#scribs

[clytomnestra]

aahhh an evening for writing everyone say yippee!!!

[clytomnestra]

I said precisely this in the tags of one of my own nonsense posts but i need to reiterate it actually. it doesn't matter to grandma baratheon (she of iron islands freakery) that lyonel is the gay grandchild. she already ontologically assigned that role to gowen because he doesn't think it would be cool and fun to die at sea. which is gay of him.

it's pride month in the stormlands (i guess it would last like a year if we're going with GRRM's climate rules) which means that lyonel is sucking and fucking his way from the straits of tarth to the dornish marches. this is totally fine because he had to make use of a boat to slut it up over such a vast terrain. and gowen had a blacksmith make him some variety of westerosi etsy or redbubble pin that says 'ally' and now meemaw has locked him in the crypt.

[clytomnestra]

actually i've changed my mind. it's not fair for everyone to be excited by lyonel's freaky iron islands meemaw who has staved off dementia solely for the purpose of remembering gowen's flaws if that energy isn't also being directed towards Ser Robin Connington, Steward of Storm's End and the Sinister Smiler. He's literally just trying to throw the best talent show welcome feast this town extremely weird castle has ever seen.

[punkcherries]

hapy pridemont :]

[ocbituary]

can you please look at his stupid fucking face

[clytomnestra]

Alright, first of all:

I adore your Gothic horror stormhedge fic. It's so atmospheric and your dunk and egg play off each other so well! lyonels creepy grandmother is an excellent addition to Canon and I can't wait to see more of lyonel

And second:

Your lyonel-baelor failmarriage au is so inthralling... Is it omegaverse? Does lyonel get to spend time in storms end? What does the wider targ family think of their marriage? Do they have more kids than just their mid son?

Hello! Thank you so much- writing Dunk and Egg's relationship has been a complete joy, and I'm glad that the characters I've been building to flesh out the world of Storm's End and the Baratheon family tree are enjoyable! I, too, cannot wait to see more of Lyonel, now that we're finally in his home and finding him up and about!

Failmarriaaaage. I would want to find a way for the setting to still feel aligned with how highborn marriage works in Westeros re: feudalism, reproductive control, religion, etcetera, which we could loosely translate to some from of a/b/o type deal, but probably non-traditional and like... specifically construed with the social systems of asoiaf in general. I want to get into the juiciness of an absolutely busted marriage, and to do that, I would need to reinvent the wheel concerning gender and childbirth, alas.

For my purposes re: all that, I am interested in the idea I've seen others use of Targaryens existing outside of the scope of those physical expressions of gender because they are 'alien' in some capacity, particularly with the lack of mixing their bloodlines. However, Baelor et al are coming into the marriage and child-rearing market at a time where the Targaryens are interested in intermarrying with other houses, which I think for my purposes would be related not only to allegiances but also genetic viability.

Baelor and Lyonel would have met in their youth, I think possibly in the tournament circuit, and there may have been a spell of time where Lyonel was at court in the Red Keep or at Dragonstone for the purposes of transitioning into adult life and/or establishing a Baratheon presence in the heart of court politics. They would further encounter each other during the first Blackfyre Rebellion and the Battle of Redgrass field, with Lyonel as part of the contingent of Stormlords that Baelor is moving alongside his Dornish spearmen.

I think it's fascinating that Baelor's canonical spouse is a Stormlander, when so much weight is placed on his Dornish heritage, and I do feel that this was part of efforts to unify the freshly integrated kingdoms. I think that Baelor was personally interested in Lyonel and subtly steered the match between them by framing it in terms of political advantage. Lyonel, who would have been similarly interested in Baelor, assumes that this match was orchestrated for purely political purposes, and that Baelor tolerates him out of a sense of duty. Ouch! Baelor, for his part, sees Lyonel's defensive reaction (he's guarding his pride and his dignity, and perhaps his wounded heart, what of it), and is concerned that he has essentially trapped or pushed Lyonel into a marriage he was not interested in based on his own assumptions about Lyonel's feelings.

Lyonel draws away to not seem humiliatingly clingy and out of a sense of discomfort with being in court, Baelor doesn't push to keep him near because he feels that he's imposed upon him. Lots of Lyonel being at Storm's end, since he is still the Lord Paramount, he has duties which he can insist would require his presence! Duty is upheld, of course, Baelor is the crown prince- they have something insane like four children (one of whom is mid at jousting) and never analyze why that might be outside of the terms of duty. Lyonel prefers to keep them away from courtly machinations at Storm's End when he can, Baelor permits this out of agreement and an affectionate desire to indulge him.

Dunk presents the things that they value and desire in each other! Baelor sees Lyonel's prowess and passionate skill in knighthood and his code which does not fall back on convenience or convention; Lyonel sees Baelor's sense of honour and fairness and the more discreet, gentle parts of his temperament. They're each convinced that letting their husband- who has otherwise been dutiful, ugh, has he not- get a free pass with this guy will be super generous to them, whatever, they don't even care, it doesn't even matter, it's not like they love each other, UGH. They both swing (ha) in for him at the trial, obviously, feeling insane in the other person's general direction, and shit REALLY gets cracked open when Baelor almost very nearly dies. You're telling Lyonel they could have been passionately making love for the last twenty-whatever years. And maybe combining their joint powers to make their son not fucking MIDDDD at jousting. Dunk is sworn into the household, here, and apart from squiring Egg, is mostly deployed by Lyonel and Baelor against each other for the purposes of weird sex shit. Peace and love across the realm baby.

This is fully nothing, however, the idea of Lyonel learning of the trial firsthand from Baelor and immediately throwing his lot in with Dunk... juicy marital drama to meeee.

[clytomnestra]

I already have all my gothic horror bullshit to do. And would take me 10,000 years to actually write in any capacity because I would be doing gymnastics to reinvent the sociopolitical structure of westeros as a feudalist society deeply obsessed with patrilineal ties that upholds its power system through gender-based violence and reproductive control. so that what I was writing would feel properly grounded within the text I was writing for. However.

In my beautiful twisted mind there exists a baelor-lyonel failmarriage of grand proportions, where in terms of the public eye they're viewed as a strong and ideal match, but they've spent the last 20-whatever years deep in their own individual psychosexual labyrinths completely convinced that the other either despises them or tolerates them for the sake of duty. And then Ashford happens and their shit gets cracked wiiiide open by the presence of this hedge knight who they both have a complex about re: their personal views of knighthood, and try to bequeath to each other as a misguided act of resigned generosity in what is for suuuuurrreeee definitely a loveless marriage. Like okay so that's a person. They do have a son who's mid as fuck at jousting though. In a way it's probably his fault their marriage sucks.

[clytomnestra]

also all the responses to lyonel's insane ironborn meemaw have been such a relief and a delight. come yap with me about meera baratheon (née kenning) if you want to know more of my thoughts. about this weird old woman i invented.