Hiii, yess im so sorry i haven't worked on their fic in a hot minute. I kinda put one chapter out and then felt immediately burned out and have to find my way back lol. I wanna say that i will try to have another update out for them within the next 2 weeks, hopefully (fingers crossed)
in the meantime here's some MaekarLihua headcanons (will do a separate post later on modern MaekarLihua because i have thoughts on maekar x child psychologist lihua :))
slowest slowburn of history because it takes very long for grumpy maekar to stop feeling sorry for himself (which manifests as being crabby and giving her a hard time) but when he does, he's an acts of service king
he orders his steward to add a cook from Leng to the household so she can have food from her homeland because he notices she is not particularly fond of Westerosi cuisine
he has one of the rooms in Summerhall converted into a shrine/temple of sorts so she can light candles for her dead loved ones and worship her gods. he feels guilty because the first time she asked if there was a private space she could observe her devotions, he told her to use the old sept and not to expect any special treatment just because she was now his replacement wife 💀
he has told many people to fuk off if they've said anything particularly scathing about her within his hearing range (westerosis are notoriously racist and xenophobic, unfortunately).
Maekar's love language is secret acts of service, but he's terrible at words of affirmation and is always avoiding her, which sucks because Lihua's love language is words of affirmation and quality time so there's alot of miscommunication as they try to figure out how to make this work and overcome the guilt of letting go of the spouses they've lost.
Thank you so much for the ask! Also, for future asks, if you could send them to my OC sideblog @aceasterisk that'd be fantastic because that's my OC specific one <3
So now that we’re all talking about modern aus… do you think Maekar and Lihua still end up happening? Their marriage was really complex and very arranged after all.
Also what kind of wedding do you think all your main couples had? Naerys and gwyane included!!! I’ve grown very fond of them!!!!
YAY I love modern AU questions they're my fav I have soooo many thoughts but i'll keep it wedding related in this post but if you have follow up questions/suggestions, plz send them my way <3
Maekar/Lihua
Definitely no arranged marriage for them in the modern era lol. In my AU for them, Maekar is a stressed single father tryna juggle six kids and Baelor tells him to put little Daeron and Aerion in therapy (the other kids are too young) after Dyanna's death because they're obviously not coping well. Lihua is the child psychologist the kids are referred to, and slowly she gets them to open up and trust her. She's widowed too and has two young boys (her sons are alive yay, blended family incoming lol).
Maekar falls first and harder, mostly just by how attentive she is with the boys and how whatever she's doing seems to be working and helping them cope with the grief (even tho Maekar is the sort to think the concept of therapy is nonsense lmao cuz why tf would u wanna air your dirty laundry to a total stranger). But he obviously doesn't act on it because that would ruin his kids' therapy sessions and he doesn't think it's reciprocated.
Slowest slowburn in history lmao would probably take years for grumpy Maekar to make a move of any sort, but the general theme of grief and finding understanding with a new person who has experienced the same loss is the same as in the canon fic. As for wedding, very, very private small affair with immediate family only I think. It's a second wedding for both of them so nothing crazy flashy and they're both very lowkey ppl.
ValarrDelphine
Valarr is the eldest grandson (shh it's actually Daeron who was born a couple months before lmao), and the firstborn of the firstborn so Grandma Myriah and Grandpa Daeron have very lavish hopes for his wedding. His wedding is basically the event of the season (Westeros's most eligible bachelor getting hitched lmao), but also very old money classy. Delphine is a vintage queen and she wants to thrift her wedding dress which sends these rich Targs into a tizzy because they'd be like why tf would u wanna wear secondhand clothes to your own wedding (sigh, they just don't get the value of a good vintage thrift find). Outfits are very vintage classy, venue is probably some family estate in the countryside.
Aerion/Jessamine
Also wedding of the season, but for an entirely different reason. Aerion is a flashy peacock and wants to outdo everyone with his wedding and he wants the tabloids talking about it. Also, everyone is surprised he's getting married at all because he's a notorious commitmentphobe and has had countless tabloid scandals due to his manho behaviour lmao. Everyone is also surprised that the person marrying him in the first place is notorious divorce lawyer Jess. Aerion's suit is probably over the top with the cape and everything lmao. Jess is very minimalist but he somehow convinces her to atleast somewhat match his energy (her dress is def alot less flashy).
Daeron/Amaryllis
Also cozy private vibes, though a little more extended family is invited compared to MaekarLihua. The engagement ring is the one Maekar proposed to Dyanna with (which is then passed on to one of Daella or Rhae's daughters because they don't have kids of their own). When the festivities get abit too much, the bride and groom sneak away to just vibe by themselves and have a snack while sharing stories of their silly relatives doing silly things.
Gwayne/Naerys
Can't believe they were mentioned they are so dear to me! Rhaenyra's planning her adopted sister's wedding and it is going to be LAVISH af lol, expect nothing less from the fashion diva herself. she helped design the dress. Gwayne's holding her hand the entire time, from the moment the vows are said till the very end of the night; he is not letting her out of his sight. Guest list is an average mix of close and extended family, nothing too crazy because he's the son of a second son and she's an adopted daughter.
I am just restarting my tumblr engines by sending an ask to say I second the petition for Amaryllis x Daeron Modern!AU content. The Smallfolk DEMAND the neurodivergent friendly bookstore with a private corner for uncle Aerys to engage in his very important work of being an AO3 celebrity, while Amaryllis and Daeron drink tea and are very nice ad very domestic and very wholesome and they can invite Delarr over to have granny-coded get togethers.
Also, just a passing thought...Would Aerion be banned from entering the bookstore? I feel like he should be banned, just as a safety precaution, you know...
yippeee ur here!!
ao3 celebrity uncle aerys your work is so valued and so appreciated.
aerion is definitely banned from entering the bookstore. if jess happens to wanna visit she has to leave him outside in the car like a badly behaved dog lmao. no feral animals allowed inside.
Orpheus always turns around because, yes, you would too if you literally crawled through the underworld to get Eurydice back; BUT! Also because people don’t come back from the dead and storytelling is and always has been a way to process emotions.
Orpheus and Eurydice are the exploration of grief so strong you’d go to hell and back to save the person you lost and the gutting realization that it doesn’t matter how hard you try, people don’t come back from death
maybe orpheus always looks back because his very effort to reverse death means that he can't look forward. if he could look forward, he could accept eurydice's death, grieve, and keep moving in life. his refusal to accept her death is looking back. his going down to the underworld, asking hades and persephone for her life, trying to lead her out... it's all 'looking back'. he does nothing for the entire story except look back. orpheus! looks! back! it's his entire thing! the story ends the same way it begins: orpheus looked back.
she could be in high school, then that way daeron can be teased by everyone about still having a babysitter at his age but he doesn’t care because they get to hang out together <3333 and aelinor would be so protective of amaryllis and ask her all the time, ‘do you really want to babysit his misbegots’ and amaryllis is just like i really don’t mind they’re all pretty cute and aelinor just stares at her like she’s grown a third head because who’s kids is she talking about??? cant be maekar’s spawns. also somehow amaryllis ends up bonding with every middle aged man in sight. uncle aerys and her could bond over her dreams for a bookstore and baelor and her could bond over her dream of being a journalist because he used to want that too when he was younger and maekar well i can’t think of anything for him but im sure you can figure something out he’s just so prickly
ahah plz "misbegots" I cackled so hard, I love that. The Maekarlings have a notorious reputation amongst their family.
Daeron would tryna convince her to play video games with him and she'd probably end up helping him with homework and stuff. in addition to being babysitter she is also unofficial tutor lmao on account of her nerd tendencies
Totally agree that Aelinor would be protective AF. Amaryllis's mum is alive in the modern AU and they live kinda far (Westerlands) but Aelinor insists on having almost joint custody lmao and has her every weekend or so.
Also love her bonding with all the uncles lmao. Baelor dreaming of being a journalist before ultimately having to join politics because of the family legacy and Aerys probably offers to help set up her bookstore gig when she's older. Maekar is grumpy af but he'd probably just warm up to her because his kids love her, Daella and Rhae in particular because she's like a big sister figure to them.
i know you’ve said that daeron and amaryllis meet when he starts working at her bookstore but i also love the idea of them meeting when she’s babysitting her aunty aelinor’s dogs (or cats, aelinor seems like a cat person maybe) and then maekar just has an emergency and he just springs his gaggle of kids onto aelinor’s niece because he hears she babysits and so amaryllis is just very overwhelmed with all the kids and daeron helps her out and slowly she starts babysitting for them more and daeron coincidentally starts hanging around the house more and insists on accompanying his little siblings to her house or his aunt aelinor’s house but only when amaryllis is around. they could be childhood bestfriends to lovers like in the book!!! of course you can write what you want i don’t want to offend you i hope im not but i just thought that would be so cute cause i really do love the childhood bestfriends trope for them. i would also love if you could write like a little excerpt of the modern au nothing much just a tiny sneak peek into their lives and dynamics. thank you so much for writing the fic and i hope i’m not annoying you with these questions.
omg you did not offend or annoy me at all, i genuinely love it so much when people have thoughts about my OCs and fics it's my favourite thing ever, so feel free to continue sending thoughts and asks ❤️❤️
i also really love their childhood friends to lovers and i LOVE your idea it's so cute. i agree aelinor gives major cat mom ahah. your ask has inspired me so much I will work on a oneshot with this modern au concept over the weekend :)
Babysitter Amaryllis is adorable, she 100% does that for Aunt Aelinor and Maekar would definitely leave his kids there haha. The bookstore idea I had was them in their 20s, obviously as adults, but how old would you prefer them to be in the babysitting AU? Maybe high school or early uni if we're going with childhood friends to lovers. Also headcanon, Amaryllis def does barbie movie marathons with Daella and Rhae and they sing along to the songs. if there are other things you'd like me to include, let me know!
Also, for future asks, if you could send them to my OC account @aceasterisk that'd be fantastic because that's my OC specific blog!
will you ever write a modern fic for daeron and amaryllis like you did for valarr and delphine i hope you do i’d love to see daeron and amaryllis happy in the modern world because there’s medication for the both of them
haha so fun fact I do have a modern AU Daeron/Amaryllis brewing. I just need to figure out a plot for an actual oneshot.
In the meantime, here are some headcanons:
Modern! Amaryllis is an investigative journalist and author. She runs a rare books shop.
She and Daeron meet when Valarr recommends him for a part time gig at the bookstore. Technically, their families know each other lol (she's still Aelinor's niece) but they've never met before. Daeron quite likes working at the bookstore and it's his low-maintenance gig that doesnt stress him out and he gets free baked goodies.
something something slow-burn friends-to-lovers again, and Amaryllis eventually becomes one of his emergency contacts, she drives him to AA meetings and to therapy and they just rlly enjoy taking care of eachother.
He tries to be better for himself but also for her because she has autoimmune conditions and sickle cell so on the days her flare-ups get bad he wants to be capable enough to take care of her like she does for him.
They def have a way longer lifespan in the modern au lmao
That's all I have for now, feel free to add onto the headcanons or ask questions <3
Have you ever given thought to writing a Jace fanfiction? I feel like you’d write him wonderfully
Hii omg so fun fact I actually had 2 Jace fics.
One was a longer more detailed Jace x Vaemond's daughter childhood friends to lovers/arranged betrothap type.
And the other was rhaenyra wins, and jace is her only surviving velaryon boy and her heir. This one was a sort of Cinderella retelling. OC was the daughter if a ratcatcher who attends one of the banquets in disguise and he falls for her duncan and jenny of oldstones style
These were from back in s1 and s2. Kinda lost motivation for them lmao but know knows might potentially bring them back because I love jace
sources: l.e.s. by donald glover // this year by the mountain goats // maya hornbacher, madness // watchisjawdrop on tumblr // wuntrum on tumblr // kim kardashian // unknown // godblessryankent on tiktok // nayyirah waheed // unknown // lev st. valentine
