Don't think about a palisman coming to life into a vast world of colors, seeing first a cowlick of blonde hair, a wide enthusiastic smile and eyes so very proud and so very full of love. The immediate connection, the will to learn about each other, how it was suddenly a duo where there was nothing before.
Don't think about how it was the carver and the palisman, then it became Caleb and Flapjack, two souls facing a world with so much to discover and so much to see. Their adventures, their experiences, their dangers and their joys, never leaving one's side as it was a bond meant to last beyond the magic.
Don't think about Flapjack singing Caleb, Caleb feeding Flapjack. Flapjack pulling Caleb's cowlick when the man was really tired but was begging for another chapter from that new book of magic. Last one Flapjack.
Don't think about Flapjack noticing that only his Caleb has round ears. He doesn't care why, he likes that Caleb is unique.
Don't think about people being wary of Caleb because of his appearance, but eventually growing fond of him, because that was simply how Caleb was. Looking in control of it all... while being as lonely as it could get
Don't think about Caleb telling Flapjack stories about a different world, one never seen by the palisman, where the rain was cold and people had round ears. How he used to belong to a place, but never felt a purpose, and eventually realized it wasn't the life he wanted. How he missed only his brother, but that he left him with their village to watch over him and he was to grow up into a man just fine.
Don't think about just another day, only to turn out into that meeting, when the girl with the brown mane came into the picture. And Flapjack couldn't stand her at first.
Don't think about when he started to like her. How she was nice, fun. And how she made Caleb so incredibly happy.
Don't think about the years passing, a couple united, Flapjack watching over them. Love in the house, a baby on the way, another one Flapjack could pull the hair of. The eternity of two lives to enjoy the beauty of it all.
...
Don't think about another round eared person coming in. How Caleb was so happy to see.
Don't think about Flapjack feeling something wrong into such person, perhaps because he felt nothing like Caleb, perhaps because he kept glaring in his direction. But, again, it made Caleb happy. So it was fine. It was.
Don't think about when it wasn't.
Don't think about the fight, when Caleb tried to use Flapjack but got scarred instead so was pushed away. It never felt like he was an object, a bare magical staff to him. It felt like he was being cherished, protected, as a friend.
Don't think about how it was the last of Caleb. The last of his immaculate skin, the last of his gentle smiles. The last of his curious eyes, opened for the world around, because he had fallen for this world and everything in it.
Don't think about the pain, the loneliness, the guilt. How it was too inbearable to stay with the grieving mane woman and her child.
Don't think about how from then on, all Flapjack wanted was to forget.
Don't think about how guilty it made him feel.
...
Don't think about his new life, being protected by the Bat Queen with so many other palismans. A time when things hurt less, but the world doesn't have much colors, and Flapjack prefers not doing what's been told just to feel something less spent.
Don't think about a day like others, where he remembers Caleb, but not all. His face, his figure, his gesture are gone. All that is left is how he used to make him feel.
Don't think about how Flapjack still sings in the morning for him.
Don't think about adoption day, something Flapjack sees as another way to be a bit of a rascal just for the taste of it. He doesn't dislike other witches. There's even one with round ears like Caleb, she seems fun. But the Bat Queen says that there needs to be a click to truly find yourself a witch partner. Flapjack knows that, he felt that a long time ago.
Don't think about the palismans being taken, the fear, and how the round eared girl is calming them down. Flapjack likes her.
Don't think about the crash, don't think about the forest, the uncertanty.
Don't think about the confusion.
Don't think... about the meeting. How at first Flapjack is so very wary of the boy. He stole the palismans, his friends at the end, and round eared girl seems to believe he is evil and Flapjack trusts her enough. He is very rude, very annoying, very not likeable.
Don't think of the chase in the city.
Don't think of the top of the building, the plan, the forced alliance.
Don't think of that talk. One that sparks something so far it is foreign in Flapjack. Because the boy feels different in a world made of magic, he feels purposeless in a time of responsibilities, and yet there is a spark in his eyes when he talks about what a single spell can offer. It's absurd, because it's all pushed back behind a wall of rigor and harshness and yet Flapjack can see it all so clearly.
Don't think about how Flapjack wondered if he was seeing right, because this boy betrayed, lied, he did bad things.
Don't think about how Flapjack knows. My name is Hunter. This boy is much more than what he shows, what his exterior wood might show. Maybe this time it will be the palisman to carve out the best of it.
...
Don't think about how this is not Caleb.
Don't think about how Flapjack knows they are similar in some ways, but this is not him. As they go from witch and "subject of his observations", as he used to call him, to witch and palisman, to actually Hunter and Flapjack, he realizes there are several differences from Caleb and Hunter.
Don't think about how Caleb was older, free, so ready to take onto the world and experience every moment. Hunter is young, bitter and trapped into a cage made of duties and hopes for the future. Caleb was calm and serene very often, an aura of serenity and joy all around him. Hunter seems lost at times, constantly battling what he feels, what he wants and what he needs, losing every single time. Caleb was a carver. Hunter is a guard.
Don't think about the biggest difference, that makes sense to it all to Flapjack. Caleb has been nurturing him for so long, never needing his help. This boy, his new witch, he needed his help. This time, Flapjack was going to be the one taking care of someone.
Don't think about how he already knows how, as he has been taken very good care of in the past. He knows what to do, and wants to be there on every step of the way.
Don't think that Flapjack is ready to protect Hunter no matters what's to come.
And he is not going to lose another friend
Thinking about the twins stealing things and being chased all over the castle in an effort to retrieve what has been stolen.
Alicent's best quill is suddenly gone. Oh dear, there's the dowager queen chasing her squealing granddaughter down the corridor.
Criston's Hand pin has evaporated off of his tunic. There's the Hand of the King tailing the little prince, who is holding the pin above his head and laughing in delight.
Give me Alicole being grandparents. Give me their kids egging THEIR kids on and causing chaos.
Give me the Greens being happy.
"We've only just begun. I'll never let you leave. I'll never let you rest."
-
a piece inspired by the personal hell of william afton, courtesy of the one he should not have killed
special thanks to my friend katlynn, who voice acted for cassidy!
click {read more} for stills!
Dana Terrace has said before that the Clawthorns have a thing for birds, and this is proven true in the show. Every member of the family has a bird palisman-
Now we have seen background palisman who are birds (such as bell goose) but weve never see another witch with a bird palisman until Flapjack chose Hunter.
We know Flapjack had an owner before, and everyones certain its the Wittebro, wouldnt it be weird if birds were a Clawthorne thing but Wittebro was the one exception.
Dell is most likely the orginal holder of the Clawthorne name. I say this cause Gwen says that the Clawthornes are known for their Palisman carving skills and Dell had that role. That being said, look at their side profiles together,
The bridge of the nose and how their hair flows backwards especially sick out here, their far from identical but they definitely look like they could be related.
I think its especially noticeable when you compare hunter to young Dell.
With his hair up you can see the how similar their hair falls.
Okay so this is the biggest piece of evidence is the portraits within Belos' mind, and how they seem to tell the story of how Philip killed his brother after he fell in love with a witch. This post pretty well interprets them as such.
But look at the witch in the portraits,
That first one really looks like young Eda from Echos of the Past.
Thats signature Clawthorne poof hair right there.
The Clawthornes are known for their Palisman carving skills.
And what does one of the portraits show Wittebro doing?
Carving.
Its never stated that you need magic to carve palisman, Hunter doesnt need magic to have one and Eda never says anything about it when she brings the palistrom wood to Luz.
It would be the only skill he could use to in the demon realm to gain a living without magic.
When Eda runs out to the back of the estate she finds these ruins aswell as the damaged portal door.
Going back to the portraits, in the presumably last stand between the brothers we can see that wherever they are, its on fire.
This could be an explanation for the ruins, if this is the old Clawthorne estate then Philip destroyed it.
It would also explain why the portal door was there, if Philip didn't have it of course his brother would. And if his brother knew about his plans to exterminate this place he could bury it to hide it, hence Eda finding it in the dirt.
Well it looks like that witch cursed Philip with something and that Eda's family is way more involved with this that previously thought.
It also means Hunter, on some level, is canonically related to Eda in some way.
Third of the Ego playlists, Anti! Breakcore, rage, weirdcore, instrumentals, and general Anti-ness abound in these tracks.
The Death Waltz // Tobias Lija
A Lie Temporarily Becomes The Truth // Nero’s Day At Disneyland
Monsters // Electric President
Cradles // Sub Urban
Little Poor Me // Layto
COPYCAT // Billie Eilish
Imposter // zetly
eating my computer // elliotly
All Eyes On Me // Or3o
Sprawling Idiot Effigy // Nero’s Day At Disneyland
Something Very Bad // Hadouken!
Propane Nightmares // Pendulum
Demons // WE ARE FURY
Wrecking Ball // Mother Mother
Entity // Really Slow Motion
Master of Puppets (Remastered) // Metalica
you should see me in a crown // Billie Eillish
Crocodile Tears // Jack Stauber
Moonsickness // Penelope Scott
Dear Mr Bundy // The Vancouver Special (not on spotify, but perfect for him)
Creep // Radiohead
Hunger III // Tobias Lija (Interlude)
Choke // I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME
Let Me Though // CG5
A Mask of My Own Face // Lemon Demon
Mind brand // Maretu
The Ghost // NIVIRO
Oh Ana // Mother Mother
People Eater // Sodikken
The Greatest Show // Rowdy Heart Music
Second Handed Man // Ethel Waters
Erase // They Might Be Giants
Man With Whip Standing Vomiting // Nero’s Day At Disneyland
Cut the Cord // Shinedown
Copycat // CircusP
The Mind Electric // Miracle Music
Come As You Are // Nirvana
HUSHH // AViVA
Black Sheep // Metric
Less Than Human // The Chameleons
Stuff Is Way // They Might Be Giants
Overcast // Aesthetic Perfection
Devil Town // Cavetown
Knife // Acrnym
Tardigrade Song // Cosmo Sheldrake
Big God // Florence + The Machines
Circus // Lindsay Mendez
I’m Everywhere (Dubstep) // Teknoaxe
Can we talk about how:
Mysaria never got pregnant by Daemon and miscarried?
We never saw Alicent in labour despite of the fact that she's a child bride in a marriage she had no say in?
Laena DIDN'T bear a deformed son that would shortly afterwards die and drive her to despair? Or that we didn't see her want to ride Vhagar one last time and dying on her way there and Daemon carrying her dead body back to bed?
Rhaena and Baela barely got consoled while we get endless scenes of Jace and Luke being attended to?
We didn't get to see Alicent crown Helaena at the coronation before Rhaenys unceremoniously interrupts them? The making of the Queen that captured the hearts of the smallfolk so much that her suffering caused the largest uprising in King's Landing?
Are we going to talk about how all that TOOK from all these female characters to give to a select few (e.g Rhaenyra) so as to market these grey female characters as being more 'sympthetic' than other female characters whose stories were so badly represented or in some cases utterly disregarded and not followed upon (like Rhaena and Baela)?
Peace out.
Literally this.
How can I feel any sort of sympathy for the man who is to blame for everything that happened. HOW
After episode eight of House of the Dragon aired, there were a lot of people cheering on Viserys for his support of Rhaenyra’s claim.
I will admit, the scene was heartwarming to me at first,- a frail old man on the brink of death, getting up solely to defend his daughter in front of a court that may have had grievances with her being a female-heir. That kind of fatherly support, means a lot in a misogynistic society like Westeros. But, what does that moment of support truly mean for a man that had not performed his duties as a father?
Let us refer back to episode one. This scene in particular:
Aemma expresses to Viserys that she does not wish to have another pregnancy after the birth of the child she’s pregnant with.
According to Fire and Blood, Viserys and Aemma married when she was eleven years old. Their marriage was not consummated until two years later, when Aemma had flowered. Aemma in both Fire and Blood and House of the Dragon would go on to suffer multiple miscarriages, that some of Maesters suspected were due to her being bed too young.
Refocusing on the scene above, Aemma tells Viserys that Rhaenyra suspects that the unborn child might be a girl. Viserys is insistent that it is a boy.
In episode one, Rhaenyra was fifteen years old. If she were male, Viserys would have started preparing her as his heir,- taking her to council meetings, send her as a messenger, etc. But he doesn’t, because he wanted a male heir. He spent almost two decades brutalizing his wife and ultimately killing her for a son. He spent almost two decades neglecting his daughter and putting her aside because he wanted a son.
In the third episode of House of the Dragon, we meet Aegon, the first child between Alicent and Viserys.
For a majority of the episode, Aegon is being celebrated as it’s his name day, and he’s the king’s first born son. The King now having son would usually signal a change in succession, since for most of Westeros, sons inherit over daughters. However, by the end of the episode, Viserys’ position does not change: Rhaenyra is his rightful heir.
So what happens to Aegon, the long-awaited son?
Let’s look at some word from the screenwriter, Ryan Condal:
"Aegon is a great example of neglect and indulgence," Condal says. "This is the medieval version of the millionaire's prodigal son. His mother was 15, and his father never paid any attention to him. His father deeply, deeply loved Aemma and Rhaenyra and was [only] having [more] kids to carry on the line. He really didn't want Aegon — he wanted Baelon, the son that killed his first wife."
When we first meet Aegon he was being celebrated. After hoping for a boy for years, Viserys finally got a male heir.
We don’t get any scenes of his early childhood but we see Aegon again when he’s a teenager. He’s disinterested in most things, he’s blunt, he teases, he masturbates by the window sill, but most of all, he’s disinterested and lackadaisical.
After another time skip, we see Aegon again. He’s still disinterested in most things, he drinks, he’s a rapist, and is overall not really a good person.
Within the fandom, most of the blame for the way Aegon has turned out has been directed to Alicent.
Now, Alicent being a child-bride does not excuse all of her actions, but it does explain a lot of them.
In scene where Alicent speaks with Dyana, I interpreted her reaction as one filled with shame, frustration and disappointment. All of the traits I used to describe Aegon, can be applied to Viserys. Aegon is his father’s mirror and Alicent is the only one who is trying to break it. Immediately after meeting with Dyana, she confronts Aegon, and disowns him(well,not really). Were her methods rash? Yes, it was rash and abusive, but who else was checking him? Where was Viserys during his formative years to correct this behavior?
I do not condone any of his actions, but I grieve the person Aegon could’ve been if Viserys had not been his father.
I’d reckon that Aemond’s birth wasn’t quite the spectacle that Aegon’s was, he’s the second son, who inherits nothing.
When we first meet Aemond, he’s miserable. He has a very low self esteem mostly due to all of his peers having dragon, while he doesn’t. His father, Viserys was the last mount of Balerion, the Black Dread. Balerion represents the strength and history of House Targaryen in Westeros. He’s the last dragon to have come from Old Valyria, and his first rider was the man who united Westeros under one crown, Aegon the Conqueror. Viserys took Balerion on one ride, and the old dragon died shortly after. He spent all of his rule as a Targaryen king without a dragon. We get no indication that he had negative feelings about not being a dragon rider, in fact, he finds power in the dreams and prophecies of Targaryens and Old Valyria, than the man power of dragons. Had he been around to salvage any feelings of unworthiness Aemond felt when his egg didn’t hatch, or when the riderless dragons in the dragon pit rejected him, Aemond would’ve been less resentful about not having one.
So in this scene here, where he claims Vhagar, and rides her for the first time, it’s a moment of legitimacy for him. He’s a Targaryen, with a dragon. He fits in with his siblings and his nephews, finally.
His claiming of Vhagar came with a price, his eye. I’m not going to delve into the mishap that took place between him, the Dragon twins and the Strong boys, because they were children. Baela and Rhaena had all right to be angry about Aemond claiming Vhagar, Luke had all right to defend his brother, Aemond had all right to react to their insults. Was he a bit insensitive ? Yes, but he’s a kid. They’re all children. They do not have the same awareness and consideration adults should have.
The aftermath of that scene is a confrontation between Rhaenyra and Alicent.
There has been a lot of discourse about this scene in particular, but Emma D’arcy and Olivia Cooke’s is the one I resonate with the most :
ED: It’s such an interesting scene, right? My sympathy is fully with Alicent. On the page I was like, Well, she’s fucking right.
OC: Someone’s lost an eye.
ED: Someone’s lost an eye! I’m so amazed every time Paddy basically tells you to let it go. Simultaneously, Rhaenyra is playing quite a basic game: Lie hard, do not back down, and weaponize this word “treason.”
OC: Alicent’s being gaslit massively and she fucking explodes. In friendships or relationships, when it gets to the point where you feel you’re going mad, there’s no route out other than complete volcanic annihilation.
ED: There is something resentfully delicious in it for Rhaenyra, in that she so rarely gets definitively the backing of her father. Early on, she loses both her best friend and her father because they get married. These moments where she gets publicly chosen, and chosen instead of you — there’s a really violent quality of vengeance for her.
No Alicent should not have asked for a five year old’s eye. But her son, has just lost one. And his father, is more focused on the fact that his grandchildren were called bastards. Now I’m not discounting the fact that Westeros discriminates against bastards, but that could have been addressed afterwards. Viserys spent the entire scene promising his court that they’d lose a tongue for even uttering a word about his grandsons, while his son is sitting in a chair with his eye in front him on a plate. Aemond now has to learn how to maneuver around with one of his five senses damaged. (Honestly, I think a few scenes with Aemond struggling a bit with this would’ve been great).
If Viserys had just acknowledged Aemond’s detriment in that scene, maybe give him some reassurance, comfort, literally anything, he wouldn’t have remained vengeful years after the incident.
The parenting of Helaena is the best representation of Viserys and Alicent’s dynamics with their kids,- Alicent struggling to connect with her child, while Viserys the parent who would’ve had a better shot at connection is nowhere to be found.
Helaena has correctly predicted several events in House of the Dragon so far, the loss of Aemond’s eye being the price of his dragon, Meleys bursting from beneath the dragon pit, and the Dance of the Dragons. The thing is, no one in universe is paying her any mind. The weight of prophecies in ASOIAF is a topic that George likes to explore, and he’s given us a few tragic characters like Rhaegar, who met their doom by interpreting a prophecy ‘incorrectly’.
Helaena is a dragon dreamer. She’s also a dragon rider, but we have no scenes with her on Dreamfyre. She represents the more mystical part of House Targaryen, as she possesses the power that prevented them from the Doom. Yet her father, who is a deeply interested in these aspects of being Targaryen, doesn’t speak to her about these things.
If Viserys had made an attempt to understand or simply bond with his daughter, none of the atrocities his family faced would have happened the way it did.
My sympathy for Team Green stems from the fact that literally every single one of them would’ve been way better people if not for Viserys.
Daemon and Rhaenyra’s relationship not only embodies what a grooming relationship looks like but also with how it progresses once the minor grows up. Not every person who was groomed is going to admit that it happened to them because it make the situation so much more real. And sometimes the person who was groomed doesn’t even realize that it happened to them until years down the line.
And the saddest part about their relationship and people who are in similar relationships in real life almost always go back. Because that person has been with them through their entire life and has quite literally seen them through thick and thin(even if the abuser was the cause behind it all) and it make the victim believe that the abuser could never be a bad person. We see that when Daemon celebrates Aemma and Baelon’s death by toasting Nyra’s brother as, “Heir for a day.”
Then Daemon goes on to steal the egg she chose for her brother and effectively take over Dragonstone-the castle of which she is now Princess of. And when he comes back to court after being away for four years at war she just forgives him since he’s the only person she has left at court. Even years later, when Harwin and Laena are both dead and Laenor is becoming increasingly depressed because of his sister’s death, Rhaenyra goes back to Daemon because she’s associated him with a relying hand who can help her at court.
She’s so convinced that he’s only looking after her to the point that when he starts an affair with teenage Nettles, all Rhaenyra thinks is that it must have been Nettles who ‘lured’ Daemon into her bed and sends word that she wants Nettles killed.
✨HI I’M THE PROBLEM IT’S ME✨
"and Helaena, my sweet girl"
Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture
And save it from the funny tricks of time
(requested by @lawolfe)
The news about Rhaena/Nettles legit managed to erode all the excitement I had about season two during the past few weeks in a matter of seconds.
Nettles is canonically the only non-Targ dragonrider, her story and arc is so important in challenging the beliefs about dragons and Targaryens and blood magic incest that exist in Westeros and among the Targaryens, why would the writers look at such a character and decided to mesh her storyline with Rhaena’s?? Are they just so uncreative they couldn’t figure out something for Rhaena to do in the Vale?? Or can this show only handle no more than three black characters, all the while they continue on cooking up new storylines and arcs for the white characters that don’t exist in the book??
Mainly a Hotd blog but I also enjoy talking about Asoiaf and Aot. Book!Alicent and Criston slander is not permitted here. 19
263 posts