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eliamartel · 1 year

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HoTU Visions | Kings Landing

I knew the description of Vaes Tolorro in ACOK evokes Dany walking inside a destroyed Kings Landing - A "sun washed" city (Aegon VI/ Martell imagery) bearing "scars of fire" (duh) but I didn't know that the six alleys coming together symbolises Kingslanding until I read @une-nuit-pour-se-souvenir meta on Viserion & Aegon vi.

Attaching screenshot

This is significant as Daenerys encounters six passages coming together in a chamber inside the House of the Undying too. I read her HoTU chapter again and realised that, all of scenes she experiences here, when taken together, symbolises the destruction of Kings Landing

Before entering the House of the Undying, Pyat Pree instructs Dany to always choose to enter the first door on the right if she's in a room with 4 doors, and to always climb up if she encounters any stairs.

Oval room with six passages leading out from it

The fourth room was oval rather than square and walled in worm eaten wood in place of stone. Six passages led out from it in place of four. Dany chose the rightmost, and entered a long, dim, high-ceilinged hall. Along the right hand was a row of torches burning with a smoky orange light, but the only doors were to her left.

Inside the chamber with six passages (symbolising Kingslanding), after Dany makes a choice to enter the rightmost lane, she enters a long hall with many doors on the left and no doors on the right. Only torches lighting the way were on the right wall.

Walking in the hallway; sounds from the walls and closed doors

The mold-eaten carpet (...) served to muffle her footfalls, but that was not all to the good. Dany could hear sounds within the walls, a faint scurrying and scrabbling that made her think of rats. Drogon heard them too. His head moved as he followed the sounds, and when they stopped he gave an angry scream. Other sounds, even more disturbing, came through some of the closed doors. One shook and thumped, as if someone were trying to break through. From another came a dissonant piping that made the dragon lash his tail wildly from side to side. Dany hurried quickly past.

While walking, she hears rats scurrying within the walls, something is trying to break through one door, and the sounds from the third door made her dragon lash his tail wildly. What it means exactly? -> Not sure but Drogon is agitated by this

While walking forward in search for a door on the right (the correct door to proceed furthur if she wants to survive the House of the Undying), she sees some visions through the open doors in the rooms on the left.

Vision 1 - War

In one room, a beautiful woman sprawled naked on the floor while four little men crawled over her. They had rattish pointed faces and tiny pink hands, like the servitor who had brought her the glass of shade. One was pumping between her thighs. Another savaged her breasts, worrying at the nipples with his wet red mouth, tearing and chewing.

Symbolises war in Westeros

Vision 2 - War Crime

Farther on she came upon a feast of corpses. Savagely slaughtered, the feasters lay strewn across overturned chairs and hacked trestle tables, asprawl in pools of congealing blood. Some had lost limbs, even heads. Severed hands clutched bloody cups, wooden spoons, roast fowl, heels of bread. In a throne above them sat a dead man with the head of a wolf. He wore an iron crown and held a leg of lamb in one hand as a king might hold a scepter, and his eyes followed Dany with mute appeal.

The Red Wedding where Robb Stark was killed under guest right by House Frey. Daenerys will commit a similar war crime in Kingslanding, attacking and killing Aegon VI and his army despite their surrender

There is also a wolf king watching with his eyes following Dany -> This is Robb at the red wedding, but I think this also symbolises Jon after KL blows up mainly because of -

Inside the tent the shapes were dancing, circling the brazier and the bloody bath, dark against the sandsilk, and some did not look human. She glimpsed the shadow of a great wolf, and another like a man wreathed in flames. - AGOT Daenerys VIII

and

What sort of man can stand by idly and watch his own brother being burned alive? - ADWD Jon IX

More here

Vision 3 - Dany's yearning for a home

She fled from him, but only as far as the next open door. I know this room, she thought. She remembered those great wooden beams and the carved animal faces that adorned them. And there outside the window, a lemon tree! The sight of it made her heart ache with longing. It is the house with the red door, the house in Braavos. No sooner had she thought it than old Ser Willem came into the room, leaning heavily on his stick. “Little princess, there you are,” he said in his gruff kind voice. “Come,” he said, “come to me, my lady, you’re home now, you’re safe now.” His big wrinkled hand reached for her, soft as old leather, and Dany wanted to take it and hold it and kiss it, she wanted that as much as she had ever wanted anything. Her foot edged forward, and then she thought, He’s dead, he’s dead, the sweet old bear, he died a long time ago. She backed away and ran.

Dany's yearning for a home sparked her desire to conquer westeros and sit on the Iron throne.

After this room, Daenerys runs forward until she gets out of breath and could run no more.

The long hall went on and on and on, with endless doors to her left and only torches to her right. She ran past more doors than she could count, closed doors and open ones, doors of wood and doors of iron, carved doors and plain ones, doors with pulls and doors with locks and doors with knockers. Drogon lashed against her back, urging her on, and Dany ran until she could run no more.

Drogon urges her on as she runs past many open and closed doors -> the presence of her dragons urges her forward on her journey to conquer Westeros

Part of her would have liked nothing more than to lead her people back to Vaes Tolorro, and make the dead city bloom. No, that is defeat. I have something Viserys never had. I have the dragons. The dragons are all the difference. - ACOK Daenerys III

Vision 4 - Burning of Kingslanding

“Let him be king over charred bones and cooked meat,” he said to a man below him. “Let him be the king of ashes.” Drogon shrieked, his claws digging through silk and skin, but the king on his throne never heard,and Dany moved on.

King Aerys wants to burn Kingslanding. Aerys was prevented from blowing up KL as Jaime killed him before the orders could be passed onto the pyromancers guild. Daenerys will succeed where Aerys failed, because she has dragons unlike her father

Vision 5 - Three heads of the dragon

Viserys, was her first thought the next time she paused, but a second glance told her otherwise. The man had her brother’s hair, but he was taller, and his eyes were a dark indigo rather than lilac. “Aegon,” he said to a woman nursing a newborn babe in a great wooden bed. “What better name for a king?”

“Will you make a song for him?” the woman asked.

“He has a song,” the man replied. “He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire.” He looked up when he said it and his eyes met Dany’s, and it seemed as if he saw her standing there beyond the door. “There must be one more,” he said, though whether he was speaking to her or the woman in the bed she could not say. “The dragon has three heads.” He went to the window seat, picked up a harp, and ran his fingers lightly over its silvery strings.

Sweet sadness filled the room as man and wife and babe faded like the morning mist, only the music lingering behind to speed her on her way.

Three heads of the dragon - Aegon VI (“What better name for a king?”), Daenerys (He looked up when he said it and his eyes met Dany’s) and Jon (“There must be one more,") -> Dance of the dragons 2.0

The end of the hallway

It seemed as though she walked for another hour before the long hall finally ended in a steep stone stair, descending into darkness. Every door, open or closed, had been to her left. Dany looked back behind her. The torches were going out, she realized with a start of fear. Perhaps twenty still burned. Thirty at most. One more guttered out even as she watched, and the darkness came a little farther down the hall, creeping toward her. And as she listened it seemed as if she heard something else coming, shuffling and dragging itself slowly along the faded carpet. Terror filled her. She could not go back and she was afraid to stay here, but how could she go on? There was no door on her right, and the steps went down, not up.

There is no door on the right in the entire hall -> No right path to proceed after she makes her choice in Kingslanding (oval room with six passages)

All doors are on the left, darkness is creeping after her, and she hears something shuffling and dragging itself to her which terrorises her (It might be the thing that was trying to break through the closed door in the beginning of the hall). She chooses to enter the last door on the left.

Two more rooms - Aftermath of blowing up KL?

She blindly runs through 8 more rooms, (choosing the right door every time) until she stops to take a breath, in this room (room 9) a vision of Pyat Pree(actually a pale, wormlike creature) tries to trick her towards him. (Maybe assasination attempt? By someone disguised as a man with blue lips/or a warlock/or a priest, since this was only a pale/wormlike creature disguised as a vision of pyat pree) Daenerys' quick thinking saves her from him.

She exits that room with a door to the right, climbs the stairs and enters a door made of Weirwood & Ebony (This part may be related to Arya as the door is similar to the door of the House of Black and White). Inside that room(room 10) there are 4 people (again these 4 people try to trick her, second assasination attempt?), Dany snaps out of their haze when Drogon starts gnawing at the door(Drogon's behavior saves her) and she exits through a door on the right. In the next room she meets the undying ones, who give her visions

#text #hotu #asoiaf speculation #anti daenerys targaryen

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asongofstarkandtargaryen · 11 months

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HOUSE OF THE UNDYING PROPHECIES

When Daenerys entered House of the Undying she received some of the most compelling visions of asoiaf books. I know that plenty of other fans have already tried to decipher them but since this is my favourite chapter of hers (and one of my favourite chapters in general) I decided take a shot, too. Please note that this post is purely speculation, especially when it comes to visions that haven’t happened yet. I could end up being totally wrong as I’m not the one writing these books. That’s why while I respect people having different views, I won’t participate on any debate about the views I expressed here.

First of all, I feel the need to divide the visions into four categories. Those which belong into the first category happen before Dany meets the Undying, the second one consists the visions the Undying speak about, the third one are the visions which occur after Dany asks for further explanation (three sets of triple visions) and in the final category are those rapid visions that happen as the Undying trying to distract her from realising that they are about to cannibalize her.

FIRST CATEGORY

In one room, a beautiful woman sprawled naked on the floor while four little men crawled over her...One was pumping between her thighs. Another savaged her breasts, worrying at the nipples with his red wet mouth, tearing and chewing.

I believe that the woman symbolizes Westeros and the four little men are the kings fighting over her. It could either be Stannis, Robb, Joffrey and Renly (excluding Balon because he didn’t have as big impact on the country as the other four) or Stannis, Robb, Joffrey and Balon (excluding Renly who was already dead at that point).

Farther on she came upon a feast of corpses. Savagely slaughtered, the feasters lay strewn across overturned chairs and hacked trestle tables, asprawl in pools of congealing blood. Some had lost limbs, even heads. Savaged limbs clutched bloody cups, wooden spoons, roast fowl, heels of bread. On a throne above them sat a dead man with the head of a wolf. He wore an iron crown and held a leg of lamb in one hand as a king might hold a scepter, and his eyes followed Dany with mute appeal.

I think that this one shows the Red Wedding and that the dead man with the head of a wolf is Robb (foreshadowing the cruel way his corpse will be defiled)

I know this room, she thought. She remembered those great wooden beams and the carved animal faces that adorned them. And there outside the window, a lemon tree! The sight of it made her heart ache with longing. It is the house with the red door, the house in Braavos. No sooner had she thought it than old Ser Willem came into the room, leaning heavily on his stick. “Little princess, there you are,” he said in his gruff kind voice. “Come,” he said, “come to me, my lady, you’re home now, you’re safe now.” His big wrinkled hand reached for her, soft as old leather, and Dany wanted to take it and hold it and kiss it, she wanted that as much as she had ever wanted anything. Her foot edged forward, and then she thought, He’s dead, he’s dead, the sweet old bear, he died a long time ago. She backed away and ran.

The Undying are trying to tempt her by showing her most happy memories: when she lived on the house with the red door with Ser Willem. It’s one of the hardest trails she faces inside HotU because as an orphan girl she always longed for a home and this vision is promising exactly that. But Dany is known to prioritize her mission over her own happiness and that’s what she does here.

Beyond loomed a cavernous stone hall, the largest she had seen. The skulls of dead dragons looked down from its walls.Upon a towering barbed throne sat an old man in rich robes, an old man with dark eyes and long silver-gray hair. “Let him be king over charred bones and cooked meat,” he said to a man below him. “Let him be the king of ashes.”

This is a vision of her father, Aerys Targaryen.It's interesting that Dany doesn't recongize him, she doesn't even see a resemblance in appearance with her and/or her brother. Unlike the next vision where she sees Rhaegar and she links him to Viserys in terms of appearance. I understand that King Aerys wasn't taking care of himself and looked pretty much awful so it makes sense not to link his appearance on either Dany or Viserys.

However, on a deeper level I believe this is because Dany still refuses to see the actual true nature of her father. I do believe that later in the books she will have to accept the fact that her father wasn't the best person (and unlike what her antis say I don't believe that any of his father's bad traits reflect badly on her)

The man had her brother’s hair, but he was taller, and his eyes were a dark indigo rather than lilac. “Aegon,” he said to a woman nursing a newborn babe in a great wooden bed. “What better name for a king?” "Will you make a song for him?” the woman asked. “He has a song,” the man replied. “He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire.” He looked up when he said it and his eyes met Dany, and it seemed as if he saw her standing there beyond the door. “There must be one more,” he said, though whether he was speaking to her or the woman in bed she could not say. “The dragon has three heads.” He went to the window seat, picked up a harp, and ran his fingers lightly over its silvery strings. Sweet sadness filled the room as man and wife and babe faded like the morning mist, only the music lingering behind to speed her on her way.

Martin has confirmed that the couple on this vision are Rhaegar Targaryen and Elia Martell with their son, Aegon. The need for another child is a hint towards Jon being Rhaegar's son.

I don't believe that Rhaegar was right about Aegon being the chosen one and the one with the song of ice and fire. It's not like Rhaegar wasn't wrong before about interprenting the prophecies -in the past he believed he was tPtwP- so I believe that this is another time he's wrong. After all, Rhaenys, Aegon and his third child (Jon) can't be the three heads of the dragon when only one of them is alive.

SECOND CATEGORY

…mother of dragons… child of three…

Dany is the mother of dragons and she’s also the third child of Aerys and Rhaella Targaryen

...three heads has the dragon...

Speculation time!

I believe that three heads of the dragon are Daenerys, Jon (those two are Targaryen) and Tyrion, who also shares lot of parallels with them and I could see him working with them to defeat the Others/ to built a better future for Westeros. Another candidate could be Bran Stark, I guess.

...child of storm...

She’s Daenerys Stormborn, born during a storm.

three fires must you light . . . one for life and one for death and one to love . . .

The first one was the funeral pyre of Drogo which gave birth to her dragons. The second one I suspect it will be Dany fighting her enemies using her dragons. As for the final one I believe it will be Dany and her dragons contributing to the fight against the Others. She will do it out of love because she's Mhysa and loves her people.

three mounts must you ride . . . one to bed and one to dread and one to love

I think the first one refers to Dany riding silver on her wedding with Drogo, the second will be Dany riding Drogo to destroy her enemies and the last one finding love in Jon Snow. Alternatively, the mounts could refer to her husbands: Drogo, Hizdahr and future husband Jon Snow.

. . .three treasons will you know . . . once for blood and once for gold and once for love . . .

I think that Mirri is the first treason, the second could either be Hizdahr or Ser Jorah. As for the third which hasn’t happened yet, I don’t think that based on the facts we know so far we can speculate what that might be.

THIRD CATEGORY

1. First set of three visions:

1a. Viserys screamed as the molten gold ran down his cheeks and filled his mouth

Viserys’ death.

1b. A tall lord with copper skin and silver-gold hair stood beneath the banner of a fiery stallion, a burning city behind him.

Rhaego, with his father’s coloring and his mother’s hair, in a what if situation where he grew up to become a powerful leader. Note that like the previous vision this is also associated with death because that poor boy was born dead.

1c. Rubies flew like drops of blood from the chest of a dying prince, and he sank to his knees in the water and with his last breath murmured a woman’s name.

Rhaegar’s death.

… mother of dragons, daughter of death…

Daenerys’ father died before she was born, her mother died giving birth to her and the previous visions highlighted how some of her closest relatives are dead.

2. Second set of three visions:

2a. Glowing like sunset, a red sword was raised in the hand of a blue-eyed king who cast no shadow

Stannis with his fake lightbringer sword. He has no shadow, because at that point of the story his shadow was used to kill his enemies (aka Renly)

2b. A cloth dragon swayed on poles amidst a cheering crowd.

The Young Griff, Aegon, who in reality isn’t the son of Rhaegar Targaryen (cloth dragon)

2c. A great stone beast took wing, breathing shadow fire.

Perhaps this refers to the alchemists who create an artificial dragon. They could be hired by Lannisters as they are the only major opponents of Dany who aren’t mentioned on the slayer of lies section.

...mother of dragons, slayer of lies...

Dany will kill/defeat her enemies in the race for the Iron Throne and their lies will be revealed.

3. Third set of three visions

3a. Her silver was trotting through the grass, to a darkling stream beneath a sea of stars

Dany remembering her wedding night. Dany’s wedding to Drogo is her becoming part of the dothraki community and later on commanding her own khalasar.

3b. A corpse stood at the prow of a ship, eyes bright in his dead face, grey lips smiling sadly.

I really want to say Victarion Greyjoy for that one because the desciption fits him so well (Iron born are “dead men” according to their religion). However, since this set of vision refers to Dany’s “husbands” the only way of being him is if he almost marries her. Otherwise, it could be Hizdahr or Daario accompanying her to the journey to Westeros (very unlikely for the former one) and dying while they are on the ship. Depending on which this section refers to, it could also be linked to the army they bring in their alliance with Dany.

3c. A blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness.

Lyanna Stark is the character associated with blue flowers and her son is currently on the Wall. The fact that the air is filled with “sweetness” indicates a good and probable indimate relationship between Dany and Jon. Perhaps aside from being her future lover could also become her future husband? Jon Snow brings with him the forces of the North as I suspect we will see him rising on the next book to become the leader of the North.

… mother of dragons, bride of fire…

She’s a Targaryen and mother of dragons so of course she’s associated with fire. She’s referred as bride because that’s her relationship with the men on the above three visions.

FOURTH CATEGORY

Shadows whirled and danced inside a tent, boneless and terrible

Mirri’s magic inside Drogo’s tent.

A little girl ran barefoot toward a big house with a red door.

At first glance, it’s easy to say that it’s Dany as a kid on her childhood home. However, Daenerys would recognize her childhood self, she wouldn’t refer herself as “a little girl”. Maybe it’s Arya Stark? the only significant character who fits the description of a little girl. My crack theory is that it’s Dany's child running toward her house (bc she bult that house with the red door she desired). The reason she doesn't comment on the girl's appearance is because she looks like Dany's future husband who she hasn't meet yet.

Mirri Maz Duur shrieked in the flames, a dragon bursting from her brow

Mirri’s death.

Behind a silver horse the bloody corpse of a naked man bounced and dragged

It’s the guy who comes to poison Dany in AGOT and is punished for that.

A white lion ran through grass taller than a man.

I think it’s Tyrion who is shorter than most men. Next to him, the grass would look taller than next to an average height man. Another possibility is Jaime who is a Lannister (lion) but as a member of Kingsguard wears white.

Beneath the Mother of Mountains, a line of naked crones crept from a great lake and knelt shivering before her, their grey heads bowed

A future vision where Dany becomes leader of all dothraki.

Ten thousand slaves lifted bloodstained hands as she raced by on her silver, riding like the wind. “Mother!” they cried. “Mother, mother!” They were reaching for her, touching her, tugging at her cloak, the hem of her skirt, her foot, her leg, her breast. They wanted her, needed her, the fire, the life, and Dany gasped and opened her arms to give herself to them…

The Mhysa scene that happens on ASOS.

#canondany #daenerys targaryen #asoiaf meta #valyrianscrolls #a post of ice and fire #daenerys meta

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horizon-verizon · 4 months

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Dany's House of the Undying Visions in a Clash of Kings (Daenerys IV)

The Primary & Detailed Ones

Woman and the Dwarfs

The Red Wedding

Aerys in King's Landing, About to Burn it All Down

Finally a great pair of bronze doors appeared to her left, grander than the rest. They swung open as she neared, and she had to stop and look. Beyond loomed a cavernous stone hall, the largest she had ever seen. The skulls of dead dragons looked down from its walls. Upon a towering barbed throne sat an old man in rich robes, an old man with dark eyes and long silver-grey hair. "Let him be king over charred bones and cooked meat," he said to a man below him. "Let him be the king of ashes." Drogon shrieked, his claws digging through silk and skin, but the king on his throne never heard, and Dany moved on.

Rhaegar and the Prince the was Promised

Viserys, was her first thought the next time she paused, but a second glance told her otherwise. The man had her brother's hair, but he was taller, and his eyes were a dark indigo rather than lilac. "Aegon," he said to a woman nursing a newborn babe in a great wooden bed. "What better name for a king?" "Will you make a song for him?" the woman asked. "He has a song," the man replied. "He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire." He looked up when he said it and his eyes met Dany's, and it seemed as if he saw her standing there beyond the door. "There must be one more," he said, though whether he was speaking to her or the woman in the bed she could not say. "The dragon has three heads." He went to the window seat, picked up a harp, and ran his fingers lightly over its silvery strings. Sweet sadness filled the room as man and wife and babe faded like the morning mist, only the music lingering behind to speed her on her way.

The False Undying

Beyond the doors was a great hall and a splendor of wizards. Some wore sumptuous robes of ermine, ruby velvet, and cloth of gold. Others fancied elaborate armor studded with gemstones, or tall pointed hats speckled with stars. There were women among them, dressed in gowns of surpassing loveliness. Shafts of sunlight slanted through windows of stained glass, and the air was alive with the most beautiful music she had ever heard. A kingly man in rich robes rose when he saw her, and smiled. "Daenerys of House Targaryen, be welcome. Come and share the food of forever. We are the Undying of Qarth." "Long have we awaited you," said a woman beside him, clad in rose and silver. The breast she had left bare in the Qartheen fashion was as perfect as a breast could be. "We knew you were to come to us," the wizard king said. "A thousand years ago we knew, and have been waiting all this time. We sent the comet to show you the way." "We have knowledge to share with you," said a warrior in shining emerald armor, "and magic weapons to arm you with. You have passed every trial. Now come and sit with us, and all your questions shall be answered." She took a step forward. But then Drogon leapt from her shoulder. He flew to the top of the ebony-and-weirwood door, perched there, and began to bite at the carved wood. "A willful beast," laughed a handsome young man. "Shall we teach you the secret speech of dragonkind? Come, come." Doubt seized her. The great door was so heavy it took all of Dany's strength to budge it, but finally it began to move. Behind was another door, hidden. It was old grey wood, splintery and plain . . . but it stood to the right of the door through which she'd entered. The wizards were beckoning her with voices sweeter than song. She ran from them, Drogon flying back down to her. Through the narrow door she passed, into a chamber awash in gloom.

#rhaegar targaryen #elia martell #lyanna stark #daenerys stormborn #asoiaf prophecies #agot quotes #a clash of kings quotes #asoiaf fav posts #dany's visions

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mxgicthot · 2 months

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Chapter 0 - the fool

Haleth tries to investigate her cryptic nightmares and Asra knows more than he's letting on.

Tw : A brief mention of blood and gore

A/N : This was supposed to be Haleth's intro to Muriel's route rewrite but I don't think I will ever finish it so I'm just posting what I have here.

The atmosphere was darker than in my previous dream. Here in the Lazaret, under the black trees. A terrible place that holds so much mystery and dark energy, I feel drawn to it. As painful as these dreams are, I need to explore them to find answers.

I walked along the white sands, the straight path seemed longer this time. Further I come across a field of corpses, asprawl in pools of congealing blood. Some had lost limbs, even heads. I took a deep breath and reminded myself that I need to do this, if I ever wanted to gain my memories back.

I carry on walking, trying to ignore the horrors before me, the deformed bodies scattered along the shore with red bugs crawling out of them. Tears began to run down my face, blinding me as I continued to pace through the endless amount of trees and brush, I tripped over a root that seemed to rise up by itself to stop my breathless run. I struggled to get back onto my feet.

It was getting harder to put one foot in front of the other. They were coming. I could feel the dark smokey energy that radiated from them, following and watching my every move. It would never stop chasing me. Whenever I get close to remembering something, they would come out of the shadows and block my way.

Faster and faster the visions came to me, one after the other, until it seemed as if the very air had come alive. Shadows whirled and danced around me, boneless and terrible. A little girl ran barefoot toward a big house with an arched door... A tiger ran through grass taller than a man. A woman with rotting flesh appeared in front of me, half of her hair was gone and the rest is white and brittle. She extended a hand reaching out to me.

"No stop…please make it stop!" I screamed, sobbing into the empty forest around me. Suddenly I felt as if I was being grabbed by both of my shoulders and shaken. Panicking, I tried to push away this new invisible threat. "Let go of me!''

Haleth opened her eyes to see Asra above her. Asra, her mentor - and friend, she reminded herself, as he always reminded her when she tried to call him anything else. His eyes were full of worry and distress. Blinking at the bright light and trying to focus. She sat up fast and felt a sharp pain against her temples, her migrans were returning.

"WAKE UP! " A loud and familiar voice broke though the darkness, bringing a stream of light to cover me. "Please, come back." The voice was much calmer and softer now. A hand seems to come from the light beckoning me to grab. Hesitantly I grabbed it. It pulled me towards the light and I woke up.

Asra's fluffy white hair stuck in every direction, which was usually a sign that he had just woken up. "Mmm, Asra?" she asked groggily as she met his gaze and stretched her arms, trying to lighten the stress of the situation.

His eyes narrowed as he sighed, shifting back a little so she could sit up, carefully watching her movements. "Hey!” Asra started, running his hand through his messy curls. “Are you alright?"

He reached out instinctively, his hands stopping just short of cradling Haleth's face “Your… your head. Is it…?”

Haleth gave a small, firm shake of her head "I'm fine. It's just a mild pain."

Sitting on the edge of the bed, he looked so tired. She gently placed her hand on his arm, "I'm sorry master, I didn't mean to wake you… I had to try again."

Haleth's memories were lost three years ago in a terrible accident, — or at least that is what she was told. She remembers nothing of her past, but lately her dreams have been getting more vivid, more intense and cryptic, and when she woke she was plagued by intense migraines.

Asra features softened, "Oneiromancy is dangerous when done unsupervised, you know that."

"— It also allows you to gain deep insight into knowledge the dreams may possess…“ Haleth looked straight at him, forcing her gaze to not stray even the tiniest bit from his. ”And understand secrets that are kept consciously hidden." she continued, whispering the last part knowing well that what she was doing was risky.

As her dreams started to become clearer Haleth began to try and look for clues by revisiting her dreams via oneiromancy. It was difficult at first but it was the only way she could learn more without triggering bad headaches.

He sighed and gently brushed his hand over her cheek to wipe away her dried tears. "You have grown so much. I don't want you to get hurt."

“I always have nightmares, especially when you are gone”. She didn’t mean for it to come out as harsh as it did, but it was the truth. “They are not as frequent anymore, I need to know their meaning.” she sighed, avoiding Asra's gaze.

His hands fell from her face, and she heard the hurt in his voice. “Forcefully triggering them will only make them worse.”

Haleth felt something soft brushed her arm, and she glanced down to see Mau her familiar, the little tabby cat looked up at her. It put its paw on her arm, and slowly blinked. "Oh look, Mau's finally awake."

"Haleth, stop deflecting."

“I know what I'm doing. Trust me.” She kept petting Mau, and the cat eventually laid her head on Haleth's lap, huffing contentedly. “I feel like I'm getting closer to discovering something important.”

They both fell into silence, the sound of the cat purring filled the room. She has always been grateful to Asra for taking care of her when she was unable to care for herself, but she couldn’t not help the feeling that he was keeping secrets from her.

When it seemed like Mau was asleep in her lap, Haleth looked up at Asra. He was watching her with a distant look in his eyes.

“You're right, there is something on the horizon. I’m afraid that…” He trailed off, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth.

"What are you afraid of?" she asked, staring at him intently, silently hoping that this was the moment where he would open up.

"I didn't have my morning tea yet, would you like some?"

Haleth rolled her eyes at him, "Now you're deflecting."

The only answer Asra had to this direct, pointed jab was a sheepish half-smile and a shake of his head. “Or I’m trying to prevent another one of your headaches.”

"Come on, there's something l need to tell you."

#Ughh I'm cleaning out my doc's and found this #I didn't proofread this properly. Fuck it we ball #oc : Haleth

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nightmarecountry · 6 months

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“I don’t like to share” he says outright, as if the obvious needed to be stated. The way the voracious vulture feeds makes this clear enough; gorging himself on every scrap of meat he can force into his gullet. Forget the days of blood drinking, he shreds his victims to tatters, their bones no longer safe from his teeth. ‘I dont like to share’ he had told it and yet his hand reaches out, fingers pressing into the hinge of its jaw, pulling its lips apart. Severen bends forward, sliding his blood coated tongue between his razor sharpened teeth and presses the points down into the meaty muscle. Dark crimson wells up immediately, racing down to the outward extended tip. As his teeth come up the flow is loosed, running like a river down into the pale face below. He doesn’t like to share, but this hardly feels like sharing. It feels like passing an object between one’s own hands. Swallowing with another mouth. He smiles as the white canvas is besmirched with bursts of burgundy. Laughter filling his chest, euphoria making him dizzy—and then Severen wakes up with a start, realizing he’s rolled into a cold pool of drool beside him.

This one isn't on him, he thinks, though by his very nature he cannot be entirely blameless. His hands are off the wheel, so to speak; for all that he is tangibly present, Severen's blood spattering on his face, dripping into his mouths, he is more observer than true participant.

Severen's sleeping mind leads, and the Corinthian trails behind it, lapping up the mess as they go.

The waking is nearly violent; the nightmare is so distracted by the strange things passing between them (blood, bond, benediction) that it fails to feel it coming. It is wrapped in scarlet and howling laughter, leaning its jaw into Severen's hand--

--and then they are in the dark together. Severen on the floor, tucked in one of his strange cramped corners, rolling into a wet puddle of his own saliva. The Corinthian not far from him, sitting on the floor with legs asprawl as if someone had thrown him there, blinking with little clicks of his teeth. It almost feels as if he had been dreaming too, for all that that would have been impossible.

He licks his lips, chasing the faint traces of imagined blood on his skin, staring at his companion in the dark. A sense of insufferable smugness reverberates between them, radiating from the Corinthian like a tangible sense of heat. The nightmare is grinning, sharp, sickle-bright.

"You do like to share."

With me, he doesn't need to say. He swipes his mouth with the back of his hand, feels it come away wet with drool.

"When the mood takes you."

#ic.#v: needs must when the devil drives #savagecowboy #[ corinth being fucking insufferable: ooooh you LIKE me ]#[ you LOOOVE being a freak with me ]#[ you want to DRIP YOUR BLOOD INTO MY MOUTH ABOUT IT OOOOH ]

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raven-runes · 2 years

Text

my hand over your lips

your muffled calls

your body in my grip

your palms on the wall

lust at the tip

your thighs asprawl

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rainhadaenerys · 2 years

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When people say that Dany can't be Azor Ahai because it would be too obvious… I don't think they notice just how many "obvious" prophecies and visions GRRM writes.

1) He wrote a very obvious vision of the Red Wedding:

It's not obvious to Dany when she sees this vision, and it might not have been obvious to the reader the first time they read it, but once you see the Red Wedding happen, it's VERY obvious that this is what the vision was about.

2) Jojen's vision of the Ironborn attacking Winterfell is also very obvious:

"I dreamed that the sea was lapping all around Winterfell. I saw black waves crashing against the gates and towers, and then the salt water came flowing over the walls and filled the castle. Drowned men were floating in the yard. When I first dreamed the dream, back at Greywater, I didn't know their faces, but now I do. That Alebelly is one, the guard who called our names at the feast. Your septon's another. Your smith as well." - Bran V ACOK

It's not obvious to the characters what this means. Bran thinks that the sea is too far away from Winterfell. Mikken dismisses the warning. But it's VERY obvious to the reader what this means, because we know that Theon is coming. And once it happens, it becomes obvious to both the reader and the characters what the vision means.

3) The Ghost of High Heart has some very obvious prophecies:

"The old gods stir and will not let me sleep," she heard the woman say. "I dreamt I saw a shadow with a burning heart butchering a golden stag, aye. I dreamt of a man without a face, waiting on a bridge that swayed and swung. On his shoulder perched a drowned crow with seaweed hanging from his wings. I dreamt of a roaring river and a woman that was a fish. Dead she drifted, with red tears on her cheeks, but when her eyes did open, oh, I woke from terror. All this I dreamt, and more. Do you have gifts for me, to pay me for my dreams?" - Arya IV ASOS

The shadow killing the Golden Stag is obvious (Stannis' shadow killing Renly), it in fact already happened when the woman tells this dream.

The man without a face is not as clear, but not as obscure either. It seems to be a faceless man under the direction of Euron (the drowned crow on his shoulder) to kill Balon (who we know died by falling off a bridge).

The woman who is a fish and has red tears on her cheeks who wakes from the dead is not obvious to the characters or the reader at the moment we read them, but once we get to the end of ASOS, it's very obviously Lady Stoneheart.

The Ghost of High Heart also has this very obvious vision about Sansa:

"[...] I dreamt of a maid at a feast with purple serpents in her hair, venom dripping from their fangs. And later I dreamt that maid again, slaying a savage giant in a castle built of snow." - Arya VIII ASOS

"Did you make the snow castle, Lord Littlefinger?"

"Alayne did most of it, my lord."

Sansa said, "It's meant to be Winterfell."

"Winterfell?" Robert was small for eight, a stick of a boy with splotchy skin and eyes that were always runny. Under one arm he clutched the threadbare cloth doll he carried everywhere.

"Winterfell is the seat of House Stark," Sansa told her husband-to-be. "The great castle of the north."

"It's not so great." The boy knelt before the gatehouse. "Look, here comes a giant to knock it down." He stood his doll in the snow and moved it jerkily. "Tromp tromp I'm a giant, I'm a giant," he chanted. "Ho ho ho, open your gates or I'll mash them and smash them." Swinging the doll by the legs, he knocked the top off one gatehouse tower and then the other.

It was more than Sansa could stand. "Robert, stop that." Instead he swung the doll again, and a foot of wall exploded. She grabbed for his hand but she caught the doll instead. There was a loud ripping sound as the thin cloth tore. Suddenly she had the doll's head, Robert had the legs and body, and the rag-and-sawdust stuffing was spilling in the snow.

[...]

"It was my fault." Sansa showed them the doll's head. "I ripped his doll in two. I never meant to, but . . ."

"His lordship was destroying the castle," said Petyr.

"A giant," the boy whispered, weeping. "It wasn't me, it was a giant hurt the castle. She killed him! I hate her! She's a bastard and I hate her! I don't want to be leeched!" - Sansa VII ASOS

It might not be obvious to the reader at the moment they read it, they might expect the vision to mean something grander than it is, given the wording of a maid slaying a giant. Our expectations are subverted when it turns out it was just about Sansa "killing" a toy giant, but GRRM words everything in a way that makes everything very obvious and clear, that this is what the vision was about. You couldn't get more clear and obvious than "Sansa killing the giant that was destroying the snow castle".

In fact, the giant turning out to be a toy reminds me of an interview from GRRM in which he talks about a lord that was prophesied to die beneath the walls of a castle, but ends up dying in front of a painting of that castle:

Prophecies are, you know, a double edge sword. You have to handle them very carefully; I mean, they can add depth and interest to a book, but you don’t want to be too literal or too easy... In the Wars of the Roses, that you mentioned, there was one Lord who had been prophesied he would die beneath the walls of a certain castle and he was superstitious at that sort of walls, so he never came anyway near that castle. He stayed thousands of leagues away from that particular castle because of the prophecy. However, he was killed in the first battle of St. Paul de Vence and when they found him dead he was outside of an inn whose sign was the picture of that castle! [Laughs] So you know? That’s the way prophecies come true in unexpected ways. The more you try to avoid them, the more you are making them true, and I make a little fun with that. (source)

Just like in Sansa's example, the prophecy comes true in an unexpected way (in a rather silly way), but once it happens, it becomes obvious how the prophecy was fulfilled.

You can see that all of the prophecies above follow the same pattern: they might not be obvious to the characters (the sea invading Winterfell) or to the readers (the Red Wedding, Catelyn becoming Lady Stoneheart) at first, or they might come true in unexpected ways to the reader or the characters (the sea being the Ironborn, the giant actually being a toy giant), but once they happen, it's very obvious that they happened.

And this is why I find the argument that Dany being Azor Ahai is "too obvious" to be a bad argument. In fact, Dany being Azor Ahai follows the same formula of the other prophecies and visions: it's unexpected to the characters and the readers in a few ways, but in other ways, once you think about it, it becomes obvious. Lightbringer being a dragon instead of a sword is unexpected, but it becomes obvious once you see that the dragons are described in identical ways to Lightbringer, and that Dany pulled Lightbringer from the fire just like the prophecy said. Azor Ahai and Nissa Nissa being gender reversed is unexpected, but it becomes obvious once we see that Dany used Drogo and Rhaego's lives for the birth of the dragons, and that Dany "woke dragons from stone beneath a bleeding star amidst smoke and salt" just like the prophecy said. It becomes obvious once you see the sheer amount of evidence that Dany is Azor Ahai.

And by the way, this is valid for other prophecies regarding Dany as well. Dany antis keep trying to twist these prophecies into something else, like insisting that the Sun's son is actually Aegon, or that the mummer's dragon is Jon (which makes no sense anyway, given that Jon is not posing as a dragon, he is posing as a wolf, so if he was a mummer's anything he'd be a mummer's wolf), because they want Jon to hurt Dany. One of their arguments is that the Sun's son being Quentyn is "too obvious", and that GRRM never writes characters being right about prophecies. but this isn't actually true. Let's remember Jojen's vision of the sea invading Winterfell. At the beginning, Bran doesn't know what that means, but once it happens, he correctly identifies that the prophecy was about the Ironborn taking Winterfell:

Jojen told it true. I am a beastling. Outside he could hear the faint barking of dogs. The sea has come. It's flowing over the walls, just as Jojen saw. Bran grabbed the bar overhead and pulled himself up, shouting for help. No one came, and after a moment he remembered that no one would. They had taken the guard off his door. Ser Rodrik had needed every man of fighting age he could lay his hands on, so Winterfell had been left with only a token garrison. - Bran VI ACOK

One of the ironmen handed Reek a sword, and he laid it at Theon's feet and swore obedience to House Greyjoy and King Balon. Bran could not look. The green dream was coming true. - Bran VI ACOK

Just like Bran, Dany initially has no idea about what Quaithe's prophecy means and gets frustrated with the riddles:

"No. Hear me, Daenerys Targaryen. The glass candles are burning. Soon comes the pale mare, and after her the others. Kraken and dark flame, lion and griffin, the sun's son and the mummer's dragon. Trust none of them. Remember the Undying. Beware the perfumed seneschal."

"Reznak? Why should I fear him?" Dany rose from the pool. Water trickled down her legs, and gooseflesh covered her arms in the cool night air. "If you have some warning for me, speak plainly. What do you want of me, Quaithe?"

Moonlight shone in the woman's eyes. "To show you the way."

"I remember the way. I go north to go south, east to go west, back to go forward. And to touch the light I have to pass beneath the shadow." She squeezed the water from her silvery hair. "I am half-sick of riddling. In Qarth I was a beggar, but here I am a queen. I command you—" - Daenerys II ADWD

But once the prophecy starts to come true, Dany correctly identifies that it's happening, just like Bran correctly identifies that the green dream was happening:

She found herself remembering her nightmare. Sometimes there is truth in dreams. Could Hizdahr zo Loraq be working for the warlocks, was that what the dream had meant? Could the dream have been a sending? Were the gods telling her to put Hizdahr aside and wed this Dornish prince instead? Something tickled at her memory. "Ser Barristan, what are the arms of House Martell?"

"A sun in splendor, transfixed by a spear."

The sun's son. A shiver went through her. "Shadows and whispers." What else had Quaithe said? The pale mare and the sun's son. There was a lion in it too, and a dragon. Or am I the dragon? "Beware the perfumed seneschal." That she remembered. "Dreams and prophecies. Why must they always be in riddles? I hate this. Oh, leave me, ser. Tomorrow is my wedding day." - Daenerys VII ADWD

There's no reason to believe that Quentyn can't be the sun's son because it's "too obvious" or because Dany guessed it right, because GRRM wrote plenty of other prophecies that become obvious once they happen, and because we already saw another example of someone guessing a prophecy right once they see it happening (Bran).

So all these theories denying the obvious because it's "too obvious" and trying to come up with far-fetched different theories really make no sense. GRRM's prophecies and visions are unexpected in certain ways, but they tend to be really clear and obvious once they happen. Dany's prophecies are no different. Quentyn being the sun's son is unexpected to Daenerys, and unlike you would expect, Dany should beware of him not because he had any ill will towards her, but because he ended up trying to steal a dragon and causing problems for Dany. Him fulfilling the prophecy is unexpected in these ways, but his identity as the sun's son becomes obvious once we see him and once Dany meets him. Dany is Azor Ahai might be "obvious" in terms of all the clues we are given, but it's unexpected in several ways as well: like Dany being a girl and Lightbringer being dragons.

GRRM puts his twists and subversions in his prophecies, but he is very obvious and clear with the foreshadowing and clues. And this is actually something that shows he is a good writer: he writes foreshadowing, he sets up his plots, and he follows through on what he sets up, instead of just changing everything at the last minute to "surprise" his readers.

#asoiaf meta #daenerys targaryen #my meta

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agentrouka-blog · 2 years

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In one of Dany visions in HOTU, she witnessed Red Wedding type scenario where the Wolf King sat on the throne. While most concluded it was Robb other claims it was Jon. If it's Robb in the Red Wedding, shouldn't he be dead like other corpses in the feast? If it's Jon in the feast, then why he is shown as king with bloodshed and corpses around him?

Hi anon!

I am NOT one of our resident HOTU experts, and I'm kind of ambivalent when it comes to the visions and prophecies and all of that, so you won't get a definitive answer from me.

But you should note that the wolf king at the feast is also dead.

The whole chronology of the first three visions suggests this could be a look at the thing she wants: Westeros.

So what could the visions be trying to suggest?

My extremely simplified interpretation would be the first vision are the wars in Westeros - raping and consuming what should be left in peace. Dany just sort of takes it in.

The violent eating is followed by the aftermath, the feast of corpses, best illustrated by the Red Wedding and Robb Stark, a well-meaning young king, who still chose the sword over peace. He is holding the leg of a lamb, symbol of innocent sacrifice, of the smallfolk, and looking at her in appeal.

Look at this. Learn from this, he seems to say.

And Dany runs. She doesn't mind the slaughter, but she doesn't like the consequences.

She runs straight to the childhood memory of the house with the red door, the longing for safety and home: the ultimate reason she wants Westeros in the first place. There, too, she understands that it's a folly, that this fantasy is in the past, it's impossible, it's dead.

And yet she runs away from that insight, as well, whipped by Drogon's tail. The dragon will not let her rest.

The whole HOTU experience is about warnings and warnings and warnings, and she runs from all of them.

There is never a moment of reflection, of pondering. Only ever alarm and evasion.

To make it short, I do think it's probably Robb more than Jon, but it may well be both, in their way, because what role could Jon possibly have in her arc but to try and prevent her from introducing more slaughter to a battered continent?

#hotu #anti daenerys targaryen #prophecy

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nutexceptional · 2 years

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Yeeeah I am not going to be able to give release to the Nandermo bunnies any time soon (I am Very Old and Tired) but holy shit the explicit fanfic is so good in this fandom you lovely perverts.

I would like to manifest the following smutty details please

1. Nandor's rock hard throbbing erection nestled snugly in the middle of Guillermo's belly (against his belly button) because that is their height difference and because hugging is more important at this moment.

2. Guillermo needs to take advantage of his gifted little body and titty-fuck the hell out of everyone in the household.

3. More Guillermo hair stuff *sketches outline of it with hands* Guillermo shaving and Nandor having Feelings about masculinity and blades near the neck, Guillermo getting a haircut the follicular equivalent of coming in with kitten heels after weeks of crocs, and Nandor just can't stop looking at his neck.

4. There is no way Guillermo hasn't been deflowered in every possible way after more than a decade in service to vampires.

5. Going back to vampires in space, imagine what a lovely villain far-future vampire!Guillermo will be and how Nandor is his purring Bengal Tiger in a worked jewel collar, asprawl in extinct mammal furs, arching up for fingers through his hair and down his neck

(oh no I made myself sad about animal conservation)

#nandermo #wwdits

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shieldofrohan · 2 years

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I loved your meta on HOTU. I wanted to ask you something about it. In one vision Dany saw the red wedding where the dead man with wolf-head was looking to her with 'mute appeal'. The word 'mute appeal' also come in Cat chapters. In AGOT when discussing with Ned about Jon future, Ned look her with 'mute appeal'. In ASOS, when Cat tried to kill Jinglebell he looked at her with 'mute appeal'. Seems like the dead man in Dany vision is trying to plead her or warn her. What do you think?

Hello Anon,

I chose not to examine that part in my HOTU meta because I wanted to keep it about only Da*nerys (a lie: I was tired). But let's try to examine it now.

Like you said, we see the phrase "mute appeal" three times in the books.

Since I am not a native English speaker, I looked at the word "appeal" in the dictionary.

appeal verb [I] (REQUEST): to strongly request something, often publicly

appeal verb [I] (ATTRACT): to attract or interest someone

appeal verb [I] (FORMALLY ASK): to formally ask someone to change an official or legal decision

“Jon must go,” she said now.

“He and Robb are close,” Ned said. “I had hoped…”

“He cannot stay here,” Catelyn said, cutting him off. “He is your son, not mine. I will not have him.” It was hard, she knew, but no less the truth. Ned would do the boy no kindness by leaving him here at Winterfell.

The look Ned gave her was anguished. “You know I cannot take him south. There will be no place for him at court. A boy with a bastard’s name…you know what they will say of him. He will be shunned.”

Catelyn armored her heart against the mute appeal in her husband’s eyes. “They say your friend Robert has fathered a dozen bastards himself.”

“And none of them has ever been seen at court!” Ned blazed. “The Lannister woman has seen to that. How can you be so damnably cruel, Catelyn? He is only a boy. He—”

His fury was on him. He might have said more, and worse, but Maester Luwin cut in. [AGOT- Catelyn II]

Ned was asking Cat to change her mind/decision about Jon.

Robb was looking at her with interest. At least I think this was the meaning. I've checked my Turkish ACOK book and the translator chooses this meaning too.

Lord Walder snorted. "And why would I let him do that?"

She pressed the blade deeper into Jinglebell's throat. The lackwit rolled his eyes at her in mute appeal. A foul stench assailed her nose, but she paid it no more mind than she did the sullen ceaseless pounding of that drum, boom doom boom doom boom doom. Ser Ryman and Black Walder were circling round her back, but Catelyn did not care. They could do as they wished with her; imprison her, rape her, kill her, it made no matter. She had lived too long, and Ned was waiting. It was Robb she feared for. "On my honor as a Tully," she told Lord Walder, "on my honor as a Stark, I will trade your boy's life for Robb's. A son for a son." Her hand shook so badly she was ringing Jinglebell's head.

Boom, the drum sounded, boom doom boom doom. The old man's lips went in and out. The knife trembled in Catelyn's hand, slippery with sweat. "A son for a son, heh," he repeated. "But that's a grandson . . . and he never was much use."

[ASOS- Catelyn VII]

And the scared Jinglebell (Aegon Frey) also BEGS Cat to spare his life here.

Interesting part is that all three examples have a Targaryen mention.

Cat and Ned Stark talk about a secret Targaryen's fate: Jon (1)

A dead Stark looks at a Targ girl with interest: Daenerys (2)

Catelyn Stark kills a lackwit fool with the most Targ-ish name: Aegon (3)

DoD 2.0, me thinks.

Another interesting thing is that all three occasions have CATELYN STARK.

It was Cat who wanted Jon gone, (1)

Cat was in that vision's reality (Red Wedding) (2)

and it was Cat who killed Aegon. (3)

I'll go further and say that Daenerys and Catelyn are parallel characters. Cersei too. These three are the mothers of the books. But I'll focus on Cat and Dany.

Joffrey Baratheon sends an assassin to Bran and after this incident Cat decides to come KL and everything goes down.

Robert Baratheon orders Dany's death (and she was pregnant with Rhaego) and a wineseller tries to kill her. AND interestingly my key chapter for HOTU was about that. And her Throne campaign starts aka everything goes down.

When Dany paused before his stall, he bowed low. “A taste for the khaleesi? I have a sweet red from Dorne, my lady, it sings of plums and cherries and rich dark oak. A cask, a cup, a swallow? One taste, and you will name your child after me.”

Dany smiled. “My son has his name, but I will try your summerwine,” she said in Valyrian, Valyrian as they spoke it in the Free Cities. The words felt strange on her tongue, after so long. “Just a taste, if you would be so kind.”

[…] Doreah stepped up beside her. “You have the honor to address Daenerys of the House Targaryen, Daenerys Stormborn, khaleesi of the riding men and princess of the Seven Kingdoms.”

The wine merchant dropped to his knees. “Princess,” he said, bowing his head.

[…] Ser Jorah lifted a cup and sniffed at the wine, frowning.

“Sweet, isn’t it?” the wineseller said, smiling. “Can you smell the fruit, ser? The perfume of the Arbor. Taste it, my lord, and tell me it isn’t the finest, richest wine that’s ever touched your tongue.”

Ser Jorah offered him the cup. “You taste it first.”

[...]

My brother?” Her sob was half a laugh. “He does not know yet, does he? The Usurper owes Drogo a lordship.” This time her laugh was half a sob. She hugged herself protectively. “And me, you said. Only me?”

“You and the child,” Ser Jorah said, grim.

“No. He cannot have my son.” She would not weep, she decided. She would not shiver with fear. The Usurper has woken the dragon now, she told herself…and her eyes went to the dragon’s eggs resting in their nest of dark velvet.

[…] Was it madness that seized her then, born of fear? Or some strange wisdom buried in her blood? Dany could not have said. She heard her own voice saying, “Ser Jorah, light the brazier.”

“Khaleesi?” The knight looked at her strangely. “It is so hot. Are you certain?”

She had never been so certain. “Yes. I…I have a chill. Light the brazier.”

[...]

She watched until the coals had turned to ashes. Drifting sparks floated up and out of the smokehole. Heat shimmered in waves around the dragon’s eggs. And that was all.

Your brother Rhaegar was the last dragon, Ser Jorah had said. Dany gazed at her eggs sadly. What had she expected? A thousand thousand years ago they had been alive, but now they were only pretty rocks. They could not make a dragon. A dragon was air and fire. Living flesh, not dead stone.

[AGOT- Daenerys VI]

That wineseller couldn't kill Dany and her son thanks to Jorah.

Who is Jorah: Jorah is secretly in the employment of Varys, the master of whisperers for King Robert I Baratheon. Hoping to earn a royal pardon and return to Westeros from his exile, Jorah reports on the Targaryens' movements to King's Landing. He is quick to inform Robert about Daenerys's marriage to Drogo. When Daenerys becomes pregnant, Jorah informs Varys as well, resulting in Robert's decision to have Daenerys, her child, and Viserys assassinated.

He was the reason of the assassination attempt but he also saved her: Jorah accompanies Daenerys and her escort to the western market, where he insists on visiting a caravan captain alone. Illyrio has sent a letter warning that King Robert has promised a lordship to whomever slays Viserys, Daenerys, or her child. Jorah returns to Daenerys's side just in time to confront a merchant about attempting to sell her poisoned wine. For his role in saving Daenerys and her unborn son, Drogo allows Jorah to choose any horse from his herds, with the exception of his own stallion, and Daenerys's silver. After Jorah warns Drogo that there will be more attempts, Drogo declares he will invade the Seven Kingdoms.

Jorah also ends up killing Rhaego: Daenerys's child, Rhaego, is a stillborn monstrosity. When Daenerys wakes up from her fevered sleep, a weakened Jorah is unable to tell her the truth about the child, so Mirri tells her. Daenerys and Jorah believe that by carrying her into the tent during the ritual, Jorah inadvertently caused her son's death. Jorah escorts Daenerys to Drogo, revealing that his khalasar is gone and Drogo is now catatonic. Daenerys euthanizes her husband.

And his treason finally comes out: Arstan reveals he is actually Ser Barristan Selmy, formerly Lord Commander of the Kingsguard for Robert I Baratheon, and he tells Daenerys that someone has been informing on her since the day she married Drogo. Jorah admits that he had spied on her and Viserys, but had stopped when he fell in love with her. Angrily, Daenerys sends them with Belwas and twenty men into the sewers of Meereen to take the city for her. Jorah kills a great pale lizard during the mission. (Ok.. him killing a PALE WIZARD is shady af... Viserion is that you? Was Rhaego not enough Jorah? )

In the end Dany doesn't forgive Jorah: Although Daenerys half hopes that Jorah and Arstan will die, they are successful in freeing Meereen's slaves, granting her victory in the siege of Meereen. The thought of Jorah makes Daenerys feel angry, agitated, and sick, but she summons him and Arstan nonetheless. Although shamed, Jorah refuses to beg for forgiveness and instead insists Daenerys forgive him on account of his loyal service and love to her. Although Daenerys had planned to forgive him, she finds herself unable to, realizing it had been Jorah who had informed King Robert of her pregnancy. Instead, she banishes Jorah from Meereen, swearing to kill him if she ever sees him again.

Jorah and Baelish are same picture.

Jorah was informing Varys about Daenerys and this put Dany and Rhaego in danger. And Dany's Westeros campaign started with that incident.

Baelish made Lysa write a letter informing Cat that Lannisters killed Jon Arryn and this started the whole war.

Jorah was misleading Dany about the assassination attempts to keep his involvement as a secret. Baelish also was misleading Cat about the owner of the dagger and because of that Cat kidnapped Tyrion (lol Jorah kidnaps Tyrion too..).

You got my point... I really don't want to write long meta rn. But someone should!

So why is there a Catelyn connection?

Let’s put Dany in Cat's place:

Dany doesn't want Jon in his father's castle. Because his existence puts her (heirs') right in danger. (1)

Dany kills the Aegon with BELLS (Aegon wears a crown and collar decorated with small brass bells.) during a carnage (2 & 3)

Bells represent two things heavily in Targs' story in the books:

Daenerys' victories as a Khaleesi:

Tiny bells that ring are worn in the hair of victorious Dothraki warriors. Each bell signifies a victory that the man has won. The more victories, the more bells in a warrior's braid. The bells can be made of gold, silver, or bronze. Dothraki women do not wear bells in their hair; however, Khaleesi Daenerys Targaryen is known to wear bells in her hair for the victories she has won. Even if a khalasar is not glimpsed, the sound of the warrior's bells tells their foes that the Dothraki are near. (awoiaf)

The Battle of Bells:

History time:

During the Robert's Rebellion, Connington and his forces caught up with Robert in the Riverlands, who was hiding in the town of Stoney Sept. Robert was wounded and he hid in the local Sept from pursuers just before the battle began.

Connington's soldiers began a house-to-house search, but they did not locate Robert before his allies arrived at Stoney Sept to oust Connington and his forces. The town's septons rang bronze and silver bells to warn the smallfolk to remain indoors. The rebels stormed Stoney Sept's walls and attacked Jon Connington's army, who responded by fighting back fiercely in streets, in alleys, and on rooftops. At this point, the Battle of the Bells began.

The rebel army under the joint command of Lords Eddard Stark, Hoster Tully, and Jon Arryn immediately began attacking the royal army. Connington fought back fiercely, personally killing Jon Arryn's nephew and heir, Denys Arryn, and wounding Lord Tully. Emerging from the Peach when the bells began ringing, Robert slew six men, including Prince Rhaegar Targaryen's friend and former squire, Ser Myles Mooton. It was thought that Robert would have killed Connington, but in spite of the determination of both men to find each other in the chaos, they never crossed swords. When Connington saw that the battle was lost, he managed to escape and was able to retreat in good order.

Robert only formally announced his intention to claim the Iron Throne after the Battle of the Bells, in the lead up to the Battle of the Trident. It was only after their loss at the Battle of the Bells that Aerys II realized that Robert was the greatest threat to Targaryen rule since the Blackfyre Rebellion nearly a century before. At the Stoney Sept, armies from three major kingdoms (The Riverlands, the North, and the Vale) fought for Robert and outright defeated a royal army sent to eliminate Robert - it was only at this point that the Mad King realized that he was facing a Westeros-wide civil war. King Aerys II held Connington responsible for this defeat and exiled him, stripping him of his lands, wealth and titles. Connington never questioned his punishment, for he blamed himself not only for the failure to capture Robert - but also for Rhaegar's subsequent death: had he slain Robert, the battle of the Trident would have never been fought.

The exiled Jon joined the Golden Company and served with them for five years, rising quickly in the ranks to a place of honor at the right hand of Ser Myles Toyne, the company's captain-general. Jon believes that, had his exile gone otherwise, he might have been the successor to his friend Myles instead of Harry Strickland.

After a few short years in the company, Jon and Myles were approached by Illyrio Mopatis and Lord Varys, who informed them that Prince Rhaegar Targaryen's infant son, Aegon, had survived the Sack of King's Landing during Robert's Rebellion. In order to remove Jon from the Golden Company, they concocted a plan, of which the remainder of the Golden Company was left unaware, so they would not be able to let anything slip. Jon was driven from the company after being caught stealing from the company's war chests. Afterwards, news was spread that Jon drank himself to death in Lys.

Ser Myles Toyne, the former captain-general of the Golden Company, told Connington he could have ended the rebellion in a single stroke by burning Stoney Sept to the ground, killing Robert before his allies arrived to rescue him - and that was what Tywin would have undoubtedly done. It was not Connington's conscience that stopped him from destroying the entire town, but two rather selfish reasons: first, he wanted the glory of slaying Robert in a single combat; second, he did not want to gain the reputation of a butcher. Seventeen years after the battle, Connington still recalls the battle bitterly, blaming himself of letting Robert escape and of the subsequent outcome - Rhaegar's death. Lord Jon Connington, who had not died of drink but instead allowed that story to be spread so he could help educate Young Griff in secret, is still haunted by the Battle of the Bells and its outcome. He is determined to make up for his failure by doing everything in his power to help Rhaegar and Elia's son - the presumed-dead Aegon Targaryen - ascend the Iron Throne.

Last night he'd dreamt of Stoney Sept again. Alone, with sword in hand, he ran from house to house, smashing down doors, racing up stairs, leaping from roof to roof, as his ears rang to the sound of distant bells. Deep bronze booms and silver chiming pounded through his skull, a maddening cacophony of noise that grew ever louder until it seemed as if his head would explode.

Seventeen years had come and gone since the Battle of the Bells, yet the sound of bells ringing still tied a knot in his guts. Others might claim that the realm was lost when Prince Rhaegar fell to Robert's warhammer on the Trident, but the Battle of the Trident would never have been fought if the griffin had only slain the stag there in Stoney Sept. The bells tolled for all of us that day. For Aerys and his queen, for Elia of Dorne and her little daughter, for every true man and honest woman in the Seven Kingdoms. And for my silver prince. [ADWD- The Lost Lord]

Sounds like the mute appeal passage from the Red Wedding, don't you think?

Lord Walder snorted. "And why would I let him do that?"

Bells are ringing for death and the boom doom boom doom of the song...

I gave the very long history lesson because it is full of gems.

The Battle of Bells made Robert claim the Iron Throne for himself.

Robert was the greatest threat to Targaryen rule since the Blackfyre Rebellion (BLACKFYRE BABY!!)

North + Vale + Riverlands ended Targs' entire career..

Also wounded Hoster (Edmure?), and dead Arryn heir (Harry?) and Robert says it was actually Ned who won the battle for him (Jon and Aegon alliance?? wishful thinking probably)

The whole battle is background for JonCon and his goal of making Aegon the king...

JonCon didn't burn the Stoney Sept but Daenerys won't be that merciful.

So in conclusion: Cat/Dany killing the Aegon with BELLS (by burning down his city- a carnage like Red Wedding) seems to be connected.

We'll have a Battle of Bells that ends differently:

Aegon will be in the city with Joncon.

Bells will ring.

Dany will burn the city (a new victory bell for her)

and her next target will be Alliance of the Three (Stark + Arryn + Tully).

And a DEAD STARK WITH A DIREWOLF'S HEAD will be watching her with interest (dead Jon in Ghost ?) during this carnage?

So this is my take for the phrase "mute appeal" anon...

Thanks for the ask. Have a nice day.

#a simple ask turns into a meta... the story of my life #asoiaf #mine #hou meta #anti targaryen #anti daenerys targaryen #just to be safe #battle of bells #anon #ask #answered #reply

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samartworksblog · 3 years

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DAENERYS IN THE HOUSE OF UNDYING

"Farther on she came upon a feast of corpses. Savagely slaughtered, the feasters lay strewn across overturned chairs and hacked trestle tables, asprawl in pools of congealing blood. Some had lost limbs, even heads. Severed hands clutched bloody cups, wooden spoons, roast fowl, heels of bread. In a throne above them sat a dead man with the head of a wolf. He wore an iron crown and held a leg of lamb in one hand as a king might hold a scepter, and his eyes followed Dany with mute appeal."

HAPPY NEW YEAR GUYS! Has 2021 already come to you? About to arrive? I wish you a nice end-of-year banquet, even if you may not have the company of past years!✨✨✨ My last work of 2020! I'm so satisfied of every progress. Thank you all for every single comment and like during this year :3

🔥🔥🔥🔥

Instagram | ko - fi | InPrnt Shop

#asoiaf #asongoficeandfire #gameofthrones #a song of ice and fire #Robb Stark #Daenerys #Daenerys Targaryen #Qarth #Asoiaf fanart

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weirwoodking · 3 years

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—Daenerys IV, A Clash of Kings

And then the tall doors opened with a crash, and a freezing gale blew down the hall, and Robb came walking out of the night. Grey Wind stalked beside, eyes burning, and man and wolf alike bled from half a hundred savage wounds.

—Theon V, A Clash of Kings

His crutch slipped and he fell to his knees. The crypts were growing darker. A light has gone out somewhere. "Ygritte?" he whispered. "Forgive me. Please." But it was only a direwolf, grey and ghastly, spotted with blood, his golden eyes shining sadly through the dark...

—Jon VIII, A Storm of Swords

Dany, Theon, and Jon + seeing murdered Robb

#just felt like compiling some sad shit tonight #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #valyrianscrolls #asoiaf quote #asoiaf quotes #asoiaf parallels #daenerys targaryen #daenerys stormborn #theon greyjoy #jon snow #robb stark

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wpmorse · 3 years

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A Clash of Kings - The Red Wedding

A Clash of Kings Chapter 48 - Daenerys

In the house of the undying Dany gets a vision of the Red Wedding. Isn't it interesting how the only people who get accurate prophecies in this setting are the people who can't make any use of them, even if they could understand them at all.

I have mixed feelings about this one. The scene was one of the ones that demanded to be drawn. The composition came to me quickly. But once again, I really shouldn't do these sketches when I'm not properly rested. So, while I think it's mostly okay, all of the dead men are a bit of a mess.

#a clash of kings #asoiaf #daenerys targaryen #drogon #the house of the undying #prophecy #the red wedding

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istumpysk · 4 years

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I’m convinced 75% of the ASOIAF fandom failed first year high school English.

Their insistence on misinterpreting ALL OF THE WORDS is simply breathtaking.

Text:

Catelyn wished she could share his joy. But she had heard the talk in the yards; a direwolf dead in the snow, a broken antler in its throat. Dread coiled within her like a snake, but she forced herself to smile at this man she loved, this man who put no faith in signs. – AGOT, Catelyn I

GRRM: Joffrey Baratheon will kill Ned Stark, instigating the downfall of House Stark.

Text:

"Hodor," he said again. Theon Greyjoy had once commented that Hodor did not know much, but no one could doubt that he knew his name. – AGOT, Bran IV

GRRM: Theon Greyjoy or Reek?

Text:

"Tell me."

"The tears of Lys, they call it. A rare and costly thing, clear and sweet as water, and it leaves no trace. I begged Lord Arryn to use a taster, in this very room I begged him, but he would not hear of it. Only one who was less than a man would even think of such a thing, he told me."

Ned had to know the rest. "Who gave him the poison?" – AGOT, Eddard VII

GRRM: Lysa Tully poisoned Lord Arryn.

Text:

"Even if the boy does live, he will be a cripple. Worse than a cripple. A grotesque. Give me a good clean death." – AGOT, Tyrion I

GRRM: Jaime Lannister will become physically disabled.

Text:

So stop whimpering and snapping at me, I'm sick of it. Keep your mouth shut and do as I tell you, and maybe we'll even be in time for your uncle's bloody wedding. – ASOS, Arya IX

"Yes," she said. "What about Sedgekins?" The sergeant had told them to ask for Sedgekins. "Sedgekins can bugger himself with a hot poker." Clegane shook out his whip, and sent it hissing through the soft rain to bite at a horse's flank. "It's your bloody brother I want." – ASOS, Arya X

GRRM: There will be a bloody wedding, with a bloody brother.

Text:

The steel was polished to such a high sheen that she could see her reflection in the breastplate, gazing back at her as if from the bottom of a deep green pond. The face of a drowned woman, Catelyn thought. Can you drown in grief? – ACOK, Catelyn II

GRRM: While experiencing agonizing grief, Catelyn Tully will be murdered and thrown in a river.

Text:

GRRM: Grey Wind’s head will be sewn onto Robb’s body.

Text:

When the fool saw Davos, he jerked to a sudden halt, the bells on his antlered tin helmet going ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling. Hopping from one foot to the other, he sang, "Fool's blood, king's blood, blood on the maiden's thigh, but chains for the guests and chains for the bridegroom, aye aye aye." – ASOS, Davos II

GRRM: After consummating his marriage at the Red Wedding, Edmure Tully will be taken prisoner.

Text:

Sometimes she felt as though her heart had turned to stone; – AGOT, Catelyn VI

GRRM: Catelyn Stark will become Lady Stoneheart.

Text:

I dreamt of a maid at a feast with purple serpents in her hair, venom dripping from their fangs. – ASOS, Arya VIII

GRRM: There will be purple poison in Sansa’s hair.

Text:

"I bedded a fishmaid once who told me the lowborn have a choicer way to put it. The king eats, they say, and the Hand takes the shit." He threw back his head and roared his laughter. – AGOT, Eddard I

The Greatjon says that won't matter if we catch him with his breeches down, but it seems to me that a man who has fought as many battles as Tywin Lannister won't be so easily surprised." – AGOT, Catelyn VIII

GRRM: Tywin Lannister will die while taking a shit.

Text:

He rose and dressed in darkness, as Mormont's raven muttered across the room. "Corn," the bird said, and, "King," and, "Snow, Jon Snow, Jon Snow." That was queer. The bird had never said his full name before, as best Jon could recall. – ADWD, Jon Snow XII

GRRM: Jon Snow is the heir of Rhaegar Targaryen, and rightful King of the Seven Kingdoms.

Text:

"She's beside herself with joy." Lord Petyr dismissed him with a wave, and returned to the pomegranate again as Oswell shuffled down the steps. "Tell me, Alayne—which is more dangerous, the dagger brandished by an enemy, or the hidden one pressed to your back by someone you never even see?” – ASOS, Sansa VI

GRRM: Jon Snow will be stabbed in the back by the Old Pomegranate, Bowen Marsh.

Text:

"Do not be so certain." The ruby at Melisandre's throat gleamed red. "It is not the foes who curse you to your face that you must fear, but those who smile when you are looking and sharpen their knives when you turn your back. You would do well to keep your wolf close beside you. Ice, I see, and daggers in the dark. Blood frozen red and hard, and naked steel. It was very cold." – ADWD, Jon I

GRRM: Jon’s going to be stabbed to death by his brothers, and bleed out face down in the cold snow.

Text:

GRRM: Tyrion will be Bran’s Hand of the King.

***

Us (”Jonsas”): Ohhhhh. Kk. Cool, cool. I see what you’re doing, old man.

Them (the other ASOIAF fandom): Yup. Got it. Reading you loud and clear, Georgie.

***

Then what happened?

Text:

They were all staring at him, but it was Sansa's look that cut. "She is of the north. She deserves better than a butcher."

He left the room with his eyes burning and his daughter's wails echoing in his ears, and found the direwolf pup where they chained her. Ned sat beside her for a while. "Lady," he said, tasting the name. He had never paid much attention to the names the children had picked, but looking at her now, he knew that Sansa had chosen well. She was the smallest of the litter, the prettiest, the most gentle and trusting. She looked at him with bright golden eyes, and he ruffled her thick grey fur.

Shortly, Jory brought him Ice. When it was over, he said, "Choose four men and have them take the body north. Bury her at Winterfell." "All that way?" Jory said, astonished. "All that way," Ned affirmed. "The Lannister woman shall never have this skin." – AGOT, Eddard III

Us: Lady dying symbolizes Sansa losing her trust and innocence, but the Lannisters will never own her. She will always be of the North.

(Great meta by @butterflies-dragons that expands on this)

Them:

Text:

I dreamt of a maid at a feast, with purple serpents in her hair, venom dripping from their fangs. And later I dreamt that maid again, slaying a savage giant in a castle built of snow. – ASOS, Arya VIII

The device painted on the shield was one Sansa did not know; a grey stone head with fiery eyes, upon a light green field. "My grandfather's shield," Petyr explained when he saw her gazing at it. "His own father was born in Braavos and came to the Vale as a sellsword in the hire of Lord Corbray, so my grandfather took the head of the Titan as his sigil when he was knighted." – ASOS, Sansa VI

The Titan of Braavos. Old Nan had told them stories of the Titan back in Winterfell. He was a giant as tall as a mountain, and whenever Braavos stood in danger he would wake with fire in his eyes, his rocky limbs grinding and groaning as he waded out into the sea to smash the enemies. "The Braavosi feed him on the juicy pink flesh of little highborn girls," Nan would end, and Sansa would give a stupid squeak. – AFFC, Arya I

She stood, towering over the great white castle. "I can't think how to do the glass roof over the gardens." Littlefinger stroked his chin, where his beard had been before Lysa had asked him to shave it off. "The glass was locked in frames, no? Twigs are your answer. Peel them and cross them and use bark to tie them together into frames. I'll show you." He moved through the garden, gathering up twigs and sticks and shaking the snow from them. When he had enough, he stepped over both walls with a single long stride and squatted on his heels in the middle of the yard. – ASOS, Sansa VII

Us: Sansa is going to be responsible for Littlefinger’s demise.

Them:

Text:

The Maiden lay athwart the Warrior, her arms widespread as if to embrace him. The Mother seemed almost to shudder as the flames came licking up her face. A longsword had been thrust through her heart, and its leather grip was alive with flame. The Father was on the bottom, the first to fall. Davos watched the hand of the Stranger writhe and curl as the fingers blackened and fell away one by one, reduced to so much glowing charcoal. ... The head fell off the Smith with a puff of ash and embers. – ACOK, Davos I

Us: Wow, this perfectly illustrates Ned’s death in the beginning, Robb’s head being cut off, and R’hllor resurrecting Lady Stoneheart. And Sansa has the most indisputable association with the Maiden in the entire story... holy shit, is Jon the warrior?

Them:

Text:

Along the walls stood empty suits of armor, dark and dusty, their helms crested with rows of scales that continued down their backs. As they hurried past, the taper's light made the shadows of each scale stretch and twist. The hollow knights are turning into dragons, she thought. – ASOS, Sansa V

Us: Disillusioned by chivalry and knighthood, Jon Snow will restore Sansa’s faith.

Them:

Text:

Drifting snowflakes brushed her face as light as lover's kisses, and melted on her cheeks. At the center of the garden, beside the statue of the weeping woman that lay broken and half-buried on the ground, she turned her face up to the sky and closed her eyes. She could feel the snow on her lashes, taste it on her lips. It was the taste of Winterfell. The taste of innocence. The taste of dreams. – ASOS, Sansa VII

Us: This is all very positive foreshadowing tying together Winterfell, dreams, innocence, snow, a lover, and Sansa.

Them:

Text:

Lord Ashford was staging this tourney to celebrate his daughter's thirteenth nameday. The fair maid would sit by her father's side as the reigning Queen of Love and Beauty. Five champions wearing her favors would defend her. All others must perforce be challengers, but any man who could defeat one of the champions would take his place and stand as a champion himself, until such time as another challenger unseated him. – The Hedge Knight

Us: It’s so obvious Aegon VI Targaryen will be betrothed to Arianne Martell, after her planned marriage to Viserys Targaryen fell through, and Doran sent Arianne to meet with him. After Quentyn Martell was cooked by Daenerys’ dragons, Dorne will totally support Aegon VI. Sansa has absolutely nothing to do with this storyline... oh my god, Jon will be Sansa’s final suitor.

Them:

Text:

Us: THERE WILL BE A JON AND SANSA MARRIAGE?!!!

Them:

Text:

Now, how do you suppose this queen will react when you turn up with your begging bowl in hand and say, 'Good morrow to you, Auntie. I am your nephew, Aegon, returned from the dead. I've been hiding on a poleboat all my life, but now I've washed the blue dye from my hair and I'd like a dragon, please... and oh, did I mention, my claim to the Iron Throne is stronger than your own?'" – ADWD, Tyrion VI

The light of the half-moon turned Val's honey-blond hair a pale silver and left her cheeks as white as snow. She took a deep breath. "The air tastes sweet." "My tongue is too numb to tell. All I can taste is cold." – ADWD, Jon VIII

Off in the distance, a wolf howled. The sound made her feel sad and lonely, but no less hungry. – ADWD, Daenerys X

Us: dance of dragons, lol.

(Amazing meta by @shieldofrohan exploring all Jon/Daenerys negative foreshadowing in ADWD)

Them:

Text:

Ser Jorah laughed. "Look around you then, Khaleesi." But it was not the plains Dany saw then. It was King's Landing and the great Red Keep that Aegon the Conqueror had built. It was Dragonstone where she had been born. In her mind's eye they burned with a thousand lights, a fire blazing in every window. In her mind's eye, all the doors were red. – AGOT, Daenerys III

No. You are the blood of the dragon. The whispering was growing fainter, as if Ser Jorah were falling farther behind. Dragons plant no trees. Remember that. Remember who you are, what you were made to be. Remember your words. "Fire and Blood," Daenerys told the swaying grass. – ADWD. Daenerys X

Us: Daenerys will break bad, and burn King’s Landing.

Them:

You guys.

you guys.

guys.

I just... I just can’t.

#jonsa #jon x sansa #sansa stark #help me jesus #asoiaf

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bounce-a-coin-off-your-witcher · 4 years

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When the Sun Goes Down

This story is a heavily edited adaptation of “Gabriel-Ernest”, written by H.H. Munro in 1909. I owe this whole story to @tinyplaidninjas (thank you for helping me fix my werewolf story dilemma).

This is almost 3k words long, fair warning

tw: kinda horny, nudity

---

"There is a wild beast in your woods," said Lambert, as the two men were being driven to the station. It was the only remark he’d made during the drive, but since Geralt had talked incessantly about his latest publication in the Kaedwen Journal of Medicine, his half-brother’s silence had not been noticeable.

"A stray fox or two, or perhaps some wandering brownies. Nothing more formidable," said Geralt. His brother said nothing.

---

"What did you mean about a wild beast?" Geralt asked later, when they were on the train platform with their bags and tickets in hand. Geralt was bound for his private woodland estate while Lambert was making his way into town to visit with friends.

"Nothing. Probably just my wild imagination running away with me again. Here comes the train," Lambert rushed.

Geralt found it odd, but said nothing. Perhaps he should not have gone on at length about the Medical Journal in the carriage. Perhaps Lambert was tired or overanxious about his meeting with Aiden. It had been years since the two college friends had seen each other in person and Geralt knew that his brother held the other, equally brilliant artist in high esteem. Surely, that was the reason for Lambert’s odd dismissal of his questions.

---

Once he’d returned to his estate and unpacked his bags, Geralt decided to take a stroll through the woods. He often took a leisurely walk in the late afternoon; the trees were full of chittering animals and preening birds this time of day, after all. The natural scientist and medical doctor found the great outdoors to be brimming with new discoveries. He wanted to pick everything apart and reassemble it accurately and down to the last minute detail. He wanted to know why certain animals behaved the way they did and how they communicated with each other. He wanted to know why the little white flowering plants in his yard only bloomed every other day. He craved the answer to the universal question of why as it applied to everything.

The doctor would often spend long afternoons sitting absolutely still in the center of his garden, observing the wildlife as it moved around him. Last summer he’d even managed to get a wild rabbit to eat out of his hand.

Now, though, the forest path seemed uncomfortably quiet. Had a larger predator taken to wandering his grounds? If so, he’d need to send word to a local hunter’s lodge and request assistance in ridding himself of the pest. As he was debating who to inquire after, he came across an unusual sight.

On a shelf of smooth stone overhanging a deep pool just to the side of the path, a boy of eighteen lay asprawl. He was drying his tan, dripping limbs luxuriously in the light of the late-summer sun and he had very few cares about doing so, according to his state of complete undress. His wet brown hair, (disheveled as it was by a recent mussing with his long, slender fingers) and bright blue eyes, so light that there was an almost cat-like gleam to them, were aimed in Geralt’s direction with a sense of lazy watchfulness.

He was an unexpected although not unwelcome apparition, and Geralt found himself quite ignoring his eldest brother’s good advice of “thinking before one spoke”. He narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest in what he hoped was a stance of great authority.

"What are you doing on my property?" he demanded. “And have you no shame? Trespassing for a cool dip in the water I could forgive, but you don’t even have the proper clothing to do so.”

"Obviously I came here to have a swim and sun myself," replied the boy. “I rather like how it feels to be bare beneath the warmth of the open sky.”

"Where do you live?" Geralt inquired, stepping closer. Every instinct in his body was telling him to run. To flee this place and the presence of his estate’s mysterious visitor.

"Here and there within these woods."

"You can't live in the woods," Geralt frowned. “It’s not proper.”

"They are very nice woods," said the boy. To Geralt his tone sounded almost patronizing. Borderline condescending. The doctor bristled and stepped forward again.

“You can’t possibly be surviving out here like this!”

“I am rather proficient at fending for myself.”

"Then where do you sleep at night?"

"I don't sleep at night,” the boy winked one of his cornflower eyes. The movement had Geralt’s head reeling and his heart thundering within the confines of his waistcoat. “That's my busiest time, dear heart."

"What do you eat?" the young professor and doctor finally asked. It felt as if that question had been on the tip of his tongue since he’d seen the strange creature come into view and only now did he have the adequate terror in his veins to ask it.

"Flesh," said the boy. He said the word slowly and carefully, almost as if he was running his tongue along every later to catch their flavor.

“What a horrible thing to say.”

“Hmm, it is the truth,” the slender youth rolled onto his back and tilted his head over the stony ledge. His mop of chestnut hair dangled down towards the water and he gazed steadily at the doctor from upside down, “I am plenty good at catching hares and birds and mice and men. I am not picky, you see. I gobble them all up.”

Geralt nearly choked on his tongue. His face flushed and his cheeks grew hot with indignance (and perhaps something else, a stirring in his belly that he quietly ignored). The audacity of such a creature! Such open and frank fliration was unheard of, especially since he was so indecorously nude!

"I can’t imagine you’re eating well. The rabbits on my estate have never been easy to trap or catch or corner. Not even my father’s best games keeper could do it, and that man lived on the property for nearly sixty years.”

"It is easier for me to hunt them than it is for your game keeper to trap them, Dr. Bellegarde,” the boy winked again. The sound of his name in the stranger’s mouth had Geralt mildly panicked. Did he know this improper young villain? Had he forgotten the boy’s name? Had the lad followed him back from university? The strange young man added another cryptic statement, “At night I hunt on four feet. It’s faster that way.”

"I suppose you’re referring to a dog?" Geralt offered. “And wouldn’t that be considered poaching, you hunting on my lands at night with your hound?”

The boy laughed a weird, low laugh; it was pleasantly like a chuckle and disagreeably like a snarl. Both portions of the sound had Geralt’s heart racing even faster in his chest. It felt nearly as painful as he’d expected from cardiac distress and he breathed evenly like he’d been taught to do under such duress. Slowly, the panicked feeling faded away and he gazed back at his trespasser with narrowed eyes. “Why are you laughing, then?”

"I don't think any dog would be very anxious for my company, especially not at night. We wouldn’t get along with each other, me and a dog.”

Geralt began to suspect (with a deep and primal sense of ever growing dread) that there was something odd and uncanny about the strange-eyed, silver-tongued youth lounging above the pond. He uncrossed his arms and put his hands on his hips, “Well you can’t keep sleeping in the woods.”

“I fancy you’d rather not have me in your house.”

The prospect of this wild, naked animal loose in the professor’s neatly ordered and well-kept manor was certainly an alarming one. Geralt glared and shook his head, dislodging some of his long white hair from its ribbon.

"If you don't go then I shall have to make you.”

The boy flipped onto his front in a flash and plunged into the pool. In the span of a moment he had crossed the short expanse of water and flung his glistening body half-way up the bank where Geralt was standing. For an otter the movement would not have been remarkable; for a boy it was sufficiently startling. Geralt’s leather-booted foot slipped as he jerked backwards involuntarily. After his arms windmilled for a moment and his balance failed him, the young doctor found himself almost prostrate on the slippery weed-grown shore of the pond with those cat-like blue eyes mere inches from his own.

He raised a hand to his throat instinctively and the boy laughed again; a laugh in which the snarl had nearly driven out the chuckle entirely. Then, with another of his astonishing lightning movements, the naked youth plunged out of view into a yielding tangle of weed and fern.

"What an extraordinarily wild animal!" said Geralt as he picked himself up. Then he recalled Lambert’s remark on the train station’s waiting platform: "There is a wild beast in your woods."

As he meandered his way back towards the manor proper, Dr. Bellegarde began to turn over in his mind some of the various local occurrences which might be traceable to the existence of his astonishing young savage.

According to the local paper, gathered the day previous by his valet, something had been thinning the game in the woods lately. Poultry had gone missing from several neighboring farms and factories, hares and rabbits were growing unaccountably scarcer, and complaints had reached the local constabulary of lambs being carried out of their pastures in the hills. Could it be possible that this wild boy was really hunting the countryside with a pack of obedient hounds?

The oddly pretty creature had spoken of hunting "four-footed" by night, but then, again, he had hinted strangely at no dog caring to come near him, "especially at night." It was certainly puzzling.

And then, as Geralt was running his mind over the various odd occurrences he’d heard reported from the village in the past few months, he came suddenly to a dead stop. The young man that had gone missing from the milling town upriver two months ago--the accepted theory was that he had tumbled into the millwheel and been swept away; but the boy’s mother had insisted that merely run away with some village girl (who had also disappeared).

He thought of the village youngster, who’d been applying to attend Oxenfurt at the time of his mysterious yet apparent death. Perhaps they were one in the same; but then, why in all the world, would a college hopeful by lying naked in the woods outside Dr. Bellegarde’s lonesome manor house? It was odd. Very odd.

"Where's your voice gone to, Doctor?" asked his housekeeper, Ms. Merrigold. "One would think you had seen a wolf on your walk."

At breakfast next morning, Geralt was overwhelmingly conscious that his feeling of uneasiness regarding yesterday's episode with the boy had not wholly disappeared. He had decided to go into the village and talk with Lambert about the “beast in his woods” and learn what his brother had really seen that had made him so twitchy. With his day planned and his mind slightly more settled, his usual cheerfulness partially returned. The doctor hummed a bright little melody as he sauntered to the morning-room for his customary cup of tea with Ms. Merrigold.

As Geralt entered the morning-room and scanned the familiar space his humming made way abruptly for a quietly shouted curse. Gracefully laid out atop his red velvet settee, in an attitude of almost exaggerated repose, was the boy from the woods. He was drier than when the doctor had last seen him, but still he remained entirely naked. Every inch of his lovely, soft-looking skin was on display; Geralt averted his eyes as quickly as possible and tried to hide his blushing face from the grinning minx.

"How dare you come in here like this!” he huffed.

"You told me I was not allowed to stay in the woods," said the boy calmly. He propped his elbow up on the cushion and laid his cheek against his palm, languidly stretching his legs out at the same time. The doctor breathed deeply and kept his eyes firmly locked with the strange young man’s.

"I did not invite you to come here!"

“Then I have misunderstood,” the boy sighed. The hand that had been supporting his head moved down and flattened against the settee. His arm straightened and his torso lengthened with the movement. Now sitting with one knee resting slightly bent atop the other, his hair messy and his shockingly blue eyes half-lidded, he looked like the painting of a young Cupid.

“Triss!” Geralt called, desperate for another person to intervene on his behalf. To save him from this tempting little beast. “Triss, fetch one of the pantry boys. We have a guest and he’s...he’s quite out of sorts.”

“Yes, Dr. Bellegarde,” his housekeeper called back. “Right away, sir!”

The boy giggled from the couch and Geralt whirled back to look at him. His finger was playing gently with the plumpest part of his lip and the young professor found himself flushing yet again. “Yes, Dr. Bellegard. Hurry to cover me up right away.”

---

Lambert was less than helpful when Geralt first asked about the beastly reference he’d made at the station.

"My dear father died of some brain trouble," he explained, "So you will understand why I am averse to dwelling on anything of an impossibly fantastic nature that I may see or think that I have seen. I don’t even know that I saw anything, you understand?”

"I am a medical doctor, Lambert, of course I understand. But what did you see?" Geralt inquired. “I must know.”

"What I thought I saw was something so extraordinary that no really sane man could dignify it with the credit of having actually happened. I was standing at the end of the lane near your manor property, half-hidden in the hedge growth by the orchard gate. I’d been watching the dying glow of the sunset and committing to memory for use in a future painting. Nothing extraordinary, of course, but beautiful nonetheless.

“It was then that I became aware of a naked boy. I assumed that he was a bather from some neighboring pool who was standing out on the bare hillside, also taking a moment to watch and appreciate the sunset. His pose was so suggestive of some wild faun of Pagan myth that I instantly wanted to engage him as a model, and in another moment I think I should have hailed him over to my hiding spot to discuss such a matter. Just then, however, the sun was lost over the edge of the horizon and the last of its warm orange glow slid away. The landscape was left a cold and gloomy grey.”

“And what of the boy? Your language is poetic, Lambert, but I’ve grown rather impatient!”

“The boy was gone, Geralt!”

"What? Did he simply vanish into nothing like some ghost or phantom?"

"No; that’s the most terrifying part, you see," answered the artist; "That’s the whole reason I didn’t want to tell you about this problem in the first place. Geralt, my dearest brother, on the open hillside where my momentary muse had been standing a second before, there was a wolf instead. It had shaggy brown-black fur and huge, gleaming fangs. Most terrifying of all were its huge, bright blue eyes.”

Geralt’s mind whirled with the new information. Lambert had indeed given him the details he’d so desperately needed to draw his final, strange conclusion: the boy was a werewolf! He thanked his younger half-sibling and made his departure, hurrying back to the manor as quickly as possible.

He had to make it home before dark.

---

“The moon isn’t full tonight,” the boy sighed. Triss had managed to wrestle him into a clean shirt and a pair of cropped blue breeches but despite the clothing he still seemed to ooze a sense of easy, naked confidence. The slim brunette was draped across the chaise lounge of Geralt’s personal study, his bare feet hanging over the arm.

“So?”

“So I will not transform into the horrible monster you fear I shall become,” he sighed again. He rolled his eyes in Geralt’s direction and smirked. “You and your housekeeper are safe. As is your cook, your pageboy, your valet, and your terribly friendly mare. Roach, right?”

“Hmm. You’ve been through my things?”

“Triss allowed me to wander the house and the grounds but then she forced me to bathe again when I came back in,” he frowned. “Soap does not agree with me and neither do these prickly, constricting clothes.”

“And your name?” Geralt asked, finally. “Since you have proven to know me already.”

“You may call me Jaskier,” the boy said, popping up from the couch. He offered his hand, which Geralt shook rather nervously. “And I’ve already decided that I’m going to be staying for awhile.”

“Why should I allow you to stay?” the young doctor bristled. “What have you to offer me in return for room and board?”

“I have no money, but I’m a wonderful gardener and I’m sure that there are, Dr. Bellegarde, other ways we can pass the time together. I sense that we are kindred spirits in many ways.”

Geralt blushed and swallowed hard, blinking down at the boy, whose fingers were playing with the material of the doctor’s cravat. His blue eyes peeked up through their bordering black lashes and Geralt’s will crumbled to dust. “Alright. I suppose you can stay; if it keeps the village safe.”

“Very safe,” the werewolf, Jaskier, smiled. His delicate little paw with its long, lithe fingers spread over the material of Geralt’s silk waistcoat, right over his heart. “So very safe, indeed.”

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