The Grey Wolf Strikes Back

An Aegon II who was trained to be king or, at minimum, wasn't seen as "lesser" by his father would be a completely different person. (Seriously, the fact that Viserys I says in F & B that "she wants HER blood on the throne" (emphasis mine) rather than "our" tells me that however much he may have loved Alicent he clearly saw her and the children she gave him as being inferior to the daughter Aemma gave him. Not for nothing does Beesbury, who we are clearly supposed to sympathize with, bring up Rhaenyra having more Targaryen blood, which I personally find disgusting because it actually justifies racial purity when a few generations down the line the exact opposite is lauded with Daeron II and Baelor Breakspear.) And for the record I don't see much difference between Otto and Corlys when one ignores the biased framing GRRM uses to present them through.

Katherine Hepburn. The Lion in Winter. Its in the link. (To be honest, Alysanne is far more tame than Eleanor of Aquitaine, whether we're talking about the real person or her film counterpart.)

@Lord Varys @The Bard of Banefort This is how GRRM described GQA to Amok: "Tall and straight, unbowed by time, she had high cheekbones, clear blue eyes. Age left crow's feet around her eyes and laugh lines about her mouth, but her face never lost its strength. She was a fine archer and hunter in her youth, and loved to fly atop her dragon to all the distant parts of the realm. Alysanne was slim of waist and small of breast, with a long neck, a fair complexion, a high forehead. In old age her hair turned white as snow. She wore it in a bun, pulled back and pinned behind her hear." https://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/Good_Queen_Alysanne_and_Rhaenyra Don't see any retcons.

Thanks for answering my question @Derfel Cadarn and @SpaceChampion! Recently took a trip down memory lane in the form of my HS writing. Its as bad as I expected though the dialogue mostly holds up and every once in a while I did see a good turn of phrase. Best part was finding old story concepts I'd somehow forgotten about in the intervening years. In other news, I got my third (US) review on Amazon this week. So far, with the exception of one person, everyone's favorite has been "The Dragonslayer". (Said person's favorite is "Sorrow's End" whereas mine is "Girl in Blue".)

@Derfel Cadarn Out of curiosity, how expensive and difficult to use is Inkarnate? Hope you're avoiding the heat btw. One of my co-authors is British and according to him the weather up there is terrible rn.

My self-published anthology, Tales from Mistland & Other Oddities: Volume I, is $0.99 on Kindle until tomorrow.

To celebrate my birthday, I'm hosting another discount sale for my book from today till July 15th in case y'all know anyone that may be interested in giving it a shot! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09N9QL1H7

Do any of y'all recommend going with expanded distribution for Amazon's POD service?

Yes. Mobile too.

For whatever reason, I can't send/submit messages/replies when using Firefox.

Here you go @The Dragon Demands! As for the Fishfeed, I think GRRM just screwed up his numbers. (To be fair, the Dance is not well-plotted as far as Westerosi conflicts are concerned.)

Congrats @The Marquis de Leech!

@The Dragon Demands I've made this same complaint multiple times and somewhere in this thread have listed all the battles of the Dance that have yet to have their numbers updated as well as what those updates should be.

My book just got its first review!

Sorry to hear your book is being rejected @Derfel Cadarn. Hope someone picks it up sooner rather than later.

Best of luck!

Finished writing two new vignettes and am now working on an interlude to "Scotland's Heir" titled "Where Our Lives Do Part".

The converse is also true though. (That is, under Rhaenyra, the Greens would be the De La Poles to her Henry VIII.) Later kings got around this to an extent by simply not remarrying, however unrealistic that is in and of itself.

@SeanF I put in "say what you will about the merits of each individual proposal" precisely because people will disagree on that point. (I, for one, do but to be fair I also lean towards the Greens.) What doesn't change is the fact that what was offered in that proposal was more than Rhaenyra was ever willing to offer in response, which speaks in Alicent's favor and not in Rhaenyra's.

I personally headcanon Alicent as having black hair and gray eyes, mainly because it would pit JRRT's beauty standards against GRRM's and I find that funny. While the Greens are written as being less nuanced and competent the fact most of the Blacks are also horrible people makes me think its more of a "plague on both your houses" on GRRM's part. I hope they don't make Alicent or Rhaenyra neurotic, especially because their children die. Its plain sexist, not to mention a waste of a character, how women in Westeros always seem to lose their grip on sanity or isolate themselves (Rhaenyra, Helaena, and even Alicent by the very end in F & B, Lysa, Alannys, and to a lesser extent Catelyn as well as Cersei in ASOIAF) when they lose a kid while the men get to rage and act on their feelings (Daemon and Aegon II). Furthermore, I actually like how Alicent is essentially an older Margaery in Cersei's position as queen dowager and stepmother to someone she despises. Furthermore, it speaks in her favor that she's pretty much the ONLY person to try to make peace throughout the war. Her first terms, which Glydayn understandably labels "generous", guarantees Rhaenyra, Jace, Luke and their descendants financial independence from the Iron Throne (the fact it was considered "an article of faith" among the Greeens that the Velaryon boys were bastards makes it a big deal that they'd be willing to accept them as trueborn to avoid conflict), Aegon and Viserys places at court as well as opportunities for future advancement (albeit with the caveat that they'd also be unofficial hostages), and grants amnesty to ALL of the Blacks while the best Rhaenyra can bother offering in response is "surrender and I'll spare my half-siblings lives". No mention of amnesty for the rest of the Greens, no guarantee of a place at court for the Hightower-Targs, etc. Later, Alicent offers to call a GC when KL falls and, around First Tumbleton I believe, she even offers to split Westeros in half between Aegon II and Rhaenyra (which would make for a fascinating what-if in my opinion). Say what you will about the merits of each individual proposal but at least Alicent tries to come up with a solution. Rhaenyra's response is always "total surrender or nothing". (The fact she was only willing to send terms to the Lannisters, Hightowers, etc. AFTER all her half-brothers were dead and even then only at Corlys' urging in response to Daemon's inane suggestions, which would necessitate the death of thousands, considering Daeron was in the field with an army and the Ironborn plaguing the coast of the Westerlands, speaks to her desire to pile up the casualties.) As for Rhaenys, I really hope they give her something to actually do. Glydayn describes her as having lived "fearlessly" and that Meleys was "no stranger to battle" but where are the details? Did she take part in Daemon's Stepstones campaign for example? This is where GRRM's unequal focus in F & B (the first ten years of Jaehaerys I's reign as opposed to the other forty-five to give one example) as well as his refusal to go back and expand The Heirs of the Dragon + The Dying of the Dragons the way he did The Sons of the Dragon really diminishes the material and, conversely, gives the show an opportunity to elevate what exists rather than worry whether or not it can live up to said material as was the case with AGOT.

Friendly reminder that my anthology of short stories + poems + vignettes, Tales from Mistland & Other Oddities, is on sale for 99cents until midnight! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09N9QL1H7

I really want those hardcovers but $160 is too much for me. Might pledge for the eBooks though.

Thanks. Which of his books would you recommend most?

I'm sure you must be excited! Congrats!

I have some of Bakker's books but have yet to read them though from what I've heard he's closer to The Children of Hurin than the rest of the Silmarillion tone-wise. I haven't read any of GGK's works yet either so which ones are you referring to exactly and which would you consider your top 3?