agentrouka-blog

[agentrouka-blog]

Okay, Stannis murdered his own brother under the cover of truce (and blood magic) before dawn on the morning of intended battle. It gained him part of his army, while the other half ran to the Tyrells.

So... I think that the twist might be he burns Shireen and conditions do turn in his favor, keeping up the pattern that the dark blood magic technically works, but he is murdered unexpectedly (Selyse) before the battle can commence and thus all his fanatical adherents who called for/approved of this sacrifice (and the bystanders, and the unfortunate foot soldiers caught in the system) are left without leadership and are utterly slaughtered, rendering all of Stannis's plans and intentions and sacrifices meaningless.

It's both an appropriate narrative punishment and it elegantly empties the stage for Team Stark to do the work of reuniting the North, evicting the Bolton-Frey, and preparing for the Long Night.

#asoiaf speculation #stannis baratheon

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#rouka queue #medieval history

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hii about the character requests i would love to see euron or dany in your style 💗

🦑🤫

#rouka queue #asoiaf art #euron greyjoy

[agentrouka-blog]

When a hug and a sniff make the perfect blend of cuteness! 🌼🐿️ By @dickvanduijn

#awwww

[agentrouka-blog]

what do you think fandom wise would happen if j0nsa was heavily hinted at in winds? most BNFs would have the biggest aneurysm lol

Well, it will definitely divide the fandom even more. As for the BNFs they will react the same way they did when the affc outline was released and the “resolve to be sansa stark” and “take north” excerpts came to light: by writing lengthy essays about how it’s something else entirely. Or maybe go full ostrich syndrome and duck their heads into the sand, and deny everything; claim that jonsas are delusional and we’re only seeing things we want to see. They might even go one step further and argue that Jon has lost his character and the Jon they know would never do anything like this, which is fairly common for fandoms in general to do.

As for jonsas, there might be schisms in this fandom too. I know and love mutuals who wish for Jon & Sansa to fall in love while they think siblings and get married to save the north and unmuddle the claim to the north, but I personally feel like the story is moving towards Sansa gaining more agency and independence in her life, so I would like for her to choose who she wants to marry, and it has to be someone who wants her despite her claim to the north. So them marrying out of obligation will never work for me, and people like me. But, a win is a win ;)

I think jonsa neutrals will continue to be just that and analyse the book from a non-ship perspective, which they still do.

Would love to see the tiktok “who is jeyne poole” and “cersei jaime incest explained” and “did you know in the books…” plebeians have a collective meltdown because they usually seem to have the strongest opinions on the books without ever having read them. I’ll have popcorn ready lol.

HOWEVER, the hints will only worsen the fandom wars we have going on. Every single anti opinion will trigger us and every single meta post by us will trigger the antis launching into an all out nuclear attack from both sides which will result in both new jonsas and new jonsa antis, twitter blowing up our posts, and a frustrated and unfruitful yearn for ados on all ends. The world side-eyes us and moves on, we don’t.

But, for that George has to release twow first, which rn feels both inevitable yet impossible.

TLDR: fandom remains fandom, we fight over the book like surviving factions over a fresh deer carcass after a zombie apocalypse, no one moves on.

#jonsa #asoiaf fandom #twow #the fresh deer carcass of literature

[agentrouka-blog]

Where do courtiers and other members of the royal court live in King’s Landing? I assume they rent a manse or something. Would a queen’s lady (like Taena to Margaery) live in the Maidenvault?

Where do courtiers and other members of the royal court live in King’s Landing?: We know that people who work for the Crown directly have their own apartments in the Red Keep: the Hand gets his own Tower, as do the Kingsguard (though the six get bare sleeping cells, whereas the Lord Commander gets his own floor), Petyr Baelish and Varys have their own set of rooms (though Tyrion complains that Varys’ are small and under a wall, so maybe they’re not designated “Master of Whispers quarters” necessarily the way the tower of the Hand is), Pycelle has chambers underneath the rookery (which probably are designated for the Grand Maester, as official raven-keeper). Rego Draz of Pentos, Jaehaerys’ master of coin, lived in a manse in the city, but as he was offered residence at the Red Keep several times, he seems more the exception than the rule (the wealthy in the Free Cities live in manses, either in or outside city limits); and, as Tyrion points out, it’s much less safe during riots/wartime (Draz was killed in a riot). People who work for the Crown but of lower rank have smaller sleeping cells; the King’s Justice, Chief Gaoler, and (formerly) the Lord Confessor have rooms set aside between the dungeons and tower cells, whereas the undergaolers have sleeping cells nearby as well (though I’m assuming the lowest in rank share their cells). It makes sense that servants sleep near their place of work, such as cooks sleeping in the kitchen keep.

Courtiers who aren’t working directly for the crown are given rooms depending on their rank and size of household, usually assigned to them by the steward. Tyrion has Aliser Thorne “in a snug cell where no one has changed the rushes for a year” because he dislikes him. Probably the best passage to answer your question is in ASOS Tyrion VII: “Now that he had a wife and household, his lord father had agreed that more suitable accommodations were required, and Lord Gyles had found himself abruptly dispossessed of his spacious apartments atop the Kitchen Keep. And splendid apartments they were too, with a large bedchamber and adequate solar, a bath and dressing room for his wife, and small adjoining chambers for Pod and Sansa's maids. Even Bronn's cell by the stair had a window of sorts. Well, more an arrow slit, but it lets in light.” Gyles Rosby at this point hadn’t been appointed Master of Coin, but is wealthy and one of the Crownland’s most prominent lords; his apartments in the Red Keep has enough room for the lord’s bed/bath/living room and small rooms for servants. Bronn gets his own sleeping cell (with a window), as does Brella the housekeeper, whereas Sansa’s other maids have to share. Close servants can sleep in chambers adjoining that of their employer, or even share a bed (as with ladies-in-waiting).

Would a queen’s lady live in the Maidenvault?: According to ASOS Sansa I, “Lord Mace Tyrell and his entourage had been housed behind the royal sept, in the long slate-roofed keep that had been called the Maidenvault,” so it seems to be used as mixed-sex space for lords with large retinues by canon era. In that instance, yes, Taena would be in the Maidenvault, though because she’s married, would probably share chambers with her husband Orton, whereas Margaery’s unmarried cousins share her bed sometimes and likely share adjoining chambers (of course, this would change once Cersei takes an interest in Taena and makes her husband Hand of the King). Again, it depends on age/marital status and rank.

#logistics in asoiaf #red keep #king's landing #court life

[agentrouka-blog]

cersei lannister had about 3-5 business days of peace at the end of a game of thrones where it’s like. plan she singlehandedly concocted to murder her abusive terrible husband THE KING goes off without a hitch literally flawless execution most successful kingslaying in westerosi history. rhaegar outfit at his funeral. anyone who suspects foul play is in the dungeon or on her side. coup d’état equally successful. her bastard son installed as ruling king. ned stark in prison about to swear fealty to the lannisters and get ransomed cutting hostilities off at the pass. one stark kid in custody and littlefinger promised to take care of the second one. annoying brothers-in-law scattered to opposite ends of the kingdom away from her away from each other not a problem. lysa arryn doing fuck all. tyrion in enemy custody and not the walls. father and brother going to war for her. also jon arryn who she never liked is dead as a freebie. and then she never came down from this high but can you blame her

#rouka queue #cersei lannister #<3

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GRRM did AFFC so good actually. Flipped the male-centric series on its head with majorly female PoVs and then started the book with our resident paranoiapilled Cersei Lannister convinced that her killer is hiding in the walls of the Red Keep. He introduced the first true knight of the series, keeping an oath to a dead woman. No chance, no choice. Asha fighting centuries of patriarchy to fight for her throne. “Balon let her believe she was a man.” “Your father made the same mistake with you.” Sansa and the whole Vale arc? Arya’s Cat of the Canals arc?? Hello? We have been served female characters on a platter here and I for one am eating. it. up. He truly snapped here tbh.

#!!! #affc #grrm #pov characters

[agentrouka-blog]

Mel mentions whoever the Prince that is Promised will bring the dawn, and Dany questions it since she’s not a prince, after Missandei says the word has no gender so it could still be Dany. Do you think the writers were implying it was Dany that was the princess that was promised, and do you think Martin will change that and it will be Jon in the books since his foreshadowing is a little bit stronger?

Mel is probably wrong and Targs are usually wrong as well. Prophecies are deceiving, that's the point that GRRM is trying to make.

Memory, Sorrow and Thorn is a fantasy series by Tad Williams that inspired GRRM to write Asoiaf. In summary and avoiding spoilers, in that series the heroes think that finding "3 objects" will help them to defeat a greater enemy, but lets say that that didn't end that well . . . .

So, back in Asoiaf, the prophecies about the Prince that was promised and/or Azhor Ahai (are they the same?) being a super special great hero that will defeat the dark and cold won't end that well either, because maybe those are no heroes at all, but another greater enemy against humanity.

In the past, the First Men didn't need a foreing hero or dragons, they were 12 men and their normal pets, and they even got the help of the Children of the Forest and they prevailed against the Long Night, and that's precisely the point, the humanity united against greater enemies and prevailing by fighting together.

I recomend you to read @trinuviel series about TPTWP & Azhor Ahai.

#azor ahai #the prince that was promised #prophecy

[agentrouka-blog]

The IRONY that is Jaehaerys overthrowing his usurping uncle to immediately himself becoming a usurping uncle lol

To be fair, he's really just upholding Targaryen family tradition of strongly preferring male heirs, and Rhaena happened to agree at the time (when she had no real support of her own, anyway) that he should claim the throne instead of fighting for Aerea's inheritance. He was explicitly fighting Maegor to claim the throne, not just to overthrow him in general. So everyone just shrugged it off, and Rhaella and Aerea both conveniently died childless, leaving no rival branch that could produce a challenger to Jaehaerys's descendents.

I mean, really, Jaehaerys (I keep wanting to call him Ja-harry) is just upholding his own values.

Alysanne, on the other hand, is being a bit of a hypocrite for thinking that little Daenerys (and later grandchild Rhaenys) should be heir, when her husband's reign is mostly resting on the fact that their (targcest hilarity) elder sister Rhaena was never truly considered an eligible heir to the throne, and only became queen as wife of their second-born brother Aegon.

The Great Council confirming his preference of grandson Viserys (Baelon's son) over great-grandson Laenor (Rhaenys's son) basically follows all those precedents of choosing a royal brother (uncle) over a royal daughter and her descendents. Which is what made Rhaenyra's case so very explosive.

#anti jaehaerys i targaryen #anti targaryen #targaryen succession

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#positivity

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"'Your Grace,' he said, 'you forget. I am a Snow, not a Stark.'

'It's you who are forgetting,' King Stannis replied.

Melisandre put a warm hand on Jon's arm. 'A king can remove the taint of bastardy with a stroke, Lord Snow'" (p. 1059, A Storm of Swords).

Once again, kings can legitimize bastards. Kings must do this as an official decree. They must recognize someone as a bastard and then name them as legitimate. But this is a relatively easy thing that the king can do within his own power.

So when people try to claim that the Strong boys are legitimate because their mother lied and said they were, and the king wouldn't speak the truth... Viserys could have legitimized Rhaenyra's sons at any point in their lives. He could have said these boys are not Laenor Velaryon's, but they are Rhaenyra Targaryens, and the blood of the dragon, and due to Targaryen exceptionalism, I hereby name them as legitimate inheritors. But that is not what he did. His complacency and willful blindness, coupled with Rhaenyra's sense of entitlement and superiority, meant that Viserys would never broach the issue with Rhaenyra, and Rhaenyra truly believed herself to be the exception to the rules and perfectly able to avoid the consequences of her actions due to her privilege and position.

Bastards can be legitimized, but since the Strong boys are bastards that were never legitimized, they remain bastards in the eyes of the law and society. One of them is set to inherit the highest of thrones in the realm and the other is set to steal the Velaryon seat of power from the Velaryons. It's wild that the show doesn't seem to acknowledge how much of a big deal this actually is.

#if they are legitimized as Rhaenyra's bastards they lose their 'claim' to Driftmark and the Velaryon inheritance #and rhaenyra can't have that #it's as simple as that #hotd #dance of dragons #strong boys

[agentrouka-blog]

what would you change about helaegon and their relationship in hotd?

In order to change something about their relationship in HOTD, we need it to be shown on the screen, but now we have a situation in which the majority of the audience, who didn't read the book, didn't understand that Aegon and Helaena were married at all.

So I can only talk about what their relationship could be like in the series. Well, we could really get a study of the problem of incest and forced marriage using the example of Aegon and Helaena. How wrong it is when a person perceives their brother/sister as a potential husband/wife since childhood. How traumatic it is when the boundary between kinship and romantic/sexual relashionship disappears. How disgusting it is when siblings are literally forced to enter into such relationships and they don't even have a chance for true love and a healthy marriage. But no, we're not in that kind of series.

We're shown from the very beginning that Aegon didn't want to marry his sister, this marriage was a prison for both of them and they were both victims of this situation. Let me remind you that when the twins were born, Aegon and Helaena looked literally like this:

Helaena was a child, Aegon was a teenager at best, both in a forced marriage. What kind of readiness for parenthood can we even talk about? And yes, Helaena gave birth to two children at the age of 13-14.

Their relationship is very interesting to explore - it's complicated, traumatic, but I think they care about each other anyway. Aegon and Helaena may not love/like each other as husband and wife, but that doesn't mean they're indifferent to each other or even don't like/hate each other. They're still siblings and they have children.

There are many things that I'd like to see on screen regarding their relationship, but unfortunately, the screenwriters decided otherwise.

#hotd #helaena targaryen #aegon ii targaryen #forced marriage #child marriage #incest #anti targaryen #the show is sleeping on so many issues that they should highlight #but if they focus on the trauma of the forced incest it probably kills the uncle-niece 'romance' vibes eh?

[agentrouka-blog]

When I said “don’t throw the things”, this is why!

(Unless of course you have magic arrows from Santa)

Patreon - YouTube

#rouka queue #archery

[agentrouka-blog]

“I can’t be antisemitic, I’m a semite!!1!1!”

“I can’t be transphobic, I’m a transfer student!!!”

“I can’t be racist, I’m a professoral race-car driver!!!”

“I can’t be sexist, I love sex!!”

“I can’t be a bigot, I’m 4’10!!!”

#omg

[agentrouka-blog]

#rouka queue #saturn #pretty

[agentrouka-blog]

Russian School, 19th century

#rouka queue #art #russian art #interiors