Ridiculous 46 year old fangirl! Fanfiction writer. Druidic shaman. This blog can be NSFW! Minors DNI! Otis Driftwood & Bill Moseley, hot older men, Tolkien stuff, GOT, the sopranos, skyrim, twd, cats, pretty nature, serial killers, Halloween, anything horror, dark, creepy, paranormal, or witchy. Writing stuff, other random shit!
"Daemon is ultimately driven by love. I think he’s totally obsessed with Rhaenyra. I think they have really interesting conversations around their cup of tea in the evening. You know he’s besotted with her."
— Matt Smith
Bonus: his reaction at crowd cheering loudly at question about Daemon and Rhaenyra’s relationship 🤭
Finally!!! At long last, after many (4) weeks, here's my completed Targaryen family tree! Now, you might notice this doesn't contain LITERALLY EVERYONE, because I had to draw the line somewhere, but I'm so pleased with how it turned out! this project was an absolute blast!
See below for closeups/long winded explanations
The Conquerers
Straight out of the Century of Blood, we have the conquerors. In my mind, old Valyria is analogous to the Roman Empire, the way that Westeros is the British isles. Because of this, you can definitely see the Mediterranean influence on their designs. One thing that isn’t though—I gave Valyrian women these headdresses, sort of mimicking the crests of a dragon. I like the theories about the health of the dragons being linked to the way Targ women are treated, and it seems like the sort of cultural memory that would be honored in their regalia. More ‘masculine’ headpieces are modeled by Aegon and Visenya—sort of these simple diadems.
The Velaryons are based on Byzantines, obviously, but I also took a lot of inspiration from the HOTD show. One thing I wanted to try and challenged myself with was making everyone in this extremely inbred family look different and interesting.
The Conciliator
I feel like the Targaryen’s aren’t quite sure of their place yet here, and I wanted to represent that in the way they dress. Their silhouettes are the same but they’re implementing Andal elements like wimples and *gasp* sleeves. We see an example of the typical Westerosi woman with Jocelyn, she wears an intricately embroidered dress and covers her hair—some Targaryens like Daella have leaned into it and dress in a full Westerosi style.
More daring characters still lean into the Targaryen aesthetic—Aerea, Saera, an Viserra with their more subdued versions of the traditional headpiece and Baelon with his loose tunic.
Side notes: Baelon inherited Aegon’s dragon pin, Alyssa wears Visenya’s earrings, and Rhaena's wearing Rhaenys's necklace.
The Dance of Dragons
Targaryens, now at the height of their power, feel safer engaging in their Valyrian customs—headdresses and tunics are back! But here, fashion choices are used to create a stark divide between greens and blacks.
Where as the Blacks lean into tradition to support Rhaenyra’s claim, the Greens plead their case to the small folk, and dress the part.
Rhaenyra is using fashion as a tool to legitimize herself, she wears Visenya’s earrings and necklace, Alyssa’s necklace (gifted to her by Daemon), and a crown that combines both her mother’s tiara and her father’s crown. Her hair is styled in the short waves of the conquerer, and she’s even added some extra bangles and accents to the traditional headdress.
Alicent, on the other hand, is dressed like the perfect pious Westerosi noblewoman. Her hair, loose (because she isn’t so vain to groom it) and covered with a veil. Her bodice is simple but embroidered, all done by her hand to her industriousness. She also (much to Rhaenyra’s chagrin) inherited Visenya’s crown—refusing the more complicated crowns of Rhaenys and Alyssane. This crown will become thematically significant and Jaehaera wears it too.
Rhaenys inherited Rhaenys’ necklace, I like to imagine it made it down Rhaeny’s 1’s line down to Rhaenys 2, and then she gifted it to her daughter. Daenaera Velaryon wears Alyssa Velaryon's crown.
Embers of the Dance/Great Bastards
No one is particularly keen to flaunt Targaryen uniqueness following the dance—and we see a pretty strong pivot to Westerosi fashions. Aegon III is the only one really holding out for that aesthetic, but none of this kids adopt it.
Larra Rogare of Lys is based on Minoan fashion!
Daena inherits Rhaenys II’s necklace and Baela’s diadem. A little further down the line, Betha Blackwood is wearing Rhaenys II's necklace as well.
We all get our first Dornish characters! Miryah and Dyanna. I wanted Dornish fashion to look especially different from any other familiar fashions, so they’re based in the aesthetics of the Tuareg people.
All of Rhaegal’s family looks a little wacky—I wanted them to not-quite fit in to the rest of Westerosi fashion–with Alys’s unbound unveiled hair, aelora’s dark veil and Aelor’s ruffled collar. Alys did get Alyssane’s necklace though, passed down through the Arryn ladies by Daella.
Mother of Dragons
Here, we see some more westerosi fashion. Nothing particularly crazy in Aegon's kids --- Rhaelle wears Jocelyn Baratheon's necklace. As for Rhaella --- she wears the crown that was originally Visenya's.
I'm doing R+L=J here, not for any statement on the theory, but just cause I wanted to draw Lyanna and Jon. The Starks are based on the aesthetics of the Sami people. If you zoom in really close on Jon, his eyes are a dark, dark purple.
Rhaegar is wearing Westerosi embroidery, but instead of his house colors, he's had little blue flowers stitched around the neckline. Wonder why...
Both Daenerys and Viserys wear Valyrian style tunics, though as Daenerys gains more power, she leans fully into the high valyrian aesthetic. She's wearing earrings that appear identical to Saera Targaryen. Are they the same earrings? Just the same style? Idk, but somehow both ladies ended up in Essos. Her hair is braided in the fashion of the Dothraki, and we finally see the return of the traditional Valyrian headdress, which Daenerys has modified by adding her dragon crown.
Find ways to practice daily. Start small with more energy manageable spellwork, like daily tea/kitchen magic. Try out planetary magic to help plan spells and rituals ahead of time. Daily practice helps novice witches to grow their abilities to handle and manipulate energy in greater capacities.
Daily prayer. Remember, praying doesn’t always have to be directed towards spirits or deities. Praying for your own personal power is extremely empowering. Here’s a great video from one of my favorite magical mentors on the topic.
Wear a crystal or oil programed as a magical enhancer to help amplify your will while casting. This was a game changer for me.
Discover & follow your path. Many witches are encouraged to learn many casting methods and types of magic when they are beginning their journey. I considered myself an eclectic witch for eight years before realizing what speciality of witchcraft fit best with me. Once a practitioner focuses on their most suitable path, things feel like they unlock naturally and magic feels more intense.
Read witchcraft adjacent nonfiction. As you dive deeper into most practices, what’s useful won’t be a correspondence cheat sheet or a spell book, but actual history and science. Reading books on quantum physics has helped me develop my own magical theory. Historical & geological references can help witches connect with their ancestral magic. When witches open their view of magic to include everything around them, any topic can become magical exploration and information for the grimoire. Correspondences can be discovered the old fashioned way, through discernment and for yourself.
Routine spell management. Reinforce wards or cast spells routinely in whatever manner works best for you. That could be weekly, monthly, or seasonally. Are you routinely cleansing under the New Moon? Maybe your wards are cast seasonally.
Write your own spells. Everyone loves a good spell book, but if all your casting are other people’s spells, you may not be reaching your full potential.
Meditate. Fifteen minutes a day will unlock more than you ever dreamed possible. I read in a mindfulness book once that meditating eliminates resistance, allowing what you’ve been asking for to flow into your life uninhibited. It also enhances your intuition and recalibrates your mind and body.
Master a method of divination. Tarot, runes, anything! Divination allows the witch to answer their own questions regarding spellwork, better plan, and communicate with allied spirits. It’s the first thing I would tell a young witch to learn.
You know, I think we were all too normal about Karliah back when Skyrim came out.
She's the 'brooding troubled guy on a quest to avenge his lost love' archetype, but a woman. She's a professional thief. She's related to two of the most important figures in the lore (Nerevar and Queen Barenziah). This is completely irrelevant to anything she does in the game and you only find it out if you read her dead boyfriend's book. She's been in exile for a quarter century. She's a talented and deadly archer. She makes unique poisons. The first thing she ever does in-game is shoot you. She's involved in a predictable but fun plot twist. Her dead boyfriend was a charming thief/scholar fluent in a dead language. He's still in love with her after twenty-five years alone in a temple and promises to wait for her in the afterlife. She blames herself for his death and you don't even get a chance to tell her she's wrong. Sometimes it's unclear whether she's using you, or whether you're a team working toward the same goal, and I'm not sure she knows either. She's the only Dunmer with purple eyes. She's traumatised. She's grieving. She's self-loathing. She's furious. She's the most character in the entire game. How were we not more unhinged about this woman.
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