#the only character she has a sibling dynamic with is King... why do you want to replace King with Hunter so badly?

[kokii-omii]

Can we get your ocs relationship with their parents? We saw Viri's and now I'm curious for the rest too (especially because how a character's relationship is with their parents can make them rlly well written) (this isn't criticism at ALL if anything writing advice)

(i will ramble because i got 10 twst ocs and i yap a lot so get ready)

We've already seen a bit of the Nikos family and their dynamic but I'm still gonna talk about them for a bit,

Pan and his family are really close, very loving very supportive, and Pan's the oldest son meaning they paid attention to him a lot and cuz he's also the heir to the family business

when he first got to NRC Pan kinda got into a depressive episode (cuz yk he's in NRC and not RSA) and wouldn't accept any of his mom's calls nor went home for winter break for his 1st and second year

he got scolded for never sending messages but overall he loves his parents and his parents love him.

Peyn has a loving family, he's just like that-

his mother(human) is an archeologist and his father(fae) is a librarian, he's also really close with his grandma, they visit her in briar valley in winter break

he has an older sister as well but she's rarely home due to her modeling gig, his family is very busy (him included) but they still find time for each other whenever they need it

he spends the most time with his grandma tho, not cuz of anything- he just really likes spending time with her, she's a seamstress and often makes him the outfits he asks for (even though she doesn't fully understand his punk aesthetic, but that's okay she still loves him)

Peyn has a great relationship with his family

Maddex has a big family, he's the 2nd oldest of 7 siblings, his parents and grandparents live together and run their Boutique, its hectic in his house , could even say it drives you mad

his parents are very cheerful people, his grandparents as well, he talks the most with his grandpa who's like 85 years old and is still making hats (you go pop pop)

it's definitely hard for his parents to give their full attention to 7 kids and run a boutique at the same time but they're trying, Maddie and his grandparents with his older brother are the ones taking care of his 5 younger siblings

Maddie's relationship with his parents isn't terrible its just a bit all over the place with their priorities but that's just the life he's used to

Leo just has his momma, he's an only child, she lets him do whatever he wants, but always tells him to respect women otherwise she'd eat him if he doesn't, he may be bigger than his momma but he's not taking any chances

overall his momma loves him a lot and he does the same

The Manta twins Parents are very- Adams family is the best way to put it, the family is very loving but also very freaky

the twins were problem children, thats just how they are- Reese is his papa's boy while Alfred is a Mama's boy, they're very doting parents and encourage their hobbies even if they're extremely freaky ones like stalking

but the twins have a great relationship with their parents

Krohn was raised by his Papa for the most part, a very macho very masculine man, his mama was sick when he was a kid, they loved cooking and baking together but she sadly passed away,

he still bakes and cooks and his father sometimes reprimands him for doing that cuz he thinks its not very "man" of him to do something like baking, and makes krohn work out with so he can be more "manly"

Krohn has a rocky relationship with his dad

Ezmond's family is definitely messy, his parents are nowhere to be seen but instead his grandfather was the one to raise him, his grandpa taught him everything he knows about magic and potion making

and is the advisor to the current king of the kingdom they reside in, his grandpa is very old but still loving to Ezmond

Ezmond only cares about his grandpa and doesn't wanna hear anything related to his parents because why should he care about people who aren't worth his time

Lucien has a terrible relationship with his family, his brother is the one with the family curse which makes him produce more blot than the average person and risk overblotting,

and that means his parents had to pay very close attention to his brother instead of him since childhood

and its been that way for a hundred ish years, his parents are indeed loving, they just think he can handle Lucien being by himself for a while because as the oldest they think he's strong enough to take care of himself

it just got worse when his brother nearly overblotted and attacked their father due to the curse and Lucien provoked his brother which caused it to flare up

it doesn't help that for most of his childhood he's by Malleus's side which just solidifies his parents notion that he can take care of himself if he's able to take care of the prince

his parents try their hardest to take care of Edwin that they forget Lucien still needs love as well

Lucien loves his parents, he just wishes they'd give him love as much as they give love to his brother

[atopvisenyashill]

do you think there's sufficient evidence in fire and blood's text that rodrik arryn raped daella, even if non-violently and under the sanctity of marriage? i just scrolled through a bunch of reddit arguments on whether or not rodrik and daella's marriage was truly romantic, consensual, and egalitarian one and i know you're the only person who'll answer this question fairly.

I think that these questions about "is there a way to meaningfully consent in this situation where a teenager marries an adult" are like, fundamentally silly. The answer is just objectively no, and it doesn't really matter how you slice it. This is my most firmly "anti" stance and it's not one I'm ever willing to budge on; this is not to say that there isn't some level of romanticism going on in these relationships, but I think it's just goofy and disingenuous to pretend like being 15 and married to a man your father's age doesn't have a massive impact on your growth, maturity, and relationship with sex. Especially in this series where we often do follow these relationships to their very end points, whether happy or tragic, it's just like, supremely stupid to ignore the shady ways that they started out. The age and maturity gap is part of the dynamic! It informs it!

It's not to say these relationships don't have romanticism baked in; I tend to categorize them as "surprisingly healthy" "romantic and destructive" and "completely destructive." I think Rhaenys and Corlys fall under the first one, Dany and Drogo are in the second one, and Lysa and Jon Arryn are in the third. Rhaenys & Corlys aren't excused from having some clear issues in their marriage (hello the Marilda affair and succession issue!!!!) just because their marriage is more or less healthy and consensual, but at the same time, it's silly to pretend like there isn't a romantic element to Dany & Drogo's relationship - the argument here is simply that the destructive element far outweighs the romantic one (and also,,,,, Drogo is simply not a deep character, he doesn't have a character outside of violent warlord but that's a whole other rant). And of course, the Jon-Lysa marriage is just completely destructive to Lysa's sense of self, not to mention the crazy political ramifications of Jon freezing Lysa out.

Now this specific situation....I mean what romanticism is there even to speak about lmao?? first of all, can't point out enough how ddeeply deranged jaehaerys is about this whole thing:

Her sixteenth nameday was fast approaching, and with it her womanhood. Queen Alysanne was at her wit’s end, and the king had lost his patience. On the first day of the 80th year since Aegon’s Conquest, he told the queen he wanted Daella wed before the year’s end. “If she wants I can find a hundred men and line them up before her naked, and she can pick the one she likes,” he said. “I would sooner she wed a lord, but if she prefers a hedge knight or a merchant or Pate the Pig Boy, I am past the point of caring, so long as she picks someone.” “A hundred naked men would frighten her,” Alysanne said, unamused. “A hundred naked ducks would frighten her,” the king replied. “And if she will not wed?” the queen asked. “Maegelle says the Faith will not want a girl who cannot read her prayers.” “There are still the silent sisters,” said Jaehaerys. “Must it come to that? Find her someone. Someone gentle, as she is. A kind man, who will never raise his voice or his hand to her, who will speak to her sweetly and tell her she is precious and protect her…against dragons and horses and bees and kittens and boys with boils and whatever else she fears.”

She's not even 16!!!! Hardly an old maid even by their standards - remember that Catelyn and Brandon's betrothal was made when she was 12 but they didn't set a date until 282, when she was 17 going on 18!!! And there's just no reason why Daella should be rushed into marriage given how many older siblings she has; I mean it's not like they were rushing Lollys Stokeworth into marriage until after her rape during the riot and she was 33, and a lot of that is because she is "simple" and Tanda Stokeworth clearly wants to wait for a husband who is willing to care for her properly. Both Jaehaerys and Gyldayn try to absolve Jaehaerys of responsibility here but there's just no good reason to be threatening to send Daella to the freaking SILENT SISTERS just because she's 15 and doesn't seem interested in marriage. Goofy, silly, noxious behavior here. But moving on to Rodrik.

Queen Alysanne admitted, “but he is the sort you asked for, a kind and gentle man, and he says that he has loved our little girl for years. I know he will protect her.” To the astonishment of every woman at the court, save mayhaps the queen, Princess Daella chose Lord Rodrik to be her husband. “He seems good and wise, like Father,” she told Queen Alysanne, “and he has four children! I’m to be their new mother!” What Her Grace thought of that outburst is not recorded. Grand Maester Elysar’s account of the day says only, “Gods be good.” ...Nor was there a bedding. “Oh, I could not bear that, I should die of shame,” the princess had told her husband to be, and Lord Rodrik had acceded to her wishes. Afterward, Lord Arryn took his princess back to the Eyrie. “My children need to meet their new mother, and I want to show the Vale to Daella. Life is slower there, and quieter. She will like that. I swear to you, Your Grace, she will be safe and happy.”

There's a few red flags here and a few okay things here. I think it's very odd that Daella's excitement at being a stepmother is considered an outburst that Alysanne mislikes and that Grand Maester Elysar says "gods be good." Weird to me idk!! Also, sorry, don't care about the time period, it's weird that he says he's loved her for years (and Corlys is weird for the Rhaenys/Marilda stuff, make no mistake!!!) BUT he doesn't force a bedding on her and he mentions taking her to the Vale because it's quieter, which is honestly a nice thing for Daella, who hates large crowds and court in general. This feels, initially, not dissimilar to like, the Sansa-Willas thing; is it shady? Yes, objectively. But that doesn't mean it has to be an unpleasant marriage, and something strong can grow there. However...

And so she was, for a time. The eldest of Lord Rodrik’s four children from his first wife was a daughter, Elys, three years older than her new stepmother. The two of them clashed from the first. Daella doted on the three younger children, however, and they seemed to adore her in turn. Lord Rodrik, true to his word, was a kind and caring husband who never failed to pamper and protect the bride he called “my precious princess.” Such letters as Daella sent her mother (letters largely written for her by Lord Rodrik’s younger daughter, Amanda) spoke glowingly of how happy she was, how beautiful the Vale, how much she loved her lord’s sweet sons, how everyone in the Eyrie was so kind to her... In the Vale, however, her sister Daella was not doing near as well. After a year and a half of marriage, a different sort of message arrived at the Red Keep by raven. It was very short, and written in Daella’s own uncertain hand. “I am with child,” it said. “Mother, please come. I am frightened.”

Though the princess professed delight that her mother had come, and apologized for sending her such a “silly” letter, her fear was palpable. She burst into tears for the slightest reason, and sometimes for no reason at all, Lord Rodrik said. His daughter Elys was dismissive, telling Her Grace, “You would think she was the first woman ever to have a baby,” but Alysanne was concerned... She was half right. Aemma Arryn, the daughter of Lord Rodrik and Princess Daella, came into the world a fortnight early, after a long and troubled labor. “It hurts,” the princess screamed through half the night. “It hurts so much.” But it is said she smiled when her daughter was laid against her breast. Everything was far from fine, however. Childbed fever set in soon after birth. Though Princess Daella desperately wished to nurse her child, she had no milk, and a wet nurse was sent for. As her fever rose, the maester decreed that she might not even hold her babe, which set the princess to weeping. She wept until she fell asleep, but in her sleep she kicked wildly and tossed and turned, her fever rising ever higher. By morning she was gone. She was eighteen years of age. Lord Rodrik wept as well, and begged the queen’s permission to bury his precious princess in the Vale, but Alysanne refused. “She was the blood of the dragon. She will be burned, and her ashes interred on Dragonstone beside her sister Daenerys.”

So to break this down Daella

Clashes with Rodrik's oldest immensely with Elys being quite cruel and in my opinion incredibly out of pocket when Alysanne gets there for what seems to be no real reason

Her letters are all written by Rodrik or Amanda and they are all glowing

FInally sends her own letter in her own hand and all it says is "i'm scared"

Immediately backtracks and says the letter was "silly"

Has started crying at odd times, something she didn't do before

This feels bad. This feels suspicious. This feels like Daella is regressing mentally and her correspondence is being controlled by her husband. Like Elys and likely Amanda are not very understanding of her needs, or her fears. She doesn't profess any sort of love for Rodrik to her mother's face, and Amanda despite being "close" to her isn't here to comfort Daella as she's having a troubled pregnancy. Then she dies.

The marriage barely lasts long enough to establish any sort of romanticism and what's there is bleak and confusing. It doesn't even feel like a Stockholm-y Dany/Drogo situation, where Daella simply forces herself to love a husband that is cruel to her; Daella does not seem particularly close to anyone in the Vale and Alysanne seems so suspicious of the whole thing that she not only inters Daella on Dragonstone, she also seems to have raised Aemma herself. She doesn't seem to give a single shit about Rodrik's grief here. Maybe that's just Alysanne being Alysanne but the fact that Gyldayn straight up says she's blaming Jaehaerys and Rodrik due to "pride" and Gyldayn is a nasty odious misogynist, I think it's very likely that Alysanne picked up on some really bad vibes from the Arryn family and the situation Daella was in.

To me, this is a Jon/Lysa redux. This is "what happens if Lysa was sickly and Jon married her." There doesn't seem to be any real care put into taking care of her, there seems to have been an active conspiracy to isolate her from her mother, and Elys is cruel to her for no reason. There's no romantic elements here for me, not even of the "toxic twin flame" or grooming variety; Daella is forced to marry, Daella is isolated from her family and impregnated, and Daella dies. I think at best Rodrik was hoping to get his blood on the throne in a generation or two and what he wept for was not the loss of a wife he loved but the loss of station when he saw just how pissed off Alysanne was about the whole ordeal. There's just nothing in the text to convince me that Rodrik was genuine or that Daella had fallen in love with him.

[madockisser]

I just read How the king of Elfame learned to hate stories, the "So long as you are begging, he doesn't mind a bit." line at the end of the blurb stuck in my mind

He mentions begging in the books. Although he also begs Jude at some point iirc

Do you have any thoughts about how this almost power dynamic is important to him? Or why he'd be fond of it

I'm not sure how to word it properly, he's in a precarious position with the rest of his siblings for a good part of his life, Balekin manipulates him amongst other things.

why is cardan such a sadist?/ cardans struggle w power

hi! great question, i hope i answer it to your liking!

from what we can tell of cardan and his character, he doesn’t have much. he has his status as prince, and that is all that he can cling to. it’s his only advantage.

we know that he is not fond of courtiers, faking their admiration for him, allowing him to slap and use them; all while they can go home to someone they truly love.

all his life he assumes that cruelty gets him what he wants, it ensures that he keeps the little amount of power that he has, while his brothers scheme and kill for the throne, he hurts and humiliates those that question his power.

but any sort of dig against ppl, making them feel lesser so he can feel greater, making jude beg and submit to him so he no longer has to feel anything for her, so she won’t consume his thoughts with her disobedience, gives him that small amount of power, since a human girl opposing him, all while he sorta loses that battle against her, makes him look weak. in the eyes of his friends, family and the court/gentry

anyway, while he ofc can “fall out of favor” w his siblings, those sort of relationships w them do not matter to him, he insults caelia to her face in htkoelths, he does not care for dain, he cares a bit for rhyia, perhaps bc he sees most of himself in her, the way she is casual when it comes to her royal duties, and bc she is kind to him when the rest are not, when the rest have deemed him as balekins princely little monster, with an awful prophecy over his head.

what matters to him is his father, not that he likes him much but he still strives for what seems like attention from him. so he is cruel and sadistic for the sake of his father taking notice of him, bc thats all he knows

in twk, jude finds a crystal ball where asha neglects cardan until he hits another boy, and at that she laughs greatly and pays attention to him. being cruel is all he knows, the only way for him to be seen by his father, even if it is bad attention, atleast it is attention at all.

as for that power dynamic, again, he relishes in any chance to show ppl he is powerful, that he is important, even when he really isn’t.

so as jude opposes him, he is reminded time and time again that not only does jude have everything he wants, a loving family, but she has a strange sort of power over him, the power to make him feel not only desire but eventual care for her well being. which isn’t a feeling that he feels often

pair those feelings with the fact that she is human, and the fact that balekin encourages him to kill humans but cardan instead frees them, and takes beatings for them, he is very conflicted and angry and upset at his feelings for her.

he doesn’t want to care, it would be easier to act as though he has a heart of stone.

i assume his feelings make him feel awfully powerless, which is obviously a feeling he does not like, since he consistently goes out of his way to show his power to the court by acting without consequence and casting those that get in his way out of court.

anyway, later on he is begging to jude because at this point, i think he’s realized just how far gone he is in his love for her. he is vulnerable w her in a way that he never was w nicasia or anyone.

w nicasia he flaunted his power, pretended that he was more important and influential than he was, w nicasia he formed his group of friends that took advantage of his power and hurt him w it.

but w jude, he felt powerless bc of the powers she had over him, first off, his desire for her, second, his love for her, and third, ofc the bargain that quite literally made him her slave.

until jude, his sadistic power dynamics were used to hurt those around him, but then he learned that he’d much rather feel powerless so long as jude is there w him. he’d also learned that he can be useful, which he’d never thought before jude. he learned that he doesn’t have to hurt and lash out for a power thrill, that he can be powerful in being a good high king.

jude was the only person that taught him that he could be loved and worth something at all, without having to reach out and claw that love from someone’s hands.

jude and cardan understand each other in a way no one else in their lives ever bothered to.

and abt the begging part, im sure he also likes to simply see jude begging as well. after all they put each other thru, im sure they both like seeing each other beg.

hope this answered your question! if not, feel free to leave another ask!! 🫶🫶 and feel free to add on as always!

also i just want to add, i see everyone’s asks, and am working on quite a few, though i am still doing my reread, which is why it’s taking so long to get to my older asks! so sorry!! i answer the newer ones if they are easy to answer, w things that i already know w out having to grab my books to look for it.!

[rhea1212]

For the ask game, Rhy?

i literally just did this but I couldn't resist doing another one because I love rhy

How I feel about them:

my glorious king Rhy Maresh. words cannot describe how much he means to me. genuinely my current and longest book crush I've had. he's so sweet, funny, and such a mentally strong and compassionate individual he reminds me of sunshine incarnate. from his introduction I immidiently knew he'd be my top 3 characters. I love how he's the only magic less user in a story full of magical prodigies and yet he has never let that stop him from being helpful (like during the fight with Osaron, how he brought blankets for everyone who was still sleeping outside. I think that's when I was like 'yup, i'm completely in love with him'). also like he just brings a smile to my face every time he's in the story like damn I get why everyone in the story's obsessed with you (bruh I remember Lila only met him once in the first book and she liked him which is quite an acomplishment). like he's such a good brother to Kell and despite all his privilege has never made Kell feel like an outsider and he was so sweet to Lila. Even to Alucard before he knew why he left him he was still there for him when he needed him (but don't get it twisted: Rhy isn't a pushover and he clearly made that clear when Alucard tried pursuing him again in acol). also he's so funnyyyy like and he's selfless too what else can I ask for I would die for him. anyways he's just adorable I wish I could jump in the story and give him a hug. I bet he gives warm hugs too 🥹🥹

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

Alucard. Obviously. They're absolutely perfect for each other (I feel like they're the same person in different fonts too). And they're just so adorable. I love how they're the only two people who could out flirt eachother and keep up with one another. you best believe when I saw their scene together in agos I SCREAMED. also the pirate captain and his prince? iconic.

also Hastra. does anyone else see the vision? LIKE GUYS THINK ABOUT IT I LOVE IT

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

1.) Kell and Rhy are the best duo in this entire trilogy, and that includes romantic duos. they're so sweet, and their devotion and loyalty to one another is to die for. I love their dynamic, their quick banter, and their love for one another. How Kell gave his life for him, and how Rhy risked his entire tournament for Kell like NOBODY DOES IT LIKE THESE TWO !! I could read an entire book about them just fooling around and I would still want more. they are the iconic siblings of the literature world and I'll die on that hill.

2.) wish we had more Lila and Rhy too like I can see them being chaotic besties just from the minimal scenes we had with them. like when Lila saw him crying and she was like "so who do I have to kill?" and Rhy just laughed I melted inside like they're just so like ride or die. or when Rhy was happy in acol that she was the only person that didn't treat him like glass. Lila could use someone who gives her unconditional support and heals her inner child while Rhy could use a friend that would actually engage in his mischief without sulking 24/7 or someone that treats him less like he's someone that needs to be babysat.

My unpopular opinion for this character:

I wish he never married Nadiya. matter of fact I wish that entire plot line of Nadiya existing and being Rhys wife was scrapped. that's actually the one reason why I'm not reading threads because it pissed me off so much why'd he marry someone when he's with Alucard? yeah I get he needs to have an heir and stuff but like can't Kell have a child? couldn't V make him and Lila have a kid? Rhy could've also like, adopted a kid with Alucard. Or they could've had a surrogate, where Rhy would impregnate her and pay her lots of money to give birth to their child and then like idk, go back home? I'm sure he has enough money to make her shush. like now to me its giving Alucard has become Rhy's side hoe which makes me so sad because he gave up so much for him like there's no way he isn't hurt by this.

One thing I wish had happened to this character in cannon:

I wish he had a fight scene. yeah ik it probably wouldn't have worked out since Rhy can't do magic and all the bad guys have insane magical abilities. but like. Lila had no magic in the first book and she had a decent amount of fights. rhy definitely knows his way around a sword as he is a prince and especially because hes a magic less prince. but he could've had a better fight with Osaron, instead of losing so fast. V could've made him tap into his affinity for fire during the battle so he could at least fight. or he could've had like a crazy fight with prince col when he killed Rhys mother like I would've loved to see rhy go batshit crazy on him. I just wish he was less of a damsel in distress sometimes and started smacking people.

ask game here.

[rise-my-angel]

ok I love your blog bc I love your opinions on the show/ books. As someone who ONLY watched the show and knows a little lore from the books, why are jonsas so crazy???? as far as I’m concerned Jon didn’t really think about Sansa (apart from some worry of her and Arya being in kings landing) until she showed up to castle black and then his happiness at that was because he was like shit I have a little piece of family back. I did not infer that to be romantic at all???? Where are they finding all this supposed subtext of them loving each other? 🤮 she also betrayed him by telling his secret that literally could’ve gotten him killed. How is that “love”

Its even funnier because Sansa in the books has never left the Vale since arriving. She is nowhere NEAR Jons story. Also they basically NEVER think about each other.

Like, Jon only ever thinks of her in terms of "my sisters" when hes lumping both her and Arya in together.

Sansa at first only ever thought about him in a derogatory way, because she was very classist about having a bastard brother and hardly respected him at all. Like wishing Arya was a bastard too so she wouldn't be obligated to care about her as much.

In the books currently she is in disguse as Petyr Baelish's bastard daughter, and only when anothet character talks down to her for being a bastard in the exact way Jons faced his whole life only then did she briefly go "why is he being mean is it cua he thinks I'm a bastard i hate that" without the self awareness that she treated Jon worse then that.

Also, Arya is said to look extremely similar to Jon, and Sansa who looks very Tully, constantly insults Aryas appearance and calling her "so ugly only Hodor would marry her". So what does that tell you what Sansa likely thinks of what Jon looks? Well she thinks Aryas ugly and even comments Arya looks just like Jon ergo she clearly thinks Jon is ugly. (Which is funny considering how many Northerners all say Jon is pretty and handsome).

Basically their interactions in the books is almost non existent, because despite Jon loving all his siblings he was always looked down on by Sansa because he isna bastard. They have no connection what so ever.

I mean in the show before season 6, they're only even in the same FRAME in the shots where all the Starks are lined up to receive the Kings Company and never again.

Their dynamic in season 6 is entirely show fabricated is based on literally nothing. Not from the show or the books. They literally just put Sansa with Jon because they wanted Sansa to be more of a main character and so its easier to do that if shes in Jons story since he is basically the shows protagonist at that point.

But Jonsas are fucking nuts. They point to the most batshit of claims to proove its real and when you look at their so called "evidence" its just a drunk hampster drooling in the floor. There is nothing.

They literally one passed around A LINE FROM A FANFICTION and pretended it was a book quote to justify their ship. They literally have to lie and pretend fanfiction lines are canon to the books thats how much they have to stretch their delusional ship to even remotely make it make sense.

But it doesn't. Cus Jon isn't into incest. So there is no relationship. Also Sansa in the show is nice to him for like 1 episode and then she repeatedly is hostile, argues, shits on him and breaks his trust repeatedly.

I hate pretty much all Jon ships because none of them respect Jon as a character, they just use him as arm candy to make the female look better. But jonsas are a toxic ass breed of shippers.

They genuinely will argue that every single Jon scene ia secretly about Sansa. Meanwhile they never argue every Sansa scene is about Jon.

Because Jon isn't the character they care about in that ship its ONLY Sansa.

It....I could go on for fucking ever.

I hate Jonerys, Jonrya and Jongritte stans. But I hate none of them more then I hate Jonsas. They clog up so much of Jon discussion spaces with their fucking delusional incest fanfiction.

[allyriadayne]

what do you think about daemon secretly wanting viserys like matt said? don't get me wrong i was under the impression that the only reason why daemon didn't marry viserys was because viserys wasn't a girl. daemon made it clear he wanted to be his brother's heir and his brother's hand. imo he was hurt when he said i am your heir and that he would have protected him from otto. i just thought if only viserys was a girl. really.

we know vizzy sees rhaenyra as extension of aemma and aegon, helaena, aemond and daeron as extension of alicent and he projects his feelings towards aemma and alicent onto his children. with daemon imo it's the same with the way he sees rhaenyra. yes, daemon wanted power, but what he wanted the most was to be close to his brother. i guess it happens when family is inbred. alysanne and old king were siblings, alyssa and baelon too, if vizzy was a girl daemon would have married her.

what do you think of vizzy x daemon?

saying daemon wants rhaenyra because he wants viserys is a bit reductive imo. to me daemon is a deeply dependent character due to how tightly he's woven in the incest family, he gets everything from them, his identity, role, gender, everything and it's no wonder that he's learned that everything he could want comes from the targs. it's not that viserys could be a girl, viserys always has to be the patriarch, the Man, for the themes of the story to work (he is the one fucking everyone up by his choices), it's that daemon's role in the family is to be the visenya, viserys' opposite, and it's said right off the bat in the first episode: he's visenya, protector, sister, scorned wife. viserys doesn't let him be anything else than this narrow categories. when daemon is permanently expelled from viserys' esteem (right around ep 4 when daemon touches another one of viserys' toys) it's when he truly learns he could get what he wants from rhaenyra without getting kicked when he asks. circling back to the beginning, while i do think at the beginning that daemon likes and loves rhaenyra because she's viserys' daughter and that it might have played a role in daemon seeking her out, i don't think it's that prevalent after eps 4-5 when she shows she's her own person with her own desires. these are explicitly two people getting under the shadow of viserys and meeting him on their own terms in ep 8.

daemon wants to be close to viserys, yeah. that's the whole point of his character and why they fight at the end of ep 1. i honestly don't think he's that keen on absolute power tbh, not the way other characters are like otto, because he gets agency and control from his violence (direct rather than subtle of soft power), but if having powerful offices like master of law or hand of the king is what gets him near his brother's love then he's absolutely taking them (and fucking it up probably). it's very telling he had his uncle aemon and baelon, his father, as role models for the perfect brotherhood, that viserys is NOT following the protocol, which is fair he gets mad at. it's not that they are inbred at all, or at least not completely, bc even in marriages when the spouses are not related like viserys and alicent, the children like aegon and aemond still have a degree of unhealthy closeness. it's institutional rather than individual.

in any case, while i think the relationship between viserys and daemon is interesting, i'm not too keen on it. i always like to try to see daemon as an individual rather than as part of a relationship bec that's what it usually happens, as i said, i find it reductive in most cases when people talk about their dynamic. like, yeah, if daemon were a girl she would've absolutely married the shit out of viserys but that's not everything there is to their relationship. it's not only daemon who harbors those feelings but viserys too who doesn't like to share his toys and often thinks of the people around him as being there for his amusement. it's a complicated relationship.

[ladystarksneedle]

God I don't understand how people ship Alysmond in this fandom. There must be something wrong with them (perverts, I tell you).

A better ship for Aemond would be one with a dreamer, although younger (obviously). Let’s make her silver-haired and blue-eyed while we’re at it. Oh my, why not have her commit war crimes on dragonbacks alongside him like the perfect couple? 🥺👉👈 Let their romance be as darkly romantic as it can get and everyone will swoon! But wait; it gets even better! Just imagine if this woman bore his bastard children. Now THAT is truly a much better ship! Don’t you agree? Can I get a hallelujah?!

Helllooo Kalki! Congratulations on being my first discourse ask lol. I'm going to get right into it from a mixed pov. I watched the show before I read the book so you can maybe get a different perspective of my views on this ship. Again all these opinions are my own, I don't condone or promote any ship, merely like and comment on what I find interesting.

So when I first watched Hotd I thought Aemond and Helaena were cute. They were cute as siblings when they were younger and have an easy going, intriguing dynamic when they're older. Helaena seemed to be comfortable in his presence when one of the kings guard's brought Aemond to Alicent's chambers and Aemond was seemingly fond of his sister in episode 7 when he says he would do his duty by her. Now I personally interpreted it as something not romantic. Aemond from the get go has been shown to be heavily influenced by Alicent and his own traditions as a Targaryen. He's a stickler for duty and he sees Aegon shun every opportunity handed to him which he so desperately craves. He craves a dragon at that point, he craves a position which is worthy of him, respect and validation. Helaena along with being his sister, seems as a means or an added advantage being conferred to him were he in Aegon's position instead. She's his sister, he's close to her, he cares for her and he'll treat her much better than Aegon would along with the other duties Aegon's been bestowed with by order of his birth.

When they grow up we see Helaena and Aemond again comfortable in each other's presence. She looks up at him to seek comfort in moments of distress and he looks out for her when they are "at a threat" from the opposing faction. So for me, there was no obvious element of romance but again they're Targaryens so who knows? Siblings don't sibling like normal ones do🤷‍♀️

Now after I read the book and found out Helaena and Aemond had minimal to no interaction in it, my opinion changed drastically. All of her character exploration there revolves around Aegon, Alicent, her children and even Rhaenyra. Aemond is barely mentioned in relation to her.

Now if the show wanted to completely invent something new again they could, but to me personally, it would be a huge let down, not only because it takes away from the intresting and conflicted relationship Helaena and Aegon have in the books but also because I feel it goes completely against her combined, meshed book and show charcterisation.

Helaena is shown to be a dreamer on the show. That's something new they added which doesn't deviate so much from her book charcterisation. She's gentle, kind and has a strength which shines through her softness. She is feminine and strong. No pun intended. In the book she's depicted as a happy mother, a sensible advisor and a beloved queen which as far as season 1 is concerned I can sort of see happening in the future too.

Now coming back to the ask, I'd like to ask why someone would want to completely change this woman's charcterisation to make her a warrior queen in the first place. I'm all for her wanting revenge after b&c. If that were the case in the books or it was done and explored well on the show I would cheer for joy. Here is a mother who's been wronged in the worst possible way wanting revenge, hell yes! But alternatively there is nothing wrong with her mourning and succumbing to grief instead and in my opinion it makes her all the more human. She's been traumatised to no extent why shouldn't anyone in her position be allowed to fall into despair without being called weak. Grieving does not make you weak. To say "let her be a warrior to show how strong she is" doesn't sit completely right with me because she's strong to me either way. She shows strength in captivity, strength in letting her children and Aegon go, despite all the horror she faces. Strength need not be of one kind, it can be through perseverance and retaining your softness. Sadly she does kill her self which is again very understandable. It doesn't make her weak. To summarise giving her another arc for the reason of making her "a strong female charcter" seems fishy to me and I don't like it's implications.

Coming to her children being Aemond's. There are many posts detailing the opening sequence of Hotd which shows the entire family tree. Anyone who wishes can clearly see the twins are not Aemond's. As far as the show is concerned I'd be highly disappointed to find out they were his because first the timelines dont match and he'd have to be a kid, younger than her to do the deed and after that questionable incident at 13 I doubt duty bound Aemond would have gone ahead with it. Secondly both Aemond and Helaena have grown up listening to Alicent secretly chastise Rhaenyra and her brood. Do you think Hightower-seven worshipper-mother's traumatised children would think of doing the same thing she berates her rival about, begetting bastatds when it was a bastard who cut out Aemond's eye. Now I'm not saying he hates them because canon wise he may have either a bastard or a true born son with alys but at present the Aemond portrayed to us would likely not indulge in activities as such and neither would Helaena.

As for alysmond. Alys by herself is an intriguing character, as well as Aemond who is my favourite after season 1. I'm not hoping for a whirlwind mills and boon romance. I would rather see a codependent, forced proximity, reluctant allies type of relationship bloom due to the circumstances they've found themselves in, which gives them solace while also driving them to insanity. I want questionable romance and jaw dropping character arcs ok. Not a fairytale.

Tldr : I like helaemond as a fanon ship. Their dynamic could have been interesting in a different scenario and the actors are two pretty people so what's not to love. As far as canon and the show is concerned, it's a no for me.

[kits-ships]

🌱 🥀 for the ask game?

omg thank you!!

🌱 Who was your first F/O?

eee.... the first romantic f/o i can clearly remember is chief, when i first started playing animal crossing wild world! i couldn't really read yet, but i would always talk to my mom about how he was my boyfriend... i also remember running to his house when i first saw the ufo event because, again, i couldn't read the game guide and had no clue what was happening !!!

he's in my new horizons world now !! he's so silly and i treat him like the king he is

--

🥀 Talk about some of your fictional crushes and why they aren't your F/O!

oh this is so embarrassing... do not look at me... /j

i'll talk abt my two demon slayer crushes because they are currently HAUNTING me !!!!

spoilers ahead

ough....

so the first one i considered (and am intense denial over) is

😡😡👹👹🤬🤬💀sanemi💀🤬🤬👹👹😡😡

this bitch!!! i am still mad at him for stabbing nezuko. i know it was an important moment / plot device but 🤬🤬 SHES JUST A BABY!!! luckily he apologized kinda so that was nice but he's still on thin ice...

also, the hashira i compare ione to the most is kanae! they're both very sweet and motherly and ik the fandom ships kanae/sanemi a lot. so.

PLUS THE FACT THAT BOTH IONE AND SANEMI LOST THEIR LITTLE SIBLINGS... IT KILLS ME. I JUST KNOW THAT THEIR OLDER SISTER/BROTHER GUILT IS CRAZY . THE IMAGINE BONDING POTENTIAL

also throwing giyuu into the equation as a polycule is so good?? the only three surviving hashira that have nothing left without the slayer corps??? BUT THEY HAVE EACH OTHER??? CUUUUTE!! giyuu also has insane guilt related to his sister so he fits in great during group crying sessions :') /j

tldr; i'm mad at him for being a meanie but the potential shipping dynamics are so cute. and he's a handsome fellow.

--

the second is fucking DOUMA. i don't really have a reason for not shipping with him other than

i'm shy and feel a weird ocd induced guilt whenever i want to announce another f/o

i'm trying to keep my dignity intact because douma is douma

it's hard to edit my carrd on my phone 😔

BUT HES SOOO SILLY. LIKE HIS CHARACTER IS SO SAD IN ESSENCE BUT HES ALSO MY SILLY...

also i might kin him a little. he's like the antithesis to me kinning aziraphale. an angel and a nihilist atheist. i don't know what this says about me

he literally makes me want to call him a little meow meow. but he also seems like he'd call me his little meow meow. fuck this guy.

tldr; guilt and sloth do NOT compel me.

also @lovediives kokushibo spotted 😎

[numericalbridge]

TOH rewatch semi-liveblog. Season 1 part 2

episodes 6-10

Episode 6

- Why is the opening theme such an earworm.

- 'dangerous nomads' ugh

- curious about the special moon powers and how they fit with the rest of the lore.

- Willow is yet again so good!

- Wh... what? Here is Eda, carelessly saying how she would never trust Luz again if Luz messes up and causing Luz stress, even after what happened in episode 2?

And then Eda even 'threatens' Luz - who even closes her eyes in the end - and Willow and Gus have to intervene, but it turns out Eda just wanted them to clean up the house? But, sure, Darius is the evil/stupid/irresponsible one.

And I am sure everyone in the fandom was obsessed with making Eda disproportionally guilty over this behaviour and twisted her whole character to be about it... right? Like, everyone was screaming how Camila would find out about Eda's behavior and hate her? And everyone was writing out their 'funny' fantasies about slapping and beating Eda up? What, no? Everyone declared Eda the best mom and thought she was better than Camila? And jokes about her irresponcibility and mistakes were good-natured and sympathetic? Weird...

(Sorry, i don't want to rag on Eda too much, but the racist double standarts are so, so obvious. Both in how Darius is treated vs Eda, but also how Luz is treated vs Hunter)

Episode 7

- The Bat Queen is the richest demon on the isles? Another thing i've forgotten completely. I kinda assumed she was a weird half-legendary hermit.

- Yeah, to be honest i don't care about Amity's siblings. Actually i think the Blight family should've been just Amity and one of her parents.

- I do dislike the switch in regards of Amity from previous episodes to this one. My problem is not that we see a different side of her or that Luz wants to befriend her after the Convention, but that Willow just doesn't seem to factor in any of this episode's events, and the episode is pushing this 'Amity just doesn't know how to interact with others without being cold because she can't show weakness' - which might be true in general and in regards of Luz, but doesn't work with how she treated Willow in previous episodes especially from Luz's point of view.

And so the switch between Luz calling Amity out in the previous episodes to simply declaring Amity her rival in this one, as if that's the only problem with Amity's behavior, is odd. If any of that was actually intentional and was adressed and there was an equal focus on Luz and Willow's relationship, then this could've been interesting to explore, but if not then they should've changed that first interaction between Amity and Willow. Or, idk, just put some mentions of Amity and Luz's relationships with Willow in the episode.

Because no, i don't think the audience has to be spoonfed and Amity being multifaceted is not the problem, but the show is not that subtle most of the times and this shift seems more unfocused than deliberate; and Luz wanting to make Willow and Amity friends again is also not a problem and makes sense for her character (more about it in Understanding Willow liveblog), but the pacing of the character arcs seem weird and inconsistent/unfocused, and Luz constantly ends up having less meaningful interactions with Willow and Gus compared to the white characters.

-Oh, but you might ask, why do you, numericalbridge, say you excuse Eda and Darius, but not Amity's writing? Well, first i don't think you can ignore the racial dynamics here. Second, Eda is one of the main characters, and we see her in various situations and so we can conclude that, for example, the moment from episode 4 where she 'threatens' King is more of unthoughtful writing choice than anything meant to be revealing about her character. And with Darius it's the opposite - he is not a main character, so his and Hunter's development happening off-screen is much more acceptable, and if you ignore the things that the fandom straight up invents about Darius the storyline is actually pretty streamlined. But Amity and Willow end up somewhere in between, where they are supposed to be core characters, and yet the storyline is neither here nor there, neither simple nor fully developed, and Willow is the one who gets the short end of the stick.

- And the thing is Amity has so much more focus in the first season but then gets less and less and then her arc ends up completed by the end of season 2 earlier than arcs of other main characters (except Gus who just barely has anything😠), and in season 3 Amity doesn't have much to do, but if her and Willow's relationship and the rekindling of their friendship got more even development from early on, then Amity could've been more deeply connected to Willow's arc in season 3 and it would've benefitted them both.

- And the easiest solution to my problem with Amity's arc would be to make the expulsion episode in season 2 about all of the hexsquad rather than only about lumity, and have Amity call out her parents - or just Alador if she isn't ready to call out Odalia - in regards of their treatment of Willow.

- Amity calling Luz a bully is sure a thing

- The rabbit thing serving as a parallel to Amity would've been great if the show was better about Willow and more consistent about Amity.

- I think it might've been better if Understanding Willow was an earlier episode and then this episode happened after, with prior glimpses of Amity trying to befriend Willow and Gus and being awkward about it.

- I think this is the moment where the show starts to drag, and introduces more unfortunate designs as well.

Episode 8

- This episode is so stupid, but the hints at Eda and Lilith's relationship and backstory are good.

- Luz is again very inventive with the idea to light the sign up! She just doesn't think through the more pragmatic parts because she is an excitable teenager.

- Eda is so silly with the body swap idea and the decision is also soooo abrupt, it's almost like something out of season 2b when they were running out of time. I still wouldn't call it the worst episode.

Episode 9

- The first Gus episode! Luz and Gus are so funny together, and it's such a shame how they are barely allowed to interact with each other afterwards. Because Gus is the one with the experience of feeling tricked! He probably was traumatized by what he saw in Belos's mind too! Ahhh😠

- Again, love that Eda is allowed to be angry about school.

- Matt is so manipulative and funny, lol.

- Interesting that Willow is the responsible one in this episode, but overall at this point in the show she doesn't tend to assume the group leader position yet.

- "No one gets left behind" - except all the other students in the detention pit?

Episode 10

-Missed opportunity to have some deeper interactions between Luz, Willow and Gus.

- The Bat Queen's plot would've been so good if not the design choice. Can't believe Hunter's fandom manages to demonize even her in the AUs

- "Yeah, results of Eda's great parental skill" says my note, but i can't remember what this refers too.

----

Conclusion:

This is where the show kinda starts to drag down, and the inability to balance the cast and character arcs becomes obvious. Shame, because Eda and Lilith, Luz and King, and Luz and Willow and Gus - when they are not just there for comedic scenes - are all excellent character dynamics.

[ultfreakme]

Do you agree if said that Megumi and Tsumiki are "toxic doom siblings" (like wei wuxian, jiang yanli and jiang cheng from MDZS)?

Also, I'm surprised your fav MXTX is SVSSS (I thought it will be MDZS). I always think that most people love to dismiss SVSSS and said that it's not as serious or deep as MDZS & TGCF (but I still love SVSSS the most). So happy when I find other people who also love SVSSS.....

For me

Best MXTX protagonist : Wei Wuxian

Best MXTX male lead : Luo Binghe

Best MXTX couple : Hua Cheng/ Xie Lian

Overall story and best comfort read : SVSSS

How about you, Riki? (Sorry if I'm wrong in calling you, I did not mean to be rude, it's just in the end if every 'ask' you wrote : Riki ask)

Also sorry for this long ask....

Hi Anon! I'm answering this in reverse order a bit hehe. I go by Riki it's not rude at all dw dw! No need to apologize for asks, long or short, I'm grateful someone wants to interact with me and talk about shared interests <3

Megumi and Tsumiki being toxic siblings...hmm....idk if toxic is the word I'd use to describe them but there definitely were a lot of issues. Primarily because I think their ideals on life clashed. Tsumiki is someone who wanted to be nice to everyone, but Megumi can't afford that, he's a lot more practical about what kindness and helping people means because of his reality as a sorcerer. Megumi's convinced that she's faking her kindness or is trying too hard.

I don't think Tsumiki is totally faking it, I think she is a genuinely nice person but like every teenager, likes messing around and isn't perfect. Potentially, she's trying to live up to what she preaches and is having a hard time.

I think a lot of the conflict is teenage angst and him being a little brother. She's the only constant in his life, he may have took that a little for granted and when she got cursed it brought into sharp relief the differences in their reality of being a sorcerer and non-sorcerer. No he's the one who has to protect her and he's been left alone. It's easier to probably harbor resentment for her doing something as 'stupid' as getting cursed than confront that their relationship wasn't on the best terms when she fell into a coma and there's no way for him to fix it anymore.

It had a lot of potential to have gotten better if Tsumiki remained, or if she came back any time that wasn't the Culling Games and they got to grow up together. But alas....It's less toxic and more "bad timing".

Also SVSSS fav???? They're so rare to find right? Omg yes!!!

I've only read SVSSS and MDZS, I haven't gotten around to TGCF but my irl friend and everyone online says it's the best one. I'm just intimidated by how long it is. I might get around to to it someday but who knows.

SVSSS is definitely less deeper than the other two but it's got its own charms. I know in terms of everything it's lesser but idk, the potential and the meta story is really intriguing. The extra chapters changed my entire perspective on so many characters (Shen Jiu my guy you had so much potential I am sorry).

Also hmmmm I haven't really thought about them in terms of like, best protagonist, best couple, best male lead.....If I really had to rank then:

Best Protagonist: Wei Wuxian, novel version especially. He's a lot more flawed and genuinely devious in a lot of place in there. I love his arrogance and his confidence.

Best Male Lead: Luo Binghe. Pathetic man, horribly evil. I love you king.

Best Couple: Mobei-jun/Shang Qinghua tied with Yue Qingyuan/Shen Jiu

I like side couples and rarepairs that have no content I hate my life why do I do this to myself? MoShang;s dynamic when it focuses on SQH being MBJ's creator and in many ways, equally powerful or more powerful than him is fun. YQY and SJ are so tragic like, love toxic doomed yaoi.

[panthera-tigris-venenata]

💡- What’s a idea you’ve enjoyed but never/couldn’t write?

🍤 - Who do you mostly write for (going “[someone] would enjoy this!” when writing)

💿 - Which character is most likely to have a terrible sleep schedule?

🔔 - What compliment meant the most to you regarding your writing? (offline or online)

🏳️ - Favorite way you have described something in your works

🔗 - What has been your favorite dynamic to write for? (romantic or platonic)

🥫 - What’s a scene you’ve really enjoyed working on?

💡 What's an idea you've enjoyed but never wrote//couldn't write?

Sea Three going on the Isle of the Doomed!

I mean. I did write it. Kinda. But there were more people and AU background and I'd like to write it again, thank you.

They'd go looking for CJ when she vanished, still, because it's a good motivation. However, I can't figure out a good trap for Gil, so I'm stuck.

Also Anthony doing Harriet's hair. I think it'd be neat.

💿 - Which character is most likely to have a terrible sleep schedule?

All three Hooks, Uma, probably Mal.

There is a bet going on about whether the Facilier sisters are sleeping at all.

Carlos while living in Hell Hall for reasons called "Cruella is crazy and time is fake."

Ben if someone didn't force him to stop working and/or studying at eleven in the evening at most.

Audrey sticks to her sleep schedule religiously to pretend she has everything under control and Fairy Godmother gives Jane lights out at ten o'clock sharp.

🔔 - What compliment meant the most to you regarding your writing? (offline or online)

Let me just:

And about every single comment @dragoneyes618 ever wrote me ✨

Unrelated to Descendants, someone once told me „I wouldn't be afraid to offer this to a publishing house.“ (We then met once and they said they loved my stories and it was the sweetest thing ever) (it was an original story, just to be clear.)

🏳️ - Favorite way you have described something in your works

...I don't think I'm describing stuff all that much?

I think this scene is neat, though, and I apologize for the length:

It only takes one visit to her room for her to get all she needs, her hands doing their tasks completely on autopilot. Unsteered.

Take the dagger, CJ, tuck it to your belt. Then the other one. And another. Don’t forget your sabres. The boxers, for when you feel like you want to punch something – you do want punch something, don’t you? Someone? Their bones cracking under your knuckles, their hot blood splattering all over you?

You do know that a few cracked faces won’t miraculously heal broken reality, don‘t you?

…Yes, that goes for skulls and spines too.

CJ’s own skull throbs violently, she wants to go to Harriet and make her tell her that everything will be okay, even if it’s a lie.

Somehow, explosives find a way to her bag.

Oh, who is she kidding? She knows full well how they got there, and she knows how she wants to use them, too. Her fingers just itch to zap the lighter and throw the gotten-on-black grenades with all her might.

Watch the world burn.

But not yet.

She knows who has to pay first. Who else should it be than the king that condemned her siblings to death for the mere crime of being born?

The atrocities afterwards do not count.

Old king or new king, CJ doesn‘t care anyway.

The old king and his family, the woman who set up the shimmering Barrier of CJ’s childhood prison and her siblings’s mausoleum, all the people who turned a blind eye to the Isle for the last two decades.

The entire royal council, yeah, sure, why not.

Go big or go home.

CJ laughs hysterically as she walks through the front gate of Auradon Prep, straight to the Castle Beast.

I'm also obsessed with this fic (claudine/huma) a normal amount.

Plus, for some reason, the mental image from this fic brings me so much joy: Ginny and Maddy sitting together on the floor, Ginny playing with her own hair while Maddy plays with her doll, raking her nails through its hair. They're so cute, your honour.

🔗 - What has been your favorite dynamic to write for? (romantic or platonic)

Harry Hook/Uma

Harriet & Harry & CJ

Harriet Hook/Anthony Tremaine/Ginny Gothel

Claudine Frollo & the pirate crews. Particularly Harry and Uma. No I will not shut up about them. It can be your problem.

✨ What's a scene you've really enjoyed working on?

Probably every single Hook siblings reunion scene. Which I wrote a normal amount of.

[the-cryptographer]

where did i leave off with asoiaf storm of swords? guess we'll go in pov character order:

Jamie: wish we had gotten a little more of him following tyrion's trial tbh. know why narratively we didn't get to see his thoughts on it until he showed up to rescue tyrion but it's a little awkward that he's in King's Landing while this is going on and having exactly zero thoughts about it in his pov sections (or maybe we should consider it a pov choice meant to highlight his self-centredness lmao).

idk, I very genuinely adore him and genuinely adore most of his scenes but I do think he's kind of a fanon killer for me. I really like his relationships with both cersei and brienne, but canon does it so well there's nothing i particularly want to add or change. he's definitely got a like... a cheating husband kind of mentality about this love triangle tbh. which isn't to say that his relationship with cersei is legitimate or that he and everyone wouldn't be way better served by running off with bri. it's more just he's a character tbh totally committed to the bad choices he's already made and his relationship with bri is more daydreaming about what it would be like to have made different ones than an actual committing to change. idk, quality of the writing aside, very not surprised that the broad strokes from the tv show revealed were sleeping with bri and then immediately going back to kiss and/or revenge himself upon cersei. but tbh doesn't really take away from how wholly touching it is to see him go back for brienne to rescue her from vargo hoat in this book.

I guess other things of note is I did genuinely feel bad for cersei grieving her son's death and jamie walking in and not really understanding her pain and just wanting to fuck. i remember people complaining about this scene in the show being rapey and, mmm, it was definitely like that in the novel. but i think the most important part is really the juxtaposition of this scene with the one later where cersei is trying to force herself on /him/ and how he manages to successfully rebuff her where she could not when the tables were turned. which also matches very well with him being the only lannister sibling to successfully tell tywin to fuck off about marrying him off to someone. he is so uniquely empowered in the family dynamic compared to his siblings and he's completely blind to that privilege and it's kinda amazing.

and the relationship with loras! idk, i don't have much to say about it, but it's absolutely favourite of mine to see him look at hotheaded idiot bb loras and talk about how much it's like looking in a mirror.

Catelyn: I really admire the commitment grrm has to not skimping out on cat's end of the story and the exhaustive plans that rob has as his next move after meeting up with the freys. Like, yes, they're about to die, but you wouldn't know it for how extensive their future planning is and the detail put into their plans for after this wedding.

also really admire grrm's commitment to almost making me like cat and then reminding me at the last moment that she's still the incredibly vindictive woman she always was. idk, her not respecting rob's wishes to name jon his heir was definitely masterfully placed.

Arya: don't have much to say about her. just really enjoyed sandor being weirded out by how bloodthirsty she is.

Tyrion: the jank with this character remains so high. it is all kinds of satisfying to see him kill tywin at the end of this book. but otoh the femicide is...

I think tbh the place I feel most let down by the narrative is that at no point during shay's testimony at his trial does tyrion or anyone consider she might have testified against him not for money, but for her own safety. it's not that I think shay has to be an entirely altruistic or faithful person, but frankly if cersei or tywin tell her to do something (be it publicly humiliate tyrion or privately fuck tywin) they might give her gold for her cooperation but if she doesn't cooperate she's probably looking at getting beaten or killed. the lack of narrative acknowledgement of this and her playing the whore to tysha's madonna is extremely uncomfortable in a narrative that usually does more interesting things with gender tbh.

Davos: I actually really loved davos's sections! Was not expecting this, but I ended up feeling way more positively about him and stannis and melisandre than I had on previous reads. Him saving edric storm was great! I got kind of teary eyed at him telling stannis about the sos from the wall, and reminding that being a king isn't only about taking the throne, but a responsibility to protect the realm and its ppl. and I really have to appreciate that it's at this point that the conflict between himself and stannis and melisandre can be put aside because they are all in agreement.

also this is like... unwarranted speculation that everyone else has probably already said, but i think the azor ahai story kind of explains a lot of the end of the tv show. like... it seems sort of clear that melisandre mistook stannis for the prince of dragonstone and azor ahai reborn - who would save the realm from darkness in the others - as she'd seen in her vision, when it was really a vision about jon. and we also have dany's prophecy that she will be betrayed a third time 'for love'. so i think it was probable the original ending of this story was meant to be jon killing dany, his beloved (like azor ahai) to make the sword of fire that could slay the great other and end the crisis at the wall. which does not exactly fix the problems people had with the femicide or with the potential climate change allegory, but at least would have been like... narratively built up and foreshadowed and not total character assassination.

Sansa: yeah, idk what to say except that all the scenes with sansa and lysa and petyr fuck hard. i am super into this creepy old man kissing her as part of his sexual obsession with her mother. love watching her be disillusioned and offended by how completely he has played her. love him knowing this and handing her the knowledge and understanding and power to play the game as something other than a pawn. the snow castle replica of winterfell. the persephone pomegranate moment. really top notch stuff. A+

Jon: should have stayed in that cave with ygritte

Daenerys: yeah, i think having come this far in dany's story i can say pretty confidently that the discourse about how she's a bad white saviour did her dirty. like... yes, she is a rich white saviour that has a limited understanding of how to empower and help the people she is claiming to help. but that's not some gotcha. it's pretty much the entire point of her story. spies and assassins infiltrate the ranks of the freed slaves following her. the government she set up in the first city she 'liberated' immediately fell back into corruption and slaving once she left. she frees people who have no economic alternative but to sell themselves back into slavery, and then is all shocked pikachu face about it. and none of this really changes the fact that she did all of this with good intentions and out of personal empathy as someone who was once sold as a child bride herself. it all plays a big role in her decision to halt her conquest at the end of this book in order to actually face the challenges of governing.

idk, i do think it's fair for poc fans to be disappointed that grrm decided to write a story about a failed white saviour rather than from the perspective of grey worm or missandei for instance. but tbh that is not the perspective most people seemed to be talking from and it's just made a lot of complaints about dany as a character look in bad faith imho.

Bran: his chapters continue on and idk he's a really sueish character with an entourage of characters who are emotionally committed to him for reasons i don't understand. but i will say i did think it was very narratively clever and fun chapter to hear meera tell the story of the tourney at harrenhal.

Samwell: tbh most of my feelings about sam's chapter are going on ao3 and seeing someone be angry at him for like playing saviour to gilly with the implicit argument that she should be be given more agency and dues. and... i understand because i myself am a little offended that he's in a position to score pussy for 'saving' her based on no personal merits other than him being a man in a position to help her and being kind. but... ngl i think i just sort of have to appreciate him being kind - and not superficially so - when a lot of the people around him are not? and to be frank i don't think gilly would be better as a bamf strong confident woman who doesn't need support from the people around her. she is in a disempowering position and it's imho dumb to treat that as not what it is. i think it's realistic and not a personal failing that she needs outside help to extricate herself from her abusive situation, or that she would think kindly of sam for providing that help when a lot of people frankly would not have. and i have to say i like that sam acknowledges that she is very brave for the things she is doing, and the risks she is taking - braver than him even! - despite the fact that none of them are a particularly masculinised show of bravery. idk, there are a lot of uncomfortable things about this part of the story to chew on, but there are also parts of it i'm finding unexpectedly refreshing.

[natliyy]

Charles Cuevas: is anyone surprised. he is so awesome. him not being able to look at bodies yet still clutching the trial was Great. childhood amnesia and the way he’s processing it is driving me INSANEE everything abt him interests me. his hidden quote, his talk of memories in chapter 1, his growth, “I’ve got both parents and no siblings,” his dynamic with anyone he talks to is SPLENDID. what an amazing support

Teruko Tawaki: my GOAT. best protagonist she is so fun. her inner dialogue is a treat, her personality the way she perceives things the absolute TRAGEDY that is her life. I was surprised she was courteous at all in chapter 1 after finding out about her backstory. like hello how do you have the capacity to be kind even after everything?? the regression and growth of teruko tawaki is something for the history books she is AMAZING

Eden Tobisa: if you hate eden I hate you. she’s wonderful. Her speech to Teruko? Changed my life. the fork scene? You can’t go back, no matter how hard you try? How she’s been repeatedly put through the wringer and still moves on, because grief is what will bring us together? Yes ma’am!!!

Hu Jing: SHE IS SO INTERESTING AND ANNOYING AT THE SAME TIME. dissecting her like a frog. her secret made me collapse. “I still want to live” being in her hidden quote. The story about the lake and the name “Julia.” she is so weird and nuanced I can’t wait for the astronomical tweak out that comes from everything she’s been doing this entire game

Rose Lacroix: my goat part 3. “I feel like my brain’s falling apart” my girl i am so worried about you.? i hate that she has to have another body weighing on her memory. she is slowly LOSING IT

Whit Young: every thought I have about him is unwillingly why is he weird

Arei Nageishi: my girl u were ROBBED. her breakdown made me lose it. Speech to David? she was so calm. so gorgeous. so amazing

Arturo Giles: dude why r you like this. his secret made me suuuuper interested in him. love how pressured he is with having the most medical expertise it’s very fun

Ace Markey: what a sad guy. I honestly can’t say anything about him without parroting someone else so I’ll just leave this here. Great guy, great character, made me sad.

Levi Fontana: he’s Interesting. i honestly didnt gaf beforehand and would’ve ranked him lower but his low empathy/lack of it reveal in ep 13 really hooked me so i like him more now

J Moreno: love her for putting people in their place and holding them accountable. waiting for more development because I don’t fw her as much as I want to

Xander Matthews: this is weird because he used to be my all time fav. stopped watching drdt for a year when he died but when I rewatched the prologue I was like. Yo dude you kind of Suck Ass. love his anti-authoritarian stuff and the thing with chariton tho you go king

Min Jeung: im ngl i only got interested in her when she was breaking down right before her death and also her bonus episode. sorry queen. You are Here I Guess

David Chiem: I can’t lie i loved him a lot more pre-crashout. every single thing he did as Starboy Persona had me sideyeing him bcs of that ONE THING. In the prologue and also his description being rumoured as pessimistic and lazy. what a wonderful setup to a character I would’ve originally written off as boring. sure his real personality being on full display is fun to watch I Guess but . Hm. It doesn’t entice me as much as he did before

Nico Hakobyan: okay listen they just annoy me a lot. I dont enjoy their snarks the way I do other characters. I feel like if they get alienated in chapter 3 I’d get a lot more invested in them. Otherwise? Eh. also you CANNOT treat rose right GET AWAY

Veronika Grebenshchikova: She’s Annoying. I used to think she was cute and malicious but now she’s. I can’tfDO IT I DONT LIKE HER. fun that she skateboards tho

Whit Young (again): I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE Y

Ranking characters based off of how much I like them

1. Teruko Tawaki

2. Charles Cuevas

3. Arei Nageishi

4. Whit Young

5. Hu Jing

6. David Chiem

7. Veronika Grebenschikova

8. J Moreno

9. Ace Markey

10. Rose Lacroix

11. Min Jeung

12. Eden Tobisa

13. Levi Fontana

14. Nico Hakobyan

15. Xander Matthews

16. Arturo Giles

What are y'alls rankings lowkey

[theprinceandthewitch]

Can you imagine thinking Luz and Hunter are siblings? That's so embarrassing lmao.

[navree]

Hi there !

I like to say that i really love your analysis of the conquerors dynamic. So i wanted to ask you about the way Aegon ii is portrayed in F&B why is shown to be very emotionally cold/distant? I know it has to with the fact that this book is written as historical book so it's kinda impossible to know the character's internal thoughts. However there are several characters who are shown to be emotional, like Rhaenys i , Helaena, rhaenyra, Viserys i etc..

I don't know if you got my point but what i mean Aegon seems very cold and antisocial only emotions he has shown is anger.

Thanks so much! I do have a lot of thoughts on those characters, it's honestly ridiculous at this point, but I'm glad people enjoy the ramblings.

I think there are a couple of factors at play to why Aegon II might appear to be emotionally cold and more distant, especially when compared to other characters. I think time in the public eye is a factor. Aegon reigned for a very short period, only two years, and that entire period was during active warfare, with long strips of time where he was AWOL, either due to recovery or actively being in hiding once Rhaenyra was in King's Landing. So because of this, he didn't have a long time for people to get used to who he was (Viserys I had nearly 30 years of ruling under his belt, and Rhaenys had an entire decade), and none of the time he had was able to get him involved in things like community outreach that would have allowed the populace to know him more in the way we saw with someone like Rhaenys, who was actively involved in the community with her marriage decisions and lawmaking and all those wonderful things she did because she was perfect. As for Rhaenya getting more known about her, that's likely because she was more noteworthy, given the breaking of the mold that she represented in Viserys naming her his heir, so people were more inclined to pay attention to her than to Aegon, who wasn't doing anything groundbreaking just by being the son of the king and following Westerosi customs (I say this, of course, with love, but it's true).

There's also a couple other elements at play that might lead to Aegon's temperament not having gotten written down beyond bing emotionally distant. I'll add that we don't actually know a whole lot about Helaena herself either, just that she was nice and well-liked, so it might also be a generation thing. And, quite frankly, Aegon II isn't remembered particularly well either. Both he and Rhaenyra have pretty bad reputations after they die, one of the key elements of the Dance is that neither side came off particularly well and they are not remembered fondly by Westeros in general, Aegon only just comes across marginally better off because the laws and customs of the country were on his side. The book is, as you said, a history book, and it is a history book written many many years after Aegon died, during a period of time that was decidedly anti-Targaryen (Robert's reign), so the writers were dealing with old records and wouldn't be interested in searching for anything beyond that. There's also the fact that Aegon might not have been the kind of person to show his emotions in public (I have a lot of personality traits, like most human people, but anyone who's ever known me casually or on a work basis would likely not be able to name a whole lot because I'm very reserved and do not emotionally open up to anyone who isn't a very close friend or immediate family member, and even that's rare), and so the public facing person that most people would have met wouldn't have been privy to emotions that were likely reserved for his siblings or kids or his mother.

But I'll leave you with this anon, the book does give us more to Aegon than just being distant, because we can actually infer a lot from what they tell us about. His rage about what happened to Jaehaerys speaks to his deep love for his children and family, the way he wants to honor Helaena and Aemond and Daeron speaks to how he felt about them, his closeness with Alicent speaks to him certainly being capable of being close to people, not just distant, his bond with Sunfyre shows a softer side to him, and anyone who's partying on the Street of Silk and able to keep good relations with the people there was probably at least fun to have around. There's not a lot said about Aegon's personality, due to the things I mentioned above, but I do think there's a fair amount implied.

[allyriadayne]

If you were in charge of HOTD how would you have structured the show? Would you have done 2 seasons - one with the younger and one with the older versions of the characters? Or would you have added episodes to season 1 and where? What were the problem areas that needed fixing. And yeah I know season 1 ended up like it did for reasons, this is just for fun!

hi! well you've given me a lot to think about. let's see. to me the biggest problems in regards to structure in s1 were mostly about pacing.

the first part of the season felt better than the second one because it covered relatively less time than episodes 6-10 with its two time jumps. it did a better job to present the characters and the dynamics between them (crucially because the second part depends so much on this when the characters are apart) and the reason the story is happening at all. i agree with not having a full season for the younger cast like emily and milly because to me it makes much more difficult to get used to olivia and emma, essentially new characters. it's v difficult for many people already only after five episodes! and i think it has to do more with the force of the story and the cohesiveness of the first part than being the older actor's fault.

HOTDMV (hotd mariana's version) under the cut

structurally, i would leave this first part as it is. perhaps i would add extra scenes of alicent's children as babies, more of aemma and her family before her death and maybe set up a little bit better characters like harwin, laena, larys and laenor for their more prominent roles in the second part of the season. but it's not really a dealbreaker for me because the main job of this part is to tell rhaenyra's story, how she sees the world and why she will do what she does later. it's normal that her siblings are not there much because she doesn't want them to be in her life as she doesn't want to see alicent either; beginning at aemma's death makes sense because this is where rhaenyra's story begins, her before and after; and as for the supporting characters, well, they are in the background until they matter to her lol she's the protagonist after all.

it's in the second part where the most changes would need to be done. a time jump is inevitable. you want to introduce your older cast quickly and painlessly, these are actually the protagonists of your show. but it comes with difficulties too. flashbacks? montages? exposition dump? i'm no tv expert so i don't know the best method or if it's feasibly but i would do smaller time jumps like in part 1 to establish: 1) the new dynamics 2) the new characters 3) the ongoing political situation. to solve this i'd add one more ep or maybe two BEFORE the events of ep 6 which is mostly one huge set up for the events of the driftmark ep:

the new dynamics

because i have boundless imagination and a penchant for headcanons, i can imagine how alicent goes from ep 5 (burned, sad, furious) to ep 6 (hateful, mocking, irritated) in those ten years. the kings continuous support of rhaenyra churning perfect child after perfect child with the "common look" while alicent rots with her imperfect targ looking children (from her pov), the lack of otto's guidance, her isolation and surrounding herself with people like criston cole and larys, etc.

BUT i don't think imagination is enough for most viewers. the rhaenicent dynamic would benefit immensely from showing the evolving relationship as rhaenyra's children are born. not showing birth after birth because it gets tedious but showing some kind of marker that rhaenyra just gave birth or something (AND what happened with rhaenyra's fear of giving birth???? this bugs me to hellllll). this will also help develop the children's' relationship to the adults in the RK (to viserys, to criston, to their parents). or maybe not show the children so much because it presents the problem of changing the actor esp when they are small children which is more noticeable unlike 22 yo milly alcock doing 14-19 yo rhaenyra than say laena's child actress portraying diff ages (rip ty tennant you would've been amazing).

new characters

let's say """new""" alright because only the children are truly new in the story by episode 6. i'd say harwin is not that big of a problem bc i'd extend the mystery of the father longer and "reveal" it like they do in the show. he'd be in the bg, too close to the family, bc it's how he's meant to be in the story. only coming up when the children are older and he can sort of bond with them as prospect warriors, leaving the audience with incomplete feelings about him when he dies (just like it happens to the velaryon boys!).

the critics regarding laena and harwin's death not having enough weight or coming out of nowhere are valid. esp about laena when she's portrayed by three diff actresses in what, four episodes? i would have the same actress play teenage laena and adult laena (same with laenor!). i just saw nanna blondell is 37 yo in real life, way too old for laena during the pentos years, savannah steyn is 28 lol i would let her do both parts and let makeup do the rest. it's fine bc it's to make the visual bond stronger when she's again seen in pentos w daemon. the transition between KL and pentos was kinda clunky to me but what they show was pretty good in setting the dynamics. so maybe i'd separate daemon's plot in two: laena and daemon carefree in essos vs laena and daemon family time, constrained by new responsibilities and homesickness. this would give laena's character to be more solid and set her motivations better. i'd even let them visit driftmark when the twins are born. no rhaneyra and laenor tho, it takes away from the daemyra reunion in ep 7.

the ongoing political situation

this speaks for itself. one council session in ep 6 was not enough. i'm glad rhaenyra and alicent seat in the council but there needed to be more precedent for it. it's clear alicent demanded otto's old seat maybe after rhaenyra was let into the council, but why? why after several times of viserys dismissing her and belittling her? oh you respect her now? of course, it has to do with viserys' decline but it's too many implicit parts. the princess and queen's party made explicit, rhaenyra and dragonstone (she hasn't set foot on it all those ten years?), a family dinner a la ep 8 with the younger children, the alliances with the other lords, etc. in summary, showing the tensions grew since ep 5.

eps 7 & 8 are near perfect to me so i would leave them as they are. the 6 year time jump works for me here though i wished they had done a little explainer as to why rhaenyra and daemon didn't come sooner to the capital. it's obvious they were half exiled or something and not wanting to aggravate viserys they stayed away from the public eye. the introduction to the older kids works better because we have in dept knowledge of them as children. we know why aemond throws himself to near physical perfection, why jace is so intense in his studies, luke's aversion to take action/confrontation, and aegon's decline.

this doesn't work much with the girls though! i feel like i don't know helaena enough and the twins are severely sidelined. why was baela fostered at driftmark? how did this affect them? how does helaena relate to her children? anyway. i have a sort of theory that rhaenys asked laena to foster her oldest in driftmark in hopes of changing corlys' mind (and as sort of foreshadowing to baela as lady of driftmark after the dance). this would be one of the extra scenes i would add, maybe in the driftmark ep?

ep 9 is weird. i like what they are showing, i don't like the execution or paper thin plot. oh so you caught aegon now what?

ep 10 is rushed? idk too many things happening.

i would do a mix of them. not separate by faction. i understand this is to make the viewer used to the individual plots that for sure is happening s2 onwards but it was clunky to me. the timeline was also insanely tight: dinner, fight, rhaenicent, viserys dying, crowning aegon. why didn't rhaenyra come back?!? was it a lie? imagine if she did come back and got imprisoned like rhaenys. it's too tight. i might make her come back and bond again with alicent for a few days > she leaves > viserys dies > coronation race.

in any case, i agree the season had to end where it did. it was very cinematic and the perfect ending and beginning.