#the blood king and his queen

[synchodai]

HBO's Continued Insistence on Dumbing Down Westerosi Politics

So there have been countless thinkpieces already on how GOT simplified the feudalist politics of Westeros (by giving a lowborn sellsword lordship over The Reach, by having no consequences for destroying the Sept of Baelor, etc.), but I haven't seen a lot of people talking about that for House of the Dragon.

The worst being that the show presupposes that Rhaenyra is the lawful heir when the books showed there are plenty of lawful arguments why she wouldn't be.

Mind you that I've been enjoying the show a lot so far. This is just to vent out my frustration with the writers' failure to fully engage with the values and protocols of the Middle Age-inspired setting. The show seems uninterested in laws of the Realm in a story ostensibly about politics, save for when they're using it as an excuse to amplify depictions of sex and violence.

Blacks vs Greens wasn't a matter of misunderstanding of who each side thought Viserys wanted on the throne. It was the Targaryens' belief of their absolute authority clashing with the Realm's established traditions. Everyone always knew who Viserys chose as heir. In Fire and Blood, Grand Maester Orwyle said as much when he was parleying with Rhaenyra on behalf of the Greens.

Rhaenyra heard his terms in stony silence, then asked Orwyle if he remembered her father, King Viserys. "Of course, Your Grace," the maester answered. "Perhaps you can tell us who he named as his heir and successor," the queen said, her crown upon her head. "You, Your Grace," Orwyle replied. And Rhaenyra nodded and said, "With your own tongue you admit I am your lawful queen. Why do you serve my half-brother, the pretender?" Munkun tells us that Orwyle gave a long and erudite reply, citing the Andal law and the Great Council of 101. Mushroom claims he stammered and voided his bladder. Whichever is true, his answer did not satisfy Princess Rhaenyra.

(For non-F&B readers: Munkun is the Grand Maester who served Aegon III, the king who came after this civil war. Munkun's book, The Dance of the Dragons, A True Telling, is one of Fire and Blood's source texts. Mushroom is the King Landing court jester from Viserys I to Aegon III's reign. One is a source written with academic rigor but is secondhand at best. The other is a firsthand eyewitness account but is from a literal fool who will take every chance to make things more scandalous and sexual to please the crowd.)

In House of the Dragon, they replaced Orwyle with Otto and Orwyle's discussion of legal precedent with Otto handing Rhaenyra a book page from Alicent. It's quite evident here that the writers, much like Mushroom, thought a discussion on the actual laws of the Realm were negligible in this story about a succession war.

Even Alicent made no pretense that Viserys chose Rhaenyra over her children and I have no idea why the HBO writers decided to make her mistakenly think otherwise. Maybe they thought a queen regent pushing her son to take the throne over another woman made her appear unsympathetic as a character, but if anything, this only makes show!Alicent less politically savvy and more delusional than her book counterpart, fully believing an addled king's vague muttering on his deathbed was sufficient grounds to change heirs last minute.

Book!Alicent following Andal laws instead of her husband's wishes makes sense given her Andal upbringing, her devotion to the Faith of the Seven which enforces said laws, and her desire to protect her children from Rhaenyra given that Rhaenyra has shown she's not above murdering family (see: Laenor).

In the books, there was a long discussion between the former king's council on who should succeed Viserys.

Here are the arguments for Rhaenyra:

Rhaenyra was older than her brothers and had more Targaryen blood

the late king had chosen her as his successor, that he had repeatedly refused to alter the succession despite the pleadings of Queen Alicent and her greens

hundreds of lords and landed knights had done obeisance to the princess in 105 AC, and sworn solemn oaths to defend her rights.

Here are the arguments for Aegon II:

many of the lords who had sworn to defend the succession of Princess Rhaenyra were long dead [...]

Ironrod, the master of laws, cited the Great Council of 101 and the Old King’s choice of Baelon rather than Rhaenys in 92

the hallowed Andal tradition wherein the rights of a trueborn son always came before the rights of a mere daughter

Ser Otto reminded them that Rhaenyra’s husband was none other than Prince Daemon, and “we all know that one’s nature. Make no mistake, should Rhaenyra ever sit the Iron Throne, it will be Lord Flea Bottom who rules us, a king consort as cruel and unforgiving as Maegor ever was [...]”

Should the princess reign [...] Jacaerys Velaryon would rule after her. “Seven save this realm if we seat a bastard on the Iron Throne.”

Once again, the show chose to cut out this long political discussion. Instead, the council had already made up their mind and decided to stage a coup (when in their perspectives from the books, it would definitely not be a coup).

For all their marketing how two sides are equally grey, HotD is actively delegitimizing Aegon II. The strongest argument for him is how his claim follows the laws of the Realm, but the show doesn't seem to care about the laws of the Realm or the political need to maintain a more predictable/tested transfer of power.

Instead, the show focuses on Viserys's relationship with his daughter and the mysticism of the Targaryen bloodline. In doing so, they emphasize Rhaenyra's strongest arguments for succession — that she's more of a Targaryen than her half-brother and that her father prefered her.

And what for? Because in our modern-day, we don't have male-prefered inheritance and people can only imagine misogyny as the only injustice here? What about the injustice of a monarch exercising absolute control, thinking that his "superior" heritage makes him above the established laws of the native people?

This is not to say Aegon II is unquestionably the heir. But this is to say that the show removed the political nuance of why people are questioning in the first place. Precedence isn't the end-all-be-all of succession, but neither is "because daddy said so".

[ditztitz]

“Rhaenyra the Terrible and Her Son Lucerys”

—And as the tides receded, the Mother above reached out to collect what she had once given. The queen’s salvation, the queen’s consolation, the queen’s sweet, dear boy.

66 hours later and finally finished I hope y’all like it :) inspired/ based off “Ivan the terrible and his son Ivan” by Ilya Repin in 1883-1885

[nexahexagon]

“Do you, um. Do you have to wear all the armor? Seems overkill for a stroll.”

“Your Majesty. I’m your guardian. I believe it imperative that I be at my best to protect you. And I’ve already left my helmet at your constant insistence.”

“Right! Right.. but, um.”

“Your Majesty?”

“Yes?”

“..Listen.. Do you hear that?”

“Um, no? No, what is it?”

“…Silence. Blissful, sweet silence. Let’s keep it that way, yeah?”

“Oh.”

@silverskye13

I couldn’t sleep until I drew these guys (I’m learning armor be proud!!)

Prince Tanguish came to me in a dream (daydreaming at work while severely bored). I don’t know much of Royalty and all that, but I see Tanguish as something similar to an advisor to Tango? Within his council methinks. With Welsknight as Tango’s guardian. And Tanguish, instead of stealing, is constantly sneaking out of the castle (Tango makes fun of him for it and Welsknight hated him for it cuz he’d have to go looking for him if he stayed out too late, before Helsknight was appointed his guard at least). Or maybe he still steals, but it’s just small trinkets he sees? Stuff he can’t find in the castle. (Those homemade muffins were really to die for)

Helsknight didn’t want to become a personal guard, but wouldn’t deny the opportunity to annoy the hell out of Welsknight daily. I can also see Helsknight being acknowledged by the royal family by him helping Tango. Like Tango followed Tanguish when he was sneaking out, got hurt (fell when climbing down the castle walls?), and Tanguish ran into Helsknight first while looking for help [Of course Wels wouldn’t be there]. He’s a bit bristly at the beginning (the little dialogue at the beginning was one of the first things I thought of lmao) but he warms up eventually.

Anyways,, is making an art of an au of an au weird? It’s certainly was weird to type that sentence!

[notfeelingthyaster]

the thing is: jaehaerys didn't deny daenerys/rhaenys claims (the great council was a scam, he was endorsing viserys) to the throne for the "good of the realm" or only because he thought women can't rule/he didn't want corlys velaryon behind the power. he did it because if a women came upon the throne before her male brother/uncle, he would bring scrutiny over his usurpation of the far better claimant aerea.

[seeminglydark]

A continuation on Prom Night, the kids needed a nap after a night of monster fighting and big confessions. Carrie never kisses Sul in the comic, but clearly tiptoe snuck a cheek smooch in before they both conked out. 💋

Sully’s childhood abandoned treehouse is neutral ground where he can keep Carrie safe from the closer to home monsters for a little bit (in this case, the parental kind.)

When the Detention piece ocs are from a horror comic, actually. You can read Carrie and Sully’s stories in my webcomic Mil-Liminal, which of course mostly focuses on their reconnection as adults, but has some flashbacks to the teenage years, including the story this art is from, Prom Night! And it’s free on Webtoon and Tapas.

[everythingoiezoie]

We wouldn’t be going through this bullshit if Rhaenys was queen to begin with.

[rocksibblingsau]

I feel like Billy at some point had a crush on barb , one of her friends tried to tell him “hey man she don’t like you like that” he still had that lead singer confidence and tried it anyway 💀

Listen Billy is stupid but not THAT stupid.

Even if he thought he had a chance and wasn't scared of Barb (which he is), he's VERY scared of Thrash.

[drakaripykiros130ac]

Oh, would you look at that. Another TG/Alicent Stan insisting that nobody won the war right in Team Black’s tag.

They just love the attention, don’t they?

I love that whenever I block someone, Tumblr tells me “[that user] is history”. Tumblr, you are so right.

[sweetestpopcorn]

Hi ! I have question, not too sensitive I hope...since this is a very pro Aegon III blog, could you explain to me why you love him so much ?

I've always struggled to love/understand the character, like yes, he seems nice overall, he's pretty and quiet (though the beautiful melancholic ones have never done it for me *looking at you Rhaegar*), he went through lots of trauma, and his relationship with Daenaera is cute, but nevertheless i've always found Viserys II and even Jace more pleasant and competent.

Like what i love about the most about Aegon III is that he's the son of Rhaenyra and Daemon, but that's not exactly a personality trait (well, it could be considering his parents, but you know what i mean).

Maybe there's something I'm missing about him (or maybe I'm just not receptive to this kind of character), so could you pretty please explain to me what is so great about him so that I might hopefully start to enjoy him as much as you do ? :)

Thank you so much ;)

Hi there,

I would like to start by saying that I don't really see the point in trying to convince anyone to like X or Y character. I certainly hope that people have enough of their own opinion to go by that and not by what someone else thinks or what by others like.

What is the problem of you not linking Aegon III?

I personally see none. I would also argue that you don't have to like Aegon III just because he was Daemon and Rhaenyra's son. For instance I like Corlys and Rhaenys yet their children are as bland as oatmeal and have 0 personality. I won't like them only because of who their parents are, much less make up traits and a personality George couldn't be bothered to give them.

We don't have to like every character. I myself have many that do nothing for me - many from Daemon and Rhaenyra's line - and that I struggle to understand what others might like about them. We are all different and to each their own. I am a firm believer that as long as we stay in our lanes, don't make sh:t up to try and prove a point (headcanons are not the same as canon), and don't harass anyone over their tastes, we don't owe anyone an explanation about why we like or don't like a character.

Now, as to why I like Aegon III, and what I think is so great about him, I believe canon explains itself much better than my own simple words could. I could transcribe everything written, however, since my time is limited and it has been over a month since my last update, I will give you three quotes, spoken by Aegon III himself that not only prove that he was very much Daemon and Rhaenyra's son, but also his own person, one with empathy, and with a little bit of light and fire left to him, even after all the darkness he endured. That an a tiny scene that people sleep on ;) this was a boy every inch worthy of being named after Aegon the Conqueror.

Just as a small note, none of this is to make you like him, it is intended to answer the question of what makes me like him and I think these quotes and the small moment speak for themselves. Alas, I am biased.

"I shall," King Aegon said. "You are sitting in my chair." (Fire and Blood, pg. 704)

"There will be no progress," the king declared, as he was seated. "I will not spend a year upon a horse, sleeping in strange beds and trading empty courtesies with drunken lords, half of whom would gladly see me dead if it gained them a groat. If any man requires word with me, he will find me on the Iron Throne." (Fire and Blood, pg. 704)

"I mean to give the smallfolk peace and food and justice. If that will not suffice to win their love, let Mushroom make a progress. Or perhaps we might send a dancing bear. Someone once told me that the commons love nothing half as much as dancing bears. You may call a halt to this feast tonight as well. Send the lords home to their own keeps and give food to the hungry. Full bellies and dancing bears shall be my policy." (Fire and Blood, pg. 704)

"The blood drained from the queen's cheeks when she beheld the bodies, but young Prince Aegon was the first to realise what they meant. "Mother, flee," he shouted, but too late." (...) "When Prince Aegon snatched up Ser Harrold's sword, Ser Alfred knocked the blade aside contemptuously." (Fire and Blood, pg. 540)

PS: Goes without saying that this is only concerning asoiaf canon, not redacted. Keep redacted in the trash where it belongs.

[pokemonruby]

playing ff rebirth and getting intense whiplash every time sephiroth appears or is mentioned because i genuinely forget he's a part of the storyline at times, he feels like he has transcended what it means to be a fictional character and exists more so like an abstract concept.

[riseandshinedearie]

My favorite hotd couple that never was but could have been and if they were Westerosi nobles would have been shaken from their uselessness and players would have had to play harder is Rhea Royce and Daemon Targaryen.

I don’t even watch hotd, I see stuff about it on tumblr.

I guess I tumblr watch it. But alas… I’m so disappointed they never were.

[lilyharvord]

Please understand that in my Coriane Barrow Calore vs Maven fic (that lives rent free in my head) that Coriane is the Mirror Ball and Maven is the Archer, however those titles are not exclusive and they can exchange them between themselves.

[northernember]

What are you doing?

Why are you still holding back?

Have you forgotten what they said to you?

What they Did?

They think you’re a Monster

version without the text;

[milflewis]

also, sewis, royalty bc I need

“Here let me.”

Fingers catch Sebastian’s wrist and Lewis takes the bandage from him, stepping in close to wrap it around and around Sebastian’s ribs. He smells of dirt and blood and sweat. He smells of war. He smells of death. Lewis is also warm and solid and right there, legs bumping into Sebastian’s knees, hair tickling his nose as he bends to try to get the wrapping just right.

I love you, Sebastian thinks. Please don’t fight anymore, he doesn’t say. What do I have to do for you to make it home, to come back to me, tomorrow, when the fighting is done, he doesn’t say.

“Michael,” he says because some things are more important than the two of them. Lewis steps back, hands heavy and soft on Seb’s stomach. His face is half caked with muck. He mustn’t have stopped to wash before coming to find Sebastian.

“The King is fine. Still a little shaken up but he’s with Mika now.” Lewis grins, his tooth gap almost shocking amongst the war on his face. Sebastian reaches up and presses a thumb into one of his dimples. “Driving Mika insane with his pampering and fussing.”

Sebastian laughs, not because it’s all that funny but because the terror that lodged itself in his throat when he saw Mika go down across the field and Michael yell, Corinna’s face pale and stricken behind her helmet, has finally broken free. Lewis watches him for a moment before intertwining his fingers with Seb’s.

“I’ll take first watch tonight. You should get some rest.”

send me a pairing and an au prompt and i’ll write a three sentence (ish) fic about it

[wotb-blog-2024]

Idea: WoTB tarot cards

[peppermintgrim]

*blows a kiss to my computer* this one's for you, Aldith Sereda Wilhelmine Aeducan, kinslayer & kingmaker