#rhaella x bonifer

[alleyskywalker]

Rhaella/Bonifer & Rhaella/Aerys - Never tell anyone anything ever again

They had been doomed from the start and he had not dared touch her, nor would she had allowed it. But Bonifer had whispered words to his princess, sweet words of love and devotion, floating away on the wind like tender prayers. Rhaella heard them and blessed him with smiles and sweet words in return to mark him as her truest knight. But they had been doomed from the start and no won honor in tourneys could measure up to the Sept of Baelor and the Crown Prince Aerys, waiting for his sister-bride at the altar. "You will fine another," well-meaning friends would tell him. But Bonifer had used up all his words of love, he would never say them to anyone ever again.

[Send me a ship and a prompt and I will write a three sentence fic.]

[acewithapencil]

A young Rhaella with Bonifer Hasty for @hereforperioddrama! I think their relationship, however brief, was sweet and beautiful 🥲

[lunarmoonanons]

Yandere Husbands prt 2

🌕 🌖 🌗 🌘 🌑 🌒 🌓 🌔 🌕  

Second and final part. Now I don’t know anything about most of these characters since I’m not a book reader, so I won’t be doing Doran, Arthur, or Gerald. 

🌕 🌖 🌗 🌘 🌑 🌒 🌓 🌔 🌕

  Aeys 2

x sister reader

YN was the twin of Rhaella Targaryen, but unlike her twin she and Aerys had gotten along quite well. She’d read to him as he practiced his sword stances, he’d talk on and on about his aspirations to be knighted, and they’d dream about their futures. YN did also get along with her twin Rhaella, the two having nothing but good things to say about the other. Rhaella was the one to tell her first about her love for Ser Bonifer Hasty, YN was certain that if they asked their grandfather he’d allow her to marry her love. But it wasn’t to last, as their father believed that the prince who was promised would come from Aerys and Rhaella’s line. Aerys protested, demanding that he instead marry YN and they at least liked each other. YN held her twin in her arms as Rhaella sobbed, her own heart slightly breaking. But she complied, they all did. Stefan and Tywin offered sympathies but insisted they must all do their duty. The wedding was a somber affair. 

After the disaster at Summerhall and the birth of her nephew Rhaegar, Aerys approached YN. Saying that he still loved her and wanted to be with her, but YN pushed him away. He was married to her twin and she would not cause undue humiliation to her sister by indulging in his desires, and besides she was betrothed to a dornish prince. Finishing off her rejection with “You have an heir now, let me go to have children.” But he would not. One day, Rhaella was found dead in her chambers, her baby crying out for its mother. YN suspected poison but had no proof. When the question of marriage came up, Aerys demanded his father marry his sister to him. It wasn’t until 262ac, when their father died did Aerys get his wish. Despite the protests from Tywin, Nobles, and YN. 

As king no one would deny him. YN was afraid of her brother now, doing her best to watch over her nephew, now stepson, for her sister Rhaella. The law by Queen Alysanne years ago made it so that the heirs from the first marriage would not be disinherited by the second marriage. For the first years of his reign Aerys had the sense to listen to his hand. YN was grateful for Tywin, being able to be the realist to Aerys grand plans and ambitions. Yet as the years went on, Aerys started to grow irritated at the sight of his wife being friendly with his hand. When YN was finally deemed pregnant, Aerys' paranoia grew. He wanted a healthy child. So he isolated YN from everyone, never letting her see the mistresses he took. One tried to slap away the moon tea offered, and Aerys strangled the woman to death. Eventually, Aerys' paranoia became very apparent. He was cocky and began to disregard advice from everyone, even YN. After her pregnancy, YN had given birth to a pale little boy Viserys lll, and he found himself in her bedroom not caring if she wanted it or not. YN’s nephew Rhaegar tried to defend her, but Aerys would slap the boy away. By the time Duskendale was stirring trouble, YN was forced to birth 5 children. Three of which were miscarried due to Aerys rough behavior with her. Tywin tried to step in once but backed away. YN was always grateful for him, but in the end there was nothing that could stop Aerys from having her. One morning after Aerys had been on top of her all night, he mentioned he was going to duskendale YN tried to say that it was a bad idea, but had unknowingly mentioned Tywin. She was met with a slap, he held her hair tight and kissed her hard. 

“You are my sweet sister. If you mention his name again, I’ll have his burnt corpse presented to our children as a warning not to get between us.” YN hoped he would die in Duskendale.

Cregan Stark

(velaryon reader, just imagine maybe Laenor was able to do it once, so YN is the fraternal twin of Jaec)

Usually First Men descendants did not marry non first men, but Cregan wanted no one but the daughter of the princess. YN was the twin sister to Jaecerys Velaryon, unlike her brother she had darker skin and white hair. Cregan was enamored with the girl, but her beauty was only one layer. She also had a mouth on her, and could beat him at his own drinking games. After a month of bonding the boys swore an oath of brotherhood. Cregan and YN met under the weirwood tree, swearing love vows to each other. When it came to the issue of allegiance to The Queen, Rhaenyra, Cregan swore to her on condition that YN stay with him and one day marry him. Jaecerys and YN seemed to agree, as long as YN could do her part for her mother in the war. Her dragon Alaxys was eager to fly in the air. 

During the Dance, YN flew point with her brother, and always returned back to the north. She seemed to like the cold more than the warm south. Her betrothed Cregan was always happy to have her back in her arms. He denied her almost nothing, except when she wanted to fight in the Battle of the Gullet and fly to Kings landing for her mother. Cregan had said no, practically holding her down when she ran for her dragon. He could not lose her. When she fought him, vowing that if he stopped her she’d hate him forever. At that he locked her in the warmest room, sitting outside the room hearing her sob and scream in agony. When the news of her brother's death came, YN screamed at Cregan calling him a traitor and a monster. But the death of her mother broke her, she became cold and angry. Stating to Cregan that she wanted to honor her oath, he was already planning to honor the north’s promise and took his betrothed south.

The hour of the wolf began with Alaxys landing in Kings landing with YN and Cregan on her back. The north remembered and the dragon burned with fury. Cregan spared no traitors, for the oath he held and for the love he had for his betrothed. YN was by her little brother’s side as Cregan delivered her vengeance. Alaxys burned the ones YN deemed deserving, Cregan took rest’s heads. When the hour of the wolf ended, YN was hesitant to leave her brother. Cregan reminded her of her vow to him, that they were fire and ice destined to be. She tried to reason that her brother needed her counsel as he was still a child, but his fingers dug deep into her arms. Vowing that he held no mercy for those who broke their oath. With much resistance, Cregan took her back to the north. Alaxys had spent so much time in the cold that she did not feel comfortable in the warmth of the south. They were married as soon as they returned north. It was a tumultuous marriage, full of love and fights. Sometimes YN would blame him for the death of her family, stating that he prevented her from saving them. He would lock her away in their rooms during those times. Eventually Cregan would not let others see her. They even had to fly together, as YN was not allowed to be in the air alone. Cregan enveloped her whole life, but the north remembered their vow of love, and he would not let her break it. She was bound to ice. 

Rickard Stark

(Now I don’t know much about him other than the wiki stuff so please be kind)

YN did not notice the possession Rickard had for her. They were happily married for a long time, she gave him several children. During the time of Aerys ii reign, YN grew more fearful of the south. Not trusting that the Targaryens would keep away from the north. Her fears were proven to be true when the prince had stolen their daughter Lyanna. She begged her son Brandon not to venture south to retrieve her, but he was a Stark and he was loyal. The news of her son's imprisonment caused a great fury in her. The King in response, asked for her to come to the south. 

Rickard wouldn’t let her go alone, so he placed the maester in charge as they both traveled down south. Once at the red keep, Rickard kept to the shadows as YN pleaded for the release of her children. The king put on the image of listening, but instead just stared at her body. He requested to meet her later in his office chambers, against her better judgment she did. Her husband hid in the shadows the whole time. 

As soon as Aerys inevitably moved to assault her, Rickard emerged from the shadows and cut him down. The shocked shouts of his wife were drowned by his fury as he repeatedly brought the sword down onto his body. Damn his honor, his wife needed defending. YN tried to pull him off, but he pushed her away. When the king was unrecognizable, Rickard turned his blood soaked face to YN. She stepped back as he stepped forward, eventually she hit the bed shaking as he towered over her. He took on that bed, his own mad eyes shone with lusty glee. Adrenaline drowning out YN’s cries. He would be her king forever. 

Eddard Stark

YN was Ned’s Second wife. Catelyn had passed giving birth to Sansa. YN was Ned’s first love, even if she did not view him that way. Her place was in Starfall, in the warmth of the south. But when Ned asked for her hand and YN refused, he locked them both in her room. He never laid a hand to her, but he went on and on about how she was abandoning him. That his children already had to grow without a birth mother, was she that cruel to deny them a second chance. He would have none but her, and if she would not have him then he would die. Did she want that? For his children to be fatherless as well? For him to die?

YN was broken down to eventually agree. So she was taken from her home to the cold north. She wanted to meet the children first but Ned spirited her away to their shared room. Not wasting any time to bed his lady. Once he was certain she was to carry his seed, he allowed her to leave the room. The children seemed uneasy around her at first, but her calming nature was like a balm to their grief. Unlike Catelyn before her, YN also included Jon in all her activities with the children. Of all the children Jon grew the closest. He looked so much like Ned, that Ned would seem overjoyed that the two were bonded. 

Eventually YN got pregnant, the baby draining so much energy from her. But little Arya was so worth the wait. YN thought that since the baby girl drained her so she could rest a bit before another. But Ned wouldn’t have that. He wanted her pregnant almost always. After Rickon, YN begged to be given rest but he called her heartless to deny her children siblings. That she was preventing new life from being born. YN’s life mostly consisted of being pregnant and barefoot. When the King arrived to call for Ned, YN hoped he would take a position as Hand but he denied him. The queen pitied YN, and mused to herself that maybe her marriage was not as bad. Pregnancy after Pregnancy, YN Dayne was exhausted out of life. 

Stannis Baratheon

(I’m not a fan of this guy so don’t expect much)

YN was married to a much older man. Stannis had already had a child, so YN believed she was in the clear for having children. But his red priestess told the would be king that their child would be a champion of light. One night YN was met with the image of her towering husband. SHe tried to ask him to leave, but Stannis grabbed her and forced her on the bed. Telling her it would be alright, that their child would be a champion, all the while ignoring her cried to stop. When it was over he rubbed her stomach and promised that their baby would be stronger than him.

Oberyn Martell

YN did not believe that a her, a Lannister, would be betrothed to Oberyn Martell. A staunch lannister hater, and a sexual fiend if you asked her mother. But her uncle was Tywin, and he had final say in the family. So she was sent south. 

Oberyn promised that he would be a gentle husband. That he did not blame her for the actions of her uncle, but the stares of the others could not calm her fears. It was like they either pitied her for her situation, or only glared at her blonde hair. Oberyn's children all flocked to her, sweet and kind little things. YN decided to make her situation as best as she could. Her husband had copious lovers, maybe she could find one. She tried to tell Oberyn.

“If you wish to be false to me, I will kill any man or woman who looks your way.” He whispered to her, holding her shaking body. “You are mine now. If you want me to get rid of my infidelity, fine. But I will not let another Lannister bring pain to me. Even If I loved them.”

Tag list:

@gulnarsultan

[melrosing]

MBO Robert's Rebellion: Episode 5

[edit: forgot to mention, this is three years on from ep4]

the middle act of 'season 1' lol. would call this the Tywin/Aerys divorce chapter but honestly they were divorced from the first.

on Serala of Myr... perhaps unsurprisingly I don't like the idea that she was this 'snake with tits' whispering terrible ideas in Denys Darklyn's ear: so here she just married some Westerosi lord who was hankering after her and promising her a wealthy life, but is largely uninterested in his affairs. I don't think it's a reach though to assume the people of Duskendale found her helpful subject to project onto when things went awry and they didn't want to blame their noble lord.

Prev: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4

Next: Episode 6

title for this one: Aerys Targaryen Fucks Around

A masked ball at the Red Keep. Everything looks extravagant as hell. Aerys dances with a beautiful woman who smiles at him each time their eyes meet, and that excites him. Rhaella (in the early stages of another pregnancy, and with faint marks on her neck) looks to Ser Bonifer Hasty who stands at the side of the hall. Ser Bonifer Hasty looks abruptly away.

Aerys' dance with his partner concludes; she smiles at him, then quickly departs his side and goes to make eyes at Rhaegar, who is sitting at the side plucking the strings of his harp. Aerys, pissed, gets up to interrupt the next dance and make a speech to the party

The speech is kind of shit. Aerys feels grandiose and charismatic but he's obviously drunk and slurs his words as he talks of the future greatness of the kingdom. After an awkward clap that Aerys doesn't recognise as such, he stands down, and Tywin stands up: the king is obviously enjoying himself, he says, but he as Hand nonetheless echoes those sentiments. Bit of a laugh goes round. Aerys, embarrassed now, sits there stewing

opening creds lol

The King's council. Denys Darklyn has stopped paying his taxes and requests the presence of the King so that he might petition him!!! Tywin says that is absolutely not happening, and he will see to it that Lord Denys does pay his taxes with interest. Aerys begins a protest, maybe he DOES want to go to Duskendale, but Tywin shuts him down a little angrier than usual, and says also, enough with these expensive parties for a minute - they have other things to be focusing on

In the Great Hall, Ser Bonifer Hasty in the presence of the King. He requests the King's blessing to depart King's Landing and begin his Holy Hundred. Aerys like 'sure whatever lol'. Rhaella watching from the sidelines, barely able to conceal her heartbreak

Rhaegar in the ruins at Summerhall, playing another strange Valyrian tune on the harp. Suddenly, he's taken by a vision: a rising sun, a blue rose, a woman's scream, a dragon's roar. Note: whilst I imagine Dany's visions as clear and visceral, Rhaegar's lack the same clarification - they should be more like that fucked up tunnel Willy Wonka takes the kids through in that 1970s movie. Rhaegar looks up to see Arthur Dayne, who we see has been standing at a small distance from the prince, eyes fixed ahead

In Duskendale: Denys Darklyn and his wife Serala of Myr, who sits making a dress for herself in the style of home. He explains to her his grievances with the King, and wonders if Aerys will come to Duskendale. Serala, who speaks the common tongue well enough but perhaps not so well as to follow the intricacies of Westerosi tax systems, humours her husband with a nod

Rhaegar riding back to King's Landing with Arthur Dayne, in the midst of a field. Rhaegar wonders if Arthur knows how Summerhall burned: the story of Egg trying to cook eggs. Rhaegar was born here, and has always felt a connection to the place, he says. Now, he decides to confide in Arthur that he's been having Visions, and Arthur nods, unsurprised: that's why he came to his side, after all. Rhaegar nods: checks out. He now has a cryptic friend to hang out with x

Rhaella's new pregnancy: it's hard to get a moment of privacy from the maesters and midwives Aerys sends around after her. Pushed to her limit, she opens a closet and locks herself in, sliding to the floor in the dark

Aerys decides he wants to be kingly, announces at a new council meeting that he means to build an Enormous Wall a hundred leagues north of the existing wall (wow and to think this was written before 2016). Tywin is like pls be serious, that is not what we need right now. Aerys tries to make his case, but is shut down by Tywin, who suggests he go rest - he looks tired. The council hide smiles

Well now obviously he's going to do it. Aerys rises in the middle of the night. Rhaella rouses beside him and and wonders aloud where he's going. Aerys says he's gong to take a man to task in Duskendale. Rhaella asks if it will come to blows, Aerys (excited) says he does not know. Rhaella says nothing but we can see her manifesting something

Tywin, waking up some hours later. what the FUCK is going on

Aerys hits the road! He's having a grand old time with his guards. He has an apple. He stops at an inn. The smallfolk wave to see him go, and Aerys waves back. He feels like a king

Aerys reaches Duskendale. People don't seem quite so friendly here, but he doesn't take the meaning. Arriving in the castle's courtyard, the gates close behind them. Aerys looks for Lord Denys but does not find him. Instead, archers of Duskendale take out the men around him, and his KG Ser Gwayne Gaunt (you KNOW I've got that wiki open) is killed by the Duskendale master-at-arms. Aerys begins to suspect something is afoot

Serala of Myr watching from the window

Tywin enters the council chamber, where all the men who enabled this latest nonsense sit silent. Tywin goes to his seat, and sits heavily. ffs

[yvvaine]

everything asoiaf ♕ romantic pairings (insp.)

Rhaella Targaryen & Ser Bonifer Hasty || " He put away his lance the day your lady mother wed your father. Afterward he became most pious, and was heard to say that only the Maiden could replace Queen Rhaella in his heart. His passion was impossible, of course. A landed knight is no fit consort for a princess of royal blood. "

[asoiafrarepairs]

Bonifer Hasty x Rhaella Targaryen - AU where she never marries Aerys and marries her beloved Knight instead

Added to our prompt page!

[samwpmarleau]

39 - Rhaella and Bonifer

39. secret admirer

She wonders if he ever thinks of her. More and more often as the years pass, she wonders.

The tourney hadn’t seemed significant at the time, she a girl of twelve and he a new-made knight of six-and-ten, both of them full of life, neither of them yet burdened. He had caught her eye the way stained glass catches the sun, had asked for her favor, and it had bubbled up something inside her that she hadn’t known what to do with. Something happy, something exhilarating, something new, something exciting. She remembers how after she’d given Ser Bonifer her ribbon, Aunt Rhaelle had smiled, how she’d come over and whispered, Ooh, Ella, he’s a handsome one.

Yes, auntie, Rhaella had replied, but I don’t care about any of that. He’s a nice boy, and when we talked he listened to me. Really listened, like you and Grandfather do. And isn’t that what’s most important? For a boy to be nice?

Of course, darling, of course it is. Rhaelle had turned sad then, just for a moment. Rhaella hadn’t paid it much mind until after the marriage announcement when it finally dawned on her.

Did you know? she’d spat. Did you know about the prophecy? Did you know Father would force me to marry my brother? Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you let me think something could happen with Ser Bonifer? Why?

Rhaelle hadn’t given her an answer then; perhaps she’d had none.

And Bonifer…

Even now, after decades of horrors, Rhaella can still recall what he looked like the day of her wedding, how green his eyes were, the faint quiver in his gentle voice. I can’t bear to live a life you cannot have, he’d told her in those precious few minutes they’d had alone. I will devote myself to the Seven and if there is a way to free you from this marriage I will find it. I swear it by the old gods and the new.

She stares at herself in the mirror, meticulously dabbing on the tinted powder that has been her most faithful companion these many years. She’d long since stopped expecting Bonifer to find her the solution he spoke of, but every now and then she still thinks of him. Does he remember what he said to her? Did he ever try to write to her? To speak with her? Does he care? Did he ever care? Or did he just see her title and her beauty and say the words she wanted to hear? Was he ever the nice boy she thought or was he cruel like all the rest of them?

Rhaella clenches her hands together and breathes.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

Don’t let Aerys take him from you, she commands. Don’t submit.

She already has so few untainted memories, she couldn’t stand to have Bonifer be ruined too. Not him. She can’t even bring herself to say his name aloud, so scared is she that somehow Aerys will find out and punish her for it.

So she keeps him in her heart, her might-have-been, her what-if. With Aerys as her husband not even her own body is hers to keep, but Bonifer is. She will keep him safe, her secret, her dream, and she dares to hope that maybe he has kept her hidden away just the same, his lost princess waiting to be saved.

[joannalannister]

What was the age difference between Ser Bonnifer and then-Princess Rhaella? If she was a teenager when she had Rhaegar that would've made her in her 30s when she died and in her 40s or 50s now if she'd lived, right? He didn't seem that old in Jaime's chapters, maybe his 60s, or am I remembering wrong?

Regarding this post by @rhaellas, we don’t know precisely, but we can guesstimate based on available information. Some quotes:

“she was once smitten with a young knight from the stormlands who wore her favor at a tourney and named her queen of love and beauty. A brief thing. […] He put away his lance the day your lady mother wed your father. Afterward he became most pious, and was heard to say that only the Maiden could replace Queen Rhaella in his heart. His passion was impossible, of course. A landed knight is no fit consort for a princess of royal blood.” –Daenerys VII, ADWD

“Rhaella grew up in the court of her grandfather Aegon V. She became infatuated, for a time, with a handsome tourney knight from the stormlands, but it was a passing fancy that came to an end when her father, Jaehaerys, heard a prophecy from a woods witch, brought to court by Jenny of Oldstones, that the prince who was promised would come from his children.” –”Rhaella Targaryen” entry, AWOIAF Official iPad app

Rhaella was born in either 245 or 246, and she and Aerys wed around 258, when Rhaella was about 12 or 13. The official app tells us her infatuation with Bonifer ended before the wedding, at the time Jaehaerys announced the betrothal. We don’t know when this announcement was made, but it had to be sufficiently in advance of the wedding that (at the very least, imo) invitations could be sent out and various nobles could make the journey to the capital. 

So this infatuation happened when Rhaella was about 11 or 12, possibly younger depending on when the woods witch gave her prophecy. This was just my impression, but to me, it seemed like the woods witch gave her prophecy before Rhaella had even begun to menstruate, and she was betrothed (like Sansa) at 11, and not long after her first flowering, she and Aerys were wed (again in a situation very like Sansa’s).

Let’s say Rhaella was 11 during this infatuation, in about 251. Were Rhaella alive today in 300AC, she would be about 55 years old. 

Bonifer was “a young knight” so he was maybe 16 - 20. Let’s be generous and and say Bonifer was 17 in 251, given his great renown as “a jouster of some note”. (That means he would have had to establish a reputation with the tourney lance, so we need multiple tourneys, which takes time.) If he was 17 in 251, that means he would have been born in 234, which is about two or three years older than Barristan Selmy. (Note that Selmy was also crushing on a young maiden at a tourney in a similar situation. Significant age gaps between gallant knights and fair maidens are common in GRRM’s writing.) 

In 300AC, Bonifer is presumably in his late 60s, possibly early 70s. Does this jive with the descriptions we get in the text? Bonifer is described as “old” but it’s implied that he’s younger than the “ancient” Lord Estermont (King Robert’s grandfather), who must be in his 80s at least, possibly older. Jaime thinks of Bonifer as “old” and “withered”. (For comparison, Jaime’s father Tywin is around 58 when he dies, and Jaime never associates the word “old” with Tywin.) 

So anyways, I think it’s weird if you have a guy who is the equivalent of a senior in high school crushing on a little girl about the age of a 5th grader. If this infatuation had occurred when they were older, it wouldn’t be a significant age gap, but the way GRRM wrote it, it’s creepy. I get that GRRM was trying to make parallels with Dany and Sansa, but I think GRRM made a mistake when he made Rhaella younger than Aerys.

[dialux]

do you know what it is like to be sold?

[a tribute to iron queens; dragons, mothers, broken and beautiful]

Part 4 of the series gentle mother, strength of women

i. Rhaella Targaryen

Rhaella was born tired.

Her mother laughed when she said it, but she also worried for her daughter: Rhaella was so delicate, always shivering from the cold or flushed with fever. When her father declared that she must marry Aerys, her mother raged louder than a storm. Rhaella wept and wept, but her father was determined.

She never quite forgave him for it.

Warnings for domestic violence, sexual abuse, and rape. Rhaella is not a happy woman, and she did not lead a happy life- this shows, in her story.

The queen your mother was always mindful of her duty, Barristan Selmy told Daenerys, more than a decade after Rhaella’s death.

That was Rhaella, summed up into ten words- a queen, a mother, dutiful. She was lovely once; and then Rhaella was nothing more than broken. She was loved, once; but Rhaella had died a thousand deaths since then, each more painful than the last.

By the end of it all, there was nothing in her but grief.

…

The first memory Rhaella had was of her mother.

Shaera had been as brilliant as a star, as a sun, as the flash of light across a falling sword. Rhaella was her father’s daughter more than anyone’s- quiet, meek, retiring. She spent so many years trying to be as vibrant as her mother, and Rhaella failed each time.

The first memory Rhaella had went something like-

Sunlight, warm on the top of her scalp. A hand, large and calloused, cupping her chin. The faint smell of jasmine. Her mother scoops her up a moment later and Rhaella is warm, comforted.

“Rhaelle did her duty,” says her mother, dusting two fingers along Rhaella’s nose. “I didn’t, and my brothers didn’t, but Rhaelle always did find honor so important.” She laughs, wild and free, vibrating from her chest. “Jaehaerys wanted to name you Saera, for me; but I don’t want my daughter to run off to Essos at the earliest possibility. Aerys always was selfish- and there’s only so much room for selfishness in a family.”

Rhaella squirms, and her mother places a kiss, lightly, on her brow before setting her down.

“I pray that you’ll be dutiful,” she says-

-and that was its end.

This was what Rhaella remembered when she walked into a sept to kneel before her brother. When Aerys’ hands clawed at her arms, when he terrified her, when he pressed her into their bed and made her cry out- Rhaella closed her eyes, and she remembered a sunlit terrace and her mother, and she didn’t once shrink away.

…

On an autumn morning, with leaves streaked red and orange falling around them, Bonifer Hasty kissed her in the godswood. Rhaella never forgot the way his muscles had flexed under her fingers, not even in her deepest despair: not hard, not even half as much as a grown man’s would be.

But there was promise there, and Rhaella could taste that on her tongue as sure as she could taste him.

It was what Shaera never understood, because she was so invested in family. There were two things Rhaella’s mother believed in: family, and duty, and she found both of equal merit. But Rhaella kissed Bonifer in the godswood, cold air making her shiver, and she didn’t do it because she was dutiful, or because her family wanted her to love him.

Rhaella did it because she was a girl who loved, and that was all there was to it.

…

Rhaella was born tired.

Her mother laughed when she said it, but she also worried for her daughter: Rhaella was so delicate, always shivering from the cold or flushed with fever. When her father declared that she must marry Aerys, her mother raged louder than a storm. Rhaella wept and wept, but her father was determined.

She never quite forgave him for it- but then, nobody ever truly cared about Rhaella’s forgiveness, or her kindness.

(And anyhow- she wasn’t born tired. Rhaella was born with grief etched into her soul, and she spent every moment of her life lifting that terrible, hideous thing to beauty.)

…

She wept on her wedding day: ugly sobs, shaking ones. Rhaella had the wild, fleeting thought that if she weren’t lovely at the altar, Aerys might be disgusted enough to refuse it; but then her mother entered, and began to brush her hair, and Rhaella knew there was no going back.

“You will be a queen,” she said. “You will sit beside Aerys, on his throne. This affair with Bonifer Hasty cannot go anywhere, Rhaella, you know this.”

Do I? Rhaella thought, hands folding over themselves in her lap.

Two nights before, he’d come to her and brushed her thick, pale hair away from her neck, presented a small silver necklace.

“I can take you away from here,” he’d whispered to her. “We’ll be married before anyone can stop us.”

Rhaella could have gone with him, disappeared as her mother and father had once done. Rhaella had almost been named Saera, had almost been named for her mother, for an adventuring Valyrian princess. She had been so very tempted.

But Rhaella wasn’t named Saera. She was named for her aunt, the only one of five children who did her duty quietly, gladly. In the end, that responsibility was hers, and she couldn’t shirk it.

“No,” she’d told Bonifer, and held his broken heart in her smooth palms, gentle as she knew to be. They hadn’t kissed, and she hadn’t cried when he rode away.

She wore the thin necklace even now, and pressed two fingers to the chain as she tipped her face up to watch her mother.

“Aerys hates me,” she said, instead of the thousand other things crowding her tongue.

“Perhaps,” said her mother. “But he shall not hurt you, that much I promise. You will have guards, sweetling, soon enough. Guards that answer to you and you alone- a Queensguard.”

It won’t be enough, thought Rhaella, and scraped her nails across the skin under Bonifer’s necklace. “You swear it?” She asked.

“Yes,” said her mother. “On my life.”

…

It wasn’t enough. Rhaella never could forgive that, either.

…

Rhaegar was a quiet child, with dark violet eyes that were the exact replica of Shaera’s. Rhaella refused to sleep without him for the first few weeks, terrified that he would die as her mother had. A fortnight after Rhaegar was born, they burned her mother’s body.

Rhaella held him tightly at the cremation. Tears blurred the sight, until all she saw was fire. When she dashed them away, she saw flakes of ash dusting Rhaegar’s crown, and her tears came faster, easier.

“Stop,” hissed Aerys, beside her, and Rhaella choked on her attempts to keep silent.

…

Three years later, when her father died, Rhaella didn’t cry at all.

…

Aerys was bright and cheerful and loved.

Rhaegar looked like Aerys- he had his silver hair, his broad strength. But the sadness in his eyes was all Rhaella’s, and she always wept at the sight of her lovely, bright son. What had she done, bringing him into a world carved with such loss?

“He’ll do his duty,” Aerys said, once, looking satisfied.

Rhaella hadn’t ever felt more angry.

Duty, she thought, and it was bitter. What has duty brought me, other than pain? No. Much rather live unbent, proud, for yourself and no other.

Be selfish, she wished for her son, hard, harder than she ever had before. Learn to be selfish, my darling son.

Be selfish, she told Rhaegar, and when he stole Lyanna Stark away- Rhaella didn’t smile, didn’t laugh; but oh, how she wanted to.

…

It takes a special sort of strength to bury eight children and still hold to your sanity.

It takes a special sort of strength to suffer your mad brother-king’s suspicions and hatred for more than a decade and survive.

It takes a special sort of strength to be gentle at the end of it all, and Rhaella’s kindness was not something that came easy- it was a choice, because Aerys was cruel, because there was only so much room for selfishness in their family. She was a Targaryen; if she’d wanted, Rhaella could have screamed, or gone mad, or rebelled.

Instead, Rhaella remembered a gold-lit terrace, and she submitted.

…

Arianne loved to laugh, and Rhaella admired that in her.

Arianne and Joanna both- they took up space easily, were content in their own skins, where Rhaella had only ever learned to flinch. But Arianne’s laugh was loud, unabashed, proud. Rhaella wanted to learn to laugh like that- be like that- and then she remembered Aerys’ disgust when she once offered him an opinion on his small council appointees, and bit her tongue; looked away.

But still- Arianne laughed, and Rhaella couldn’t ever resist a smile, after that.

It was with a laugh that she once ensured their privacy, looping a hand over Rhaella’s elbow, and took her on a walk around the gardens. Her dark hair spilled down her back, and she looked like the Maiden reborn with the sheer force of her presence.

“There is a- man- in Essos,” she said, quietly, as they approached the cliff where the Red Keep looked out over the ocean.

Rhaella wondered, morbidly, if death might be an easier fate than burying so many children, than being confined to Maegor’s Holdfast for her husband’s paranoia. Then, deliberately, she turned away. Rhaella had suffered too much to taste death now.

“A man?” She asked.

Arianne nodded. “A eunuch. He knows many secrets, they say, and has quite the loyalty.” Her eyes measured Rhaella. “You need- allies, Rhaella, in this court. Ones that are loyal to you.”

“Aerys will never allow that,” Rhaella said, a wry smile pulling at her lips. “You must know that.”

“Do not tell Joanna,” said Arianne. “She will snap him up for herself, and then- well.”

“Why didn’t you take him for yourself?”

“I tried.” Arianne’s lips twisted ruefully. “He refused. But he likely won’t refuse a queen.”

“When he refused a princess,” said Rhaella wryly. She sighed, then, and straightened. “Nevermind it- let him stay in Essos. I’ve little need of him.”

…

“What is it like?” Joanna asked Rhaella, once. “To wear a crown?”

Painful, thought Rhaella. Humiliating. Powerless.

“Terrifying,” she said.

Joanna’s eyes skimmed away in a vain attempt to hide the flash of smug, patronizing pity in them. Rhaella shifted, remembering the ghost weight of Rhaegar in her arms, the blood that had stained her sheets- she thought, pour your daughters into my crown, and watch the way they melt. You Lannisters are gold-ridden, easily shaped; but I am the daughter of a dragon-rider’s daughter, and just as hard as the black lava of Dragonstone.

She smiled and brushed the thin silver chain across her neck. Joanna’s eyes narrowed on it.

“That is not a queen’s necklace,” she commented.

“No,” said Rhaella, easily. “But it is a reminder to me- that I am something before I am a queen.” The chain was smooth, soft, old. There was only solemnity in Rhaella’s eyes when she said, “That there is a queen in each woman I see.”

…

And then, Joanna married Tywin- and Aerys went mad.

His purple eyes glowed, ferocious, mad- and Rhaella peeled away, horrified. Her friend- her old friend, was trembling, and Aerys was kissing her with greater fervor than he’d ever kissed Rhaella. She could see the bruising grip Aerys had on Joanna’s waist.

Arianne shifted as if to rise from her seat, and Rhaella caught her wrist, dragging her back.

“Don’t,” she said, lowly. “Nothing good will come of your interference.”

“It’s Joanna,” Arianne snapped. “Our friend, or have you forgotten that?”

Rhaella dropped her wrist as if she’d been burned. “This is not Dorne. If you do something- these men will not take kindly to it. And- it will be over soon enough.”

Even as she spoke, Aerys stepped away from Joanna. Joanna was shaking, hard enough that they could see it from even the high table, and there were tears streaking her face. Her shoulders bowed, her long hair in disarray around her face.

Arianne’s face twisted, rage and hatred darkening her features. She didn’t turn to Rhaella, but Rhaella could imagine the disappointment on it easily enough, the way that single failure  would feel like flayed whips against Rhaella’s skin.

She pushed her chair back, hard enough that it screeched against the flagstones, and stood.

The crowd shifted, looking up at her, even Aerys. For the first time that Rhaella could remember, she stood taller than him. They were all looking at her, looking at her, when they hadn’t done so for all the years before.

Her heart pounded. Rhaella kept her shoulders level, her chin tilted up, and made her way down the steps of the high table. When she reached Joanna, she was a mess; the tears and snot had dripped down her face, and there were two matching bruises marring the skin across her waist.

Rhaella didn’t speak. She didn’t touch Joanna. She didn’t offer her any cloth.

She only reached up to her neck and yanked, and held out a thin silver chain. It pooled in the dip of Joanna’s palm.

We are all queens.

Joanna’s shoulders shook when she looked up at Rhaella. Under her steady gaze, she seemed to gain strength; Joanna straightened, and wiped at her face. Rhaella could feel her hands itching for the necklace- she clenched her fists instead, turned on her heel, and left.

…

Tywin Lannister will kill us all when he hears what Aerys did.

Aerys had alienated so many people over the years- and Tywin had gold on his side. If Tywin decided to attack them, then at least half the nobility would join him; and the other half would desert as soon as they saw what stood against them.

We need an ally, thought Rhaella, hands still shaking. We need a trustworthy ally.

Arianne entered, then. Before she could speak, Rhaella asked, “What is the name of the man- the eunuch from Essos?”

Arianne frowned, but she answered gamely enough. “Varys.”

“Good,” said Rhaella. “Where is he?”

“...Pentos.”

A man might refuse the summons of a princess, or even a queen, but never the man who sits the Iron Throne.

…

Varys never knew what pushed Aerys to bring him to his court; Aerys never truly understood, either, because Rhaella was very careful to ensure her name was never associated with it- she wrote letters, kept them unsigned, laid them in strategic locations.

When the man landed in King’s Landing, Rhaella made sure to meet with him.

He was trustworthy, she decided; at least so far as money was concerned. He would not be bought by Tywin Lannister, not with those stars in his eyes, not with that ambition. Boys with such a look had idealism running in their blood alongside pride, and neither would allow them to sell out to him.

The only person to know the truth was Arianne- and she left for Dorne so soon after it all happened that Rhaella was sure she’d never told anyone.

…

A fortnight after her disastrous bedding ceremony, Rhaella met with Joanna in her quarters.

“If you want your necklace back-” Joanna began.

“No,” said Rhaella. “I- I gave it to you, didn’t I? Keep it, for as long as necessary.”

“If I threw it in a gutter nobody would look twice,” Joanna said, eyes fierce, flaring, threatening. “It is a piece of trash. That you kept it is an affront to your crown.”

“Did it not give you strength in the throne room?” Rhaella asked mildly.

She did not have Joanna’s strength, as the deadly flash of a lioness’ claws; she did not have Arianne’s, either, to live in the world as unabashedly as any man. She did not have her mother’s strength, to scheme and live and love. All Rhaella had was herself, and that had never been enough for anyone.

But her spine had never bowed under the weight of the crown, not for years, and even if none else in the world found that something to be proud of, Rhaella did.

A mild sort of strength, perhaps; but after almost two decades, Rhaella was finding it.

“I don’t want your pity,” said Joanna.

Bonifer’s necklace had given Rhaella something to dream of for years together. It had kept her safe. But it had been a heavy burden to bear- now, she felt free, unchained, wild.

I am not one to pity, she thought.

“Keep the necklace,” she said. “Throw it in a gutter, gift it to a servant, it matters little to me.” Rhaella looked at Joanna, and for all that she did not pity her, neither did she envy her. They were queens, the both of them; one with a crown, the other crownless, but in the end: equals.

And if queens did not protect each other, who would?

“But I want you to leave,” said Rhaella.

Joanna stilled. “What?”

“I want you to leave court.”

“Why?” She made a sharp, almost convulsive gesture- Rhaella saw her hands dip towards the swell of her waist, where Aerys’ hands had dug so hard into her flesh. “Why?” Joanna repeated, voice going higher.

Rhaella swallowed. “Aerys wants you,” she said.

“I have never incited him,” Joanna said, heated.

“I know,” said Rhaella. “Do you think I don’t, Joanna? But Aerys is a jealous man, and sometimes he does not realize what folly he sows, what the cost of his mistakes shall be.” She smiled, wanly. “Your husband is powerful, and I do not wish to see his retribution on the land, or my family. Go home, and I promise that the humiliation Aerys visited on you at your bedding shall not continue. Stay, and I can’t promise anything.”

(When Joanna left, she waved from the wheelhouse, and the sunlight caught the bracelet she wore on her wrist- Rhaella stilled at it, recognizing the pale, thin chain.)

…

“I will not have a whore as my lady,” said Rhaella, when Aerys asked her about it, later. She did not look up, because she was not sure what Aerys would see in her eyes. “Let her rot in Casterly Rock for all I care.”

…

Joanna was not the last woman Rhaella dismissed in such a fashion.

(She did not mean it as a cruelty.)

…

On the worst days, she missed that necklace deep enough to ache. On the worst days, she could taste only sunlight on her tongue and her mother’s wish for her to be dutiful. On the worst days, when she looked into Rhaegar’s eyes, all Rhaella could see was her mother; was her mother’s disappointment.

Would you love me? She wondered, praying in the sept, wearing bruises from Aerys’ hands proudly. Would you admire me, or would you turn your face in disgust? You had such little patience for weakness, Mother.

She swallowed, and straightened, and left.

Rhaella had not wept in public in years- not since her mother’s pyre. She let her pain and shame fall away, and she left the sept as quietly as she’d entered it.

…

When Aerys had Jaehaerys’ wet nurse beheaded, Rhaella didn’t do anything. She was numb; she was scraped empty and raw from her loss.

Jaehaerys had been healthy. She’d allowed herself to hope, truly hope, that she’d get to see him grow up- but he died, as four of her children had done before that. Rhaella trembled, struggled not to tear her hair out at the root in her grief, and was kneeling in her private sept in Maegor’s Holdfast when Aerys entered.

His hair was long, pale, and she could see the howling loss in his face that echoed her own.

For the first time in her life, Rhaella extended a hand to him- and Aerys, for the first time, took it. They didn’t speak; they sat, together, staring into the candle-flames until they winked out.

It was in the darkness that Aerys said, quietly, “I will be faithful to you, from now on.”

Rhaella bowed her head. She didn’t expect it, not at all, when his grip on her wrist tightened bruisingly, when Aerys used that grip to drag her closer to him.

“And you will be faithful to me,” he said. “You will, Rhaella. Swear it.”

She wrenched away, heart pounding. There was something to pity in Aerys’ entreaty. There was something to pity in his loss. But Rhaella was so tired, and she was so alone, and she could not feel anything inside her but bitterness.

Rhaella thought, I have never lain with another man. I have always been faithful to you. How dare you- when our son is dead- how dare you-

But Rhaella was the dutiful one, the loving one. She remembered that and rubbed at her aching wrist. She said, “Of course I swear it.”

…

Aerys struck her for the first time two months after Viserys’ birth, when she begged to nurse him- it was shock that she felt first, before even the pain. Aerys’ hands had always been so hard.

“You will not kill this one,” he hissed. That hurt more than any slap could. “You will not be alone with Viserys. If you try-” Aerys’ eyes narrowed. “I will kill you.”

Rhaella looked at him, her fingers still running gingerly over the arch of her cheekbone. Her eyes were large, purple, lovely and exhausted all at once. She had hated Aerys once; she had pitied him, had loved him, had averted her face, had been shamed by him- but never before had she feared him.

“I am your sister,” she whispered. “I am your wife, your queen, the mother of your children. Aerys-”

He laughed. “Do you think that matters to anyone?”

I know it doesn’t. Rhaella folded her fingers together, bit her tongue, looked away. I am a mother of dragons, and one day, my sons shall rule Westeros. I promise you this: I will survive you. I will not let you kill me.

The next day, she attended the court sessions with her bruises splayed across her face. She dared the court to pity her, and when they looked away she did not bare her teeth. Rhaella did not blame them for looking away. That did not mean she would make it any easier, to avoid these truths.

…

Aerys demanded that Rhaegar marry Elia Martell, and when Rhaegar returned from Dorne he seemed content enough with her. Rhaella was there the day that he married her in the sept; she saw the way Elia’s shoulders bent under the weight of the red and black cloak, and she felt exhaustion sweep through her.

How many more women will break inside the Red Keep? She thought, and left the hall as quickly as she could. How many queens will bleed under this crown?

…

Rhaella wore her scars proudly in front of the court.

Rhaegar’s eyes always dipped away from them. He’d never once spoken against his father, and Rhaella had stopped wishing he would. Let him live in a world of books and prophecy; it would not be long before action would have to be taken against Aerys, until even Rhaegar could not avoid it.

Rhaella wore her bruises proud, let the red and purple and black marks shine against her skin. Aerys had always hated her, and once he’d realized that she wouldn’t fight back, he’d gotten worse.

Do you think anyone cares?

No, thought Rhaella, steam hot enough to scald her skin flushing her cheeks. No, nobody cares but me. But I am a queen, and that matters.

Rhaella wore her bruises and her scars in the court, but she hid them from Viserys. She would not mar her son’s innocence for anything in all the world. If Rhaegar could afford to lurk in prophecy, then Viserys could afford to look at his father with stars in his eyes for some years more.

I am the queen of Westeros, and if nobody cares to look at my scars, I will make them ashamed to look at me. I will do my duty, and I will do it flawlessly, and I will make them weep for their honorable faults.

…

Years later, Rhaella sat in a garden with her gooddaughter. Elia- she was a lovely girl, with Arianne’s beautiful hair, with Arianne’s laugh. The court only ever called her gentle and quiet; but Rhaella could see so much of Arianne in her. There were times when she trembled or went pale, the whites of her eyes showing all around her pupils, and Rhaella had to remind herself not to pity her.

Now, here, it was not pity inside Rhaella’s chest.

“You will protect him,” said Rhaella. “If I die- then you must care for Viserys.”

If, she said, and it was a lie.

Rhaella could feel her death singing in the air, like a strummed harp. Not if, but when- the darkness would swallow her, along with this child, and Rhaella knew it in her bones. Sometimes that truth made her laugh: Daenys had dreamed the destruction of Valyria, the death of an empire; but all Rhaella ever knew was her own wreckage.

“Rhaegar won’t be around, not for long-” for her son had never learned to stand still, not in his two decades, “-and Aerys is… not suitable.”

“I shall do what I can,” said Elia softly, her hand skimming across the inside of Rhaella’s wrist.

Rhaella didn’t flinch, not even when Elia’s eyes dipped down, tracing the shadow of bruises ringing her pale skin. This was her war, her battleground, written out in scars across her body. There was nothing to be ashamed of in it. Rhaella was ashamed of her brother’s madness, and of her son’s cruelty to his beautiful, lovely wife, and of her inability to bear more children; she had quite enough to be ashamed of.

This singular thing- Rhaella was never going to be shamed for it. She refused.

“I swear it,” said Elia. Her face was her father’s face, down to the shape, down to the color. Nobody would ever mistake for her mother. But for less than a heartbeat, Rhaella was staring down into the roiling, writhing rage of Arianne Martell as she beheld the insult to one of her dearest friends. “I will do everything in my power.”

Rhaella’s hand covered Elia’s, gentle, soft, unyielding. “I believe you,” she said.

They were the last words they ever spoke to each other.

…

Rhaegar died, and Aerys died after him, and Rhaella did not weep for either of them.

She spent hours on her knees, instead, praying with all her fervent desire: take my life if you must, but do not let them kill Viserys. Let him live, I beg you. When the storm came, it felt like a prophecy; when she felt the yanking sensation in her belly, it felt like a death knell.

The babe she birthed was a girl, so small Rhaella was certain she would die. She dozed after the birth; when she awoke, her hands were still bloody- she wiped at the sheets, but the blood had crusted over her skin. She exhaled and called Willem Darry into the room.

“I will not live for long,” she told him when he entered. “When I am gone, you will take Viserys to Dorne.”

Darry bowed his head. “And the girl?” He asked.

“She is still alive?” Rhaella asked, startled.

She didn’t know if she could have borne another piece of tragedy, and so she hadn’t asked. Darry’s mouth pulled into a wan smile at the question.

“Yes,” he said. “Alive, and hungry, and loud.”

“Then you will take them both,” said Rhaella. Her hands trembled as she reached over to her bedside table, but she picked up her crown and held it out to him. “Alysanne’s crown- you will place it on my son’s head, and you will protect them both as best you can for the rest of your life.”

“Have you considered a name, my Queen?” His eyes dipped away. “For the girl, I mean.”

“Daenerys did her duty,” she said, eyes lifting to meet Willem Darry’s. “There is only so much room for selfishness in this family. Call the girl Daenerys, and pray that she does her duty.”

Pain stole across Rhaella’s vision, and she thought, I outlived Aerys. I outlived Rhaegar. You will be named Daenerys Stormborn, and you will live a long life.

“My lady,” said Darry, and he looked miserable; as he’d been since the beginning, but Rhaella had not paid attention. “The storm- it shattered the ships. There is one, but it will be visible to the Baratheon fleet; and Stannis Baratheon is bringing his armada here to lay siege to this place.”

I have nothing left, she thought. Red, bloody flakes decorated the pale crown. And then she smiled, and straightened. I have one last thing left to me.

“Then you shall provide a distraction,” she said, and leaned back against the pillows.

…

Rhaella was always mindful of her duty- that was true enough.

But sometimes that duty tasted vengeful, and at others it was hopeless, and at others it was bitter, steadfast, exhausted. Rhaella was a queen and a mother and a wife and a daughter, and a hundred people had failed her in a thousand manners, and she was always more than Barristan Selmy’s pitying, patronizing words.

…

Stannis Baratheon docked at Dragonstone’s harbor- and when he managed to get up to the castle’s courtyard, he saw it was deserted. All that was left was a pyre, still burning, the smoke so great it had filled the halls, billowed out, cloaked the entire island.

…

When Rhaella died, her body burned with half of Dragonstone’s belongings. The smoke offered a cover for Willem Darry and her children, when they fled.

It was the last act of duty she ever did.

It was not something to pity.

[wildfire-1980]

undefined

I always thought that Daenerys loved Jorah, but the intensity of his love always gave her pause. She had to stay focused on the Irone Throne and she couldn’t allow herself to be blind-sided by love, no matter how selfless it was.

It reminds me of what Selmy Barristan told Dany about her mother, when she found out that she had loved another man, whom was a knight himself.

“The queen your mother was always mindful of her duty.” He was handsome in his gold-and-silver armor, his white cloak streaming from his shoulders, but he sounded like a man in pain, as if every word were a stone he had to pass. “As a girl, though … she was once smitten with a young knight from the stormlands who wore her favor at a tourney and named her queen of love and beauty. A brief thing.”

“What happened to this knight?”

“He put away his lance the day your lady mother wed your father. Afterward he became most pious, and was heard to say that only the Maiden could replace Queen Rhaella in his heart. His passion was impossible, of course. A landed knight is no fit consort for a princess of royal blood.”

So, in a sense, the daughter is following in the mother’s footsteps - she is forsaking love for duty. Rhaella and Bonifer parallel Danearys and Jorah. I could really go into more depth with this, but I’ll leave it at that. She loved him...plain and simple.

Oh and that scene with Jon in episode 4, where she was speaking of Ser Jorah loving her. Well, to me, she sounds like she is speaking in past tense - “He loved me...and I couldn’t love him back, not the way he wanted.” Her voice trembles and her eyes become teary when she speaks of Ser Jorah in that manner, as if reliving the regret of not giving into her feelings.

But notice how she sobers up when she walks up to Jon and says, “Not the way I love you.”

I’m sorry, but she is playing Jon. She’s trying to manipulate him into keeping his true parentage secret. Nothing else has worked for her, despite losing over half of her army for the North, not to mention Jorah as well. The North still chooses Jon. Even her advisors are beginning to choose Jon. Daenerys sees this, so she’s reverting back to what Doreah taught her in season one by using her body to bend powerful men to her will. I don’t think she truly loves Jon Snow because he is a vital threat to everything she has fought for. Dany sees the end coming, her reign ending before it even begins. She’s in survival mode here and I imagine she will be in the next episode as well, until her demise...or exile.

[tomakeitbeautifultolive]

🐲THE TARGARYEN TAG🐲 

For all the Targaryen lovers out there! This tag is open to all, so feel free to participate regardless of allegiance!

                    🐲🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🐲

Tagged by @chillyravenart & @thousandeyesand-one ♥

1. Your favorite/least favorite Targaryen:  Aegon the Unworthy

2. Underrated Targaryen:  The Prince of Dragonflies! His and Jenny's love story is among the most beautiful in the series.

3. Snog/Marry/Avoid Targaryens:  Visenya/Jon Snow/Aegon VI

4. A Targaryen who deserved better:  While there are many horrific accounts of torture I could pull from, I'm going to go Rhaella Targaryen. Just hearing the name "Rhaella" fills me with sadness. Forced to marry her brother despite loving another man - went on to be abused and raped regularly by her husband, so badly that her reproductive system seemed to have taken a hit as a result. It's likely her children were the only thing that brought her joy... and she had to endure so many miscarriages, stillbirths, and early deaths of so many. It just twists my heart all up. 😭

5. OTP Targaryens:  Jon x Dany (of course), Rhaegar x Lyanna, Duncan x Jenny, Alyssa x Baelon, Egg x Betha, Jaehaerys x Alysanne, Rhaella x Bonifer, Daenerys x Daemon Blackfyre... *coughs* >.>

6. A Targaryen you'd like to go on holiday with:  Since Summi already had the perfect answer about Daenerys, I'm going to say Jon. Boy needs a vacation and I'm up to finding us both a place we can enjoy frizz-lessly.

7. A Targaryen you'd want to be best friends with:  Jon Snow. I appreciate his dark humor and I want to cheer him up with a homemade batch of honeycakes.

8. A Targaryen who just needs a hug:  How many more times can I say Jon Snow in this questionnaire? (Consecutively, no less!) Well that answer is one more time, at least, because the first episode was so depressing that I almost didn't come back to the series. My desire to see something good happen for Jon kept me going, and that boy already needed a hug. But imagine how many more he'll need when he finds out who his parents were and all that Ned risked to keep him safe! 😭

9. Problematic Fave:  Daemon Blackfyre... >.>

10. A Targaryen you'd go on a dragon ride with:  Daenerys! There's no more impressive dragonrider to me!

11. Favorite Targaryen bastard?:  Jacaerys Velaryon! (and maaaaybe Alyssa Targaryen? 😏)

12. A Targaryen you'd want as a lover:  Jon, Daenerys, Rhaegar, or Duncan!

13. Which Targaryen dragon is your favorite?:  Aside from the three puppies we watched grow up (Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion), I'll go with Vermax, Silverwing, Meleys, and Moondancer (love the name and she's my favorite color). Shout-out to OC dragon Dawnrider 😘

14. Bloodraven: fan or ban?:  I'm... greatly suspicious of his intentions. He's one of those "the end justifies the means" types, and that always perturbs me a little bit.

15. Viserys (son of Aerys II): evil twit or mentally scarred victim?  Hell, I think his father was mentally scarred, too! I have this weird dream headcanon about Viserys - that he'd be the perfect little prince had he grown up with Rhaella and/or Rhaegar. 😕

16. Favorite non-Targaryen spouse/consort?  Jenny of Oldstones! She's got this mystical sort of vibe, doesn't she?

17. Team Lilac Eyes or Team Indigo Eyes?  Indigo!

18. Favorite quote by a Targaryen:  "The next time you raise a hand to me will be the last time you have hands." —Daenerys

19. Most badass Targaryen moment:  I mean... Daenerys bringing dragons back into the world with nothing but intuition and belief in herself? You don't get much more badass than that.

20. Blackfyres: Yay or Nay?  Hmm... I'll quote my favorite non-Targaryen character on this one - "I would say (their) parts are mixed, m'lady. Good and bad."

21. Most touching Targaryen moment:  Jon and Daenerys meeting on Dragonstone!

22. Which Targaryen would give the best life advice?  Maester Aemon!

23. Your favorite Aegon?  Jon Snow - since I'm absolutely willing to bet his name is Aegon in the books, too. Runner up would be Egg, though.

24. Which Targaryen was the most badass?  Since this says was instead of is, I'll have to agree on Visenya Targaryen.

25. Most heartbreaking Targaryen moment:  Princess Rhaenys hiding underneath her father's bed... and everything that followed after she got dragged out from underneath it. 💔

                   🐲🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🐲

Tagging: @toaquiprashippar @ktwrites @got-addict @thescarletgarden1990 @adecila @xxthewolvenstormxx @thebronzefury @emaiyl @oadara   & @ladyofdragonstone !

[sayruq]

Hello Sayruq I have a question about Sansa's story more accurately where the Author punishing her and this is the world women deal with in ASOIAF blur? Such as the whole rule that age of sexualizing is meant to be when a girl has had her period age 12/13 when we know that is bullshit given Petyr,Sandor and Pycelle. So we know he ignores his own rules around age here given he at least expects us to sympathize with Sandor calling him a bad boy rather than in universe pedophile.

I can forgive George for not hating his more... unsavory male characters (he has no similar problem with characters like Cersei which is interesting) but calling him a bad boy when Sandor is almost 30 and when Sandor spent 2 books attracted to a preteen, it’s not a good look. Unfortunately, it’s not the first time we get a *dubious* relationship involving someone as young as Sansa (Rhaella at 12 and Bonifer at maybe hopefully but still ickily 16). 

The thing is while George is obviously (when you really examine the text) critical of older characters preying on young children, he’s also too subtle and he doesn’t apply it across the board. He sexualises Dany and Elia Sand a lot and while he doesn’t buy into ~romantic~ overtones of Sansa and Sandor, he goes on to give Sandor redemption, thereby retroactively cleansing the previous creepy behaviour Sandor display especially when combined with the Unkiss.

Not to mention his many child brides in a story that, like you said, seems to either consider them children in one part and grown women in others. This leads to fans assuming that the story doesn’t call their favourite characters paedophiles which leads to further misinterpretation of canon events. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people saying ‘it’s normal in Westeros’ when we bring up age differences. If GRRM can come out and talk about Dany’s disastrous rule in Meereen because people don’t see it as such, then he can come out and say, “Feeling attraction to minors is paedophilia and something this story doesn’t support.” Then again if he did, will the Rhaegar x Lyanna mystery remain a mystery when the only conclusion is that Rhaegar preyed on a 14-15 year old?

[munadaria]

When it comes to her love life, Rhaella’s never been in love. The closest she ever came was when she was still a child and she was infatuated with Ser Bonifer, and that was doomed from the start thanks to the prophecy™. As stated in this headcanon ( x ) love is something she still clings to and wants to experience in her life after her brother-husband’s death. 

Though she may meet someone while she’s married and fall for them, she won’t ever act on those feelings for as long as she is married. Why? Simple: Aerys’ never ending list of mistresses. Yes, Rhaella ignored them as best she could and tried to let her bother her as little as possible. Even if on the bright side that meant she didn’t have to have sex with her brother. Still, she drew the line with her ladies. One of the few canon instances in which we have a direct quote of hers, is to call out Aerys not to turn her ladies into his whores. It’s not done out of victim blaming, Rhaella knows all too well how it feels to be an actual victim. Instead it’s done out of protection - her ladies are supposed to be there for her, they are her companions and even friends. For this reason they are untouchable in her eyes, her brother will not taint them nor tarnish their reputation and cause disputes or wars between their house and another one. Because of this, she had to dismiss them often - the most well known example being Joanna.

Another reason why she won’t act on any feelings, especially if it’s a man, it’s to avoid giving birth to a bastard. She had enough being unjustly accused of being unfaithful and blamed for the death of her children, miscarriages and stillbirths - all claimed to be the product of her affairs with other men, when the one sleeping around was Aerys. And simply because she looked the other way when her brother-husband took a new mistress, doesn’t mean it didn’t affect her. It did and concealed it. She doesn’t tolerate cheaters, abusers or rapists. She believes them to be the scum of the earth, would never forgive any of them and sadly had the misfortune to have as brother and husband a man that was all three.

Anyway. She would choose to wait and pray to the gods by the time she is free she can pursue that relationship. If those feelings are still there, and once she has healed enough. Still, fighting the temptation until them would be hard for her.

On the matter of her sexuality, Rhaella is as clueless as can be and she doesn’t even think about it. She is part of a society in which same sex relationships are taboo, and a woman of her stature could easily lose her head - literally - for it. Therefore, she is by default expecting to be attracted to and fall in love with men. Even if she feels she doesn’t trust easily nor feel comfortable around men or touching her after Aerys (for reference, go to the headcanon linked above.) Still, for her to be intimate with someone - and by this I mean sex in this case - she needs to have a romantic attachment towards the other person and trust them completely.

If she were to feel attracted to a woman or fall for one she wouldn’t be opposed to it on the premise that love is love. Would she be confused? Yes, certainly, until she is able to understand it and accept her feelings. In fact, it’s possible for her to open up more and faster to a woman than a man in a romantic situation because she may feel safer. At the end of the day, what she wants is to be loved, cherised and respected; she wants everything that she didn’t have with Aerys. 

[myrishswamp]

Who are your asoiaf OTPS? :))

I’m going to assume this was asked in good faith, and answer that way:

Arya x Jaqen 

Cersei x Jaime

Aerys x Tywin (aerwin FTW)

Joanna x Rhaella (x Lady Martell)

Cersei x Taena

Stavos

Firefox (Melisandre x Selyse)

Uncle Daemon x Rhaenyra

Various Targs in various configurations

Stannis x Jon tbh

Bloodraven x Shiera

Aged-up Bran and Jojen and/or Bran and Meera

Aged-up Rickon and Shireen (to be clear, these ships on these two lines are in post-canon or AUs)

Bonifer x Rhaella

Aerys x Joanna WOMP WOMP WOMPPPPP

Boltoncest

Some Crackships:

Daario x Jaqen (Essos Ass)

Daario x Oberyn (Westeressos Ass)

Arthur Dayne x Jaime (isn’t this basically canon though lbr)

Jaqendrya (Arya/Gendry/Jaqen) and Jaeqendrya (Arya/Gendry/Jaqen and Aegon VI)

I also love “people lusting after other people” relationships--a great and unexplored one is Maegor and Visenya ;)

[november-born-dayne]

One more tragic love..

[everythingieverloved]