blackbyrenflowers

[blackbyrenflowers]

I think it really says something about the culture of the North that Ramsay Bolton can abduct a woman, force her to marry him and rape her, and that a man like Rodrik will consider that a valid marriage.

"The monster has tied us a thorny knot," the old knight told Maester Luwin. "Like it or no, Lady Hornwood was his wife. He made her say the vows before both septon and heart tree, and bedded her that very night before witnesses. She signed a will naming him as heir and fixed her seal to it."

And let's remember, Rodrik is far from impartial/biased towards Ramsay. He knows Donella wouldn't have wanted to marry Ramsay. And he still considers it a valid marriage. It's only Luwin, the southron-educated maester who disputes the validity of it.

Some people will point to Maege Mormont and the rest of her house as evidence for the House being more egalitarian than the south. But when you consider bits of First Men-related history like Joffrey Lydden becoming King of the Rock in lieu of his wife, or what happened to the daughters of the Warg King, or the fact that in thousand of years of history there's never been a ruling lady of Winterfell, it suggests that the culture of the First Men/the North is far more misogynistic than the south/Andals.

#asoiaf #asoiaf meta #rodrik cassel #donella hornwood #maester luwin #ramsay snow #valyrianscrolls

[blackbyrenflowers]

Father, Jason thought. If I’ve ever done anything good, anything you approved of, help me now. I offer my own life —just save my friends.

Suddenly he could smell the metallic scent of a storm. Darkness swallowed the sun. The giant froze, sensing it too.

This moment in the Lost Hero is kind of underrated. Jason's still mostly an amnesiac at this point. He doesn't really know who he is or what kind of relationship he had with his dad, he's just desperately hoping that he's done enough in his life to make his dad proud.

And not only does Zeus not hesitate for a moment to help, he helps out with a lightning blast that splits a fucking mountain apart.

The lightning bolt had split the mountain itself. The earth rumbled and tore apart, and Enceladus’s legs slid into the chasm.

#sure zeus isn't a great dad #but his relationship with jason is pretty interesting imo #the lost hero #zeus pjo #jason grace #heroes of olympus #percy jackon and the olympians

[blackbyrenflowers]

He was honestly one of the best asoiaf blogs on here, and had a surprising range of knowledge on medieval history, labor issues, comics, etc. Rest in peace.

I don’t have a lot of words right now but Steven Attewell, who you all reading this probably know as @racefortheironthrone , just passed away. He was a very great writer, friend, and person, and it’s a horrible loss.

#racefortheironthrone

[blackbyrenflowers]

look. not to be too mean on main. the rightful heir thing. if you don't care about the intricacies of property law or legal writs and just want to focus on characterization and other aspects of storytelling, fine.

but it truly does look very goofy when you start "debating" this while lacking historical context and methodological tools. sometimes a constitutional crisis (that was already resolved in the 12th century and whose results you can always look up) can't just be settled by appealing to one's anachronistic opinion and accusing those who disagree of misogyny.

there's a difference between suggesting how things should be (i.e. prescriptive, i.e. women should never inherit the throne) and analysing how things were for a myriad of socio-political reasons.

also, trust me, the Dance being fictional is not the gotcha people think it is. it's plenty obvious. i'm sorry to say but the premise is so flimsy it would never have happened like that irl.

final idea: likewise, perhaps being condescending about people who do take the time to criticise the premise is veering a little bit towards anti-intellectualism. 'idc about succession laws ergo i'm more enlightened bc i've unlocked an edgelord-y way to enjoy fiction'. a medievalesque fantasy setting is going to attract commentators who are interested in medieval history or at least aspects of it. they may find copy-paste scenarios from real history and think it interesting to compare and contrast. it's not immediately equivalent to treating aegon and rhaenyra like your ballot choices next election, and, equally, they're not discussions without merit.

comparative analysis is a transferable skill! if someone doesn't want to partake, fine, but i think this attitude of turning one's nose at it is a tad coarse. there are many fans who take the time to write informative posts and contextualise this fictionalised universe and it's a shame to automatically write-off what is ultimately a rich tradition in internet asoiaf spaces

#law things are fun to discuss #asoiaf #asoiaf meta #the dance of the dragons

[blackbyrenflowers]

People saw Visenya and maegor fight against the faith of the seven and assumed that the faith doesn’t exists within house Targaryen and that alicent having the faith as her religion is fucking horrible.

Alysanne literally sent her daughter Maegelle to become a septa as a thanks to the mother for giving her many children. her son Vaegon became an archmaester and studied at old town.

Aegon the conqueror was literally crowned by the high septon and so was Jahaerys I. Princess Daella didn’t marry Royce blackwood because he believed in the old gods instead of the faith of the seven.

So the faith of the seven isn’t just something alicent brought into the house Targaryen to go against them. By her time, most of them were already part of the faith and believed in it.

Also having her faith is not a bad thing! Just because she decorated the castle with the faith symbols doesn’t mean she was changing everything! The Targaryens symbols were still everywhere, which are dragons.

The dragons are the symbol of house Targaryen and the faith of the seven is everything to house Hightower. And Alicent is the current queen and a Hightower who has Targaryen children. So it’s not wrong to combine both symbols of the families.

#a detail i immensely dislike about the show #is how they paint alicent as a zealot and rhaenyra/the targs as almost agnostic #never mind that aegon built a sept to remember his beloved rhaenys #or that Jaehaerys's crown had seven gems for the seven gods #because everyone is like the high sparrow right? #“we must swear by their gods” what? they're your gods too! #asoiaf #house of the dragon #hotd #house targaryen #the faith of the seven

[blackbyrenflowers]

Dunk and Egg have been cast!

Peter Claffey plays Duncan the Tall, Dexter Sol Ansell plays Egg.

#dunk and egg #a knight of the seven kingdoms #duncan the tall #aegon v targaryen #aegon the unlikely #asoiaf

[blackbyrenflowers]

I'm going to be boring and say House Dayne. They've got a sword forged from the heart of a falling star, they have mysterious purple eyes not from Valyrian ancestry and their history stretches back ten thousand years to the Dawn Age.

no more serious discourse it's making me too emo i'm done with serious discourse let's discourse about something stupid

which house has the coolest aesthetic make your case

i'm unfortunately a tyrell bitch because i love florals. i am deeply interested in the tarth aesthetic outside of brienne, i hope we meet selwyn and he's got drip like we've never SEEN

[blackbyrenflowers]

Imagine how cool would it be if Jaeherys married Rhaena, his beloved older sister. She'd be a queen - a position befitting her - and never become bitter and lonely. Alysanne is so boring and shallow. Good Queen Alysanne. Uh-huh. More like Fertile and Subvervient Alysanne. I mean, let's face it, Jaeherys would respect Rhaena as his wife and queen far FAR more than he did Alysanne. Their marriage would be more balanced. He is the king but she is older and has more life experience. Rhaena takes no shit from no one. If she'd say "no f*ck you we won't marry our daughter to an old man thrice her age just because you are tired of seeing her around" Jae would have no choice but to yield. If only Martin was a little less sexist when it comes to those matters... Rhaena is twice widowed, and as such she's 'used good'. Not to mention the age difference. Jaeherys deserved someone better, right Georgie? That's why you had to create Pure Virgin Mary Alysanne. Only villains have a thing for older 'spoiled' women, like Maegor and Aemond.

It would've definitely been interesting to see (though I disagree on Rhaena being "bitter and lonely" after Maegor, nor do I think it would've necessarily been a happy/perfect marriage), but I don't think a Jaehaerys-Rhaena match would've ever worked for the simple reason that there would've been too much outside opposition after Aegon and Rhaena's marriage.

Sure, there was plenty of opposition to Jaehaerys-Alysanne as well, but the "benefit" of that match was that they were infatuated with each other enough to defy their mother and Rogar Baratheon, and get the Doctrine of Exceptionalism enshrined as an official teaching of the Faith of the Seven. Obviously Jaehaerys cares about his older sister and vice versa, but do they care enough to defy just about every authority figure in Westeros? Would Rhaena, who remembers how she was besieged at Crakehall by the Faith Militant, really want to go through a traumatic event like that again?

And obviously after Maegor I imagine Rhaena might be reluctant to wed again, even to her baby brother (her marriage to Androw being only in name, as an excuse to be close to Elissa).

#aerea would be in an interesting spot #daughter of the queen and stepdaughter of the king #anon ask #rhaena the black bride #rhaena targaryen #jaehaerys i targaryen #house targaryen #fire and blood #valyrianscrolls

[blackbyrenflowers]

Okay so apparently you can boop yourself

#tumblr #april fools #boop

[blackbyrenflowers]

My most controversial hotd opinion is that I can never tell what is a good wig and what is a bad wig. I'll see a new Targ that looks decent, watch the episode, then go online to 80k complaints about how their wig looked like someone murdered a persian longhair and placed it on their head.

#hotd #house of the dragon #house targaryen #aegon ii targaryen #baela targaryen #rhaena targaryen

[blackbyrenflowers]

The trailer looks good, and maybe it's just me, but the whole "Choose Your Side" marketing tactic that HBO's going with reminds me of their "For the Throne" marketing for season 8 with the posters of everyone sitting on the Iron Throne. You know, just in terms of adapting themes vis-a-vis petty things when compared to overall larger concerns.

#obviously its their job to hype it up #but it does just make me think #hotd #house of the dragon #game of thrones #got

[blackbyrenflowers]

The "Team Black" House of the Dragon trailer. Season releases June 16.

#team black #house of the dragon #rhaenyra targaryen #daemon targaryen #rhaenys targaryen #corlys velaryon #hotd #baela targaryen #Youtube

[blackbyrenflowers]

The "Team Green" House of the Dragon trailer. Season releases June 16.

#house of the dragon #team green #hotd #aegon ii targaryen #aemond targaryen #otto hightower #alicent hightower #criston cole #Youtube

[blackbyrenflowers]

(9) a son or a daughter.

'where's 'ned loves my hair?'' nowhere. you must choose.

#beric's was the worst #he cant remember who he was #or where he grew up #or the woman he was to marry #asoiaf #tumblr polls #beric dondarrion

[blackbyrenflowers]

Unusual Headcanons Ask Game!

Time for some unusual headcanons! These can be something that contradicts popular fanon, or just a character/area of canon people don't post about often.

Send me an emoji to hear an unusual headcanon about...

🐅 - Characterization: character habits, personality, etc. 🦄 - Characters' physical appearance. 💖 - Romantic relationships or ships. (This could be as simple as sharing a rareship you enjoy, or an unusual interpretation of a popular/canon ship!) 💛 - Familial relationships. 🕊️ - Platonic relationships (friends, enemies, etc). 🗡️ - Fighting styles/combat. ✨ - Worldbuilding or background story elements. 🍁 - Physical locations, flora & fauna. A note: this ask game is not meant to disparage popular fanon, only to share some less common interpretations! <3

#seems fun #ask game

[blackbyrenflowers]

Just like how the relationship of Aegon and Visenya is more interesting than the relationship of Aegon and Rhaenys (to me at least), I find Jaehaerys and Rhaena's relationship more interesting than Jaehaerys and Alysanne's.

I think it's quite clear that Jaehaerys cares about Rhaena. She's his sister, and he wants to make sure she's happy. Does she need a castle? He can get her a castle. All the castles are full? He'll build one from scratch for her. Oh, she wants Dragonstone instead? Okay, take it.

I feel like this kind of stumbles from Jaehaerys's earliest memories of her, before Aenys's death and Maegor's reign when everything was thrown into chaos - she was the one who put dragon eggs in his and Alysanne's cribs, the shy older sister who liked to play with puppies. He wants to pay back her affection, so he gives her whatever she asks for. He also wants her around: he asks her repeatedly to return to court to live with him and Alysanne, and even goes so far as to offer her a place on his small council to entice her - which she ultimately turns down.

The king suggested that she remain with them at court, even offering her a seat on his small council. That made his sister laugh. "Oh, brother, you sweet man, I fear you would not like any counsel I might offer."

Similarily, I think Rhaena's view of him is of the child he was before Maegor's reign. In her eyes he's still her younger brother, no matter how many people call him Jaeherys the Wise and Jaehaerys the Conciliator. Not in a cruel way, mind you - she might see him as naive, perhaps even a little foolish, but she still loves him. She turns down his offer of a seat on her small council not out of hatred, but because she knows he won't like the advice she gives.

Which I think is a shame, because she had some wise advice for him during the debate on how to treat Maegor's former supporters.

“They will cheer you as the crown is placed upon your head," [Rhaena] said, “as once they cheered our uncle, and before him our father.”

In a world where Rhaena accepted Jaehaerys's offer, it'd be rather interesting to see his early reign turned out. They'd certainly clash a few times, but I think she could offer him some useful insight. Of course, I don't think she would've ever really considered the offer. Even if they were like two peas in a pod and agreed on everything, what Rhaena seemed to desire most of all was her independence and autonomy (which is why I think she would've been absolutely miserable as a queen regnant, but that's for another time).

#jaehaerys i targaryen #rhaena targaryen #rhaena the black bride #asoiaf #fire and blood #valyrianscrolls #house targaryen #asoiaf meta

[blackbyrenflowers]

When you're a fremen kid walking around your home and there's a scary witch lady talking to her pregnancy about how she needs to "convert" you because you're weak

#dune #dune part 2 #jessica atreides #alia atreides