#so yeah baelon exists. for now

[murmel-malt]

In addition to Rhaenyra, Daera and Vizzy have two more kids: another girl by the name of Daenys (@selfproclaimedunicorn 's OC who she so graciously let me borrow for this AU) and the long anticipated son, Baelon.

[syndrossi]

I love the idea of the twins born earlier with Jon becoming Viserys's heir and betrothed to Rhaenyra - in that situation, I can see Rhaegar being betrothed to Laena, and Rhaegar and Jon vowing that their children will marry each other. But in that case, if Aemma still dies and Viserys still remarries Alicent, and has Aegon, would there be another Dance of the Dragons? Cause a son comes before a nephew/brother, by all the laws - but also a daughter comes before an uncle, and Jaehaerys still named Baelon heir, so maybe the rule is just 'the King can choose his own heir', which makes sense as the King is an absolute monarch. And people would look at Aegon, either a child while Jon is grown, or a drunken whoremonger rapist while Jon is a war hero and the greatest swordsman alive and rides Vermithor and probably has children with Rhaenyra by then, and go - yeah, we're following Jon.

Also, I love the idea of Baelon getting to hold his twin grandsons and take them up on Vhagar! Also, since this is not a reverberate AU, and so Daemon doesn't know their names, what are the best he names Jon Baelon, and Rhaegar Aemon?

Also, what's your timeline for Resonant, and how is it different from both F&B and HOTD?

I don't know if it's strictly true that a daughter comes before the king's brother, at least for the Crown. Daemon was Viserys's heir despite Rhaenyra's existence until Viserys explicitly broke with tradition and named Rhaenyra his heir. Though I expect it was broadly true that daughters come before a lord's brother+nephews. Heck, the Great Council heard all kinds of claims, so clearly, standard male-preference primogeniture wasn't in play.

A few things I could see happen, since Jon and Rhaegar would be around 6 after Baelon's death:

If the boys are thought to be TPTWP by Jaehaerys, he explicitly names Daemon his heir, passing over Viserys, which many lords could see as wise anyway, given Viserys's and Aemma's struggles to have a son, and Viserys's only child is betrothed to the likely future king anyway. The Great Council never occurs.

If the boys' nature is unknown and Viserys is named heir by the Great Council, once he later comes to learn of their prophecy vibes, Viserys himself may very well stop trying to have children and Aemma lives. Daemon is named Viserys's heir.

#2 but Aemma dies later, either of an unplanned pregnancy or illness. Viserys is smart and doesn't want to complicate the inheritance puzzle, so he doesn't remarry.

#3 but Viserys thinks with his other brain and marries Alicent. Assuming the king has absolute power to name his heir, he's not going to change that just because he has sons now. Otto still schemes, but as you said, Jon will be having children much earlier than Aegon with Rhaenyra, and THOSE children will have dragons (as will Rhaegar's and Laena's). Otto's in a tough position, especially with Jon's popularity, and because lol patriarchy, Rhaenyra is also very popular since she's not in line for the throne but is gracious and beautiful and doesn't have the bastardry rumors blackening her rep. You can also bet Rhaegar has been using this time to build alllll the alliances with houses that would have aligned with the Greens originally

On the subject of Resonant's timeline, the TL;DR is that Rhaenyra's partway between HOTD and F&B in age and did have a friendship with Alicent. Since she's older, her sons are born about three years earlier than in F&B canon, putting them closer in age to Aegon and Aemond. I generally use F&B dates, but shifted as needed to account for Rhaenyra's differing age. And Rhea dies a year later than in canon.

Resonant itself takes place in 116AC, and it is currently the 12th day of the 8th moon.

[vivacissimx]

this might seem kinda dark, but your viserra “escaped” death twice, once in KL with the horse riding accident, and another in White Harbour. is it something that she in your AU thinks about ? you’ve touched the topic with her baby’s death (and her survival bc of it), but as she is older and with Baelon, is it something that she thinks about, how she could’ve been dead or “should have” died before she got almost everything she wanted ?

yeah she does! so there are several metaphorical deaths that viserra undergoes. when saera is imprisoned, sent away, etc. we see in the narrative that viserra becomes this haunting thing to her parents - a ghost. have you heard of the sort of doubling of ophelia, that she exists as this living girl yes, but she is also this dead body which performs gender/beauty? now imagine viserra is the dead body to saera's girl. that's how they see her, anyway. there is a certain feeling that alysanne is reclaiming some of her power by arranging the betrothal she did for viserra.

second is her actual death which is reduced to an accident in the fic in question, one she survives but is thereafter haunted by (there is a 'serpent' in her belly which is of course meant to be representative of the death she escaped). then, when she's attacked in white harbor, her unborn baby takes the brunt of the poisoning & dies while she lives.

so she has been on every end of spectrum by the time she returns to king's landing which she's idealized as this dysfunctional heaven compared to the white walls of her underworld in the North... of course it's not That. by the end of the story she's found comfort in baelon's assurances that for as long as they're alive they can have this "heaven on earth" that they've found. and that's where viserra ultimately finds refuge. death, guilt, etc. become peripheral because she's finally found this way of living in the moment— while before it had always felt too close to comfort, worsened because she lacked of a sense of safety (net). by the end of love doesn't live here, viserra doesn't feel like she's staring off the cliff's edge, not quite sure if she'll be pushed or jump or see herself already down there should she peek.

[tbtgtr-incorrectquotes]

Chapter 12 memes? chapter 12 memes!

Aemma: i hate everything

Gael: i brought protection

.

Naerys: you are so fucking stupid—

Peri: do you want to lose the only help you have

Naerys, mumbling: no

.

Naerys: Just get the dragon

Aemma: no, and shut it.

.

Laena: can i ride them

Naerys, inwardly: shit shit shit i’m going to drop them

Rhaenys: sure

Naerys: SHIT

.

Naerys: Why am i the only person who helps Gael with her romance

5 minutes later

Naerys: it’s too early, they’re mushy i hate them.

.

Owyn: i’m cool, just chaperoning

Naerys and Harrold: *exist*

Owyn: they’re going to kill Brynden aren’t they.

.

Baelon: I want to see my little boy~

Naerys: here he comes!

Baelon: I want to see my little boy

.

Gael: honestly yeah, this is really not heavy at all.

Aemma & Naerys: I don’t understand how you’re not crying because of the weight.

.

Daemon: I almost crowned you—

Naerys: and i would’ve killed you.

Daemon: but i didn’t now we’re even.

.

there is no way i can make the last section funny so i’m not even gonna try.

[murmel-malt]

I had this thought: about Gael and Aeron, especially about Gael, that always lived under the shadow of her mother, a child that wasn't allowed to exist outside her mother.

Maybe in FB, her only true happiness was her baby boy :(

And now, in your AU, she's alive and healthy; I believe if Baelon the Bystander or when Jaehaerys the bitch told her to choose between sending Aeron away or to be married off( you bet my short hair the bitch did or that poor woman of Alysanne)

She chose the latter because she'd rather be with her son in a house full of strangers instead of her family.(She pulled a Viserra, Saera altogether. XD Those girls chose an alternative path instead of their family)

She wanted to be more than Alysanne's pet, and she won the lottery, marrying a man who loved her and accepted her son as his.

About Aeron and Nyra:

Nyra: I want to fuck

Aeron:

Okay

🤣🤣🤣🤣

It is kinda tragic that Aeron and Nyra's friendship feels more honest and truthful than Rhaenicent(because of the circumstances and how maybe... just maybe, Nyra felt slightly superior than Alicent while she believes Aeron is her equal because he's a Targaryen)

Nyra: Bestie look *shows Jacaerys*

Aeron: *shows his daughters* Look, together, they are triplets!

Ok first off: ‘Baelon the Bystander’ is just *chef’s kiss* 10/10

And you are right on the money about Gael always living in the shadow of her mother. I mean she essentially was her emotional support daughter. She was 19 at the time she got pregnant and not even betrothed. Just constantly with her mother, no life of her own. Dare I say not even a person of her own, always just an extension of Alysanne. At least that’s what it feels like reading about her.

And I get Alysanne to an extent. She lost all of her daughters except Saera (but she might as well be dead the way she refuses all contact. she probably is dead to Jaehaerys) and Gael is the only one she still has so it makes sense that she wants to keep her close and keep the thing that took most of her daughters (marriage/childbirth) far away from her. But ma'am that is your daughter - a human being - and not a purse dog. Let that girl live for god’s sake. 

I always wonder what Alysanne’s plan was for Gael after her death. Did she expect her son and grandson to just continue to take care of her?

Personally for Come Hell Or High Water I see her "getting seduced" as an extremely controlled and sheltered girl breaking/acting out for the first time and yes she might not have thought about the potential consequences at that moment but she does not regret it because this little boy is hers and hers alone. She will not give him up! And if that means leaving her home and living in a house full of strangers, so be it. She will do it for her baby. And it works out for her, which I think is only right. She deserves some happiness! 

Nyra: I want to fuck Aeron: Okay 

I mean, that’s basically how it went xD Aeron is a very sex positive guy and usually dtf if you ask nicely and also if you don’t.

And yeah I would also say that the Aeron-Rhaenyra friendship has a level of equality that Rhaenyra-Alicent is lacking due to her considering him Targaryen enough that the Targ Exceptionalism kicks in and has her ignore his past bastardry and their vastly different stations (she is still the crown princess and he is a minor lord and former bastard).

I think they can relate to each other and each other’s struggles and that also helps to meet on more equal footing. Plus Aeron is not as obsessed with propriety as Alicent is so this artificial distance is missing.

Rhaenicent yapping incoming!

Alicent is so concerned with propriety that she herself puts Rhaenyra above her and that adds to the disconnect that’s already between them from the Targ-superiority complex.

Which totally makes sense for Alicent’s character and the way she was raised - I am NOT blaming her for that! - and Rhaenyra being a princess and having that Targ-superiority internalised does not notice or question it and is also oblivious to Alicent’s struggles due to her own privilege - which I am also not blaming her for because that’s the way she was raised and has literally no incentive/reason to start question it.

Thanks for coming to my Rhaenicent TED talk.

[vivacissimx]

I wonder what Daemon and Viserys’s reaction is to having a baby sister? Like, I’m pretty curious.

yeah so my approach to this is it's always gonna depend on the relationships between the parent & existing child & stepparent, together or divided piecemeal. so i think on the viserys front it's going to be slightly weird at first a bit as a) viserys knew alyssa the longest, perhaps there's a sense of finality wrt baelon having made his peace with alyssa, and b) viserys has rhaenyr--aka that awkward moment when u & ur father both have newborns. however my understanding & personal characterization of viserys is gonna have him blowing over that pretty fast. he idolizes baelon and baelon's eagerness to bring the whole family together can assuage any insecurities viserys might have about how he fits into his dad's new marriage. "new" lol viserra's literally his cool aunt... who, in fic universe, he has a good relationship with! viserra has been a strong support in his and aemma's marriage and shown him love so having a new sister from baelon/viserra is most likely something slight

now daemon is the wild card ofc, with him recently unhappily married to rhea royce & feeling resentful/slightly abandoned as a result of baelon's much happier union (although baelon does go out of his way to reassure daemon always, baelon also doesn't have unlimited patience with his troublemaker son either). in fic universe i did push viserra trying to reach out to daemon out of sympathy for his arranged marriage debacle and i also think daemon is canonically vain enough to take pride in baelon's targcest marriage to viserra, who is known to be beautiful and desirable and clever. BUTTT nonetheless he would be miffed cause oh what, first his brother has some stupid baby and now his dad does? so he's DOUBLE not the baby anymore?? you know how that goes. he would definitely make some comments after alysanne's birth. ultimately tho they have a pretty cohesive family unit (albeit with some cracks) and baelon/viserra have proven their willingness to listen to daemon, so i think it'd smooth over considering that a) she's a girl, so not perceived as a replacement for daemon, and b) he himself is loved no less.

i also think it matters how baelon reacts. if he's over the moon it has to trickle down somehow, and if he's eager to show alysanne off to his sons it has to feel good to be loved and involved in your loved one's happiness. i dunno, family is complicated, & a new sibling is always a transition. "net positive reaction" is my final answer