#trueborn

[fromcommorragh]

Drukhari OCs Petrellas Darkvein and her daughter Syth'isa, by Werility

[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".

[ladystoneboobs]

no of fence to jon snow fans who for some reason care about his exact age, but these discussions just annoy me no end. not only bc there's no way any weirwood flashbacks bran has to rhaegar/lyanna will come with time/datestamps, but also bc there's always comments like this:

SEVERAL turns of the moon (ie, months)?! have these people never seen a human baby before or just have no concept of their ages? even if we take into account travel time from the toj to wf, meaning jon was not a newborn too fresh out the oven when catelyn and robb arrived, there's still a difference between a newborn and a 3mo and an even bigger difference between those infants and an older baby 5-7mo. there's very good reasons these lines were cut. whatever birthdates can be worked out internally for jon and robb from when they're first mentioned as 15 and 16 don't matter in the end, bc grrm doesn't care about a consistent timeline and the actual text of catelyn's pov and ned's convo with robert about cheating on her should outweigh any guesstimates about jon's official nameday wrt robb's. catelyn may not have cared for jon, but she would sure as hell have noticed his nameday if it came before robb's and made him ned's firstborn. if jon's birthday canonically came before robb's then either ned's cover story would not involve adultery (not impossible for him to sire a bastard before his wedding), or he'd just give jon a new nameday along with his new name to fit the adultery lie. it makes no sense for him to lie about one and not the other, undermining the big lie with a little public clue of his story not adding up. whatever else she was as a stepmother, cat wasn't stupid and a bastard who was actually the eldest son being raised alongside her trueborn heir could be an even bigger insult than whether he was born of adultery or not.

BUT, the unknowability of jon's true birthday is not the only reason this annoys me, it's bc this is all based on the assumption that jon must be older since rhaegar/lyanna ran off together before ned married cat, as if both boys must have been conceived asap as robb canonically was when his parents consummated their marriage. and that's not how human reproduction works! even if you don't understand how fast babies grow in the first year, you should know that people who get pregnant do so through ovulation cycles and a lucky sperm finding an egg and all that, not just immediately getting knocked up as soon as one has p-in-v sex for the first time. not unless you only know mean girls sex ed where if you have sex you will get pregnant and die. (even tho lyanna did die, there's plenty of canon examples where pregnancy did not lead straight to death. also examples of people who did not get pregnant right away and even some who are/were sexually active and childless without always having moon tea on hand.) we can't know how long lyanna was having sex before that sperm+egg match happened or even how long she was with rhaegar before losing her technical virginity. if they were married, doesn't it make sense to think they didn't consummate their relationship until the wedding night either? that's the only leverage there is to ensure a status as wife rather than just mistress.

and while i just said grrm doesn't care about exact timelines and a lot is still foggy surrounding the rebellion and esp rhaegar, there is one timemarker wrt robert's rebellion he voluntarily threw in, time and time again: that stannis was besieged at storm's end for almost a whole year. that siege, which mind you, did not match the duration of the entire war. it only started after robert won his battles at gulltown and summerhall, returned to storm's end, and then went out and lost the battle of ashford, leaving his homeland open to the reachermen. the same siege which only ended when ned made a detour there after the sack of king's landing, before going to the toj. even if lyanna may not have given birth that exact day ned found her, she could only be waiting in that bloody bed for weeks at the most, not months. so if rhaegar knocked her up the very same night he carried her off and jon was still a newborn when ned found her after the siege of storm's end had ended, wouldn't that mean lyanna was pregnant for well over a year? that's not how human pregnancy works either! so, maybe that's proof that jon and robb, whichever order they were actually born in, were actually very close in age as babies, much closer than if they were both conceived asap.

and really, jon's actual birthdate does not matter imho, when he was raised not just as the bastard to robb's trueborn heir, but with robb also known by catelyn and the world as ned's firstborn (which he was, in any case, as jon was ned's nephew by birth). what difference could a birthdate before robb's make (even were there some means of discovery) after ned, cat, and robb are all dead? if one is looking only at his birth parents then he's only a firstborn child on lyanna's side, but definitely a second son on rhaegar's side. maybe he was always meant to be a second son with a not much older half-brother! even if the aegon fka young griff is not in fact rhaegar's son, he'll still be known as aegon vi targaryen, meaning jon will never be known as any father's elder son. if i may reference mean girls again, it's not going to happen.

[eonweheraldodemanwe]

While Catelyn chapters are heavy with thoughts of how bastards are threats to trueborn heirs and the Blackfires as examples, the actual text show us that it is actually the trueborn members the ones who are threats.

Alys Kastark right is threatened by her Kastark cousins.

Robert Arryn biggest threat is a far cousin, Harold Harying.

Walder Frey has created the perfect situation where all his trueborn sons want to see their half brothers dead.

Renly usurped Stannis as Robert's heir.

Arianne fears his own brother Quentyn usurping her birthright.

Euron killed Balon.

And the Targaryens are specialists in this.

From the days of Maegor usurping Aenys children. To Jaehaerys pressing his claim over his elder sister. His refusal to name Rhaenys his heir over his second son. Aegon II usurping her sister crown. Viserys II usurping his nieces rights. Aegon V being named king over several candidates who were closer to Maekar IV.

We even have Daenerys in AGOT having thoughts of naming blood riders to protect her sons when he is king while Viserys is still alive.

Frankly a bastard is less likely a threat than a brother/uncle/nephew. It's in the text.

[addamvelaryon]

Jon Snow essentially has 3 different reputations throughout Terros:

The first one is as a hardass. This reputation is well earned because Jon himself cultivates his own behaviour in such a way that he will be taken seriously. Due to his young age and his social status as a bastard, it became necessary for Jon to adjust his behaviour accordingly. Whether it’s the Mountain Clans or the Wildlings or the King’s Men, everyone at the Wall knows that Jon means business. Even across the sea, in the Free City of Braavos, they have such a view of him. He’s referred to as “the Black Bastard of the Wall”. His own friends are wary of him because of the way he starts acting once he’s elected Lord Commander.

The second reputation is quite unfair but he’s still viewed that way by some people: a traitor. Part of it does have to do with his time with the Wildlings/relationship with Ygritte. Though interestingly enough, the Wildlings also express sentiments that suggests they believe Jon betrayed them. But that’s not the only reason why characters consider Jon to be a treacherous individual. Even before he went beyond the Wall, he was viewed in a negative light, because of his father being declared a traitor. So the sins of the father are reflected in the son. There is of course the anti-bastardy stigma in Westeros as well and that too affects opinions on Jon. The Blackfish even accuses him of conspiring with the Lannisters, the enemies of his family!

The third reputation that Jon has came about completely unintentionally. People around Jon seem to view him as someone who sleeps around. This too is a clear result of their society’s derogatory opinion of bastards as being sexually promiscuous. When his Night Watch brothers insinuate that Sam or Satin are his lovers, they do it as an insult. Jon’s show of kindness towards his fellows who are also viewed negatively is turned against him by people believing there is some salacious intent behind Jon’s actions. Jon had only one lover and that was Ygritte. But his friendly interactions with other women, like Val or Alys, makes people (primarily other men who feel entitled to those women) suggest he must surely have fucked them. From Jon’s POV we can understand that in his interactions with Melisandre, he is very standoffish. But that’s not how it’s perceived by his Night Watch brothers. Jon himself acknowledges that they will whisper rumours about him.

[what-is-canon]

Post-Dance AU (because I hate how George decided to completely eradicate the Greens *cough* Alicent’s *cough* line)

Jaehaera survives the assassination attempt by Unwin Peake because that poor girl did not deserve that horrific end and that’s that.

She and Aegon III bond over time, because these traumatized kids deserve some happiness and you know what? Maybe they are the only two people in the world right now who understand even a semblance of what the other has gone through (Aegon watched his mother die, Jaehaera watched her twin brother be slaughtered) and maybe they both recognize that neither of them is responsible for what their families did to each other so why should they resent one another?

Over time they become a great comfort to each other. On the days where one is particularly gloomy, the other sits by them and holds their hand and they are content to sit in silence together and neither needs to say what they’re feeling because the other already knows.

They are both very close with Gaemon Palehair. He and Aegon are close for the same reasons as within canon, while Jaehaera believes that Gaemon truly is her half-sibling, her last remaining brother.

Eventually, Alyn Velaryon brings Viserys II home from Essos, but the boy comes alone (a 12-year-old boy married to a 19-year-old woman, yeah I think the fuck not, not in my history, and besides even if they had been closer in age Larra Rogare hated Westeros so let her stay in Essos like she wanted and live her own life there and be happy).

Like in canon, Aegon is somewhat neglectful of his wife and friend in the wake of his brother’s return, but Jaehaera and Gaemon understand his actions. Anyway, they still have each other for company. Viserys is incredibly distrustful of Jaehaera, and Aegon pleads with Viserys to be more understanding of their marriage and the comfort they have found in each other.

Aegon decides to hold a feast to celebrate Viserys’s return. Viserys spends most of the festivities with Baela and Rhaena, preferring not to fraternize with the daughter of the man who killed his mother. In the company of his sisters is Daenaera Velaryon (aged up in to be closer in age to Viserys because an 11-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl? It’s a no from me).

Daenaera manages to cheer Viserys with her happy nature, and he’s quite taken by how pretty she is. Unwin Peake, having never been exposed as the one behind Jaehaera’s assassination attempt (as is also the case in canon) brings his daughter to the feast in the hopes that she will catch the eye of Viserys, but Viserys has already taken a shine to Daenaera, ruining his plans once again.

The pair begin to exchange letters and (like Aegon and Jaehaera) bond over their losses. Viserys tells Aegon about his correspondence with Daenaera, and when Aegon tells Jaehaera, she decides to invite Daenaera to court as her lady-in-waiting. Viserys is delighted, and slowly begins to warm to Jaehaera.

As in canon, Aegon’s removal of the dragon eggs from the Red Keep causes a rift between the brothers. Unwin Peake continues to plot treason, conspiring to kill Aegon and Jaehaera so that Viserys may become King and take his daughter as his bride. But if his daughter is to become Viserys’s Queen, Daenaera Velaryon must also be removed. It is no secret by now that Viserys is very taken with the the girl, and intends to marry her.

Jaehaera and Daenaera eat the canonical poisoned tarts during a private dinner organized for the four. Aegon and Viserys narrowly avoid poisoning as they are delayed by a Small Council meeting. As in canon, Gaemon dies, devastating both Aegon and Jaehaera. The rift between Aegon and Viserys is mended as they help their respective ladies recover. Aegon and Jaehaera comfort each other through the loss of Gaemon, and Viserys proposes marriage to Daenaera, which she accepts. Oh, and Unwin Peake is finally exposed and executed (I still cannot believe this man escaped justice in canon, but not on my watch).

The four form a strong unit within the Red Keep and are, well, as happy as four traumatized young adults can be. They finally have the family each was deprived of at such a young age. Aegon eventually names Viserys his Hand, Jaehaera gives birth to Aegon’s five children, and Daenaera gives birth to Viserys’s three.

But unfortunately, canonical events must still come to pass. Aegon and Jaehaera pass away within months of each other in 157 AC; Daenaera dies some years later, and Viserys becomes his stern canonical self in the wake of her death. The crown passes from Aegon, to Daeron, to Baelor, to Viserys himself, to Aegon IV, who legitimizes the Blackfyres- who are now the descendants of both the Blacks and the Greens.

[thestoryden]

Lover's Betrayal

Aemond Targaryen x TrueBorn!Reader

Warnings: Death, Sadness, Betrayal, Rejection

Word Count:

A/N: This was a request. Hopefully everyone enjoys this comeback piece I am gradually starting to write more as my health improves.

Masterlist / Taglist / Requests: Open

Part 1/?

You pace about your room. The walls feel like they are closing in. You feel as though your executioner is about to walk through the door. Long silvery hair moving behind him in a shimmering light before he makes a point of cutting you down. Aemond was supposed to be securing support from Storm’s End that day. The sky was so dark you could barely call it a day. The clouds brewing a gale so strong even a dragon could be swayed. Part of you hopes that he’ll come back quickly, but another part knows something will go wrong today. You fear he will no longer have a need for you once he gets back. You fear you won’t be of service for the game they are playing and will be tossed aside just like any other broken piece.

You sit down with a piece of parchment and begin to compose a letter. Part of you knows your mother will never get it. The other part hopes that Aemond has the decency to get it to her out of respect for his opponent.

Dear Mother,

By the time you are getting this, I suspect I will have passed on. I have this strong sense of dread that today is the day I lose value as a piece in this game. Please tell everyone that I love them. And please tell Luke I am sorry that I can not fulfill our shared duty, as I will be gone by the time he reaches majority.

Love,

You sign your name to it as you do, Aemond burst through the door, he is soaked head to toe in water. His mouth is collapsed in to a frown. You get to your feet, ready to put up a fight. You knew he would be swift about it, out of his love for you. However, you were still not prepared for your death.

“Is it that time already?” You ask, melancholy drips from your voice.

Aemond remains silent as he moves towards you. A sudden fear that they may have someone else carry out the ordeal frighten you. You know Aemond would be quick and precise. You stumble back on to the bed out of terror as he comes closer. The agony of being dragged to your death building up in your brain when suddenly he wraps you up in his arms. The dampness from his skin soaks in to your dress. You try to expand your chest, but find it stifled by Aemond.

“I’d rather you not crush me to death.” You squeak.

He sobs in to your shoulder, “Lucerys is gone.”

You attempt to break out of the forced embrace. When he finally lets you go, you look to his face. It is riddled with guilt. You can feel the heat creeping up your face, a burning anger that threatens to consume you.

You claw at his face as you shout, “It was you, you killed him!”

You hit his chest with the side of your fist, then again and again. A broken rhythm of hits against him. Your moment of anger breaks in to a soft, brokenness. Tears well up in your eyes and cascade down your face.

“There is nothing that can be done about it, but your position here is now secured.” He lamely attempts to comfort you.

You collapse against him as your fury dissolves into exhaustion.

“He was my betrothed, and you killed him.” You cry.

Taglist: @sinlist @isabel2you @cedricsleftelbow @groovyponypatrollamp @ofherscarlettwitchways @aprilsimonsstuff @tnu-ree @pinkydevil16 @guijh103 @severewobblerlightdragon @thegirlnextdoorssister @thanyatargaryen @zgzgzh @fultimefangirl @esposadomd @you-bleed-just-toknowyouarealive @missusnora @eonnyx @winxschester @icarusignite @too-strong-to-lose @sarcasticking9 @abcdefghi-lmnopqrstuvwxyz @daisychainsoflove @sidechrisporn @jiinxxxy @stories-im-following @lady-stark-winter-rose @mxxny-lupin @luna-ann @tinyminxie

[queenvhagar]

The only difference between Otto and Corlys is that the show wants you to root for the Blacks and not the Greens. They did the same thing essentially: pushing for their daughter to marry the king in order to get close to the throne and advocating for the interests of their family above all others. Yet somehow Otto is evil for doing so and Corlys is a great family man 🤔

[harpers-tartarus]

me, who watched very little of hotd and got: what if I wrote a hotd fanfic

[novembermorgon]

If Aerea Waters thinks things are bad for her now, it would have been eons worse if she had a trueborn sister.

imagine you're aerea waters and you're like 2 years old and you arrive at court . you are immediately othered even though you've done nothing wrong because you are a bastard . you have 3 siblings none of which you're allowed to play with because your stepmom doesn't think it's appropriate for them to play with a bastard . you are constantly compared to your half sister even though you're barely part of the family in any other way . you try so hard to fit in and try so hard to get on everyone's good side and it does not work . you grow up and you feel even more out of place because you're technically from lys and you don't really feel at home at the court that basically bullied you growing up. you watch from the sidelines as your sister gets everything she could ever dream of . you have no prospects. you have no hopes for any future beyond maybe marrying a knight or, if you're lucky, some minor lord . you have to live with your evil stepmother and her unreasonable hatred towards you every day . your dad is weird as fuck . all you can do is just smile and wave

[mariedemedicis]

Ladies of House Martell:

Loryssa*

*This is the unnamed ruling Princess of Dorne who was the mother of Doran, Elia, and Oberyn. I used the name Loryssa for her once in a fic and I ended up liking it a lot so I've using it again here.

[gedwimora]

it’s probably a sign that one of the things i do while half asleep in bed is tinker with phrasings for how i want to explain the massive canon divergencies i have planned for rhaen.yra and dae.mon…

[cammelcase]

Catch me at love island so we can graft our forms to become beyond human.

[adarkandmagicalforest]

if one more person claims that rickon 'most voted to be a red shirt' stark will be king over sansa being queen in the north, i will lose my whole fucking mind

sansas whole STORY has been about becoming queen, learning from queens, my girl 'when i am queen, i will make them love me'

sansa will be queen in the north, and if one more person says

'oh but jon -'

'oh but bran -'

'oh but rickon-'

'oh but a possible UNBORN BABY OF ROBB -'

SHUT THE FUCK UP

[expvrgction]

"Be careful what you wish, Slayer."

[mathlann]

Cas Posting Part 2 since apparently I'm not done 😅

While I'm thinking about it, my first run getting to the branding scene was just, so diabolical. Because of the order I did the companion quests, by the time Euphrates 2 rolled around Casimira was fresh off the triple-whammy of the "We Have No Future (Because My Job Comes First)" talk with Heinrix, the lethal breakup with Beloved Lady Saurbeck (she loved Chaos more than Cas), and the "I Wont Be A Casual Dalliance (My Job is Corrupt and Falling Apart, Baby Come Back)" Breakup with Heinrix all in a short span. And so, to have come off the Hell that is Eufrates II and see a Marazhai event pop up I was fully expecting another, "oh just so you know, I'm leaving you at some point" talk, since of all Cas' relationships that was the one that was explicitly just for kicks. Especially when he starts off with the whole "Humans put too much stock in friendship, loyalty, and love (🤢)" preamble (which, great thing to tell somebody coming off their second breakup in like, a month btw), I was genuinely caught off guard at what he was actually there for? Like oh this isn't a breakup he wants her to... brand him? Ugh okay Athletics skill don't fail her....oh, he's not seriously putting up a fight he's letting her take the knife.... Like, it's very fucked up in the "you should have another way of expressing commitment without seriously injuring each other" but also considering Mr. True Aeldari can and later does cause a huge fuss with own Kabal over letting a human do that to him, it's also very sweet? Like, ew, feelings but also at the same time that was probably the most loving thing that'd happened to her all game up to that point? Terrible people, terrible together!