Might just be because I primarily use Tumblr and they're well known but. It's kinda interesting that in fics that discuss Grace struggling with touch starvation/skin hunger he doesn't explain to Rocky like, how important skin contact and embraces are? Not just to humans but most mammals.
Specifically referencing the whole Cloth Mother vs Wire Mother experiment? And how we know for a fact that actual human babies can sometimes straight up die just because they're not held, even if they're warm and fed (part of why parents are encouraged to interact with baby even if they're in the medically necessary incubator).
Because in most stories it's left as a vague "this is necessary for humans mental health" without actually explaining how important it is? And not just on the aspect of feeling lonely. But also, you're more stressed, and it fucks with your sleep schedule/ability to sleep (which Rocky would find hella upsetting), and you're more likely to engage in self harming behaviors.
So I think bringing up the well-known (on Tumblr) experiment of Cloth Mother and Wire Mother as like, "hey touch is such an integral part of mammalian species in general, and humans/monkeys more specifically to where babies would choose to starve as long as they felt comforted. So this is a big issue for me, especially since my most recent conscious contact with other humans was either when I was being chased down and drugged against my will, or when I was carrying my fellows dead bodies out to the airlock."
Randomly thinking about this cause I'm reading a story that touches on terms found in multiple languages, and they brought up the word widow. But like, it's actually kinda weird from a purely mathematical standpoint we *don't* have a word (in English at least, idk about other languages) for parents who outlive their children? That was the norm until very recently for much of the population.
Childhood illnesses were frequently deadly pre-vaccines and penicillin. And then after you hit adulthood generally what killed you was like, pretty severe shit? Famine, war, extreme injury (including childbirth here cause that shit is hella damaging), plague. Shit of that nature. Which yeah, did affect the population and, with plagues and famine, could at times wipe out while towns/cities/civilizations. But when half your population is dying before age 5, and the other half lives anywhere from age 5 to age 80+ you'd think a relevant bit of terminology would be created to acknowledge that kind of thing? Unless you're trying to use the Punt rule where it's just so commonplace nobody felt the need to have anything distinctly recorded about it?
Was thinking of some fic ideas for DC. And obviously I'm a big fan of the idea of getting rid of the Joker. Read a fair few stories where one or other member (or random person) kills the Joker. But understandably, killing him has issues. There's the weird bomb he's got linked to his heart, and of course the whole "killing is wrong and against their code" bullshit.
But like. Pull a Bingge. Human stick the fucker. What crimes is he committing without limbs or a tongue or even the ability to fucking see? Like, death would be MERCIFUL compared to that of course. Though if any character deserves it that'd be the Joker. And then ya know, put him in a medical facility OUTSIDE Gotham. Outside the fuckin states entirely even. Put what remains of him in some long-term care unit in Switzerland with a fake name or some shit. Say he was victim to some kinda inhumane experiment and is understandably unwell as a result of it, has toxic blood too.
Genuinely Joker is among the worst villains in Gotham, no reasoning behind his behavior other than it being some weird psychosexual thing he's got for Batman. They keep trying to give him backstory in various comic runs and even movies for it all, but that's the antithesis of his character entirely.
I don't consider him the worst cause like, even with his insane killcount and all the horrific shit... To my knowledge he's not a pedo. Which, some other villains of Gotham are so.... That's worse in my opinion. A low fucking bar to clear and yet, this shitstain is managing his way above it to the surprise of everyone.
Ya know. I enjoy reading batman fanfics, genuinely I do. And I too am a basic bitch and love Jason and Tim. But like, for as many people as they killed, what with Jason's crime lord spree and Tim's blowing up LOA bases.... Nobody brings up how many people Stephanie killed? Indirectly mind you, but like.... There was a not insignificant number of deaths during War Games? And given the whole, set off a gang war bit of it all ... A fair number of innocent civilians probably were victims of her actions? At least Jason and Tim were killing criminals, generally pretty bad ones.
Also, how the fuck is Bruce maintaining the Matches Malone persona? With what fucking time? Because his whole plan revolved around that persona and it's standing within criminal circles? Which means he'd have to have been fairly active in that persona? How.
Ya know. I enjoy reading batman fanfics, genuinely I do. And I too am a basic bitch and love Jason and Tim. But like, for as many people as they killed, what with Jason's crime lord spree and Tim's blowing up LOA bases.... Nobody brings up how many people Stephanie killed? Indirectly mind you, but like.... There was a not insignificant number of deaths during War Games? And given the whole, set off a gang war bit of it all ... A fair number of innocent civilians probably were victims of her actions? At least Jason and Tim were killing criminals, generally pretty bad ones.
Thinking about this randomly but like. The Red Keep's building is attributed to Maegor, even though construction began under Aegon the conqueror. Construction happened between 35AC 2 years before Aegon's death, and 45AC by which point Maegor was in charge (he only lived another 3 years after construction finished).
Which is an INSANELY short time span for something like the Red Keep to be built? 10 years? With those huge fucking walls and all the towers, and the basements that would have also been dug out for food storage, not to count the multiple layers of dungeons?
Smaller castles IRL that have like, 20 rooms of moderate size, I'm talking not much larger than a single tower of the Red Keep, can take 2-3 decades minimum to be built, not including time needed to furnish it appropriately.
So like, the only way I can see the Red Keep getting constructed that quickly is if literally everyone with even a passing knowledge of architecture and building worked on it.
Which presents an interesting problem given that Maegor is stated to have fucking killed all the people who worked on it to make sure the tunnels throughout remained secret.
So is Westeros like... Without any builders or architects at all now? Is that why so many castles and walls and towns are in such shitty condition, even years after the major wars? Nobody knows how to build that shit, let alone fix it?
So like, weird question but. What was the previous time keeping called in Westeros? Because obviously they now have the Before Conquest -After Conquest thing. But there was something before that yeah? And what about Essos? Or Yi-Ti. They wouldn't mark their calendars based on the conquest of another continent. SK what's going on there?
Kinda interesting to me, that so many historical fantasy stories keep giving characters individual rooms. Not only in their homes but in inns?
I'm into history, generally the fashions and architecture stuff. But I've obviously watched/read things that discuss how people generally slept.
If you were traveling and you wanted to sleep in a bed at an inn you were often sharing that bed with strangers, packed in like sardines. And if you weren't in the bed you still had to pay to sleep on the floor.
And often unmarried people, most often females, would share beds even in their homes. And they would often help one another dress.
Of course, depending on financial status, age of those involved, what the weather was doing, and some other factors, there was a fair chance the whole family would pile into the same bed. Parents with all the kids, and if you're not nobility there's a fair chance you're also bringing the farm animals into your home during winter to increase the bodies producing heat inside your home.
So this weird idea of extreme privacy and solitude in sleep is a very modern concept? And makes little sense for many characters and stories it's used in besides?
I've been reading a few of those "isekai'd as a mob character, fell into a relationship with the villain/ess" type stories recently. And I am having some thoughts of my own regarding one.
Specifically that this guy gets reincarnated as a third son to a poorer noble family, and it's a world of monsters and magic, so he figures "okay I'll just be an adventurer then". Which his family appreciates and supports.
However, he eventually realizes he's actually in a shitty otome game. Shitty in the sense that there's no real tension or stakes?
Like the 'bullying' the heroine suffers is really minor shit, like getting told to back off their man and getting tripped, someone maybe spills something on her dress hem. They don't even get physical with her, no dramatic slap scene.
And when the 'villainess' gets condemned it's basically just a very public breakup that makes it awkward for her to attend parties? Like she goes home and inherits her dad's lands and still lives a wealthy life?
So he doesn't feel the need to do anything about the situation of the original story. Yeah he has a crush on the 'villainess' but she didn't have a bad end or anything.
Also, and this is literally written in my notes about this story idea "he supports women's wrongs, especially against cheating men and their affair partners."
Of course, a bunch of stuff happens that causes his plans to stay uninvolved to go off course, and eventually it leads to him in a relationship with the 'villainess'.
But like, he's a huge simp. Openly, publicly, shamelessly.
So I randomly had this thought. Because I was reading a fair few Team Black fics that have Alicent unable to have kids/have healthy/living kids/sons. And typically she's also rendered nothing but a trophy wife in those stories, no real responsibilities, no real power as Queen. That kind of stuff.
And then I remembered a story I read. Where, during the female leads first life (it's a regression story) she became queen. But she never held any real power in that position because her mother in law wouldn't give it up to her.
And she never had a successful pregnancy because her husband (the king) was a whore monger and infected her with basically every STI ever. And as Queen she couldn't get treatment for it, because it'd put into question HER fidelity. So she kept being blamed for the failures even though it was her husband's fault.
She also had a severe eating disorder (would binge eat in front of others to imply she was naturally that thin, then throw it all up in private because she didn't want to risk the weight gain) because of how hard she was trying to maintain her image as the country's most beautiful/sought after woman, which understandably ruined her physical and mental health even more.
And I just think.... Given the story does tell us Viserys used to go to brothels, but doesn't note him having a favorite whore (unlike Daemon) that well.... It might fit? At least as one where Alicent fails as Queen not due to any active engineering by Rhaenyra, just happenstance/the gods stepping in.
Especially since he obviously was willing to fuck his grief for Aemma away. Because the benefit to having a favorite whore is obviously you can pay for exclusivity. Which reduces the chances of catching something nasty.
And I know the general consensus is that Viserys has leperacy, but syphilis could also fit his condition (vague and unclear as it is).
Obviously Alicent is unlikely to get any kind of help for it. Not only because she's the Queen and rumors of her cheating would ruin her, because Otto is pretty good with sneaky doctor shit. And not even on the aspect of religious refusal, denying necessary healthcare because she believes it's a condition only for "loose" women.
But because well.... Westeros has shit healthcare, they give people sugar of lead and mercury. And even in modern times if you don't treat that shit immediately on being infected (which is often unnoticed) there's a fair shot (1 in 3) you'll end up with severe, if not deadly organ damage.
And given it can go into a 2 decade long latency stage before deciding to soup your organs? You'd think you were cured of whatever was wrong with you.
Like the symptoms of tertiary stage (the final of 4, latency being 3) syphilis includes shit like swelling&weakening of blood vessels (including the chance for them to rupture). Tumor like lesions forming on the skin, bones, and organs causing hella damage. And damage to the fucking NERVOUS SYSTEM. Which can cause seizures, personality changes, hallucinations, dementia, paralysis, and even strokes.
Y'all can't tell me that doesn't fit a lot of Viserys' later symptoms before his death.
And it would work. He went around brothels before his marriage to Aemma, picked it up, along with some other stuff. Never noticed because all he got out of it was like, one mild rash, because he was largely asymptomatic for all the shit he caught. Various things went dormant on him because he was still going and healthy and without stress.
Then Aemma dies, by which point he's definitely no longer young or healthy or stress free. Body sets loose the various diseases he picked up in a more active state. But the most obvious one causing issues for him is the syphilis. Which doesn't show any symptoms on Alicent, because it is generally an unnoticed disease, especially in the early stages.
So I often contemplate the... Reality? Of how the world of Westeros works. Especially in regards to things like evolution and how the insane seasons would cause massive changes in how political and social stuff is done. On top of how it would alter the life spans and cycles of not just people, but plants and animals.
(This is long so there's a read more lol)
Cause like, obviously it's a historical fantasy with no real solid reference to a specific time period. Fashions are all over the place, the foods and drinks aren't consistent with a medieval setting, their technology is all over the place, with Westeros actually being the least advanced (they don't even have a decent sewer system!).
But okay, so regency era. The one that alot of people reference when thinking about courts and noble romances and such. They had the marriage season. Which came about as a side effect of the fact that the husbands and fathers of nobility would go to the capital to work in parliament. And given this happened after they basically spent the whole winter locked up... Well, the whole family is coming because goddamnit we wanna party and socialize!
And well, the nobility is flocking to this one area, they're socializing and partying and showing off their wealth and refinement. What better time to work towards setting up a marriage for your single kids/family members!?
But obviously that came about as a result of the seasons. So Westeros wouldn't have a marriage season. And obviously it's set up more for arranged marriages that are essentially just family alliances and trade deals.
But people would also stay with friends or extended family members in the winter so they could socialize and spend time, and ya know, be in a different place. The thing of course is that traveling in winter is a pain in the ass. There's no snow-plows clearing those roads.
So how is the social scene affected by those multi-year winters? Do they just spend forever traveling in shitty conditions, spend a few months with whoever they decided to visit and then either move on or go home? Do people actually stay for those multiple years of winter at someone else's home?
Hell, how did people evolve to withstand the mental strain of those winters! It's really difficult to handle those from a mental health perspective even in modern times! If you're not used to proper winters or ones that are 6 months long and you go experience one you will not be doing well mentally by the end of that!
There has to be an evolutionary reason explaining how people can mentally cope with these extended winters!
And plant life. Yeah seeds can go dormant, some even for many years! But many types of plant life are really fucking weak and sensitive to frost!
And if you have literal years long growing seasons, do the plants then produce less over the same amount of time ours would comparitively? Obviously this being a medieval fantasy setting they would already produce less than modern crops, there's been no efforts to breed or engineer for certain characteristics.
But even in comparison to pre-renaissance times, do they produce less yield per crop? Or is it the same as our crops and they can just do multiple rounds of them?
How would this affect diets? Because some plants grow best in certain seasons. And if your summer is 5 years long I doubt you're growing squashs and yams and stuff, those are typically fall produce.
Do they suffer the zucchini plague for months/years at a time? Iykyk.
Also, how are the preserving these foods to last over those multi-year winters? They mention that places like the Reach stay warm enough to still manage to plant certain crops even in winter most years. And yeah the Reach is the bread bowl of the country. But other places have to be able to grow something!
Not just for farming and human consumption, but also, the various insects and animals need something to eat during those long winters! We might claims bears sleep through winter but they don't actually sleep through the whole thing.
They actually go hunting for food occasionally! The excessive eating beforehand and sleeping during winter is to reduce how much they need to eat through winter since it will be harder to get food consistently.
Similarly, animals that do actually stockpile foods for winter, like squirrels or even beavers. There has to be a limit on how much they could realistically stockpile and keep fresh/safe to eat! And given how inconsistent the length of these seasons can be, how would they even know how long the winter could be?
How would their breeding cycles work??? Because obviously for us, most animals tend to avoid breeding during a time span where they could have babies in/near winter. Ideally they give birth in spring! But if your winter is years long, and people obviously hunt for meat in that time. What is the deer population doing to sustain itself?!
Because I have watched a number of documentaries and they cover how people dealt with winter. And generally you butchered your animals and preserved your meat before winter actually set in! Reduce the amount of livestock you need to feed through the winter since you can only store so much feed, while also making sure you have a good store of protein.
But the idea of actually... Storing the amount of meat and grains needed for a single person to get through multiple years??? Even on minimal rations and maybe a plate of food a day...
That's still so much fucking food for just one person! Imagine storing enough for a family! A castle! Where and HOW are we storing all this damn food???
And insects have really short lifespans generally speaking! As much as I don't enjoy having them in my space they are necessary for the ecosystem! Many plants will genuinely not fucking exist if those insects don't!
How are the insects dealing with winter? Especially when the time is so inconsistent! Do they continue spawning throughout winter just at a reduced amount that's only enough to ensure they can have a functional population for spring? Have they somehow perfected a form of stasis that keeps them at peak health through winter so they can get back at it when spring hits?
How do the animals and insects deal with those false springs??? Where there's a month or two where things warm up enough that flowers are starting to sprout up again, but then you get slammed overnight with 3 feet of snow and another year or two of winter???
How do they do religious events or festivals??? So many of ours are tied to the seasons and the solstices! Harvest festivals in fall would be meaningless since they have years of summer to harvest in and then years of winter with no true harvests!
What worth would acknowledging the solstices be when they don't actually denote the coming or going of summer/winter? Lent lines up with the period of spring called the "hungry gap" which is when your winter stores have begun to run out, but nothing you've planted has grown and there's not much to forage yet.
There is a literal tudor era manual for farmers on when the best time of year is to plant and shear sheep and butcher animals and it's all tied into religious days for a reason!
HOW DO THESE FUCK ASS SEASONS CHANGE CULTURE AND EVOLUTION FOR THESE PEOPLE????!!!!!
How does crossbreeding work? Cause technically Dragons are a human (and lots of blood magic) made crossbreed. So like, what's the situation with natural crossbreeds like mules or ligers and such?
Because dragons are fertile and capable of making more dragons. So are mules not infertile?
What size would mules even be? Because they have aurochs which have long been extinct for us. And they mention having lots of other long extinct animals, or animals that are noticeably bigger than the ones we have.
So actually how did these animals evolve to suit their circumstances and how did that affect their sizes and defenses? Also obviously how did this affect their fertility levels and ability to naturally crossbreed?
ACTUALLY! How the FUCK does the nights watch afford that black dye? Where are they even getting it from? They say they can't afford to armor/clothe everyone in a uniform way, so they just dye it all the same color. But historically black is a fucking EXPENSIVE RARE DYE!!!
Like genuinely this is the most standout oddity about the clothing fashions in the series? Otherwise I can jive with it, but they never explain where the fuck the dye is coming from?
And it stands out because you get references to other characters clothing and the fabrics they buy and the colors of it all. Like in the start when Sansa is dressed to meet the royal family? She's noted for being dressed in the southern fashion (as she understood it) with it made of a more expensive fabric than what she typically wore. And it was still wool. So like, the cost difference was largely cause of the dye there.
the other day in the groupchat we were talking about how historical fiction will often try to code aristocrat characters as more sympathetic by only having them have a single servant instead of a whole household of staff but instead this just makes them look like an exploitative employer who’s so cheap he would rather pile impossible amounts of labor upon a single guy than hire enough help to actually run his house
Okay so, been thinking about the whole Rhaegar of it all. And specifically his relationships with Elia and Lyanna.
He was a shitty person and they weren't in love.
Read more because it's a big rant and I'm trying not to be rude to people who like him/ these ships.
Elia
Okay so like. There's zero info about HOW she got engaged to the Prince that I can find right now?
Because from what I recall, there was originally a plan for her to marry Jaime, because their mom's were close friends. And Tywin said no to that for some reason? (Again can't find the reason given if there was one available, probably was cause of her poor health tho)
Meanwhile, last thing I knew about Rhaegar's future marriage is that Roberts parents were sent to Essos to try to find him a bride with Valaryian blood (subsequenly failing, and then dying due to a storm).
So how their marriage ended up happening? Especially when the King is uhh racist? Towards her? (Literally says her baby "smells Dornish" and won't hold her)
Also, it's known that they didn't have a particularly loving or romantic marriage. It was considered happy, but how true that is and how much was just social posturing idk.
Plus well, how happy could Elia have been, all alone, no real support, in that vipers nest of a court, with a husband lost to prophecy who likes to fucking play wonderwall all the time because it shows how sensitive and humble he is, and a father in law who gets his kicks out of burning people alive?
Additionally, she was known to have very frail health, since childhood. She was bed bound for half a year after her first child. Like, she was not in a position or state of health to be getting pregnant again as fast as she did.
So, I think we can agree that uhh Rhaegar fucked her health over severely with his delusions of prophecy.
(also, not to ya know... Diss fantasy medieval medical skills but uhh... How exactly did they determine she was 100% never having a kid again barren after giving birth to her son?)
And then well, Harrenhall. Where Rhaegar publicly humiliated her by naming a 14 year old girl as the Queen of Love and Beauty. Shortly after which, he runs off. And next thing Elia, and everyone else, hears about him, he's kidnapped that girl and run off to parts unknown.
Leaving her alone, with his ever more insane paranoid psychotic murderous racist father. With their children. Who were barely toddlers. The eldest was maybe 3.
And then within the year, he's dead, and she's trapped with her children, with no escape. And her children are brutally murdered in front of her, and then she's basically raped to death (technically her cause of death was a crushed skull, but well... Gregor) over her children's corpses.
So uhhhh.... Where in that story do you think they have love for each other? They're literally married for less than 4 years of her life total. And he's gone for like... Most of 2 of them? And she's bed bound from giving birth or being pregnant probably the rest of their marriage? Doubt they actually spent time together as a couple often.
Lyanna
Okay so, to start this part off. The Tourney of Harrenhall happens when Lyanna is 14 years old. So like, reframe all these events that happen in your head and realize you're talking about someone who's pretty fucking young and sheltered okay?
Additionally, there's some major discrepancies in how their relationship is portrayed between the books and the show, which I'll get into a bit.
Alright so, to start. Rhaegar does his wonderwall bit, Lyanna is overcome with emotions about it. Wow.... A 14 year old girl.... Overcome with emotions at a hot guy singing a sad song.... Who could have ever expected that!
Genuinely though, a sheltered 14 year old girl, having her first big trip away from home, sees a literal prince who is charming and handsome and is a good singer, of course she's gonna be charmed by him!
Especially when you consider that this is also the first time she's meeting Robert, her betrothed, in person. And he's drinking a lot, and being loud, acting lewd, trying to be way to familiar with her. Etc etc.
And she has a justified reason to not be enthused about their marriage. He's already got a bastard daughter running around. So her, reasonable, assumption that he won't stay loyal to their marriage bed is a valid complaint. Especially since she's a Stark, and they take vows very seriously.
Plus, Robert was raised by Jon Arryn and grew up with Ned. Yet here he is... Whoring around and getting drunk as fuck constantly.
Also, her dad stayed loyal to her mother, even though it's been years since her death. With that kind of comparison against him Robert wasn't looking good.
Some months after the Tourney, Lyanna is riding some 10 leagues (30 miles, or nearly 50km) away from Harrenhall. (Which for reference is at least a 2 day ride out). Whereupon Rhaegar and his personal lackeys Kingsguard happens upon her and they go missing together.
Now here's where the discrepancy really begins to kick in. In the books, it's pretty strongly stated by those that knew her that Lyanna did not choose to go with him. She was alone, far from anyone else, it's noted that she had no training in combat (so that theory of her being the knight of the laughing tree isn't canon, it's just a fan theory). Meanwhile here's the prince, who is well educated in combat, and has multiple trained knights with him. Hmmm yeah I wonder how willing she may have been....
However, in the show they present this story that Lyanna hated her betrothal to Robert so greatly, and that her infatuation with Rhaegar was so strong that she chose to run away with him. Without leaving a note? And yes I did say infatuation. Because even in the show there's little interactions between them up to this point. Also, at this point Lyanna is pretty freshly 15.
And while I will not discount that teenagers can feel love (would be a hypocrite if I did given I'm married to the person I started dating in highschool), she's spent no real time with him and has no experience in relationships of that type, understandable, but that means that's the first time EVER in her life she's felt interested in someone at all.
So in the show it is, at best, a Romeo and Juliet situation on Lyanna's side of things. Where she's young enough to get swept up by the initial passion of infatuation, and feels pressured enough by others to make extreme choices in her romantic life. (Her looming wedding to Robert, her lack of familial female figures, she doesn't seem to have any female friends even, she's surrounded by men who expect her to do this thing she's not a fan of)
However, and I dislike that people seem to forget this fact. Rhaegar didn't love her. It's literally stated in both the books and the show, that he was fucking delusional about a prophecy (that was likely mistranslated) because it made him feel special. That's why he went after her. He was convinced that he could fulfill this prophecy if he had his third child with her. (Which, by the way, according to his delusional prophecy should have been a daughter.)
Now again here is where there's a huge discrepancy in the story. Because Rhaegar's siblings (Viserys and Daenerys) believe he was in love with Lyanna, which confuses me because from what I know Viserys hardly ever saw him, and Daenerys never met him. So really, how accurate can their view of the situation be?
(yes I know Dany had a vision about Rhaegar's death and that his last word was Lyanna's name. But like, again she's not mentally stable at this point, it's a weird fucking situation, and she's already biased about it so...)
And Rhaegar's main lackey Kingsguard Selmy also claims that he ran off with Lyanna for love. But I mean, this guy was so far up Rhaegar's ass I'm surprised he could breathe. So how likely that's true is genuinely debatable because I find it difficult to believe this guy was making reasonable conclusions about the whole situation.
On the other half of the story, you have those that were (nominally) close to Lyanna. That being Robert, and (we learn through a comment Bran makes later on) Ned. They claim that she didn't want to be with Rhaegar. And that he was "raping her hundreds of times". That paired with the fact that they didn't get her back until Ned and his group killed off Rhaegar's guards who were keeping her locked in a tower as she was apparently bleeding out doesn't paint a picture of someone who is there by choice.
In between you have those who seem to take the stance of "Yeah Rhaegar hated his wife/marriage so ran off with the first girl he saw."
Now, I don't know about you, but however the situation came about that Lyanna ended up in that Tower. I don't think she could have held love for Rhaegar after learning their dramatic affair led to the horrific and grisly deaths of her Father and Brother. Even if she did join him there willingly out of passion or infatuation. There's no way she wouldn't have blamed him for her losses. (especially since even in the show it seems like she's literally being held prisoner after she's in the tower, so has no way to leave or communicate with others)
HERE'S THE BIG DIFFERENCE!
In the books, we don't know Lyanna's official cause of death. There's definitely a pretty heavy implication about it's cause, given the whole... Kidnapped for most of a year by a guy and found in a bed soaked in her blood situation. But officially, officially, there is no mention of her having a child in the books. Not even a miscarriage. We know she dies asking Ned for a promise, what for? Not clear yet. (Maybe if GRRM would write his fucking book already!)
In the show it's pretty blatantly a death by childbirth situation. Specifically because of her young age (she dies at 16) and lack of medical attention plus the stress preceding the birth.
And admittedly, that confuses me greatly. If Rhaegar's whole thing with even pursuing Lyanna was so be could have this prophesized third child of his... Why wasn't there a midwife? Some kind of medical assistant for her?
(also I feel you should know that people historically had their periods later in life than we do in the modern day, so she probably didn't even have a full years worth of periods before he knocked her up, so her body could barely handle it anyways. Truly, man loves his women with fragile health and dying from the pregnancy he's forced on them.)
The man, the bitch, the Problem
There's no way you can get me to believe this man genuinely loved or cared about either of these women except as a method in which he could realize his delusions of being a special little snowflake chosen by the Gods to do.... Something.
Yeah he didn't even know what the prophecy was actually about. Nor what it actually meant. I know a lot of people think he did, but canonically he didn't know shit about the Long Night.
How can you claim he loved either of these women when he kept them both trapped and helpless in situations where they were suffering, meanwhile he's running off and playing hero to his own little story.
He wanted to be special so badly he didn't care what he did to achieve his goals. He didn't care about those he left behind or abandoned. He didn't do anything to better the fucking nightmare that was his father acting as king.
He cared about fulfilling this prophecy, as he interpreted it, and being well liked via fucking playing wonderwall.
He didn't do anything to protect or take care of anyone in his life, not even his own mother. He was just as delusional as his father, he just wasn't paranoid. Instead he had the worst "teen boy thinks he's the world's main character" syndrome. (Like, he's 5 seconds away from trying to have a signature weird pose and catchphrase)
So many HOTD fics that are Daemyra centric hate on Laena and Laenor and it kinda pisses me off? I get the big thing is that the show made the Daemyra thing more dramatic and tragic and framed Daemon and Laena's marriage as him like, taking her as second best (which is just... So disrespectful to everything about both Laena and the relationship they shared!) ?
But as much as people might argue that neither Rhaenyra or even Daemon (even though literally NO evidence exists for THIS claim) were happy in their marriages.... Laena and Laenor weren't the villains of the story? Laenor was a gay man pressured by his father into a Royal wedding, and realistically there was no way to refuse the marriage offer from the King without valid reasons. And well, much as people might be aware of his preferences, that doesn't mean he's going to openly speak about them, especially when it will shame and ruin his family's reputation.
And Laena got betrothed to a loser because her father was angry she wasn't chosen as Queen. And when her father realized how much of a loser the guy was and panicked and was trying to avoid actually following through on the promised marriage (which btw this was a much bigger thing in the books. Corlys delayed the wedding for YEARS). Well, then Daemon shows up to save the day. And hey, this means that every single one of Corlys' grandkids is likely to have a dragon and a royal lineage!
In the show these two weddings happen in basically the same week. Meanwhile in the book they were... 1-3? Years apart. But ultimately both Laena and Laenor got put in a shitty position by Corlys and general outside circumstances.
Also, I do agree it was disrespectful that Daemon and Rhaenyra married so soon after the deaths of their respective spouses. But also, beyond the idea that they've been yearning for each other for more than a decade and have never felt love for anyone else (which is categorically untrue, especially in the show where Rhaenyra has a pretty serious romance with Harwin, and both versions do indicate Daemon loved Laena to some extent), Rhaenyra was in a precarious fucking situation.
Her dad hasn't done shit to protect her claim for the throne in a meaningful way, Alicent has been actively declaring war against her and her claim to the throne for years. Hell, as a result of the fight at Driftmark between their kids there's an even bigger divide between them and it's essentially a blood feud. She's got 3 sons with no father to protect them or lend them his name. The Velaryons were not really helping her out at this time either. And well, she's still a royal princess. There's a fair chance she'll end up getting married off again when the mourning period ends, she's still pretty young.
Daemon is her most steady supporter, he will support and protect her sons not just because he loves her, but because they're going to marry his daughters in the future, which for a man who thinks marrying within the family and keeping dragon blood strong is something he really wants. He's not going to force her into having kids, yeah they have them pretty soon after their marriage, but Daemon has been around a lot of pregnancy related tragedies in his life, including losing Laena to it. He's an attractive man, with Valyrian blood, a dragon, skilled at warfare, with many connections and loyal knights/guards who will follow his every word. And well, beyond the initial tantrum about it he's been supportive of Rhaenyra becoming Queen.
Who else could she have chosen realistically speaking? And the speed of the marriage could entirely have been to prevent the King from forcing another one on her she didn't want.
Idk it just bothers me that I'm reading so many stories that paint Laena like some scheming seductress who got in the way of true love, and Laenor as this deadbeat dad and husband when neither of those things are true.
So I've read more than a few SI/OC'S into various either extant Targ characters, or non-existent ones. Generally as a third sibling to Viserys& Daemon, or a sibling (half or otherwise) to Rhaenyra. Sometimes I see ones where Laenor is the insert character.
However, I've not seen one for a non-existent sibling for Rhaenys? Because her mom is a parallel to Aemma in the whole "struggles to have kids, only manages a daughter" thing, but her husband is a decent fucking guy and doesn't slowly kill her and eventually gut her about the lack of a son. (I have strong feelings about this subject if you couldn't tell)
And if Rhaenys had a brother? Lots of things would probably be different and I'm ... thinking rather heavily about it at this early af hour when the sun hasn't even risen yet lol.
Like okay
1) this would be a insert who KNOWS the story okay? But is aware that their very existence by itself changes the story HEAVILY. Because so much of what happens does because Viserys sits on the throne, and in this case OC's existence alone makes that REALLY unlikely to happen.
3) He encourages Rhaenys and her relationship with Corlys. I've never been 100% clear on if the man genuinely fell in love with her or wanted her claim to the throne, but I'm going he falls in love with her and bonus, their kid(s) could marry OC's kids in the future theoretically.
2) I want him to marry Aemma. Particularly cause he's personally not into the sibling incest shit, he can deal with the cousins thing, partially because he thinks she deserves better than she got in canon and as the (likely) future king it makes sense to marry a lady of one of the seven great houses who happens to have the right bloodline.
2.5) part of his future marriage to Aemma, and that he decides on it so early, is he makes sure she's well educated and has a broad world view from a young age. Trying to make her a better Queen of course, but also because he's hoping to get her to champion women's rights in the future. He's a modern man and his older sister is Rhaenys, man drinks his respect woman juice REGULARLY. He's also aware women are being unfairly limited currently so can't actually prove their equal value.
4) Big change here but! Viserys marries Gael. No the king and queen don't fucking approve of this! But Viserys gets it in his head that he needs a proper Valyrian bride, and since he and Gael are compared to one another often (unaware this is not a kindly thing, more a commentary on how divorced they both are from reality) figures she'd be the ideal bride. Gael is sadly (canonically) easy to convince into this, because she wants to be a bride and have a great romance.
5) Daemon still gets married off the Rhea Royce. However, OC does annul the marriage when he gets to the throne, pays reparations to the Royce's for it, and makes sure that Rhea's chosen heir ascends. Daemon probably gets encouraged to marry a Celtigar girl. However, neither Viserys nor Daemon's kids are allowed dragon eggs, and they can only claim dragons with permission from the King.
5.5) now that I'm thinking about it, that means that Laenor wouldn't have Seasmoke, cause he got him as an apology to Rhaenys. (Which... Okay? Let's give the woman I wronged kid a WMD, sure that makes sense?). Laena would probably also be barred from getting a dragon as well, now I'm thinking about it.
6) OC has the modern understanding of, kids before your body is grown is A BAD IDEA. So probably doesn't even sleep with Aemma till she's like... 16-17? They get grief about it, but like, when she does become pregnant it's goes much easier and she doesn't suffer as badly, especially cause OC got a battalion of midwifes and foreign healers. He knows about the maester conspiracy and doesn't trust them to look after Aemma. OC claims it's cause midwifes are women and who would know pregnancy and a woman's body better than another woman who has gone through the same and helped countless others.
7) Viserys and Gael however... They have lots of fertility problems. They eventually have a daughter, who they name Alyssa in reference to both their mother's, but her health isn't great and she's not very intelligent. Plus, no dragons allowed since she's so far from the inheritance to the throne.
8) The Hightower issue ... Here's the thing right? Otto is not a uniquely evil person, honestly him and Corlys (and Daemon a bit) are very similar. Within the context of the world he's actually not a terrible guy?
Like, he's not unique for wanting the power that comes with royal connections. He's not wrong to point out that Rhaenyra ruling would lead to a very unstable realm, especially when she's not trained for it and makes no efforts towards the task, plus Viserys got chosen over his older female dragon riding cousin so why wouldn't Aegon ascend the throne when he's the kings son?
Yeah the whole conspiracy to get rid of dragons is (to the readers) a major issue.
But a) at this point it's been... 3-4 generations that have existed under Targaryen rule, and nobody is happy about this. Plus, there's been kinda a crazy amount of Targs sitting on the throne in the last century? They aren't a very stable monarchy.
B) the dragons are WMD and are rightfully something people are afraid of, and well if you can't have a similar WMD you don't want someone else to have them, or they'll oppress you ... As the Targaryen's have done.
C) Nobody knows about the coming of the Second Long Night. Most people don't even believe there was a first one. They don't consider dragons a necessary evil to deal with ya know, ice zombies in a future they will never see happen?
9) Ultimately this would be a very heavy wish fulfillment chill kingdom management/building story. Yeah there's political stuff, I kinda want OC to reduce the power of the Faith and the Citadel, because they're treacherous but also they're extremely classist? And probably some drama from the Viserys and Daemon corner of things. Different kinds, but same general vibe of "I'm of royal bloodline and am entitled AF, I deserve something better than what I'm actually owed given my position in the like of inheritance!"
10) This all of course would avery the Dance, but also the downfall and death of Dragons, and probably help ensure the safety of humanity when the long night comes again. Especially cause Aerys would NOT have been King since the royal bloodline has shifted.
I've been reading a few Bridgerton fics recently. (Don't wanna get into it). And like, there's a fair amount where Penelope deals with the Marina situation differently/by chance it happens differently.
But for some reason I can't get the idea of... A different way this situation could be changed, that I've not seen?
Because so many of them are either,
1) Penelope convinces Colin/tells him directly he's getting trapped,
2) Penelope tells Anthony and HE stops Colin,
3) Penelope doesn't manage to stop it/doesn't bother to/can't/etc and Colin married Marina and shit falls out from there, with the rare
4) Penelope convinces Marina to change her mind/victim of choice/gets in contact with her baby daddy's brother who takes responsibility etc.
So my idea of a different way this whole situation could be changed, that would not have any direct lead in to a specific romance(! Possibilities! Mainly because I enjoy Penelope with non-Bridgerton based romances cause it's different and spicy) is this; Penelope talks to Violet.
She goes to Violet as a woman/ mother/ lady of nobility she respects and trusts and basically says "My cousin is in love with a guy who went off to join the war who isn't replying to her letters, yet my mother is VERY insistent on getting her married. This month. To where she's prioritizing marrying Marina off over my sister's. Which, sure maybe she wants the burden gone? But Mom is specifically trying to get Marina to marry really old men with no heirs that have an immediate desperate need for them.... And I don't understand why she's doing that? Especially since Marina seems popular with young noble men as well? With equally valuable estates?"
Now whether or not Penelope knows about the whole Marina being pregnant thing at this point isn't relevant. Because Violet will quickly put together the clues of "missing love interest" and "speedy marriage" along with "needs a kid asap" and get the obvious conclusion of it, that Marina has a bun in the oven and alongside Portia is going to baby trap a man with someone else's kid.
Even better if Penelope never tries to discuss this issue with Colin, and in fact if this happens before he declares his engagement to Marina. Because obviously this isn't Penelope being jealous, this is her being concerned for her cousin's future and confused about her mother's actions regarding it.
Cause the thing is, I don't think Violet would think poorly of Marina necessarily? At least removed from the immediate risk of her marrying Colin. Yeah it's shitty and dishonest that she's trying to pass off another mans kid as her prospective future husband's, basically cuckholding him.
But clearly, Marina got taken advantage of by this guy who she loves (advantage in the sense he took her to bed without wedding her first, just promised he would then fucked off to join the war) and is left in a shitty situation and ultimately the only real chance she has to not be socially ruined and have to live in poverty in the countryside IS to marry a man and pass the kid off as his if she can't get baby daddy to the altar.
Now what the outcome of this would be I'm not sure? Obviously Colin isn't going to be allowed to marry Marina (or seriously court her). But whether Violet digs up the baby daddy's brother in the nick of time, sets Marina up with someone who is aware of the situation and is fine with it (a gay/asexual guy who doesn't have an interest in women but needs an heir?) or some other outcome I'm not able to think of right now.... Violet has more money, connections, empathy, and social power behind her than Portia does. So she could get Marina a better outcome than she gets in canon or in most fics.
