people who love him and see him and put him first, a bastard whose dragon hatched in his cradle and who will marry a woman with Valyrian blood singing in her veins, a bastard who cut his eye out and Aemond's father still protected him. This bastard born to a woman who is going to kill him and his brothers and his nephews, maybe his sister too. His family. His people. And he thinks of his mother who wept for him and fought for him like no one ever did, the danger she's facing if this all goes badly for the Greens, and he is angry.

If you look at things outside of morality, outside of "hey chasing a child through the rain and trying to scare him with a war dragon is stupid", outside of whether or not you think Aemond losing his eye was a tragedy or something he had coming--if you look at it through Aemond's eye and through who Aemond is, how do you think he's going to do anything but what he did?

Baelon and Aemond have a lot of similarities. They're both a little bit mad, and they both take this kind of peaceful joy in violence that Aemond hasn't really gotten a chance to explore beyond sparring at this point in the story. They're dicks! They like teasing Visenya, they like flying, they love their dragons, they're mama's boys.

But the chip Aemond has on his shoulder is completely different from Baelon's.

Visenya recognizing that Baelon is Aemond in this version and him recognizing her means that they both remember. He remembers another life and so does she, and that changes them. Visenya in silver and moonstone would not be the same person she is without remembering the dragonglass and gold universe, and Baelon isn't the same either.

So here's Baelon in Aemond's place. Who remembers loving Rhaenyra and being loved by Rhaenyra, who remembers Laena, who remembers Daemon, who remembers being firstborn and first pick and the way it weighed so heavy. Who doesn't...want to be seen, not really, doesn't covet the same way. All those things Aemond wants so bad--firstborn son, Viserys's favorite, a crown on his head, a dragon in the cradle. Being first and being special and being chosen? He had it already! He knows what it is. He knows he didn't get his happiness from that. He was happy in that life because of Visenya, because of their family.

He's got Alicent in one ear wailing about bastards and the threat of Rhaenyra, but Baelon has Visenya in the other saying "no, she's our Rhaenyra, still, she loves me and she'd love you too if she wasn't so afraid to love you, I swear, I swear"

Baelon doesn't care about Viserys's attention. He doesn't care if he loves Luke and Jace best, doesn't give a flying fuck about any of it, because he's been loved best already and didn't much care for it. Visenya loves him best, and he knows that, and that's all that matters. He doesn't care that Aegon is first born, that Aegon could be king, that Aegon is more special.

And when Baelon claims Vhagar, when he comes back to Rhaena and Baela and Jace and Luke, he knows what it's like to have a dead mother! He knows, he knows, he knows, and he knows what it is to love Laena, and so why would he be cruel? Why would he say anything at all to hurt them more when he understands why they're angry, when he knows he did something insensitive?

Baelon doesn't lose an eye at Driftmark.

Baelon doesn't stop Aegon from leaving, either, because who is he to stop him? Who is he to keep him from running away from a throne he doesn't want?

And Baelon looks at Visenya, looks at her with her eyes wide and her hands clasped, and he kneels to Rhaenyra because he doesn't want it and Visenya says it's safe. Visenya says they're safe, and Baelon trusts Visenya more than he can ever trust another soul.

("I won't forgive you," Visenya says, Rhaenyra's hand in hers, and she looks into a queen's eyes with her jaw set and her mind made up. "If you--if Daemon...I will not forgive you, Nyra, and I swear to whatever gods there are that I'll put your fucking kingdoms to light until someone shoots me down.")

And they are safe, really. Safe as a Targaryen can be, anyway, but Baelon wants to leave anyway. Just in case, his mother's whispers still in his head, and so he goes. Alicent won't, won't, won't, but Baelon goes and brings Visenya and Helaena with him. Pentos, no further.

They go home for visits and leave again, and Jaehaera marries Joffrey and Jaehaerys marries Jace and Baela's daughter, and Helaena falls in love with living a life beholden to no one, and Baelon and Visenya marry three times all over again. Daemon watches them with sharp eyes, listens for whispers, but the whispers never come because that's the fundamental difference between Baelon and Aemond.

Aemond wants everything. Baelon just wants the things that matter.

[animusxy]

It’s been so long since I’ve been on here and I’m trying to get back into the rhythm of writing but I have mocks coming up so I’m not sure when I can actually start working on things longterm. I will be trying my best. In the meantime, I’m about to go into a rant on HOTD and the fan base. Specifically towards the die-hard black supporters who seem hell-bent on justifying every little war crime they do.

To be clear I DONT SUPPORT THE BLACKS OR THE GREENS. SO I WILL BE TRYING TO REMAIN AS UNBIASED AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT LETTING MORALS GET IN THE WAY TOO MUCH.

Both sides do horrible things during the war and you can argue that one side has a stronger claim than the other all you want. The lesser of two evils if you will.

But that’s all objectively viewing things.

I’ve read the books and though unreliable I know the main points that will be coming in the next seasons of the show. I will warn you now THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.

My first point is who should be on the Iron Throne. An extremely controversial topic. Personally I don’t think anyone in the show would be a good ruler, barring Jace perhaps. This includes Rhaenyra, Aegon, Aemond and Daemon. You name it.

I don’t think I need to explain with Aegon. He’s not suited, he lacks the ability to handle that stress. Not to mention horrendous actions towards women.

Aemond, now this is my speculation as he is my favourite character (Yes, even with Luke and all), would be good in politics and tradition. He’s smart, a warrior and respects religion however he would not be able to connect with the smallfolk in my opening so while to the higher ups he’d probably be great, he probably wouldn’t be very well liked by the people.

Now Rhaenyra, I’ll give some examples because this might be the most gruesome part for the die-hard black fans to read, if they haven’t already stopped when I mentioned Rhaenyra before (this might be a bit controversial I know). Rhaenyra was welcomed when she took the throne but it didn’t last. She understands politics to a degree but she has serious entitlement issues.

For example: She taxed the fuck out of the smallfolk and while they were starving in the streets what was she doing? Throwing feasts to celebrate her crowning and her child being named Prince of Dragonstone. You can imagine how scorned they must have felt, Rhaenyra was practically rubbing it in their faces. Not to mention there is a war going on.

Instead of ensuring her victory and place on the Iron Throne she let her vengeful streak take over. She had anyone she thought to be a traitor hung or beheaded and their corpses littered around and outside the Red Keep further estranging the smallfolk who, as Mysaria so beautifully put it give the crown their power.

But here’s the thing Rhaenyra doesn’t care about the smallfolk, it’s implied that she believed that to be beneath her and it does show. She stayed away in Dragonstone when she should’ve been securing her claim. Her absence could have allowed the Lords to change allegiances as well (of course not the Starks).

Not to mention the rumours that Rhaenyra had something to do with Halaena’s death. This may be wrong, Helaena could have thrown herself from the Red Keep, but it cannot be deemed until the show gets to that point.

I like Rhaenyra’s character, I understand why she does a lot of what she does but I will not condone them. I won’t justify them either, nor will I with Aegon, Aemond or Daemon.

Now my first instance. Rhaenys and the Dragonpit. This was not by any means a ‘Girl Boss’ moment. It looks cool and I love how it was done but it really goes to say something about Targaryen entitlement.

Rhaenys burst through the ground killing probably thousands of the smallfolk, roaring at her enemies with Meleys and then flying away. The Dragonpit has other entrances she could’ve gotten out another way and given Rhaenyra a heads up without revealing that she had escaped.

We see this entitlement when Aemond chases Lucerys and accidentally kills Lucerys. It was SO STUPID. Aemond thought that he could control Vhagar because he’s a Targaryen and look how that ended up. I say accident because it was but that doesn’t change anything Lucerys is still dead and know he’s going to have to deal with the fallout.

Blood and Cheese, the amount of people I have seen cheering this like saying ‘It was completely justified’ is astronomical. I can’t help but think about whether or not you should be in a mental hospital if you think the same thing.

In what realm of possibility does a Toddler, probably around 6, deserve to die? I would like someone to answer that question if they believe that he should’ve died in the way that he did. Because by saying it’s justified you’re saying that they deserved to die. These are the same people who will love the ‘A child shouldn’t pay for the sins of their parents’ trope but as soon as it suits their favourite characters it’s completely okay and great to watch. Now you may say, Rhaenyra had nothing to do with it. Which may be true in the books but the show is canon so only time will tell and as far as the books are concerned Rhaenyra had little remorse for what had happened.

This isn’t to say that Lucerys deserved to die because he absolutely didn’t. He deserved to be punished about the eye and Aemond as well about the comments (though I would argue that an eye is a lot more than enough of a punishment) but he did not deserve to die and while Aemond is one of my favourites and I don’t like/dislike Luke, I am going to miss him in the coming seasons because he was a very kind person and I would love to see how he’d progress in the Dance of the Dragons.

Daemon is not a good guy or grey character. He killed his first wife, an innocent, and choked Rhaenyra. He has affection for his family but it doesn’t stop him from doing cruel things. You don’t need to justify his actions, he’s there to make you think about your own morals. He’s not meant to make you feel comfortable when you see what he does. He’s there so that you can question his actions and his reasoning behind them. He’s a fascinating character to watch and my second favourite in the show. This also applies to Aemond btw but I think he’s a little more on the unhinged side compared to Daemon.

Now I think my final point will be that Rhaenyra is not a feminist. She could not care less what happens to other women as long as she is treated equally or better than men because of her position in the world. She’s not going out of her way to help people, she’s using her position to get one over on anyone she doesn’t like. She’s not like Daenerys, she doesn’t care about people who are suffering unless they are very close to her. The same also goes for Alicent but she leans more towards the religion aspect of it.

Okay, rant over. I haven’t checked this over so there could be typos

I’d love to hear your opinions about any of the events that have occurred within HOTD or will occur and if there’s anything you haven’t heard up there but would like me to explain just message me.