#i love being a dragonknight so much

[stheresya]

"I love him, Father, I truly truly do, I love him as much as Queen Naerys loved Prince Aemon the Dragonknight […]" (Sansa III, AGOT) “Wed?” Sansa was stunned. “You and my aunt?” “The Lord of Harrenhal and the Lady of the Eyrie.” You said it was my mother you loved. But of course Lady Catelyn was dead, so even if she had loved Petyr secretly and given him her maidenhood, it made no matter now. (Sansa VI, ASOS)

I find that these little passages reveal something interesting about sansa's personality. specially when you juxtapose how she's characterized in the text and her worldviews here, and how at first glance they may seem contradictory. but first, let's take two things into account:

the patriarchal society of westeros is very strict on women's sexuality. which means that not only is female virginity held in great value, but also female adultery is very firmly condemned by everyone, unlike men who are allowed to maintain public mistresses and flaunt their bastards everywhere.

sansa is characterized as the conformist, the one who internalizes her society's rules. she's very religious, she's a proper lady in every sense of the word and she often says and does exactly what she's told.

and yet, in these passages we can see that sansa does not care much about societal rules when it comes to intimate feelings. she often hails aemon and naerys' (supposed) forbidden love without a single care that queen naerys was bound by duty to a husband and aemon was meant to be loyal to his king. but most astonishing of all is her nonchalant response to petyr's (false) information that her mother was not a virgin when she married. on one hand it may speak on sansa's views towards women's sexuality, since her current friends (mya and randa) are girls who engage in sex out of wedlock, and she never judges them, just like she doesn't judge her mother for apparently doing the same, and catelyn continues to be the person she admires the most. sansa also doesn't view her parents' relationship any differently because of this, the marriage between ned and cat is still as happy as she remembers, because all that matters to her is that there was love in the home she grew up in. the thing about sansa's character is that she plays by the rules up until a certain point, but on the inside she always prioritizes emotion over societal norms, and that's why she looks more upset at petyr for marrying someone while claiming to love another, because in her mind he's being unfaithful to his heart by marrying out of practicality. we have examples that showcase sansa's prioritizing feelings in AGOT when she, the good daughter, disobeys her father for the first time because she thought she was in love with joffrey, and in ASOS where she never thinks she owes tyrion anything just because he's her husband. so it comes as no surprise that she's so infatuated with the love story of an adulterous and incestuous relationship like aemon and naerys'. one of the main themes in this series is that feelings don't care about honor. and if love is the death of duty then sansa seems more than happy to see duty killed for the sake of love.

of course this doesn't mean she'll stay that way, specially when she's already lost her so much of her innocence and is now tangled in petyr's schemes where she must set her own feelings aside in order to act on his plans. and despite her silent judgement of petyr marrying someone he didn't love, her current betrothal with harry is an entirely practical union on her part since she feels nothing for him and only sees him as a means to an end. there have been many instances since book 1 where she was able to turn off her feelings in order to withstand certain situations. so... what even is sansa's mind? an interesting universe on its own for sure.

I just think sansa's romanticism is one of her most interesting traits (for better and for worse), something that truly contributes to the distinctiveness of her character, and I really hope petyr or anyone else are unable to completely kill that in her.

#sansa stark #asoiaf #valyrianscrolls #meta

[ilargizuri]

How Jonsa will happen?

Most likely like Sansa predicted, in Book One:

"I love him, Father, I truly truly do, I love him as much as Queen Naerys loved Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, as much as Jonquil loved Ser Florian. I want to be his queen and have his babies."

In Case no one knows it, these love stories are inworld Songs about tragic and unfulfilled Love. Naerys was the Wife of Aegon IV and gave him Children, although she loved their Brother Aemon (according to this Song) and Jonquil and Ser Florian are Songs which are described as Sad in AFFC. So when Sansa says this in Book ONE, she thinks she is in Love with Joffrey, but given her relatively naive Outlook on Life, I would say she is more in Love with the thought of being in Love than with Joffrey.

I expect Jon and Sansa to happen with the realisation that their Love is not for the Best, in the middle of Winter, during a Food Crisis, with the Others on their Way, etc. And that won't miraculously change. And no, Daenerys won't be the solution to that problem, because what Jon and Sansa need is Food and/or Money, Daenerys has neither. So the best and easiest solution would be Marriage. Sansa marrying someone who can solve their problems, either someone with Money or someone with Food. The ideal would be both but in Westeros, there are either People indebted or soon will be indebted because Food will be needed and most likely will be bought.

And Sansa will marry someone, with one of these Things (I expect Littlefinger will be long dead by that point, so no luckily for all of us, this Creep won't be it) If Littlefinger dies without issue (because Sansa is revealed as Sansa stark and not Alayne Stone), it is most likely that Sansa will marry Sweet Robin, because, I think Harry the Heir will die, but Sweet robin will survive (mostly because Robin is the Reason that Baelish has Power in the Vale, not the Harding-Boy)

And because the Wall will be totally destroyed and never be rebuilt, Jon won't be at the Wall at the End of this Story, he most likely will become either Sansa's or Rikkon's Sworn Sword something similar to a Kingsguard. And what that means, I won't describe, but it will be very bitter-sweet. And Sansa will be in Love unfulfilled and married to someone else. And Jon will have his family back and only father Bastards, the very thing he never wanted to do.

#asoiaf #my thoughts #jonsa

[alaynasansa]

Her empathy

Sansa was too well bred to smile at her sister's disgrace

&

The rasping voice trailed off. He squatted silently before her, a hulking black shape shrouded in the night, hidden from her eyes. Sansa could hear his ragged breathing. She was sad for him, she realized. Somehow, the fear had gone away.

The silence went on and on, so long that she began to grow afraid once more, but she was afraid for him now, not for herself. She found his massive shoulder with her hand. “He was no true knight,” she whispered to him

&

Of course, Jeyne had been in love with Lord Beric ever since she had first glimpsed him in the lists. Sansa thought she was being silly ; Jeyne was only a steward's daughter, after all, and no matter how much she mooned after him, Lord Beric would never look at someone so far beneath him, even if she hadn't been half his age.

It would have been unkind to say so, however, so Sansa took a sip of milk and changed the subject

&

She had always imagined the Night's Watch to be men like Uncle Benjen. In the songs, they were called the black knights of the Wall. But this man had been crookbacked and hideous, and he looked as though he might have lice. If this was what the Night's Watch was truly like, she felt sorry for her bastard half brother, Jon

&

“I'm certain your father is well,” Sansa told her when she had finally gotten the dress buttoned right. “I'll ask the queen to let you see him.” She thought that kindness might lift Jeyne's spirits

&

Sansa dried her own tears as she struggled to comfort her friend. They went to sleep in the same bed, cradled in each other's arms like sisters

&

They all laughed then, Joffrey on his throne, and the lords standing attendance, Janos Slynt and Queen Cersei and Sandor Clegane and even the other men of the Kingsguard, the five who had been his brothers until a moment ago. Surely that must have hurt the most, Sansa thought. Her heart went out to the gallant old man as he stood shamed and red-faced, too angry to speak

&

Sansa heard herself gasp. “No, you can't.”

Joffrey turned his head. “What did you say ?”

Sansa could not believe she had spoken. Was she mad ? To tell him no in front of half the court ? She hadn't meant to say anything, only... Ser Dontos was drunk and silly and useless, but he meant no harm

&

Sansa found herself possessed of a queer giddy courage. “You should go with her,” she told the king. “Your brother might be hurt.”

Joffrey shrugged. “What if he is ?”

“You should help him up and tell him how well he rode.” Sansa could not seem to stop herself.

&

Prince Tommen sobbed. “You mew like a suckling babe,” his brother hissed at him. “Princes aren't supposed to cry.”

“Prince Aemon the Dragonknight cried the day Princess Naerys wed his brother Aegon,” Sansa Stark said, “and the twins Ser Arryk and Ser Erryk died with tears on their cheeks after each had given the other a mortal wound”

&

Halfway along the route, a wailing woman forced her way between two watchmen and ran out into the street in front of the king and his companions, holding the corpse of her dead baby above her head. It was blue and swollen, grotesque, but the real horror was the mother's eyes. Joffrey looked for a moment as if he meant to ride her down, but Sansa Stark leaned over and said something to him. The king fumbled in his purse, and flung the woman a silver stag

&

“I want the man who threw that !” he shouted. “A hundred golden dragons to the man who gives him up.”

“He was up there !” someone shouted from the crowd.

The king wheeled his horse in a circle to survey the rooftops and open balconies above them. In the crowd people were pointing, shoving, cursing one another and the king.

“Please, Your Grace, let him go,” Sansa pleaded.

&

“If I'm not betrayed by my own guards, I may be able to hold here for a time. Then I can go to the walls and offer to yield to Lord Stannis in person. That will spare us the worst. But if Maegor's Holdfast should fall before Stannis can come up, why then, most of my guests are in for a bit of rape, I'd say. And you should never rule out mutilation, torture and murder at times like these.”

Sansa was horrified. “These are women, unarmed, and gently born”

&

“I will remember, Your Grace,” said Sansa, though she had always heard that love was a surer route to the people's loyalty than fear

&

Sansa went to Ser Lancel and knelt beside him. His wound was bleeding afresh where the queen had struck him. “Madness,” he gasped. “Gods, the Imp was right, was right...”

“Help him,” Sansa commanded two of the serving men.

One just looked at her and ran, flagon and all. Other servants were leaving the hall as well, but she could not help that. Together, Sansa and the serving man got the wounded knight back on his feet. “Take him to Maester Frenken.” Lancel was one of them, yet somehow she still could not bring herself to wish him dead

&

The Hound had turned craven, she heard it said ; at the height of the battle, he got so drunk the Imp had to take his men. But Sansa understood. She knew the secret of his burned face. It was only the fire he feared

&

How can I let my sister marry Joffrey ? she thought, and suddenly her eyes were full of tears. “Margaery, please,” she said, “you mustn't.” It was hard to get the words out. “You mustn't marry him. He's not like he seems, he's not. He'll hurt you”

&

She did not want Margaery to suffer as she had, but she dreaded the thought that the Tyrells might refuse to go ahead with the wedding. I warned her, I did, I told her the truth of him. Perhaps Margaery did not believe her. Joff always played the perfect knight with her, as once he had with Sansa. She will see his true nature soon enough. After the wedding if not before. Sansa decided that she would light a candle to the Mother Above the next time she visited the sept, and ask her to protect Margaery from Joffrey's cruelty

&

When Sansa turned, the little man was gazing up at her, his mouth tight, his face as red as her cloak. Suddenly she was ashamed of her stubbornness

&

He is as frightened as I am, Sansa realized. Perhaps that should have made her feel more kindly toward him, but it did not. All she felt was pity

&

Sansa had been wary of Tyrion's squire at first ; he was a Payne, cousin to Ser Ilyn Payne who had taken her father's head off. However, she'd soon come to realize that Pod was as frightened of her as she was of his cousin

&

He had not been dead when she left the throne room. He had been on his knees, though, clawing at his throat, tearing at his own skin as he fought to breathe. The sight of it had been too terrible to watch, and she had turned and fled, sobbing

&

Robert did not need to know that, though. He was only a sick little boy who'd loved his mother

&

Robert had spindly arms and legs, a soft concave chest and little belly, and eyes that were always red and runny. He cannot help the way he is. He was born small and sickly. “You look very strong this morning, my lord.” He loved to be told how strong he was

&

A few moments later and the big man sprawled dazed in the dust with his helm askew. When his squire undid the fastenings to bare his head, there was blood trickling down his scalp. If the swords had not been blunted, there would be brains as well. That last head blow had been so hard Alayne had winced in sympathy when it fell

&

Ser Wallace reddened. “I am no more a s-squire, my lady. My n-nephew knows full well that I was k-k-kni-k-k-kni—”

“Dubbed ?” Alayne suggested gently.

“Dubbed,” said Wallace Waynwood, gratefully

&

After that Ser Roland Waynwood swept her up and made her laugh with mocking comments about half the other knights in the hall. His uncle Wallace took a turn as well and tried to do the same, but the words would not come. Alayne finally took pity on him and began to chatter happily, to spare him the embarrassment

Sansa Month 2023 : day thirty - your favorite sansa trait

#sansa stark #alayne stone #source: a game of thrones #source: a clash of kings #source: a storm of swords #source: a feast for crows #source: the winds of winter #sansamonth2023 #sansastarkappreciationfest2023

[ilynpilled]

also, in her converation with Ned, cersei outright TELLS him that Jaime would kill Robert if he knew how Robert abused her (fuck robert i hope he's rotting). and Robert knew it too which is why all his bruises were generally weren't on her face where people, specifically including Jaime, could see.

This is her exact quote: "Jaime would have killed him (Robert), even if it meant his own life"

that's probably one of the reasons why she doesn't tell him. she was in an awful, awful situation and it reflects the situation of so many other abuse victims across the world. it's not fair that she should have to keep this from her own family and worry about what her brother would do, but if he DIDN'T do anything...what kind of a person would he be? just look at Aemon the Dragonknight as a prime example

regarding this post: link

yeah thats the quote they refused to take at face value when almost everything about his characterization indicates that it would be the case.

i think when it comes to the discussions of much of this the dissonance comes from not confronting that this society refuses to acknowledge marital rape as rape. i do not have the quote at hand (@/georgescitadel might have it) but george himself has expressed that marital rape as a concept doesnt exist in medieval society. that is why it makes sense that while jaime is aware that robert “claimed his rights”, he does not recklessly murder him for it in rage unless cersei gives the word (again, we already know he is ready to do it after he sees that robert is disrespecting her by cheating on her and proceeds to ask her if she wants him dead for it. but like you pointed out, cersei understands that if he saw evidence of physical abuse he likely would not ask for permission and potentially get himself killed.) this is because arranged marriages are treated as a norm in which conjugal rape and a man claiming his rights is not really acknowledged or understood (more like confronted tbh) as rape. this is an integral aspect of the patriarchal domination thats present in westerosi society, its woven into its very fabric. women are placed into a role of subordination, again, it is robert’s “right.” and jaime too is unable to conceptualize it as sexual abuse on the level of rape. hence we get quotes like this:

like we know and understand that cersei was repeatedly raped by robert. we know she didnt make anyone kill her. we know what jaime is saying and thinking here is inconsistent and makes little sense if he believes that she was raped.

that other passage suggests that jaime does not fully grasp or know this. and in general society doesn’t for the most part, including most of the victims themselves. “claiming his rights” is not referred to as rape. robert also knows that what he is doing is wrong, especially the part where he is hurting her (theres also the layer of the code of chivalry being completely contradicted), but he refuses to confront it in multiple ways, and i dont think even he fully acknowledges it as rape either even though i refuse to believe that he is not aware of it. cersei’s right to label him a coward. same with ned in that very conversation, he even sees and knows that robert physically hit her, heard her say that she can scarcely bear him touching her, and yet he asks: “a thousand other women might have loved him with all their hearts. what did he do to make you hate him so?”, and cersei also doesn’t give the answer: “he repeatedly raped me.” jaime understands rape as terrible, he shows concern towards brienne, and risks personal harm (and gets it too since he is kicked unconscious because of it) saving her from it, and it is an act driven by empathy, and he even ironically acknowledges that rape can leave someone broken in a way that does not show on the outside. he executes pia’s rapist too, sets a precedent among his father’s men, and recognizes that she’s “scarred” where it does not show: “That’s all she is, a little girl in a woman’s body, scarred and scared.”

and re the present: while i have a sympathy for jaime in the sense that the betrayal that he was confronted with shatters the delusion that he made immense sacrifices for and defined most of his life atp, and the fact that it makes him feel that he was not actually loved by her as well as recontextualizing his most horrible decisions, he should be showing more consideration and empathy (and i am not saying that he is obligated to die for her either. he isnt) and put in the effort to actually place himself in cersei’s shoes and navigate these blindspots that he has (he has the capacity to, again: “they will leave her a cripple too, but inside, where it does not show”). right now, he is extremely bitter, violently even, and can be selfish and misogynistic as hell about it, and i obviously believe that that is something that has to be recognized by readers for what it is.

but still, regarding the rest, i also think ppl dont acknowledge that because of how medieval society operates there is a very skewed perspective and understanding of certain things and how that affects characters. even with rhaella, jaime is disturbed by the physical abuse:

like he doesnt use the word rape like he does with brienne and the bloody mummers, but he obviously hears and sees that the abuse thats happening to rhaella is horrid and hurts her, and feels a need/obligation to protect her. this is why it is not inconsistent at all that jaime would recklessly murder robert without “permission” even if it meant his own life if he saw evidence of physical abuse, but does not do the same for the marital rape/him claiming his rights. in this society it is not viewed as a violation of rights because women do not really have these rights in these circumstances. their purpose is to marry and bear children. rape is mostly understood and recognized as “low born criminals violently raping women”, “knights and soldiers violently raping women when their blood is up” etc, not “nobles in marriages raping their wives when they claim their rights”, or “coerced rape occurring every time nobles use brothels” etc.

and, as you may have noticed, there’s a strong “you’re hurting me” motif with all of this, because no matter what westerosi society normalizes to maintain patriarchal hegemony, it is obviously all an utter violation of human rights that deals immense harm and trauma to women.

#ask #cw rape #cw domestic abuse

[seoness]

(18+) Childhood Sweethearts

NSFW | (Book!) Sandor Clegane x Fem!Reader | Requested | Headcanon

This post does not contain explicit sex scenes, but uses explicit language and therefore is marked NSFW. Also, I've never written Headcanon... I tried to understand what it was so if I'm writing something completely different... A thousand apologies!!! I tried!

Question: I couldn't resist the urge to request Sandor hc because I absolutely adore him in your writing. Could I possibly request Sandor with reader? Maybe they were childhood sweethearts or best friends, but before "the burn" they were separated. They met much later when Sandor became the King's dog. How would Clegane react to his past friend if he still had feelings for them? Would he avoid them, would he try to frighten them, or would he desire to resurrect a forgotten friendship (or even love)? The reader can be any gender you want (the same applies to Sandor: he can be the book-version of Sandor or show-version, which one you like more)

First of all, thank you! I am so happy you enjoy my depiction of the Hound! I will be going with the book version since it leaves me with the most canon material to work with. So let's break this down.

But there's something we need to answer first.

Who are you?

Who would be able to survive being Sandor Clegane's childhood sweetheart? Who would you need to be because having Sandor's affection would make Gregor want to break you above everything else?

Pretext: Sandor tells Sansa in the books that he was about six or seven when he was burnt, and Gregor is five years older than him, making him about eleven or twelve. We know he was a squire at the time, a force in the yard, already six feet tall (about 180 cm) and muscled like an ox. Servants aren't safe around him. The larger noble houses wouldn't pay the Cleganes much mind seeing as they are such a small and - more importantly - young house.

You are the sole child to a successful merchant. Your family made its riches on providing the nobility of the Seven Kingdoms with luxuries from the east. The Clegane lands are not far from Lannisport and your father's estate is on their border. The Cleganes were and are by no means rich. To fund his house Gregor Clegane tourneyed. The late Lord Clegane must have faced similiar issues and forging a bond with a rich merchant would have been to his benefit just as it would have been for a merchant hoping to have his family marry into nobility. You might have been baseborn but your upbringing was on par with any lady. A generous donation to the Motherhouse of Lannisport afforded you a septa, and while you didn't have a maester to tutor you, the many cunning minds willing to spare their time for gold did.

But doesn't the Mountain have a horrible history with women? How could a girl survive him?

Far better than a boy of similar stature.

As a boy you would have been expected to interact with the Mountain far more, to spar in the yard, to ride with him, each an opportunity for one of the mysterious "accidents" that surrounded young Gregor to occur...

A girl of your standing would never have been left alone with someone of the other sex not of her own blood. Your shield would have been the skirt of your septa and mother. At feasts, you would have been forced to sit beside Gregor, but it had one upside. You sat close to your best friend. Sandor never spoke to you while Gregor was near, he never said much of anything then, it was so different from the boy that would come to the edge of your estate. Your very own knight. Ser Sandor Clegane was as gallant as Ser Florian and as faithful as the Dragonknight. Every quest you sent him on, he fulfilled. Your septa allowed it, the harmless play of children.

Before Sandor Clegane was sworn sword to the Crown Prince, he was yours. Shielding his lady and her septa as you explored the strange forest surrounding the manse. The dagger in his belt had made your septa nervous, but Sandor never allowed you to play with it.

Only once did the two of you fight. You had picked up a stick for a sword, and no sooner did Sandor break it in two, cursing underneath his breath. How wide-eyed the boy had become as you burst out crying. A crying that turned to a wail as your septa slapped his cheeks red.

The morning after, he had watched you from the edge of the forest. Sandor never said he was sorry, just shoved a basket of blackberries in your hands and ran away.

The next day your game started anew. He would make offerings, more blackberries, and pretty flowers. Sandor guarded you against the vile Lord Frog of the pond and built an armada of ships to send down the rushing creek.

Your septa prepared you for life ahead, for a time when you'd be grown but Sandor made you want to stay a child forever.

Then one day, your knight never returned...

You tried to find him. Running away into the forest in search of your knight, but one of the servants or your father's guards always caught you. It wasn't like you'd find the Clegane Keep on your own. So you called out from your window like all the princesses in the songs but your knight never answered.

It didn't matter how much you cried or screamed when your mother told you the manse would no longer be your home. Not even Father listened to you as you made your case. He didn't realize, so stupid and old. How couldn't he understand that a lady was to wait in her castle for her knight to return?

"Look around you, little one. I have not been able to afford us this life from lacking to see what the future holds and no good shall come to us from staying. Those that clammer to investment no longer worth it, die with it."

You wouldn't understand those words for a long time.

Until you met again...

You were a memory, and no matter how much Sandor Clegane tried to will it away, you remained.

The boy who believed in knights and their holy vows hadn't died the day his face was raked through the burning coals. He too lingered, hoping against hope, but Rhaegar Targaryen put him out of his misery the day he tapped his sword on Gregor's shoulders. About bloody time. But you? You somehow fucking survived.

He only wallowed in the memories you made together when drunk. They were just about the only good he had from his childhood, but time had left them hazy, only flickers in his mind. You had played songs to him, ones your septa taught you on the lyre, but your tiny fingers had difficulty plucking the strings just right. Each slanted note made your nose scrounge up, and your cheeks burn redder still, and Seven Hells how you glared as he had giggled. The fool of a boy who'd thought he'd be the luckiest sod that ever was if you would hold his hand and explode if you pecked his cheek.

The man's fingers ran over the twisted skin, scratching as if it rid him of the mark. Sucking at his teeth, the Hound would fill himself another cup of wine.

Drunker still, he'd imagine himself another life, one where Gregor was never born, one where his father had you sitting next to him at feasts. With time, he'd have mustered the courage to hold that hand and earn that sweet little kiss; with time, he'd grow to want more. He wouldn't be like those Lord Husbands that took his prick to everything that moved. He'd treated you right.

As long as the wine doesn't sour in his stomach, you'll be a dream for an evening... but the Hound is the Hound, and it usually ends with cursing your existence. What does your life look like now? Wedded to some merchant prince? Bet you never think of him. Not that you'd recognize him now, you'd look the other way as everyone else. He's no song.

In the evenings you bother his mind the most he'll seek an escape. He'll tumble dice if whoring and drinking don't do the trick. Not to win, the Hound waits for anyone to cheat, and King's Landing never lacked in that regard. A good excuse as any to hit someone.

All hail King Joffrey Baratheon, the first of his name!

The first day of Joff holding court was for the nobles, those daring to swear fielty. Petty lords and ladies hoping to curry favor by being first, and every other sent some vassal. The Hound had gone to Joffrey's side by the throne that day as a sworn sword, and on the second, he stood beside his King a Kingsguard. A white cloak hung heavy from his shoulders, but the rest would be the same. Those not born of noble blood were to present their new King with gifts.

And there you were... A ghost, a lost friend to a boy long dead.

Sandor kept you in the corner of his eye. He could see the east on you. The layers of light linen peaking out underneath the myrish silk dress, its wrapping kept close by golden clasps. So he wasn't off on his predictions. You belonged to some merchant prince, didn't you? Made one of the Free Cities your home? Bravos? Myr? Qohor?

Damn this, damn you. He wanted to look away, twist so you'd not see the burn as you walked towards the throne with your servants in tow. Couldn't do that. Couldn't care. You were no one, for fuck sake, it wasn't like he knew you. Not really. He knew the girl you'd once been. You were grown now. You'd probably gotten as rotten as the rest of them.

You offered your gifts, bowed, and said your pleasantries. It was unnerving. He heard the remnants of the girl that had once offered him an escape in your voice.

The Hound's stomach churned. 'You repulsive cunt. How kind the world has been to you'. His mouth twitched as your eyes met. You should have stayed wherever the fuck you'd been hiding all these years.

After he was free of his duties, Sandor didn't stay long enough to be handed new ones, marching through the halls of the Red Keep and set on locking himself in his sleeping cell of the White Sword Tower. He reached its door before the thought struck.

This was a blessing. He'd kill you. The boy you had dubbed a knight was long dead, and you needed to die too. The memories of you were a weakness. Every morn after you had slithered your way into his mind the eve before, Sandor felt like shit. Bugger that, bugger you.

Sandor's new brothers of the Kingsguard didn't dare question or stop him when he barked that he'd take leave for the evening.

One fool makes another...

The Red Keep wouldn't be where you slept for the night but it wasn't hard to figure out where it be. Those that had the gold but were denied room atop Aegon's Hill, clambered to the hills of either Visenya or Rhaenys. Anything that would take them up from the streets below and the stench of urine, horse manure, and vomit.

It had gone late into the night when the Hound walked up one of the many streets of Rhaenys Hill, the ruins of the Dragonpit towering high above.

"Sandor!"

No one called him that. No one dared. Yet there you stood on one of the balconies overlooking the street below, the woman he was to ruin, smiling and waving...

You didn't cower behind the railing, no you were the fool that invited him inside. Made his work easy for him, he'd enter and you'd get yourself a good look.

A servant, his common broke heavily in the Myrish tongue, opened the door and guided him to the upper floor. The door was not even fully opened before you offered wine.

Might as well, it'd be easier work if drunk.

It was no wine sink, no cheap wine that cut like vinegar on one's tongue. Pale green nectar wine from Myr was too sweet for his taste, but a smooth Lyseni red lingered in his mouth. What fool of a woman you were, even made getting drunk easy.

You drank as well, your cheeks as red as the ones he remembered when you had played on the lyre. The memory slipped out. Shouldn't have, and you quickly picked up where he stopped.

Did you think them sweet words? Telling him that you hadn't known, that you had run off into the forest again and again to find him.

"I always wondered what happened to my knight," you said. "Not a knight," Sandor rasped, gaze locked on his cup. "Well, you were mine. I knighted you, do you reme-" He silenced you with a glare. This was it. He'd make you weep. You laid by some cushions on a seat, talking and drinking. Trying to fill the awkward silence that had risen. How quiet you became as he rose, walking past the table filled with flagons of wine, cheeses, and roasted nuts. Looming above... You were so close, your scent made his nose scrounge. Just needed to open his mouth. Find some curse, some insult, something to make those eyes wide and teary. Your face softened and a smile spread across your lips. "How much you've grown," you whispered. 'What?' Your gaze wandered to the side of his face, where fire had eaten away at his flesh. "Does it hurt?" "No." Your hands cupped his cheeks. "The Sandor I knew could have died from joy had he known he'd become a Kingsguard... I'm glad you're still here," the smile turned crooked, "even if you're no longer my blackberry knight." "Blackberry?" "What else?" you laughed. "I was seven, you cannot judge me too harshly."

Sandor doesn't return to the White Sword Tower for the night.

Conclusion

Sandor's instinct would be to avoid a childhood sweetheart but if unable to, he'll spiral and become hostile.

Self-sabotage in abundance.

The man is far from easy to court but the shared past will quicken the pace of your relationship's progress.

...was this headcanon??

#sandor clegane #sandor clegane x reader

[visenyaism]

Which Daeron is your fav

It’s SO hard to decide. In the same way that all targs named Viserys are the worst and all the ones named Daemon are insane, Daeron is like the varsity targaryen name i can’t pick so i’ll talk about all of them.

Daeron the Daring being a very nice and polite young teen who happened to also be the worlds’ bestest child soldier and team green’s normalest member because he simply does not like jake and luke for normal personality reasons. Tessarion kind of carried though. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Young Dragon’s immediate and cataclysmic flop is something to be studied for sure. Son of the king with lifelong trauma from watching his entire family die in a war at a very young age deciding at age 14 that he is so so desperate for glory that he wants to start a war with Dorne and he’s murdered by his own allies. He’s Jon Snow’s favorite targaryen, which makes me sad.⭐️⭐️

Daeron the Good makes me even more sad. Grew up with a supervillain predator father and a super withdrawn anxious hyperreligious mother and uh. whatever was going on with aemon the dragonknight i know he was a freak. And Daeron still put so much effort into being good and kind and trying to break the cycle. Doing right by his bastard siblings and taking some of them in himself, making peace with Dorne which led to a happy marriage and it still all just ended in terrible tragedy. it’s so sad. no one could’ve fixed it he was always doomed. rip king⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Daeron the Drunken being an Aegon II/Helaena fusion of a person is really cool. Like he’s actively trying and failing to use literally anything to run away from the prophetic dreams and narrative doom surrounding him when he himself knows it’ll never work. No notes this is a good concept ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Daeron son of Egg was a nice kid. Not his fault he wanted to skip out on his betrothal to Olenna to run away into the sunset with his knight bf. He just wanted to be happy and break the cycle but the wheel eventually crushed them all. Points for Aegon V canonically legalized gay marriage so that he could marry for love which was very cool of him. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

#asoiaf #all the daerons being MEGATRAGIC….. because they were all good kids who tried to make things better #and just got sucked in by the Doom

[corviids]

also just marveling at your big brain - saera and viserys ii also having a son named aegon iv (after viserys’ brother) and aemon (after saera’s beloved kepa). I CANNOT RN!!!! sobbing forever

i’ve known since i started flesh without blood that i wanted my gilded lilies universe to fall back in line with canon so when i made the connection on how i could still make aegon iv, naerys, and aemon the dragonknight happen,,, lemme tell you anon i got myself excited 😭

especially cuz in canon, the only important one of aegon iii’s kids lineage wise is daena (cuz she’s daemon blackfyre’s mother) which meant i could use daeron the young dragon since he never ends up being king in canon so him having a bloodline doesn’t matter in gilded lilies (since he’s not in the line of succession)

i love writing but one of my fave things that i get to do because of it is play around with family trees and relationships. it’s some fun to try and make logical, “canon-esque” decisions while still getting to have fun with it. i basically started all of gilded lilies as a challenge for myself to see how much i could change by making lucemond the main bloodline while still not changing TOO much. it’s like a fun, nerdier puzzle for me and my hyperfixation lol

#asks

[amethysttribble]

Im sorry if this bothers you, but i was thinking about Jae and Alys parenting today, mostly in terms of saera and viserra, so what's your take on Feanors reaction to that whole thing in Everlasting Song. Like does he agree with their tactics (probably not...) or what? I really enjoyed your work and routinely rotate it in my head pretty much every single day.

AND NOW I have been rotating this question in my mind since you sent to me yesterday, thinking... considering... what a really great question, this isn't a bother AT ALL! It is my absolute pleasure to try and give an answer.

Feanor's take on Jaeherys and Alysanne's parenting, WHAT a thought. Now that I've cracked open the question of Feanor's historiographical takes, I'm tempted to have something like 'A History of House Targaryen, a Commentary by Ser Feanor Blackfyre' or something such floating around, the idea amuses me so much. You know Gyldayn hates it, if it exists.

But, okay, okay, let's think on this. Feanor would have grown up with a very traditionalist kind of education about the Targaryen monarchs. In text, basically everyone admires and thinks well of Jaehaerys and I believe Feanor would have been taught to admire him as well. And then Summerhall and Jaehaerys II.

I think his uncle being Jaehaerys the Second contributes a lot to Feanor's thought processes in regards to his historical evaluations, as he starts to read the histories more deeply. The comparison is natural.

I think he first goes, 'wait' when reading about the marriages Jaehaerys I and (and to and extent Alysanne) forced on his daughters and connects the dots to Rhaella and Aerys, neither of whom wanted to marry the other and got married really, really young, something Feanor is perfectly capable of realizing even at like twelve has been extremely bad for the both of them. I think every time he reads about one of Aerys's daughters, he thinks of Rhaella- Rhaella who isn't 'headstrong' like J&A's 'troublesome' daughters (who are almost described as evil by Gyldayn, it's so uncomfortable, not sure I agree with that writing choice), but suffers just as much, even as she does everything right

And Feanor, during JII's reign, is also feeling trapped and controlled and /unloved/ by someone who should love him, no, I bet he feels a great deal of sympathy for Viserra and Saera. Like, I'm sorry my life and my living of it makes you uncomfortable; I'm sorry it's inconvenient; sorry I'm here at all.

So, yeah, I don't think Feanor is primed to admire Jaeherys once he gets to the Citadel and then all bets are off.

I think once he starts studying, he notices what many people noticed while reading Fire and Blood, which is that most of J's good deeds are really Alysanne and Barth's good deeds that he signed off on. His respect for Jaehaerys dips lower. That being said, I don't think he's particularly in love with Alysanne's parenting style either.

Feanor grew up in an environment where, well, as Barristan says "all of King Aegon's children married for love." And the text makes clear that Aegon and Betha being permissive, loving parents causes serious problems for the realm, but Feanor's not likely to acknowledge that if even recognizes it. I think he believes that Alysanne prioritizing marrying her young daughters to 'safe' older men from her pool of friends to be selfish and short-sighted, at best.

I think in all things, when evaluating other people as parents, he compares them to his parents, who he /idolizes/ until the day he dies. And Alysanne and Jaehaerys come up wanting. Jaehaerys doesn't come off looking like a particularly great king either.

And those are my preliminary thoughts! This sent me down a rabbit hole, though, I can't help thinking- what did Feanor think of Aemon the Dragonknight? And what did that make him think of himself

#thank you so much for this! #I was so !!!! when I saw this ask #I LOVE talking about this story so thank you for the opportunity to ponder #ask #everlasting song #tribble post

[horizon-verizon]

"GRRM said Nettles is Karma and Redemption to Daemon. She frees him from his obsession with his blood cause she debunks his beliefs."

Wtf?! When did George say that?! Never to my knowledge. And stop with this delirium of blood obsession from Daemon! It comes out of nowhere! He was never obsessed with it! He was going to recognize his child with Mysaria! The simple fact that he had a long-lasting relationship with Mysaria proves it! He accepted the children of Rhaenyra who are not pure Targaryen! He avenged Lucerys' death himself twice! He was never a blood purist! NETTLES NEVER RELEASED HIM FROM THAT! I've had it up to here !

This is the first time I ever heard anyone claim GRRM say this.

However, I will say that Daemon absolutely would have had pride in his Targ/dragonrider/aristocratic/royal "blood". It's part of the reason why he doesn't want Rhea Royce and was fine with marrying Laena. And him in HotD, him saying to Viserys that he wishes to bring the house to its former glory by marrying Rhaenyra? Rhaenyra is also very much a Targaryen/Targ princess with the fire of the ideal Targ/dragonrider. That's a big reason why Daemon is attracted to her and vice versa. And yes, most of the Targs before Daenerys have the similar blood purist ideologies (or developed mindsets much more inspired by such after the Targs assimilated into Andal culture) as other Andal/FM descent lords. Rhaenyra is not an exception (Twitter), and since I already told how Daemon figures into that, Daemon also has his own purist notions.

You are also correct in that Daemon was very much willing to take Mysaria's child as his own. Though Mysaria was from Lys (a Valyrian settlement-turned-Free City), their child was going to be a bastard. Concerning his stepsons, they are Rhaenyra's sons and all proved to be dragonriders -- that would have helped Daemon accept and then love them until it was only love.

So I still wouldn't call Daemon's concern with blood an "obsession" so much as him being passionate about Targ power resting in their ability to ride and control dragons, which itself is proven to be a trait passed down through reproduction. Nettles is a glaring exception (if we cannot prove she somehow isn't a bastard from a random Velaryon or Targaryen).

Rather there are two dominant theories as to how Daemon ever came to care for Nettles:

she is is his bastard daughter from his trysts before marrying Rhaenyra (Nettles was 17, and Daemon was married to Rhaenyra for about 10 years)

in the beginning, her being a not so "obvious" Targ, he wanted to find out about her ancestry if she was really a Targ bastard, and if not try to see how she bonded with Sheepstealer enough and thus learn one way how his own ancestors bonded FIRST approached dragons (the ones who had no bond at all with them), him being disconnected from that history with the Doom and the hundreds of years between that and the true beginning of Valyria; then him being impressed with her bravery and loyalty (she cried tears over Jace's death and could have been close with Addam and Alyn)

There are other theories as to why: she reminds him of his own daughters, especially Baela (even in the book) for her character and determination and bravery; the infamous romantic/sexual/sexing up "maidens" angle.

Daemon is a family-is-power/power-is-family man and love is also a huge factor in how he values family. They are interwoven inside his psychology. He gets some of his validation from their belief in his skills and his willingness to protect them from competitors and enemies (which in turn defines his perception of them and their ruling capabilities). Very much a Brynden Rivers, Visenya, Baelon the Spring Prince, Viserys II, Aemon the Dragonknight.

#asoiaf asks to me #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #daemon's characterization #fire and blood characters #daemon and nettles #nettles #nettles' characterization #fire and blood #daemon and nettles shipping #grrm #george rr martin

[shiesie]

When I was reading ASoIaF for the first time and Petyr was introduced and I immediately started vibing with him, and I loved how nice he was to Sansa and how much attention he gave her, and how he actually seemed to respect her and cared about her in ways that Ned didn’t and I was so excited that she was gonna get a better father figure and -

perhaps my being so drawn to him speaks to my own daddy issues

But now, I’m no longer a lonely thirteen year old desperately clinging to the idea that the weird fictional man won’t be a weirdo and all I want is for Sansa to commit an entirely justified murder

(or have Jon kill him for her in a grand, romantic, chivalrous gesture to save her and be her Aemon the Dragonknight for real - I’m not exactly picky)

#sansa stark #petyr baelish #my ramblings

[crysdrawsthings]

So, I guess I am finally making a bit of an explanation about Deer's story and antics. Mostly the basics, but with some bits about the wilder side of things.

As tradition goes, warning - cringe.

Who on Nirn is Deer?

Deer is, well, Deer. More specifically Deer is Lanaraume. And Lanaraume is a minor altmer noble from Auridon, who after coming of age decided to pursue an adventuring career and join Undaunted, to the mutual "well, whatever makes you happy" of her parents.

Gifted with a natural affinity for it, she by this point started to develop her dragonknight abilities, otherwise being a pretty normal spellsword.

Personality-wise she is rather cheerful, comparably easy-going, very curious, and on the overall has the personality of an excitable puppy with a pinch of social anxiety. With the caveat of her also being very into the whole adventuring and honing her fighting abilities.

Deer the Vestige

Some time later, Deer, after already receiving more formal training and further delving into the whole dragonknight thing, find herself sacrificed to Molag Bal by Man of Marco, everyone's beloved necromancer. Well, that sucked.

So, upon clawing her way out of Coldharbour she got a serious beef with the Worm Cult and also a rather useful ability to defy death. But a notable lack of soul and overuse of dragonknight abilities affecting her physical form much more then previously. Not to mention foggy memories and the rest.

Nonetheless, she makes it her first longterm goal to get back at the Worm Cult, Mannimarco and Molag Bal. Which leads her on a series of fun adventures and plenty of opportunities to apply some extreme violence to the abovementioned parties.

Deer the Bodyguard

Well, of course she is not focusing solely on this for the next several years that it takes. She also gets a job! Or more precisely, gets immediately roped into being a Queen's Eye after crawling out of the sea.

One thing after the other over several month, including her becoming besties with a bosmer called Stabby (and also becoming Deer in the process) she and Stabby find themselves tossed into complicated Dominion politics. Deer specifically assigned to be Naemon's bodyguard after all these assassination attempts on Ayrenn. You know, just in case.

Skipping on the finer details of Deer's hopeless pinning for now, she makes some friends, alongside Stabby (who becomes the new Green Lady) helps out during the whole Dominion storyline, reconnects with her Undaunted buddies, and by this point probably reaches the point where her dragonknight talents mostly stop evolving further.

Deer the Dumbass in Love

Okay, let's talk about the ship. Ship that Stabby was sailing before anyone else did. As a fun background to the whole world-saving heroics there is also romance subplot. I don't won't to go into the whole unreasonably specific amount of details about how, but Deer and Naemon end up marrying eventually. In bullet-point format it goes kind of like this:

Several month later after the events on the Khenarthi's Roost Deer is assigned to be Naemon's bodyguard. They more or less get along rather nicely. Deer is hopelessly pinning in the background, Stabby is making angry bosmer noises.

About half a year later Estre is revealed to be the Veiled Queen and after her attempt to destroy Auridon promptly killed by Deer and Stabby. Which resulted in the expected and collectively agreed upon Deer's transfer to do something else, because the situation got awkward enough already

Around a whole year later the ratification ceremony for Ayrenn is being set up and Deer ends up working with Naemon again. Very awkward situation, yes. Stabby succeeds in making it even more awkward as do several long-expected cases of sibling drama between Ayrenn and Naemon. But at least the ceremony went along smoothly.

Unfortunately for Stabby who is trying to sail her ship of two emotionally stunted altmer, who just got back to the "friendly colleagues" point, this is where Veiled Heritance (now led by Pelidil) in their last attempt to be relevant to the plot kidnap Naemon. All around bad move.

After this little issue is dealt with (Deer finally gets to punch Pelidil!) Deer is back in her bodyguard role, Naemon is back to his beloved papers and political duties, and a month or so later they start dating, sort of. Stabby can finally rest and go do her Stabby stuff in peace.

Deer the Boziikkodstrun's New Best Friend

Okay, back on the topic of Deer and her vengeance towards Worm Cult, Man of Marco and Molag Bal. And stopping the Planemeld, I guess.

Thankfully, convincing Three Alliances to stop killing each other for a hot minute and help out with Planemeld was not that hard, and so Deer ended up among the group sent back to Coldharbour to beat some daedra up. Mostly in accordance to how it happens in the ESO things go more or less okay and Prophet uses the recovered Amulet of Kings to imbue Vestige with enough loaned power to whack Molag Bal around like a chew toy.

The one major difference would be that Molag Bal sends Boziikkodstrun, the first Daedric Titan and before this a captured dragon, to stop the Vestige. It doesn't work out, Titan is defeated, but due to the whole Amulet-empoverment thing some bits of his broken soul stick with Deer.

Congratulations, new disembodied buddy acquired. Funnily enough his influence and draconic nature kickstarting some more useful changes in Deer's dragonknight abilities. And after some time also provided her with a situationally talkative ancient dragon, reminiscing of his good old days of being treated as a living god.

Deer and her other fun antics

Completed the challenge of the Maestrom Arena and got a really cool glaive-like weapon out of it.

Is a reason why Deer's Diplomatic Disaster Bingo exists.

Moved to Alinor, finally got officially married, put a giant dragon statue in the backyard, hated by the HOA.

Kept in touch with represenative of other Alliances, whom she met while stopping Planemeld and greatly contributed to the Three Banner War slowly coming to a halt.

Did stuck her nose into every single dungeon on the list. Bullied several other Daedric Princes into leaving Nirn the hell alone.

Became a mother. Once via adoption, once in the regular way.

Have I mentioned that she got officially married to Naemon? She did. She also survived the Ordeal (tm) which is the official marriage in Alinor when royals are involved.

Found new fun stuff to do with her, empowered by Boziikkodstrun's soul, dragonknight abilities. Also started growing scales and horns in addition to already present fangs and claws

Overall has a pretty chill life spiced up by adventuring, exploring dungeons and showing up for important social events

Deer and the Tiber Wars

Now, this one would require some explanation. Which is what this post is about, but still.

Let's call the events of Elsweyr Chapter a turning point between two timelines.

Should they not happen we are talking about Timeline A, which is a Bad OG Timeline. In this timeline Deer happily lives and very unhappily dies while trying to stop Numidium from sacking Summerset, this leading the story to the events of Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim. And especially to Elanor ascending to become new Alduin.

Who then proceeds to abuse her privileges to enact one final act of trolling upon an upstart human god. Namely traveling alongside the threads of time to gaslight, gatekeep and girbloss events of Elsweyr into happening, thus creating Timeline B, The Good Updated one.

Which is notable for the fact that exposure to the Core of Jode and Aeonstone, as well as Mask of Alkosh is just what a doctor would have ordered for Boziikkodstrun's soul to finally heal and thus lend a hand (paw?) with a few last nifty abilities, including at long last complete transformation into an angry winged magic lizard and a Thundercloud Form for it.

Which, you guessed it, helps in breaking down Numidium and tearing out it's power core. But it is a whole another story.

Anyway, remember kids, it is always moral and right to punch Tiber in the face.

#tes #the elder scrolls #eso #elder scrolls online #vestige #deer the altmer #i love her dearly she is my beloved mary sue #crysandthings

[arosysoiaf]

Aemond? Why not Aemon?

There is litterally no other characters named Aemond mentioned in Westerosi history. 

I wonder how high-born names get communicated to the smallfolk or even the Citadel. Like, after a birth, does the castle Maester document the name and send it off to the Citadel and then the Citadel stores it in an epic genealogy super project? I know that after a wedding, or birth, locations like Kingslanding will have tourneys and feasting, but the names of whom is being celebrated isn't exactly written across banners. So how does a standard spelling take hold?

For instance, I look at a name like Aemond Targaryen, and I wonder who decided to add that extra “D.” A bit of tinfoil: He was initially just Aemon Targaryen, but, because of his brutal Maegor levels of bullshit, the maesters decided to differentiate him with an extra "D." Further, I suspect that Alicent named all her kids on her own and was maybe guessing about the appropriate Valyrian names and spelling. Her eldest was Aegon, of course, a greatest hit (note that two of her grandkids are named after Jaehaerys). Her second son was Aemond, named after her husband’s beloved uncle, Aemon. She and the maesters added a “d” in ignorance…or simply as a Westerosi spin on an old classic. Her other two children have what I'd consider regular real-world names. By the time of their births, Alicent had perfected the process by adding the Valyrian extra vowels to names. Daren and Helena becomes Daeron and Helaena.

Think about the other Aemons. Aemon, the rider of Caraxes and son of Jaehaerys the Conciliator, was a beloved prince and respected warrior. When he died, it was a great tragedy as described by the Maesters in Fire and Blood.

After Aemond; his half-sister's grandson, Aemon the Dragonknight, becomes celebrated and sung about as one of the most chivalrous and exciting knights in recent memory.

We don't know much about Aemon Blackfyre. He's more of an anecdote in the story of his father, Daemon Blackfyre. During the first Blackfyre Rebellion, Daemon is talked about as manifesting the warrior himself; a Faith of the Seven knightly concept. He was respected and embodied the general masculine unrest in the Lordly class. Even though Daemon was the focal point of a bloody rebellion, no one can bring themselves to say a single negative thing about Daemon, and, when he fell to his half-brother's arrows, his son, Aemon, carried his father's sword, Blackfyre, until he in turn got porcupined by his uncle. It's a tragic story of a son taking on his father’s burdens only to be cut down far too young.

The last Aemon was the third son of King Maekar Targaryen. He rejected the crown, and it passed to his brother, Aegon V. Aemon kept his vows to the Citadel and the Night's Watch as a maester and a Black Brother. The realm doesn't remember him, but he had some influence over Rhaegar and then later, presumably, Rhaegar's son, Jon Snow. Readers know him well enough, and my favorite theory is that Jon's original name was in fact Aemon. It would be neat if the one Targaryen that Jon gets to meet is in fact his name’s sake, but there's a duel meaning behind it because as a child Jon loved and pretended to be Aemon the Dragonknight while Robb pretended to be his liege, King Daeron the Young Dragon. ***Nervous laughter*** GRRM, FINISH YOUR BOOKS!!!

#asoiaf #got #game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #hotd #house of the dragon #fire and blood #fire & blood #aemond targaryen #aemon targaryen #jon snow #alicent hightower #aegon targaryen #targaryen #blackfyre #aemond #aemond one-eye #aemond kinslayer #vhagar #arosysoiafrant

[writingonesdreams]

Hi!!! Here with an ask for Tiny Scene Sunday! It’s Sunday somewhere in the world right? Right…? That’s how that works…? Anyways!

Zephyr, and Leander! And soft, sleepless, and peace ✨

Feel free to swap out the characters if it would work better in your head for them to be others, but I just want to see them reconciling and addressing their self-worth issues…

Hope you have fun with this one!

Note: This is such a beautiful request 🥰 thank you so much for sending this, for picking my two boys, I loved it from the first second! It doesn't have to be Sunday at all^^ feel free to send them anytime. From this list.

Summary: A hurt/comfort scene between Zephyr and Leander, after the latter’s first solo mission. 2129w. Run away from me a bit. :D 

Far from perfect

Zephyr wasn’t worried.

He wasn’t. Of course he wasn’t. They were training for over a year now. Hal judged them ready for solo missions, even required them to do them, because apparently you can’t meet yourself properly otherwise. 

And of course Leander would be the first to volunteer.

Zephyr wasn’t worried. He had no right to be worried. 

Did he drag Leander into the whole Dragonknights business? Yes, but only because Leander would have stalked him and figured it out anyway. 

Did he stretch Hal’s trust, when he forced his best friend into a tentative  revival of crazy old, mysterious and powerful magical Art? Well yes, but only because they had to start somewhere, and there wasn’t anyone more suited, more capable and more trustworthy than Leander.

Did he expect Leander to act reckless and arrogant about it, no matter how unknown the danger? Admittedly yes, but Leander could handle himself. 

Because Leander was a meteor, an unstoppable canon, a goal to live up to. Zephyr only knew his own strength, because he knew Leander’s, because he had him since childhood to test it against. Only they could go all out against each other, knowing they could afford it. 

They were still very different people, with different attitudes and methods, and this too made them stronger, challenging them to be creative, cunning, thinking out of the box. And if Leander listened to what Zephyr said with non-existant hesitation, when he wouldn’t have listed to anyone else and if Zephyr happened to feel more relaxed, if Leander was there, well, those were just little side-effects of knowing each other so long. Signs of being good rivals, crucial for achieving excellence. 

They didn’t get worried about each other, because that, in itself, would have been an antithesis to their self-defined unspoken roles. It would have been a sign of distrust, of failure, of disrespect for the other’s abilities. 

And so Zephyr showered Leander in encouragements and supportive smiles and easy quips, because this was a new untested situation to be excited about. Another step to their lives as Dragonknights. To leading their secret schools. To improving themselves in their chosen martial art of magic. 

Hal said the more they would use the Art, the more dragons would wake up. Which was a good reason to wake up to, less aggressive, less bored, less twisted, more friendly, playful and safe. Because dragons have been isolated and sleepy for too long, and risking them waking up later and for no reason other than grumpiness just promised more trouble for their uneasy coexistence with humans. 

This wasn’t a special night, just because Leander was away. Zephyr was hardly ever sleepless, but it can happen on it’s own from time to time, right? Nothing weird. Nothing to be worried about.

It was half past midnight though and Leander still wasn’t back. The dragon he was confronting lived just under the Islands. There was no reason this should have taken more than 4 hours, not to mention half a day and good part of Zephyr’s night. 

What was Leander doing, stealing his peace with his unprofessionalism? On his first day, admittedly. Maybe Zephyr could cut him some slack.

He was totally not walking a hole into the floor of his apartment. And he was decidedly not staring at the door or checking his phone every few minutes. Which was useless anyway, because he would have been able to sense his best friend’s arrival through the Art and their connection to the Islands. Like warm presences with respective colours in mind, when thinking of them, they could all know feel each other on some level. 

Skye was home at her apartment, steady and cool sharpness wrapped in blue. Hal’s overwhelming presence, dark greyish green, encompassed the forests to the left of his window. He could even feel the familiar dragons, to a degree, like bonfires under the academy’s gates. 

Zephyr wasn’t a fan of self-denial, but he was all up for pretending he was something, until it turned real. See yourself as you want to be and the rest will follow. 

He could not go looking for Leander, or that would mean he wasn’t alright, and there was no way to admit that without doubting him. 

The academy’s smooth granite walls in his apartment sure seemed to be growing shadows, closer and closer together. The moon was shining through the balcony, foreboding milky light that annoyed him to no end. The dragonknight in training took deep breaths, pulling his senses back to himself. If he scanned the academy grounds on more time and came up empty he would surely go crazy. 

He sat down on the floor in the living room, with a good angle to the door (what was he expecting to see there, anyway?) and concentrated on his breathing. 

The next few minutes stretched in silence and coldness, as he thought of nothing, focusing on the immediate sensations of his body. His heart slowed and breathing evened, but the weight in his stomach wasn’t letting up. Was it really just a few minutes? It felt like hours. He was not going to check his phone.

Then the door opened.

Zephyr snapped upright, just in time to watch Leander barge inside. Stumbling, with blood smeared under his nose, his leather jacket torn open at the arm, but smiling brightly. His blond hair was uncharacteristically messy and his amber brown eyes gleamed as if he was drunk. 

“That was absolutely fantastic,” the blond said. 

The relief was so overwhelming Zephyr had to fight the wave for a few seconds, before schooling his expression into a smug grin.

“Took you long enough, though. What were you doing, having a dance party with dragons?”

He hovered after Leander, watching out for the unbalance in his sloppy movements as he aimed for the couch in the living room. The rip on his right forearm seemed to be leaking blood as well and he couldn’t decide if the nosebleed was a sign of magical overextension or a more serious injury. 

“Sorta. A fighting dance. Can recommend, they like it.”

“They? I thought there was supposed to be one.” Could Hal have been wrong about the numbers?

“Well, roaring kinda attracts the others.” Leander leaned back and stretched his arms, wincing a little as his injured arm moved. 

As if fighting one giant lizard wasn’t enough. Zephyr was scanning the arm with half-hearted attempts at a smile. 

“It was fine. A little tense start, but I’m good at improvising.” Leander fleshed him a wide grin, which would have been more reassuring, if his teeth weren’t bloody as well. 

Zephyr translated the claim as I almost got killed, but it worked out well. Don’t give me weird looks. 

Zephyr wasn’t really sure what to do. It was an unusual situation. They didn’t usually have any trouble with anything, and if they did, they didn’t go to each other for sharing. Wounds were imperfections, failures, admitting or looking ragged was weakness you pushed through to grow. 

But then Zephyr couldn’t explain why he was waiting. Or why Leander seeked him out. Why didn’t he feel his presence anyway?

Zephyr opened up his senses to scan the room for magical traces and a shiver run down his spine, when he realised how dulled and grey Leander’s sparkly orange magic trace has become. No wonder he didn’t feel him arrive. Looking closely, he could now see Leander’s hands shaking slightly, as he hid them behind his head in the most relaxing pose possible.

Questioning or calling attention to it wasn’t allowed, he was sure. But there were things he could do and Leander probably wasn’t against it, since he was here. 

Zephyr threw a blanket folded at the end of the couch at him, before turning on his heel for supplies. First for a protein bar he always had stored up at his apartment and getting water boiling for a mint tea their herbal mage Martha made on the Islands. Also the pretty well-stocked first aid kit, with extensions of his own making. 

All the tools well and ready. He could be proud of himself and handle this right. 

With everything in hands, he returned and sat up beside Leander. His nose started to bleed again while he was away. The blond paid it no mind, eyes closed.

Zephyr shook him gently by the shoulder and pressed the protein bar in the uninjured hand. Leander eyed him wearily, but obediently bit into the bar. 

“You don’t have any normal food? It’s like eating cement.”

That was a pitiful attempt for conversation. Shouldn’t he be talking more? Leander would usually be all over the place, explaining the tinies details about his dragon encounters, boasting, no probing needed. This was serious. 

“It’s chocolate flavoured. And I don’t usually cook here anyway. Stop complaining.”

Zephyr started dabbing at the blood running from his nose, the stream thin but steady. At least the shaking was stopping as he devoured the protein bar and went for the milkshake. The hot water inside could help with the chills. Getting proteins and substance usually worked best with magic depletion. He wasn’t sure how it would go with the Art though.

Shouldn’t he be calling Hal? They really needed to get a medic for the academy. Especially if they were to get students. Oh my god, how could they be getting students, if Leander passed out here? They were not ready at all. 

“You could at least have a yogurt here.”

“Kinda hard to shop, when your home floats above the city all the time. We have a perfectly working cafeteria though, why don’t you go there, huh?” Zephyr packed the nostrils with tiny pieces of gauze. “Lean forward a bit.”

“’s closed so late.” Leander managed through the full nose as he did as instructed. 

“Well then, if you don’t like my food so much. Why don’t you go eat something at your place, hmm?” He mopped the rest of the blood from his upper lip and discarded the gauze on the floor.

Leander glared at him, putting the empty milkshake bottle down on the small table and pinching his nose shut with the now free hand. The other was lying suspiciously limp beside him.

“Hah, you got nothing. My protein bars are suddenly all good.” Zephyr inspected the arm tenderly, before pulling the rest of the ruined sleeve down. It was thick as a pencil, with blood and dirt clogged around it, but not bleeding anymore. “We should take this to Hal for healing.” Why wasn’t that lazy god here, anyway? He must have felt Leander returning and being injured! 

Leander closed eyes and leaned back against the couch. “Nah. Just a scratch.” 

Well, of course Leander wouldn’t go to Hal. Zephyr could be glad he at least went to him. 

“Don’t lean back, your nose will start bleeding again.” 

Leander’s eyes were sliding shut. “Are you gonna take long? I wanna sleep.” 

Zephyr snorted.“Like it’s my fault.”

“All would be good if you at least had some ham and eggs here.”

“Sure. It would make all the difference in the world. This is going to sting a bit,” he warned, before spraying a bit of antiseptic on the arm and cleaning it with a fresh cloth. 

Leander only grunted in response, but didn’t move. Zephyr wrapped the wound in a clean bandage. His friend was totally out of it though. The shaking stopped, but he was still white and put up way too little of a fight. 

Figuring some pillows could do the trick with the elevation, he gathered some from his room and helped slide the limp boy onto them, laying a blanket on top. Didn’t want to bother with getting him out of the jacket, when every movement seemed heavy to make.

Seeing Leander relatively clean and asleep on the couch, Zephyr turned off the light, but didn’t want to leave. Considering they were dealing with wild dragons, had the most powerful magic at their disposal, an actual god to act as healer in emergencies and martial training since they were 5, they were well-equipped to handle this. Nothing serious even happened today. 

He still didn’t feel like leaving, so he sat on the floor again, right at Leander’s right side. They would probably not mention this tomorrow. The blond would shake it off, smile and glare and tell elaborate stories about what happened. 

But tonight, seeing him breathing unevenly, expression soft and open, small crease to his eyebrows, Zephyr couldn’t shake the unease. Hesitantly, he reached out and tousled his friend’s hair. 

Solo missions and respect all right, but he would really prefer to go with him next time. 

#writeblr #my writing #flashfictionfriday #writeblr community #creativewriting #hurt/comfort #fantasy #bromance #wip: tears of iron #thank you so much for sending this #perfect combo😍

[travllingbunny]

While House of the Dragon is an adaptation that presents a version of a portion of Targaryen history that is, in th source material, presented through multiple unreliable narrators in the form of questionable historical sources and rumors, with multiple versions of almost any event, relationship, characterization or character motivation, there are moments when the show puts the viewers into the roles of Mushroom and the various maesters from Fire and Blood and letting them project their interpretations on the text.

Nowhere has that been as obvious as with the way the show has been portraying the dynamic between Aegon II, Helaena and Aemond and playing with parallels to the (for the characters in HotD) future Targaryen history and the dynamic that George R.R. Martin wrote between Aegon IV the Unworthy, Naerys and Aemon the Dragonknight, or rather the perceived dynamic we hear about through various mentions in the main series and the accounts The World of Ice and Fire.

It's those parallels that are used in the fandom as an argument for supposed subtextual romantic connection or even a full blown affair between Helaena and Aemond... Which I find funny, because the story of Naerys and the Dragonknight is actually very ambiguous and a matter of perception, since we have no real insight into the real dynamic between the characters other than the rumors, stories and songs.

There are 3 diffrent ways to read the 'triangle' between Aegon the Unworthy, Naerys and the Dragonknight.

According to Aegon the Unworthy, they were having an affair. Some people believe that to be true, but the majority in-universe think that Aegon the Unworthy was simply a massive asshole who was being purposefully spiteful and politically disruptive by legitimizing his bastards while also trying to undermine his son and heir Daeron II, and the rumor of Daeron's supposed bastardy would be exploited by the Blackfyre supporters.

While some discordant voices in the ASOIAF fandom argue that Naerys and the Dragonknight did indeed have an affair which produced Daeron, because that would be 'more interesting', the popular view of Naerys and the Dragonknight's relationship in Westeros - and in the majority of the fandom - is that it was a tragic unconsummated romance, because the Dragonknight and Naerys were just too good and honorable people to give in to their desires. which is how the popular Westerosi courtly love songs portray it. (Which has also been used as an argument in the HotD fandom: since Aemond is not remembered in history as a good person - to put it mildly - it simply follows that he must have had an affair with his sister, if there's even a slightest thing that may be interpreted as a clue about that! - Right? Meanwhile Helaena's characterization isn't given much thought.)

But there is a third possibility, one that strangely gets ignored both in-universe and in the fandom, but I consider to be the most likely: that Dragonknight was simply a good brother who loved his sister in a normal brother-sister way, was upset that Aegon was treating her so badly and wanted to protect her. Which, I would say, are perfectly normal things for a sibling relationship. Call me crazy, but I would think that a brother and a sister being close and loving each other is what most people would consider normal, rather than the complete disinterest, indifference and disdain that we see between Aegon II and Helaena in the show or that Aegon the Unworthy was showing to Naerys. However, since they are Targaryens (and in everyone's view, Targaryens cannot possibly have a normal sibling relationships), and because of the rumors started by Aegon the Unworthy, everyone became convinced Naerys and Aemon the Dragonknight were in love, without any real evidence.

...Which is an amazing parallel to the HotD fandom right now and how it sees Aemond and Helaena in the show. Any sign of closeness and love, which should be normal for siblings, is romanticized. Some do it because they genuinely want to read a romance into it (with little other alternative as of season 1) and because they ship them, and others because they want to another story of a secret adulterous affair and royal bastards in orderto fit a certain narrative and serve an agenda.

It's funny HotD has ended up being so incredibly meta.

#house of the dragon #hotd #helaena targaryen #aemond targaryen #aegon ii targaryen #aemon the dragonknight #naerys targaryen #aegon iv targaryen #a song of ice and fire #asoaif #grrm #please let us allow at least some Targaryens siblings to be just normal siblings? #I know GRRM writes way too much incestuous romance with the Targaryens #because he doesn't understand the Westermarck effect #but there's no need to do it even when it's not there in canon #not that I'm judging #if you want to ship it go ahead #but people are getting waaay too carried away with this idea #which is unlikely to ever really be a thing knowing the future plots #I'm already seeing some hella weird takes about Blood and Cheese #as if that theory would or should in any way affect how we see that plot point #I'm far more sympathetic to those who ship it than to those who are like it would be cool if they also had their scandalous bastardy story #maybe focus on how all that bastardy thing is generally a dumb patriarchal distinction instead #and how we maybe aren't really supposed to cheer for hereditary monarchy and patriarchy and all that bullshit #rather than keeping scores and trying to make your side better in every way #hotd meta #asoiaf #asoiaf meta

[navree]

Who do you think would've tamed Sunfyre after Aegon's death (Sunfyre lives in this au) i think it would have been Daeron the young dragon or Daena

I think it depends on how injured Sunfyre still is, since while it was his injuries from the battle against Moondancer that ultimately killed him, he was already pretty badly torn up from Rook's Rest (which is why the fact that he still made his way to Dragonstone to find Aegon is so incredibly insane to me that's Love babies), so it's entirely possible that he wouldn't have lived very long even without the second set of injuries as well. If Sunfyre's just regularly healthy and lives after Aegon dies (and again assuming this is a world where the extinction of the dragons doesn't happen because there was definitely something magical involved in that, why the Hell else did Morning only live to age 24 when dragons can live into their hundreds, something went On with that), then Daeron might be a good option, since I view Sunfyre as sharing a lot of characteristics with Daeron. Aemon the Dragonknight would also be a good option, I could see that happening for the aesthetics alone. And I don't know how much Targ blood she has in her or how much that's even required, considering Nettles was able to tame Sheepstealer, but if I get to be fully self indulgent I want Daenaera to claim Sunfyre next. Mostly because she's my angel girl and he's my baby boy and based on the personality I've assigned to Sunfyre I think they would mesh incredibly well.

There's also the real possibility that no one ever claims Sunfyre again. We know that some dragons just don't end up being claimed for a while, like Vermithor, and anyone in the royal family might have been a bit wary of claiming Sunfyre because, well, again depending on how AU this is, Sunfyre killed Aegon III's mother right in front of him and really threw his entire fear and hatred of dragons into overdrive, and if that's your husband/dad you don't want to be triggering his PTSD every single day. Not to mention Sunfyre himself was significantly closer to Aegon than most dragons are to their riders, almost to the level of Dany and her children, and we know that even ordinary dragonbonds can produce strong emotions (Vhagar's grief for Laena and her rage on Aemond's behalf, Dreamfyre nearly breaking out of the Dragonpit when Helaena died). So when you add that to the fact that Sunfyre and Aegon were definitely closer than the average dragon and dragonrider (and in my head they're basically so incredibly connected and loving to each other it's borderline mystical/telepathic), Sunfyre just wouldn't accept another rider after Aegon, he's too upset and grieved and he doesn't want anyone else, he won't entertain the idea or let anyone try.

#personal #answered #anonymous #sunfyre my beloved sunfyre the sweetest boy of all #but also yeah the more i think about it something definitely screwy happened with the dragons #that's not a natural dying out every time i remember that morning wasn't even the last living dragon #which means that morning died at the age of TWENTY FOUR #it really just hammers home that something is Off about that entire thing

[ai-megurine]

i wish instead of making unimaginative copy of Aegon IV Naerys and Aemon the dragonknight they did something different with green siblings dynamic. Aegon and Helaena being actually in love would be more fresh than him treating her as stupid sister in childhood and his 'ball-and-chain' in marriage. but that would make them too compelling characters, not just cartoonish villain and his strange insect-riddle missus, so it's not allowed.

I definitely agree with you anon. Having Aegon and Helaena develop a genuine relationship would have been much better. Especially considering Aegon isn't a faithful husband, it would have been great to see him change his ways thanks to his love for Helaena. But noooooooo, Aegon has to be eeeeeviiiiiiiil. It's completely dumb, in my opinion.

Especially considering Aemond has a lover in the Fire & Blood book, a witch from Harrenhall called Alys Rivers. So the love triangle thing is pretty dumb to begin with!

#helaena targaryen #aegon ii targaryen #aegon ii x helaena #aemond targaryen #alys rivers