Branwen, Daughter of Llyr

The poor didn’t want this one | ao3 is Juliet_Capulet

[branwendaughterofllyr]

the never-ending asoiaf reread

A Game of Thrones

Prologue

Bran I

Catelyn I

Daenerys I

Eddard I

Jon I

Catelyn II

Arya I

[peachyubey]

first and last

[ripley-stark]

sometimes with conversations about anti-intellectualism in media, it's hard to gauge what is reality from what is a sensational fearmongering echo chamber. there certainly are a lot of well-written and vigorously edited books being published at all times, and it is the responsibility of good readers to seek those out.

but i do think booktuber marines is correct in her analysis that many mainstream and modern books, especially in fantasy and romance, have seen a sheer drop in the deftness and subtlety of their storytelling in the past 5 or so years. even books with the most intellectual aspirations such as babel are very heavy-handed in their messaging, to the point where they read more like an essay than successful fiction with dimensional characters and organic plotting--despite being lauded as exemplary novels.

and many of the other tentpole books right now are poorly concealed rpf/fanfic or even openly marketed as such, wholly dependent on another author's story and success rather than even attempting to carve their own identity and stance.

this is a result of booktok and readership blowing up after the pandemic, and publishers sacrificing quality for quantity to meet the new market demand. it is genuinely fantastic that more people became readers after the pandemic but there's been an unfortunate breakdown of standards for what qualifies an original, artistic, and engaging work, as well as even what an author ought to be able to accomplish skill-wise before being considered for publication

[rozseusz]

"The First Betrayal" a portrait of Sansa Stark and Lady

[maplebalderdash]

Sansa 😌

[ao3commentoftheday]

Work in Progress Wednesday Thursday

I don't remember the last time I was quite this excited about a skin that I'm making. I have no idea if all of this will end up in the final version, but I'm just having so much fun with seeing what I can actually do that I wanted to share some work in progress shots.

(honestly? the hardest part has been finding the images. any tips on where to get medieval illuminated artwork would be much appreciated!)

In the first image, the AO3 title and the lady/dragon are separate images so on a desktop monitor the AO3 part is on the left and the dragon piece is on the right.

[ao3commentoftheday]

uh so this post is at almost 2K notes and I haven't even posted the code yet. suffice it to say, i'm a bit intimidated 🙃

the code is now on github - enjoy finding all of the creatures!

(there is a readme file with instructions for how to apply a site skin to your AO3 account if you've never done it before)

also: apologies to anyone who might try to look at the code and see what I did here. it's a damn mess lol

[tremendouswolfsaladranch]

[midsummernight98]

personally i think there should have been at least one episode where sokka collects aang and zuko and is like, “looks like we’re running low on supplies.  time for a GUYS-ONLY field trip.  three days of hunting and fishing and polishing our swords.  y’know, manly warrior stuff.  (aang, sotto voce: actually sokka i’m a vegetarian as you know–)  you girls have fun sitting around braiding your hair and talking about your crushes” and then the entire episode is just zuko and sokka lying around by a river, plucking blades of grass and staring up at the stars confiding in each other their deepest feelings and most secret insecurities while aang braids flower crowns, and whenever the screen cuts back to katara and toph and suki, they’re fighting and screaming and hacking away at river pirates and evil spirits and legions of assassins and hired mercenaries with swords.  you know, as girls do.

and when the boys finally drag themselves back to camp (they stayed up way too late discussing what true leadership really means and whether or not power always corrupts)  they find suki and toph and katara lounging around with black eyes and fresh bruises and bloodstained weapons and sokka shrieks, “what were you guys DOING while we were gone???”  and karata just shugs innocently and says in her sweetest voice, “oh, you know.  just girly things”

[midsummernight98]

they are absolutely still wearing the crowns and they don’t have a single fish to show for their efforts

[hofudlaus]

i did it

[thatshowthingstarted]

A Pair of Greek Gold, Hardstone & Enamel Earrings,

The enameled swans hang from a granulated disc, which is reminiscent of the decoration of Macedonian shields due to the semicircles extending from the edge.

Chains decorated with emerald beads hang down from the sides.

Hellenistic Period, Circa 3rd - 1st Century B.C.

1 7⁄16 in. (3.6 cm.) long.

Courtesy: Christie's

[sartorialadventure]

It's a lovely morning in the ancient Greek village, and you are a horrible swan.

[frostedmagnolias]

Silk Dress

1910s

Russia

Hermitage Museum

[roycohn]

happy lottery day girlies!

[jaehaeryshater]

Robb and Theon in The Kiss of Judas

🎨 art by the talented @shripscapi

This beautiful and, in a way, breathtaking (at least in my opinion) artwork has been in my mind in concept for at least a year, and has been beautifully brought to life by Liesl. I have always felt that there was an almost biblical element to Robb Stark’s arc and his betrayal, by Roose Bolton, Walder Frey, and most pointedly, Theon Greyjoy (though the latter was done with less malice, but then again, that is not a prerequisite to betrayal). Robb Stark is a young king with good intentions, wanting the best for his people, but whether from greed, a want for revenge, or a wish for belonging, he was killed. His murder in of itself was at the hands of Roose Bolton and Walder Frey’s men, but being that those men were not particularly close to Robb nor was the king fond of them, the impact of their betrayal comes mostly from the shock and gore of it all, as well as the disregard for the revered tradition of guest right. Roose Bolton and Walder Frey have a direct hand in Robb Stark’s death, but Theon Greyjoy’s betrayal of his self-proclaimed “brother” has an indirect part in it too (it is to be noted, when I say betrayal, I do not mean to imply that Theon owes loyalty to the Starks, the family that took him from his home as a boy; I am not of the opinion he does, but Theon describes his own actions as betrayal, for personal loyalty to Robb). It is a matter of debate if Theon would have been able to return to Robb without being intercepted by his father if he had chosen to try and warn his friend that the Ironborn were preparing to launch an attack instead of allying with the North. What is not up for debate is that Theon’s capture of Winterfell weakened the North and its morale, bringing into question how they should move forward. On a more personal level, Theon’s claim of having murdered Robb’s younger brothers, Bran and Rickon, was devastating to the young king. The grief was what inadvertently led Robb to sleep with and ultimately marry Jeyne Westerling. While the Freys likely would have tried to betray Robb at some point, if Robb had followed their plan to marry a Frey girl, he would have probably lived for some time, at least to ensure a Frey/Stark heir. Theon does not have full responsibility for all these acts, but his betrayal certainly weakened Robb. Robb and Theon were close as Jesus and Judas were, despite the “kings” being warned or otherwise knowing better. Judas betraying Jesus is more impactful than if it had been another other apostle, just as, in my opinion, Theon betraying Robb is more impactful than Roose and Walder doing the same. On a more general note, while Robb did not die on a literal cross, I do not find it to be a coincidence that he died at a dinner. Robb’s story likely is purposefully inspired by biblical elements, along with being informed by various other historical figures, which I will elaborate on below.

With the iconography in my commission, my intention was for the piece to contain symbols that could pass as something you could find either in a Bible from times past or a Westerosi history book. Liesl’s art is beautiful and too polished, given modern methods, to pass for something found in a medieval manuscript, but it does look like it could be a descendent of such a thing. Medieval art is too archaic for my liking so I had purposefully set out with this compromise in mind, and Liesl’s art style was the closest to my vision. The weirwood is specific to Westeros and the in-world religion of Robb, but the halo is more biblical in nature. My intention was not to portray Robb as perfect or pure-intentioned, certainly not as selfless as the Christian depiction of Jesus. The iconography is meant to be more saintly in nature. Saint is not synonymous with perfect, anyone who knows an extensive amount about saints knows that there are saints canonized that weren’t particularly good people in their lifetime. My particular inspiration was Edward the Martyr, king of England (before William’s conquest). Edward died at the age of 16 under guest right. He was killed by a group of guards, his own people, on his stepmother’s estate. His death, too, was described as Christ-like. Here is a quote from a recount of his death:

“Those magnates had agreed among themselves a wicked plot: they were possessed of so damnable an intention and so murky and diabolical a blindness, that they did not fear to lay hands on God's anointed. Armed men surrounded him on all sides… The venerable king had with him very few soldiers, since he did not suspect anyone, trusting "in the Lord and in the might of His power” — it was just as the Jews once surrounded our Lord… They were seized by a single madness, an equal insanity ... The soldiers laid hold of him: one on his right-hand side drew him towards him, as if he wished to give him a kiss; another grabbed his left side firmly and gave him the death blow.”

Who does that sound like???

I love the idea of Robb as a figure similar to Edward the Martyr. He is a boy-king, and not particularly religious or impressive in feats (though Robb, having bested Tywin thus far in the story, is significantly ahead of Edward in terms of his military). Their death is tragic and they are exceptional, not for being great men, but for being innocent children thrust into a role and then martyred. Thus their stories turn to legends and they are seen as holy or saint-like in nature. Though Robb worshipped the Old Gods, due to his maternal family’s legacy and beliefs, it is not all that far fetched he could have a cult dedicated to him or be revered by the Faith of the Seven later on in Westerosi history.

Concerning other symbolism, I will acknowledge that Robb’s youth is exaggerated here to drive home the point of him being little more than an innocent child. He has not grown his beard yet and he is dwarfed by his furs. His clothes are meant to intimidate, make him look regal and intimidating. But really, it makes him look like a kid. Theon is portrayed as an adult, five years Robb’s senior. He is not meant to be malicious and his love for Robb is not false. He still betrays him all the same, that’s the tragedy of it. Robb knows he is king, knows he should keep a distance from Theon, many have told him. But yet he is informal here, having removed his glove so Theon can hold him. Robb is not relaxed, but that is not due to a lack of affection or some sort of stiffness around Theon, but rather to create an effect of a dead boy walking, rigor-mortis. Theon’s clothes aren’t meant to have any symbolism about him. I looked at all sorts of biblical art and depictions of the Kiss of Judas to decide what colors I wanted Theon to wear. I saw a lot of reds and whites, but I didn’t like that for Theon. I saw gold as well, but we didn’t want to default to House colors as that is overdone. The result was giving Theon the most luxurious clothes possible. Black was an expensive color and velvet an expensive fabric. His garb is more expensive and showy than the King’s himself. That is because Theon is exceptionally vain and Robb is not. Theon has all sorts of jewelry and even has pearls on his boots. Who does that???? It’s so gaudy and impractical, I love it for Theon. The pearls will eventually fall off and he will have wasted a fortune, but Theon does not think about practicality like that. He is a guarded person decorating himself with bits and baubles to give himself some sort of purpose or comfort that is not there. He subconsciously wishes to trick people into thinking he is secure and has value, when he feels no sense of belonging anywhere. No wonder his father bullied him.

My endless thanks and gratitude to Liesl @shripscapi. I love your work and appreciate you. Everyone should follow her account and check out more of her art because it is beautiful. She is a joy to work with and very thorough and dedicated. She has been very flexible and patient with me in the months making this and my past commissions. I have had nothing but wonderful experiences with her, she is one of my favorite and most respected artists in this community. And thank you for anyone who has stuck here and read this, I obviously a passion for this sort of stuff. I love to ramble and this is my hyper-fixation so I’m very excited about this.

[branwendaughterofllyr]

Tyrell scandal???

You have NO idea how badly I want to elaborate on this. NO IDEA. I’m simply vibrating the need to explain the Tyrell family scandal.

[branwendaughterofllyr]

Baelon anon here! It's been… a while, huh. Sorry about that, life was kinda kicking my ass. Here are some more of the scattered thoughts I've had about this AU since I last sent you an ask:

Rhaenyra and Alicent are still on rocky waters with each other, but like, maybe less intense than in canon— less of a “your existence is a threat to my/my children's lives” and more of a personal conflict

Because Rhaenyra's still mad at Alicent for marrying her father! She mourns her mother, and resents that Aemma was so easily “replaced”. And since she can't deal with the cognitive dissonance of her father marrying a girl young enough to he his daughter, she focuses her resentment on Alicent instead because there's nowhere else for the grief to go. On the other hand Alicent wants to be on good terms with Rhaenyra again, she wants her friend (crush?) back, she had no say in this situation, and it's hurting her deeply that Rhaenyra consistently refuses to see her side of the argument. And that hurt, that want, it turns into an undercurrent of resentment. Can these two repair their relationship eventually? Hard to say.

Rhaenyra's feelings on Baelon are Complicated™ to say the least. He's the reason her mother died. Aemma was killed so that he could be saved. He's the son Viserys so desperately wanted all this time. He's the one Viserys focuses everything on. But on the other hand Baelon is the last remaining remnant of her mother. He's the last little piece. (Maybe he even looks so much like her.) Maybe Rhaenyra gets even kinda, overprotective, possessive of this fragment of Aemma. But her resentment also plays a part so maybe it's like, hot and cold, push and pull, she can't quite decide what to do with her younger brother.

Alicent's feelings on Baelon are a little harder to grasp for me, but maybe she felt sorry for this sickly little baby who lost his mother, maybe she wanted to be a good stepmother and Queen by taking care of him, I'm not sure, but I can't quite shake the feeling that Rhaenyra and Alicent's conflict kinda gets tangled up in how they treat and perceive Baelon, like, little Baelon is stuck between the two of them. (Like a divorce baby? Oof—)

And Viserys dotes a lot on him at the expense of Alicent and his other children, both because Baelon is sickly and because he's Viserys' heir yes but also because Viserys carries guilt about what he did to Aemma

Baelon is perceptive. He notices. He notices and it bothers him.

All this conflict + how differently he's treated compared to others would've been deeply distressing to Baelon growing up, I think

And while he may not exactly be able to articulate it, the thought would be at the back of his subconscious, “well it can't just be ‘me’ they're fighting about, it can't just be ‘me’ he loves, if it's ‘me’ they're fighting about, just ‘me’ that he loves, then they'd realize I don't want them to fight and just get along, then he'd know I want everybody to be included, so clearly there's something that's wrong with me or is attached to me, I'm not just ‘me’ I'm something else”

Aka, his problems with him not being just “him” begins

And then at some point he finds out the details of what Aemma went through and it shatters him

I think he would've been like, fairly young when he Found Out

I'm still not sure how, though

Ironically it is his mother's ghost that traps him, if that makes him

(Not that it's her fault, she's dead 😭)

He can't abandon his position and let it fall on the next in line even though he has backups because Viserys is very, VERY adamant on Baelon being the heir due to his guilt about what he did to Aemma

He MUST be the next king because he's AEMMA'S son

Not only that but also his personal guilt, again, his mother's unwilling sacrifice has to have been “worth” it because he's too scared to confront the idea that it was unnecessary, it was pointless, that she didn't have to go through that, she didn't deserve any of it

And as you said, he'd be fairly under a microscope as the King's eldest son, his heir, he's under so much scrutiny even though he's so sickly and weak

So his identity/self issues crystalize under all this pressure, kinda like Sansa's “wait it's my claim they want, not me” moment

So it all converges into this nexus of “my existence alone has caused so much fucking trouble, my mother had to die to bring me into this world, if I'm not excellent, if I'm not brilliant, if I'm useless, if I can't do anything, then all that suffering surrounding me will be utterly meaningless”

And since he can't hold a sword, probably can't ride a dragon (to battle or otherwise) if he even has one due to his poor health, the only path left forward is the scholarly path

I don't know how out of pocket this would be, but I feel like he'd swallow so many studies, so many books, and spit them back out as project upon project upon project like some kind of walking talking gatling gun

Probably is stingy as fuck with his royal allowance, hoards it like a dragon (heh), only to use them on his projects

I'm still not yet sure what kind of projects would be likely for the setting that wouldn't be too outlandish but I briefly thought of “man, what if he focused a lot on public health or whatever”

That aside, Aegon is the designated Normal Guy of the family

Like, the dynamic between Aegon and Baelon must be the most uncomplicated of the bunch they're just brothers

Aegon bothers Baelon a lot because he's a clown (just kidding he wants to give Baelon a damn break)

Also probably prays a lot for Baelon's health like “please let him live to a-hundred-and-twenty and sire a dozen sons I want to be nowhere near the throne please and thank”

I think I like the idea of Laena being Baelon's betrothed + potential Kingsguard Aemond because. Because. IMAGINE.

Aemond's romantic feelings towards Baelon + his desire for Targaryen-ness, for a dragon, to be a dragon, THE dragon vs Laena being Baelon's betrothed/wife + her having the biggest fucking dragon alive = recipe for shenanigans of a catastrophic scale

I just thought it'd be funny, haha 😭

They be beefing, though.

I feel like Laena is more on the amused side, like she's looking at a tiny kitten who's trying to be threatening, and Aemond is S E E T H I N G

I haven't quite hashed out the Laena-Baelon-Aemond clusterfuck as of yet, what their relationships would be like, but I do think Laena would be fond of Baelon. Cute little nerd who does treasure her (perhaps maybe a tad too much and riddled with a touch too much anxiety due to Baelon not wanting a repeat performance of the Viserys-Aemma pair)

“are you here for your duty? do you ever wish you could be something else, do something else? do you like me?” Baelon, probably. Would the boy have the balls to say it outright? Debatable.

Daemon is not a character I understand very much, enough to comment on how he might view Baelon, or Corlys, for the matter, like sure he'd see Baelon as a way to fulfill his ambitions but beyond that?

I feel like Baelon is kinda constantly getting stuffed into the McGuffin Box, if you catch my drift

He's the thing plopped into the middle of people's interpersonal conflicts. He's a prize to be fought over. He's a symbol, a thing, an extension of other people, dead or alive. People who are real, unlike him.

(Woman at the margin of the story syndrome, as I saw someone coin the phrase)

Alyssa with marriage being a crypt/grave/death 🤝 Baelon who's stuck in a McGuffin Box, boy who doesn't exist, boy who's not real

There's so much I still haven't figured out but yeahhhhhh

You and me BOTH getting our butts kicked by life, nonny. But yeah, I think it makes sense for Rhaenyra to love her baby brother but still have complicated feelings about him, that sounds about right. There’s so much bound up in Aemma dying while giving birth to him and him also being her baby brother. And there’s a lot less pressure on Alicent even if Baelon has bad health bc the succession is never upended by Viserys so like. Rhaenyra and Alicent can still fall out bc of her marrying Viserys, but the stakes are not NEARLY as high as in canon.

And public health works as a project, investing in clean water and sewage systems is always an important issue lmao. You could give him some more of the traditionally “feminine” charity work as well in founding hospitals and orphanages as well, that could be fun since he’s failing in traditional masculine violence bc he’s not a swordbro.

And Aemond would probably do well in the KG, he loves violence, and would cause So Many Problems.

And yes, you have to love the tragedy of being born into the death trap that is the Targaryen dynasty lol 🫶

[wulfhalls]

seeing that Criston quote bit… lowkey one of the best parts of the season coming from someone who doesn’t give af about him (lost his appeal when he and Alicent went from intriguing chemistry but refusing to act to straight kinda boring FWB’s I got more from Gwayne with both of them than I ever got from Alicole)

real and correct

[cappucosmic]

"The child of a wolf, my lord, is still a wolf."

[branwendaughterofllyr]

I can be sweet talked into posting snippets of the next chapter bc I am simply dying to post

[branwendaughterofllyr]

Everyone say thank you to @tired-reader-writer

It’s Helaena time.

“It is by no means an absurdity to append to the silk-worm an account of the spider, a creature which is worthy of our especial admiration,” she read. “How steadily does it work with its claws, how beautifully rounded and how equal are the threads as it forms its web! With what wondrous art does it conceal the snares that lie in wait for its prey in its checkered nettings!” Helaena looked up from the scroll. “There is no link at the Citadel for the study of insects, but Maester Alekyne devoted fifty-eight years of his life to the study of bees. He wrote on other creatures too. Like the spider. I meant to make tribute to him, in tapestry. But then these came.”

With one hand, Helaena beckoned her uncle closer.

“These ones do not weave webs. They are jumping spiders from Sothryos.” In small boxes with thin delicate glass atop them lay half a dozen brilliantly colored creatures, no bigger than his thumb, each with tiny hairs in shades of bright turquoise, purple, orange and any other colour a Tyroshi would be pleased with. It put Aegon in mind of the displays put on by the peacocks of Highgarden.

“My grandsire had them sent to me. He meant well.” The girl picked one of the boxes up and held it cupped in her hands. “What right do I have to command such a creature’s death,” Heleana said, her eyebrows knitted together as she frowned. “Yet I would never see it otherwise. I will never go to Sothryos.”

[branwendaughterofllyr]

I can be sweet talked into posting snippets of the next chapter bc I am simply dying to post