#galazza galare

[horizon-verizon]

Thoughts on Daenerys publicly executing the former slave and how she went about it in S05x02?

In a word? Not great. Boo.

The show rewrite & repurposing of Mossader &seems like it was meant to rewrite progression of the "error" Daenerys makes with her dragons by essentially adding another one that I'm sure they didn't think was an serious error. A way for them to try to make Dany seem a worse leader & thinker than she really is. I don't like how the show basically tried to make her look tyrannical by making her violently suppress the actions of someone who was both devoted to her and really had already been shut down before when he was saying the right thing. Which was to just get rid of this harpy-hire dude at the very least and at most what she said abt sending a message.

I also hated how it made Mossader look irrational & nearly "savage" through a display of fanatics--in how he almost dreamily said he did it "for her", posing Daenyers' goddess-like stature as easily shiftable to threatening. Foreshadowing that horrible erroneous ending of her becoming a Hitler figure. Like the scene was saying to us she inspires generationally brutalized and dehumanized brown people to the point of irrational "frenzy" and she cannot even be nuanced or sympathetic as she had been before in her ruling for Mossader. This pathetic-ized person who had at one point called her Mhysa and believed in her.

But the narrative the show pushes is not even fair itself to this man (hypocritically) & is just using him to denigrate Dany; becasue why are we making the only male brown former slave besides Grey Worm do such a thing AND be as I said "fanatical" towards the white Dany??! This man, who was put on their council as the voice and reason of those freed Meereenese...appears to us as totally unreasonable bc we know and he "should" have known that there were consequences for disrupting the Westerosi-style of "fair trial" and "honor"...The trial would be a false one, bc this guy will not be let off or go free. His crimes are obvious. Even if we did posit him going free, he'd likely just go back to being a hire for the harpy!

Plus we saw how actual ineffectual and emotion-based/false honor-based actual Westerosi trials can be through both of the trials against Tyrion: at the Eyries; esp the one at the Red Keep after Joffrey dies. So much for fairness of the superior Westerosi style of justice! (another hypocrisy of the writing itself)

So the show has Dany simultaneously "fails" Mossader, and utterly. As if the bonds she has with the slaves and her mission really don't mean anything to her.

After all, does she not marry Hizdahr, reopen the fighting pits (later) to stop the killings of the freedmen...Then she kills the freedman who was supposed to rep them all??

And the points Hizdahr & Barristan Selmy tried to make against killing the dude besides the trial..."poor and young"; "Why should he want to bring back slavery? What did it do for him?"; " I don't know it, and I'm the head of a great family."...why are we even indulging in these stupid protests?!!! We know his presence is so the other nobles feel they have say and influence over Dany, but there was no rebuttal (or at least a sign from her dismissing Hizdahr, whether he sees it or not) from show!Dany against his absurd "logic" about "going easy" on this guy. Huh?!

Subsequently, she loses a lot of faith from the freedmen who beg for not only Mossader's life but for her to not bend to the masters' clear attempt to confuse the priority. Which is their total freedom at those masters' expense. Which is exactly what D&D wanted bc they hate her, refuse to understand her, and lost interest in this series.

It was just a huge mess!

CONTEXT for comparison

a)

Mossador died differently in the original book series ("A Dance with Dragons -- Daenerys II"):

In the show, he gets executed because show!Daenerys wanted to re-establish a peace of between the freedmen and the former (not so former) slavers and elites of Meereen. Some, if not all, of these elites formed the group "Sons of the Harpy", and in the show one of these are captured. Show!Mossader didn't believe that any of the Masters would just lie down and allow Daenerys' end to legal slavery in Meereen stick. And that they'd eventually somehow either get this prisoner out OR this Master would be somehow saved in the process of a the trial that was planned for him:

MOSSADOR: Sons of the Harpy, they want to put a collar back on my neck. On all of our necks. Please, Your Grace, you must kill him. DAENERYS: It would send a message. BARRISTAN: I think you should exercise restraint, Your Grace. DAENERYS: Why? BARRISTAN: For one thing, he may have valuable information. DAARIO: The Son of the Harpy has no more valuable information. BARRISTAN: How do you know that? DAARIO: Because I questioned him. HIZDAHR: And the information you did get, he is young and poor. MOSSADOR: He is born free. HIZDAHR: Why should he want to bring back slavery? What did it do for him? DAENERYS: Perhaps the only thing that gave him pride was knowing that there was someone lower than he was. MOSSADOR: They pay him. Great families afraid to do a thing. They pay poor man to do it for them. HIZDAHR: And how do you know this? MOSSADOR: Everyone knows this. HIZDAHR: I don't know it, and I'm the head of a great family. BARRISTAN: We do not know what this man did or didn't do. (to Daenerys) Give him a trial, at least. A fair trial. Show all of the citizens of Meereen that you are better than those who would depose. Teach them a better way. MOSSADOR: I do not know the place from where Old Ser comes. Things maybe are different there, I hope. But here, in Meereen, before Daenerys Stormborn, they own us. So we learn much about them or we do not live long. They teach me what they are. Mercy, fair trial: these mean nothing to them. All they understand is blood!

So he preemptively and vengefully kills the prisoner, and as you see here, he expresses no regrets about disobeying Daenerys and doing it:

DAENERYS: Why? MOSSADOR (Valyrian): For you, Mhysa. You wanted the Harpy dead, but your hands were tied. I set you free, as you did all of us. DAENERYS: He was our prisoner, awaiting trial. You had no right. MOSSADOR: He would rather rip your city apart than see slaves lifted from the dirt. DAENERYS: There are no more slaves. There are no more Masters. MOSSADOR: Then who lives in the Pyramids? Who wears gold masks and murders your children? When Grey Worm came to us, I was the first to take up the knife for you. I remember the look on my father's face as I struck down his Master, who had traded his infant son for a dog. My father died in the fighting. If we allow the Sons of the Harpy to return us to chains, he never lived. DAENERYS: The Harpy's life was not yours to take. Once, the Masters were the law-- MOSSADOR: And now you are the law! DAENERYS: The law is the law. Take him.

Mossador died differently in the original book series ("A Dance with Dragons -- Daenerys II"):

He's one of the many freedmen murdered by the Sons. And it's not until the 4th episode that her 2nd husband will appear, and he matters bc this is about how she gets on Drogon and re-orient her goals.

b) Attempt at a Summary (How Dany Actually gets to Marry Hizdahr, his role, and Riding Drogon out of the Pit.)

Bk!Dany does have an arc where she at first tries to acclimate or compromise with the former slave masters for the sake of peace in Meereen but comes to realize that her efforts is simply not going to work. She reopens the fighting pits where former slave gladiators would fight after Hizdahr zo Loraq petitions her several times and brings some famous gladiators to beg her to reopen them. She, like in the show, marries Hizdahr and makes him her royal consort when he meets her condition of bringing some 90 days of peace (the high priestess, the Green Grace Galazza Galare suggested a marriage to him). Absolutely no murders or attacks against freedmen nor those few nobles who actually are obeying Dany. In this observation and despite what another noble, Skahaz mo Kandaq, warned about Hizdahr being the the Harpy, leader of the Sons of the Harpy. He was one fo the nobles who decided to abandon the slavery society and "ways" other nobles want to keep going. Again, she wanted that peace and dismissed his warning, and Hizdahr starts to show his true colors in his dismissing Skahaz from his position as the leader of the new Meerenese "city watch", or police, and appointing one of his own cousins. He says that this is to get more of the nobles on her side. (He's not the Harpy, but he's definitely closely tied to them.)

They reopen the fighting pits to celebrate the wedding; Hizdahr insists the fighters volunteered. Hizdahr offers Dany locust treats, it turns out they are poisoned later on when we see Strong Belwas get very sick from them and it's only due to his large and heavyset body that he survives. Dany sees that he's very into the violence, in a way that gets mixed with a sexual excitement at it. During another fight, Drogon appears, Hizdahr calls for people to kill Drogon, and Daenerys jumps into the pit to calm and try to bring Drogon to heel, she's flies off, Drogon basically leading her. Dany, half starved & dehydrated, dreams of her brother and hallucinates Jorah Mormount (those close to her who've betrayed her) but it's also her reflecting on her persistent guilt for the girl Drogon killed that motivated her into the mistake of locking up her dragons. Narrowly escaping a Dothraki scout, she and Drogo fly to another place, eating horse, and that's where the scout's khal, Jhaqo, and his warriors find her. Resumably to try to rape & kill her or to to take her back to Vaes Dothrak to the dosh khaleen and become one of them forever.

In all the time Dany was gone, Hizdahr has been trying to use his marriage to Daenerys to rule Meereen in her absence and a plot (he likely enabled even by just taking instructions) to retake the city gets foiled under Barristan Selmy, Missandei, and Grey Worm's leadership. There are prisoners they take & essentially they are now running the city in Dany's name, waiting for her return. Hizdahr is one of those prisoners. But in the show, Hizdahr died at the pits when a Harpy stabs him.

#asoiaf asks to me #Hizdahr zo Loraq #Hizdahr's characterization #Mossador #got s5e2 #Galazza Galare #Skahaz mo Kandaq #game of thrones 2015 #got #game of thrones

[baelontargaryen]

DAENERYS TARGARYEN APPRECIATION MONTH 2022

Day 25 → Humourous side of Dany

Dany did not trouble to feign surprise. “Why Hizdahr? Skahaz is noble born as well.”

“Skahaz is Kandaq, Hizdahr Loraq. Your Radiance will forgive me, but only one who is not herself Ghiscari would not understand the difference. Oft have I heard that yours is the blood of Aegon the Conqueror, Jaehaerys the Wise, and Daeron the Dragon. The noble Hizdahr is of the blood of Mazdhan the Magnificent, Hazrak the Handsome, and Zharaq the Liberator.”

“His forebears are as dead as mine. Will Hizdahr raise their shades to defend Meereen against its enemies? I need a man with ships and swords. You offer me ancestors.”

“We are an old people. Ancestors are important to us. Wed Hizdahr zo Loraq and make a son with him, a son whose father is the harpy, whose mother is the dragon. In him the prophecies shall be fulfilled, and your enemies will melt away like snow.”

— ADWD, Daenerys IV

#danymonth2022 #daenerys targaryen #daenerys stormborn #galazza galare #house targaryen #canondany #targnation #valyriansource #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #asoiaf edit #*my gifs #lmao this made me chuckle cause dany’s always like “i am blood of the dragon. i am blood of aegon the conqueror” #and when galazza tries dany’s like “ancestors??? what can the dead do? nothing so be quiet about them useless bitches”

[agentrouka-blog]

What's your opinion on Hizdhar?

Hi!!

This ask is one billion years old. (Okay, 4 months.) I sincerely apologize. I needed to wait until I had formed an actual opinion, something that @istumpysk's reread project has immensely helped with.

(This is not a hill I am looking to die on but my current impression.)

I think Hizdahr is a puppet. 

I believe Galazza Galare is the Harpy, a highly influential but underestimated female quasi-matriarch akin to Olenna Tyrell, and when Dany got there above all she wanted 1) stability to prevent more destruction in Meereen (like Astapor) and 2) participation in the power of the crown to ensure the interests of her specific political faction are served. She found a likely puppet in Hizdahr. 

Hizdahr is a well-connected, well-travelled, handsome man with an ancient and respected name and a mind for business. That’s where his interests align with Galazza Galare. For business you need peace. He knows how to charm and has a certain eloquence, he obviously enjoys the calculated thrill of the pitfighting, including cruel surprises (like releasing lions on unsuspecting dwarf jousters...) but nothing about how he responds to unexpected or gruesome developments suggests the mind of a far-sighted conspirator capable of directing the moves of vicious assassins. He is someone's object.

While Galazza the Harpy wields the whip (Harpy’s sons murder campaign) to frighten the freedmen and emotionally pressure Dany, Hizdahr presents the carrot, a “reformist” who just wants peace so he can make some money with his fighting pits. Marry Hizdahr and there will be peace, she says and he says.

As such she is a mirror image to Skahaz mo Kandaq (Shavepate) who on the other hand wants radical reform, absolutely uncompromising destruction of all political opponents - and also an in on the power. He too wants to marry Dany, but he has no carrot to wield. He gets a whip, though, in that Dany grants him the creation of an anonymous state police force loyal almost entirely to him. She handed a ridiculous amount of power to one very radical person. Guess who he ends up using it against?

Peace with Yunkai being hitched to the marriage to Hizdahr (representing stability over chaos) fits the interests of the Harpy perfectly. The slavers outside Meereen get to resume their slaving in peace, no war disrupts their trade, and Meereen gets to participate in trade again as well, minus slavery within their walls. Money flows.

Hizdahr’s choice to carve and use a dragon throne after their marriage implies he planned on heavily relying on her image and projected power to inform their shared rule, while expecting to take care of the day-to-day decision-making that so bored Dany. Prestige, fame, power, safety. Win-win for him and the Harpy who maneuvered him on the throne. Of course, he would only have wielded the power that Dany afforded him, which did not have to be much. Except as soon as they are married she leaves the courtly duties to him. She handed power to Team Harpy when she did not have to. She could have taken this peace and concentrated on a long game of reform and creating a formidable political legacy. But the fighting pit is a catalyst for a development that would have taken place either way. 

Before the poison becomes obvious, before Drogon arrives, Dany signals to Meereen that she rejects the role they had in mind for her. She takes off the tokar, she demands that Hizdahr escort her out of the pit mid-show. She clearly telegraphs her dissatisfaction with the peace she created because it doesn’t feel like a win, and this would have ended up informing her political decisions down the line, the same way Barristan’s decisions are informed by his prejudice. If Drogon hadn’t carried her off, she would have eventually arrived at the same point as things develop without her.

I don't for a second believe Hizdahr or the Harpy wanted to poison Dany, that's the opposite of stability. It makes a lot more sense (and is heavily hinted at) that Skahaz the Shavepate had the locusts planted to target Hizdahr, and maybe Dany too. He's the one who has consistently been advocating for more violence and uncompromising brutality in asserting the will of the crown. He had wanted to marry Dany himself, to occupy the spot that Hizdahr was awarded, which is now beyond his reach. And he controls the Brazen Beasts, who have anonymous access almost anywhere that concerns the royal couple. 

Without Dany, her dragons and the loyalty of her troops, Hizdahr has little direct power (which serves the Shavepate well) and he isn't exactly showing a lot of vision for how to deal with the fallout. There was no plan in place for her absence from his perspective. Barristan does a splendid job of letting himself be manipulated by the Shavepate into arresting Hizdahr, though, which immediately triggers the Harpy's sons again, with near forty dead within three days. He downright mocks Barristan by letting his Brazen Beasts wear locust masks during the coup, and the fact that locusts were guarding the dragonpit and didn't know the "word of the day" Quentyn used on the regular guards, implies the Shavepate was going to go for the dragons, as well, against his promise to Barristan. (Quentyn foiled that plan.) His every suggestion is aimed at escalating conflict and violence. Chaos is a ladder for someone whose House of Kandaq is painted as the lowly opposite to famous and ancient House Loraq.

Hizdahr, while the Shavepate conspires, was relaxing with a prostitute and a tiny personal guard, cowering behind a tapestry when violence erupts during his arrest. That’s not an ice cold power hungry manipulator. That’s someone utterly in over his head because the Plan Went Awry. 

Galazza Galare as the Green Grace manages to save the life of Belwas, too, which considering his bad state can’t have been easy. Another reason to suspect they don’t want Dany’s support system to collapse. They want her power, even without her, because the alternative is the chaos they don’t want.

Of course, right now Team Shavepate has the upper hand, with Hizdahr imprisoned, Galazza Galare unable to negotiate a hostage release with Yunkai, and Barristan Selmy doing a brilliant job talking himself into approving battle because he’s “a simple knight” and “not made for this”. Hizdahr couldn’t command the loyalty of Dany’s forces, but the Shavepate can move them where he wants them. 

Since both sides are ultimately evil, it’s a loss, either way. But the peace Dany had been working toward by cooperating with Team Harpy may have ended up preserving more lives among the general population than the inevitable erruption of chaos is going to cost Meereen, now that Team Shavepate is calling the shots. 

The poison attempt meant to sow chaos happened at the exact same time that Drogon decided to return. Which really only speeded up what was always going to happen. Dany hated her political achievement, she wanted out, she rode her dragon away and didn’t care about the burning people. Chaos happened with or without assassination attempt. Would have happened with or without Drogon. Because Dany, deep down, hated the peace she created. She was always leaning toward Team Shavepate. 

Peace was never going to last.

#hizdahr zo loraq #skahaz mo kandaq #anti daenerys targaryen #meereen arc #poison locusts #conspiracy #galazza galare

[asoiaf-artbrdr]

Galazza Galare

The Green Grace is a major player among the Ghiscari nobility. She's described as over 80 years old, with thinning skin, but still retaining her grace and piercing green eyes. I wish I could show her veiled as she is in canon, but that's beyond Artbreeder afaik!

I think this is the last of Dany's courtiers that I'll be posting for a bit. If you have any characters from the Essos narrative you want me to work on, drop me an ask or a message! I have a couple minor characters from Tyrion's POV where it intersects that I hope to post, like Penny and Sweets, but again, let me know if there's someone in particular you want to see me try my hand at.

#galazza galare #the green grace #meereen #asoiaf fanart #artbreeder #valyrianscrolls #megamikenzie #queue better believe it

[doloreseddt]

🎶I'll be the actress starring in your bad dreams🎶

.

The Green Grace: Galazza Galare as a possible candidate for the Harpy of Meereen, working behind the scenes and painting their symbol in blood.

#galazza galare #the Green Grace #sons of the harpy #the harpy of meereen #asoiaf #fan art #game of thrones #asoiaf art #inktober #inktober2022 #taylor swift #look what you made me do

[asongofsilks]

ASOIAF FANCASTING –> EVERY NAMED FEMALE CHARACTER ABOVE THE AGE OF FIVE, PART XXII

Falyse Stokeworth (264-300 AC): Oldest daughter and heir of Lady Tanda Stokeworth. She is childless despite being married to Ser Balman Byrch for around 10 years. When Ser Bronn of the Blackwater marries her younger sister, Lollys, she plots with Queen Cersei to eliminate him. However, after her husband is killed in a duel against Bronn, Cersei gives her to Maester Qyburn for his experiments to keep the plot a secret. Fancast: Tara Fitzgerald.

Fern (main series era): A peasant woman of Lambswold in the Riverlands. Sharna the innkeep helps her birth her baby. Fancast: Jacqueline Emerson.

Ferny (main series era): One of Craster's older wives. She is one of the wives who approach Sam to flee with Gilly and her newborn son. Fancast: Mia Farrow.

Florence Fossoway (b. approx. 30 AC): Wife of Lord Martyn Tyrell of Highgarden. After her marriage, she took control of Highgarden's accounts and increased its incomes by a third. Her capability led to her husband being appointed as master of coin for King Jaehaerys I after the death of his Pentoshi master-of-coin Rego Draz. Fancast: Lisa Chappell.

Floris Baratheon (118-134 AC): Youngest daughter of Lord Borros Baratheon and his wife, Elenda Caron. She was married to Lord Thaddeus Rowan, who became a member of Aegon III's small council and later his Hand, but she died in childbirth within two years of the marriage. Fancast: Annabel Scholey.

Florys the Fox (Age of Heroes): Legendary daughter of Garth Greenhand, founder-king of the Reach. She kept three husbands, each of them ignorant of the others' existence. Her sons originated the noble houses of Florent, Ball, and Peake. Fancast: Lily Cole.

Frenya (d. 300): One of the six wildling spearwives who accompanies Mance Rayder to Winterfell to rescue Arya Stark from Ramsay Snow. She is presumably killed in the fighting whilst the presumed Arya escapes with Theon Greyjoy. Fancast: Charisma Carpenter.

Frynne (b. approx. 276 AC): The daughter of a smith, she was a Dornish girl who played with Arianne Martell in the Water Gardens when she was a girl. Fancast: Ella Robson.

Gael Targaryen (80-99 AC): Thirteenth and last child of King Jaehaerys I and Good Queen Alysanne. She was her mother's constant companion, bringing comfort to her after her other daughters had been lost. However, she was seduced and impregnated by a traveling singer, and committed suicide in her grief after her son was stillborn. Queen Alysanne herself died within the year afterwards. Fancast: Jenessa Grant.

Galazza Galare (b. approx. 217 AC): High priestess of the Temple of the Graces in Meereen, she is known as the Green Grace. When Daenerys Targaryen settles in Meereen to rule, she becomes a valuable source of counsel. Daenerys marries Hizdahr zo Loraq at her suggestion. Fancast: Shabana Azmi.

Previous

#asoiaf fancast #valyrianscrolls #gael targaryen #galazza galare #frynne #ferny #fern #frenya #floris baratheon #florys the fox #florence fossoway #falyse stokeworth #asoiaf fashion #allfancasts

[nogoodsheepstealing-greatgrandma]

#art reblog #themico #not mine #meereen #ghiscari #galazza galare #green grace #hizdahr zo loraq #reznak mo reznak #skahaz mo kandaq #the shavepate #the brazen beasts #a dance with dragons #valyrian scrolls art #a song of ice and fire art

[pyat-pree]

Painting by Rae Klein (i can’t find the title anywhere, if anyone knows it please let me know)

#galazza galare would wear this #in green obvi #icefire wardrobe

[pessimisticpigeonsworld]

GRRM and the Medieval Setting (Part One - Daenerys)

ASOIAF, like most high fantasy, takes place in a medieval-esque world. There's medieval aesthetic, technology, and sensibilities. These sensibilities in ASOIAF include misogyny, racism/xenophobia, classism, and the allowance of slavery. These things are objectively bad, however, the fandom is obsessed with trying to justify them. Their argument is that these things aren't actually bad in ASOIAF because that's just how things were in the Medieval period and they're cultural norms. This is far from what GRRM is trying to communicate.

GRRM uses most of his pov characters to criticize the medieval sensibilities and ideas. I'm not going to go into every character, but I will do a few of the main ones in a series. This post is going to focus on Daenerys.

Daenerys' primary arc at this point in the books is her campaign against slavery and ruling Meereen. Obviously, the main issue GRRM condemns in her chapters is the existence of slavery. From Dany's first chapter, we are introduced to the Essosi slave trade from the perspective of someone being sold.

Throughout AGOT, the horrors of slavery are introduced. Pentos keeps their slaves thinly disguised at servants despite their agreement with Braavos, Dany is raped routinely by Drogo, the Dosh Khaleen and Khalasars use enslaved eunuchs as servants and healers, Khalasars raid villages and enslave their people, Drogo's Khalasar rape the Lhazareen women, and Eroeh is gang raped and murdered by Khal Jhaqo and his bloodriders. While ACOK doesn't make a point of showing the horror of slavery, in ASOS and ADWD Dany devotes herself to ending the slave trade in Slaver's Bay, foregoing her original goal of the IT.

GRRM fills Dany's chapters with horrific descriptions of the effects of the Essosi slave trade. He portrays the slavers as cruel and "cartoonishly evil". Despite the criticisms of certain fans who routinely defend Essosi slavers, these portrayals are on purpose.

GRRM does have issues with writing characters of color (many of the Dothraki) as stereotypes who don't have much do differentiate them from each other. However, this doesn't actually apply to the antagonists of Dany's story. Kraznys mo Nakloz, Hizdahr zo Loraq, Galazza Galare, Grazdan mo Eraz, and the other slavers are meant to show just how abominable slavery as an institution is. Their cruelty and inhumanity is a conscious choice to reflect the real world people who did the monstrous things that inspired GRRM's version of slavery.

Moving on from slavery, Dany's arc also addresses the misogyny inherit to the Medieval era. Dany is mocked, underestimated, undermined, and devalued because of her gender. She suffers marital rape and a traumatic miscarriage. Each of these things are portrayed as the injustices they are.

Dany is demeaned by her adversaries not just because of her gender but also because she's a non-conforming woman. The slavers spread rumors of her being a monstrous demon who's driven by her lust for sex and power. She's condemned for being a woman who refused to remain in the position society assigned to her.

GRRM shows the common misogynistic beliefs and methods of Medieval men used to suppress women of the time. He also shows that it's his antagonists who employ the smear tactics and refuse to alter their worldviews because of Dany's gender.

GRRM took the femininity that Dany is demeaned for and turned it into symbols of her strength. She's the Mother of Dragons, Mhysa, the Dragon Queen, Khaleesi, Aegon the Conqueror with Teats.

GRRM touches on racism and xenophobia in Dany's chapters. The Dothraki and other Essosi people are viewed and savages and less important by the Westerosi lords. The Lhazareen are demeaned by the Dothraki and Ghiscari. The Qartheen view themselves as superior to everyone around them.

GRRM gives a unique perspective to Dany concerning regional and cultural divides. Dany is a refugee and an exile who has never known a true home. She's travelled throughout many cities of Essos, come into contact with many different cultures, and has learned to appreciate them.

The Ghiscari culture is the one Dany has the most complicated relationship with, but that's purely because of slavery and her constant struggles with the slavers class. She appreciates the Ghiscari people, and embraces their culture, just as she does with every culture she lives in.

GRRM uses Dany and her openness to show how every society has its flaws and its goodness. Just like his characters, the cultures he's created are flawed and very human. Ultimately, GRRM likes the thought of unity between nations, this is reflected in his writing of Dany's chapters.

Finally, GRRM addresses the classism which is intrinsically tied to feudalism. This is already sort of addressed through the slavery section, but he does also go into the class divide outside of this. First off, through Dany's early life, he examines how, without wealth and familial ties, she and children like her are left defenseless and in poverty.

He shows how it's the lower classes and impoverished people who are most often enslaved. The Meerenese nobles are able to afford feasts while the lower classes starve during the siege of Meereen. The Free Cities are ruled by the wealthy slave masters.

Dany, as I've said many times, was raised in poverty, this informs the way she treats her people. GRRM makes a point to show how everyone, from Dany's Dothraki handmaids to the Ghiscari nobles are allowed to speak in Dany's council meetings. She sits for hours to listen to the cases brought before her by all her subjects, the lowborn, the freedmen, and the nobles. She listens to them and takes their opinions and best interests into consideration.

This is something GRRM has gone out of his way to show in his books. His books are full of lords and kings ignoring the smallfolk and using them as disposable pawns. Dany and a few other characters are specifically written to view the common people as significant. This is meant to be significant.

Dany's story is not meant to be read just as someone conquering for power or a spoiled girl who doesn't care about the economies she disrupting. GOT sent the message that Dany is wrong for going against the status quo and many in the fandom seem to just accept this. Just because GRRM wrote a story set in a world with medieval values doesn't mean we should accept the norm of that world as right. He chose to write characters who are outsiders to criticize the world that ostracized them.

Dany's story is about equality, social change, and freedom. The slavers aren't in the right just because their cultures normalize slavery. The men aren't more worthy than Dany and other women just because Westeros and Essos are misogynistic. It's not ok to be racist or xenophobic towards other cultures just because most cities/regions in Planetos have a superiority complex. Classism isn't acceptable just because the nobility think they're superior because of blood or money.

#daenerys targaryen #asoiaf #asoiaf fandom #asoiaf meta #fandom critical #grrm

[greenbloods]

13 and 22 for that ask game : 3

13. worst blorboficiation

maegor blorbofiers are objectively funny and some of them are my moots so i cant ding that, and same goes for the people who woobify joffrey. but people who blorbofy jorah gotta be up there i KNOW it's low hanging fruit i KNOW it's just show watchers but at least people who say that euron has never done anything wrong in his life are in on the joke. also can we get more victarion stans i need him to get the wet paper dog treatment. yes i know about the Horrors but listen pobodys nerfect

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

THE MEEREENESE PLOT MY GOD. i know that george is in orientalism jail but please please read dany's adwd chapters with an eye on the background characters the harzoos are a misdirect EVERYONE in meereen has their own motives as deep and rich and internally complex as any of the westerosi characters. we talk about how brown characters especially the dothraki dont get personalities and it's deeply frustrating to me too, but you gotta understand that that's partly an intentional decision meant to show how isolated dany and quentyn and the barristan and the westerosis feel from the people of essos. take my hand. we'll stan galazza galare together. and read the meereenese plot essays if you havent already [1]

also idk if this is underrated but detective ned stark snooping through kings landing is a mental image not enough people have in their heads. just picture him with a pipe and a deerstalker hat picking up clues about jon arryns murder. all time bumbling detective who got himself killed who is doing it like him

#choose violence ask game #asks #meereen

[visenyaism]

A theory to rank: Galazza Galare is the leader of the Sons of the Harpy

I feel like I do not really get Mereen even when I used 110% of my brainpower to will myself to Get The Plot. That being said from what I think is going on this seems the most likely. I don’t think it’s Hizdahr or the Shavepate at least

#theory rubric #asoiaf

[istumpysk]

Operation Stumpy Re-Read

ADWD: Daenerys IV (Chapter 23)

Her cooks had prepared them a magnificent meal of honeyed lamb, fragrant with crushed mint and served with the small green figs she liked so much. Two of Dany's favorite hostages served the food and kept the cups filled—a doe-eyed little girl called Qezza and a skinny boy named Grazhar. 

+.+.+

They were brother and sister, and cousins of the Green Grace, who greeted them with kisses when she swept in, and asked them if they had been good.

The Green Grace's cousins are her hostages? I'm sure Galazza Galare is totally cool with that.

+.+.+

"Perhaps your gods can help us. Ask them to send a gale and sweep the galleys from the bay."

"I shall pray and make sacrifice. Mayhaps the gods of Ghis will hear me." Galazza Galare sipped her wine, but her eyes did not leave Dany. 

It's the little things.

+.+.+

"Storms rage within the walls as well as without. More freedmen died last night, or so I have been told."

"Three." Saying it left a bitter taste in her mouth. "The cowards broke in on some weavers, freedwomen who had done no harm to anyone. All they did was make beautiful things. I have a tapestry they gave me hanging over my bed. The Sons of the Harpy broke their loom and raped them before slitting their throats."

I wonder who told Galazza Galare?

I seem to remember another Green Grace cousin was ordered to buy weavers a new loom.

The noble Grazdan had once owned a slave woman who was a very fine weaver, it seemed; the fruits of her loom were greatly valued, not only in Meereen, but in New Ghis and Astapor and Qarth. When this woman had grown old, Grazdan had purchased half a dozen young girls and commanded the crone to instruct them in the secrets of her craft. The old woman was dead now. The young ones, freed, had opened a shop by the harbor wall to sell their weavings. Grazdan zo Galare asked that he be granted a portion of their earnings. "They owe their skill to me," he insisted. "I plucked them from the auction bloc and gave them to the loom."

[...]

"Let us say Elza. Here is our ruling. From the girls, you shall have nothing. It was Elza who taught them weaving, not you. From you, the girls shall have a new loom, the finest coin can buy. That is for forgetting the name of the old woman." - Daenerys I, ADWD

Unfortunately Daenerys is an idiot, and never questions whether House of Galare had anything to do with this.

Even a Lannister could connect these dots.

+.+.+

"This we have heard. And yet Your Radiance has found the courage to answer butchery with mercy. You have not harmed any of the noble children you hold as hostage."

"Not as yet, no." Dany had grown fond of her young charges. Some were shy and some were bold, some sweet and some sullen, but all were innocent. "If I kill my cupbearers, who will pour my wine and serve my supper?" she said, trying to make light of it.

The priestess did not smile. 

Wow, that was a terrible joke.

If Galazza Galare is the Harpy, Daenerys just told her the children won't be harmed.

For the record, I will not be applauding Daenerys for sparing her child hostages. Talk about a low bar.

+.+.+

"The Shavepate would feed them to your dragons, it is said. A life for a life. For every Brazen Beast cut down, he would have a child die."

Dany pushed her food about her plate. She dare not glance over to where Grazhar and Qezza stood, for fear that she might cry. The Shavepate has a harder heart than mine. They had fought about the hostages half a dozen times. "The Sons of the Harpy are laughing in their pyramids," Skahaz said, just this morning. "What good are hostages if you will not take their heads?" In his eyes, she was only a weak woman. Hazzea was enough. What good is peace if it must be purchased with the blood of little children? "These murders are not their doing," Dany told the Green Grace, feebly. "I am no butcher queen."

Say her name.

The Shavepate is not making any friends in Meereen.

+.+.+

"These are grievous times. Your Radiance, might I presume to offer you my counsel?"

"You know how much I value your wisdom."

"Then heed me now and marry."

It's the Green Grace's idea that she marry. That's probably important.

+.+.+

Dany speared a chunk of lamb, took a bite from it, chewed slowly. "Tell me, can this king puff his cheeks up and blow Xaro's galleys back to Qarth? Can he clap his hands and break the siege of Astapor? Can he put food in the bellies of my children and bring peace back to my streets?"

"Can you?" the Green Grace asked. "A king is not a god, but there is still much that a strong man might do. When my people look at you, they see a conqueror from across the seas, come to murder us and make slaves of our children. A king could change that. A highborn king of pure Ghiscari blood could reconcile the city to your rule. Elsewise, I fear, your reign must end as it began, in blood and fire."

I think this is sensible advice.

If she is the Harpy, she appears to be open to negotiation.

+.+.+

"Hizdahr zo Loraq," Galazza Galare said firmly.

Dany did not trouble to feign surprise. "Why Hizdahr? Skahaz is noble born as well."

"Skahaz is Kandaq, Hizdahr Loraq. Your Radiance will forgive me, but only one who is not herself Ghiscari would not understand the difference. Oft have I heard that yours is the blood of Aegon the Conqueror, Jaehaerys the Wise, and Daeron the Dragon. The noble Hizdahr is of the blood of Mazdhan the Magnificent, Hazrak the Handsome, and Zharaq the Liberator."

Laying the foundation for a Kandaq vs. Loraq feud.

If you're unfamiliar with the Meereenese Knot essays, it's been theorized that the Shavepate attempted to poison Daenerys and frame Hizdahr to destroy the peace.

+.+.+

"His forebears are as dead as mine. Will Hizdahr raise their shades to defend Meereen against its enemies? I need a man with ships and swords. You offer me ancestors."

YOU WANT A HUSBAND WITH SHIPS?

+.+.+

"We are an old people. Ancestors are important to us. Wed Hizdahr zo Loraq and make a son with him, a son whose father is the harpy, whose mother is the dragon. In him the prophecies shall be fulfilled, and your enemies will melt away like snow."

And your enemies will melt away, like Snow.

+.+.+

He shall be the stallion that mounts the world. Dany knew how it went with prophecies. They were made of words, and words were wind. There would be no son for Loraq, no heir to unite dragon and harpy. When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east, when the seas go dry and mountains blow in the wind like leaves. Only then would her womb quicken once again …

That stallion already rides amongst us.

Anyway, unreliable narrator Daenerys Targaryen. That's not what she said.

"When will he be as he was?" Dany demanded.

"When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east," said Mirri Maz Duur. "When the seas go dry and mountains blow in the wind like leaves. When your womb quickens again, and you bear a living child. Then he will return, and not before." - Daenerys IX, AGOT

Not sure what to make of that screw up, but I'm confident Daenerys won't be having any more children. Three is enough.

+.+.+

If I wed Hizdahr, will that turn Skahaz against me? She trusted Skahaz more than she trusted Hizdahr, but the Shavepate would be a disaster as a king. He was too quick to anger, too slow to forgive. She saw no gain in wedding a man as hated as herself. Hizdahr was well respected, so far as she could see.

If she trusts Skahaz more than she trusts Hizdahr, that should tell you everything you need to know.

One by one, Hizdahr removes us all. Strong Belwas lingered at the door of death in the temple, under the care of the Blue Graces … though Selmy half suspected they were finishing the job those honeyed locusts had begun. Skahaz Shavepate had been stripped of his command. - The Queensguard, ADWD

Quick to anger, too slow to forgive.

+.+.+

Hizdahr wore a plain green robe beneath a quilted vest. He bowed low when he entered, his face solemn. "Have you no smile for me?" Dany asked him. "Am I as fearful as all that?"

"I always grow solemn in the presence of such beauty."

It was a good start. 

+.+.+

I can reconcile the city to your rule and put an end to this nightly slaughter in the streets.

"Can you?" Dany studied his eyes. "Why should the Sons of the Harpy lay down their knives for you? Are you one of them?"

"No."

"Would you tell me if you were?"

He laughed. "No."

Wait, let me think about this.

Galazza Galare, the Green Grace, advises Daenerys to marry Hizdahr zo Loraq.

↓

Hizdahr zo Loraq tells Daenerys if they marry he can end the bloodshed.

↓

They marry, the bloodshed stops.

+.+.+

"The Shavepate has ways of finding the truth."

"I do not doubt that Skahaz would soon have me confessing. A day with him, and I will be one of the Harpy's Sons. Two days, and I will be the Harpy. Three, and it will turn out I slew your father too, back in the Sunset Kingdoms when I was yet a boy. 

The Shavepate has a talent for obtaining false confessions. Got it!

The Shavepate's voice was muffled by his mask, but Selmy could hear the anger in it. "I have the poisoner."

"Who?"

"Hizdahr's confectioner. His name would mean nothing to you. The man was just a catspaw. The Sons of the Harpy took his daughter and swore she would be returned unharmed once the queen was dead. Belwas and the dragon saved Daenerys. No one saved the girl. She was returned to her father in the black of night, in nine pieces. One for every year she lived."

[...]

"This … this confectioner, I want to question him myself. Alone."

"Is it that way?" The Shavepate crossed his arms against his chest. "Done, then. Question him as you like." - The Queensguard, ADWD

+.+.+

"Why would you want to help me? For the crown?"

"A crown would suit me well, I will not deny that. It is more than that, however. Is it so strange that I would want to protect my own people, as you protect your freedmen? Meereen cannot endure another war, Your Radiance."

That was a good answer, and an honest one. 

What if - hear me out - he's being sincere? What if Galazza (Harpy?) and Hizdahr genuinely want to negotiate and make this work?

What if the peace is real?

Edit: This is not a defense of the Sons of the Harpy.

+.+.+

"You have not said you love me."

"I will, if it would please Your Radiance."

"That is not the answer of a man in love."

Jesus christ, get a dog.

+.+.+

"What is love? Desire? No man with all his parts could ever look on you and not desire you, Daenerys. That is not why I would marry you, however. Before you came Meereen was dying. Our rulers were old men with withered cocks and crones whose puckered cunts were dry as dust. They sat atop their pyramids sipping apricot wine and talking of the glories of the Old Empire whilst the centuries slipped by and the very bricks of the city crumbled all around them. Custom and caution had an iron grip upon us till you awakened us with fire and blood. A new time has come, and new things are possible. Marry me."

What if - hear me out - he's being sincere? What if Galazza (Harpy?) and Hizdahr genuinely want to negotiate and make this work?

What if the peace is real?

Edit: This is not a defense of the Sons of the Harpy.

+.+.+

"Not that way. Kiss me as if I were your wife."

Hizdahr took her by the shoulders as tenderly as if she were a baby bird. Leaning forward, he pressed his lips to hers. His kiss was light and dry and quick. Dany felt no stirrings.

I lied. He's not being sincere when he pretends she's the most beautiful woman in the world.

+.+.+

On her terrace, in her bathing pool, the little fish would nibble at her legs as she soaked. Even they kissed with more fervor than Hizdahr zo Loraq. "I do not love you."

Hizdahr shrugged. "That may come, in time. It has been known to happen that way."

Not with us, she thought. Not whilst Daario is so close. It's him I want, not you. 

Doomed to fail before they even get started.

I'm going to make a prediction! When this all goes to hell, it won't be Hizdahr's fault.

+.+.+

"One day I will want to return to Westeros, to claim the Seven Kingdoms that were my father's."

"One day all men must die, but it serves no good to dwell on death. I prefer to take each day as it comes."

Lol. Okay.

+.+.+

Dany folded her hands together. "Words are wind, even words like love and peace. I put more trust in deeds. In my Seven Kingdoms, knights go on quests to prove themselves worthy of the maiden that they love. They seek for magic swords, for chests of gold, for crowns stolen from a dragon's hoard."

Trying to prove himself worthy of the fair maiden, a knight steals a crown from a dragon.

I'd love to read that story.

+.+.+

Hizdahr arched an eyebrow. "The only dragons that I know are yours, and magic swords are even scarcer. I will gladly bring you rings and crowns and chests of gold if that is your desire."

Well.

+.+.+

"Peace is my desire. You say that you can help me end the nightly slaughter in my streets. I say do it. Put an end to this shadow war, my lord. That is your quest. Give me ninety days and ninety nights without a murder, and I will know that you are worthy of a throne. Can you do that?"

He can!

What's the takeaway here? Do we know who the Harpy is? I have a guess.

+.+.+

Hizdahr looked thoughtful. "Ninety days and ninety nights without a corpse, and on the ninety-first we wed?"

"Perhaps," said Dany, with a coy look. "Though young girls have been known to be fickle. I may still want a magic sword."

Funny author.

When your dragons were small they were a wonder. Grown, they are death and devastation, a flaming sword above the world. - Daenerys III, ADWD

+.+.+

If Meereen knew that a wedding was in the offing, that alone might buy her a few nights' respite, even if Hizdahr's efforts came to naught. The Shavepate will not be happy with me, but Reznak mo Reznak will dance for joy. Dany did not know which of those concerned her more. She needed Skahaz and the Brazen Beasts, and she had come to mistrust all of Reznak's counsel. Beware the perfumed seneschal. Has Reznak made common cause with Hizdahr and the Green Grace and set some trap to snare me?

More Shavepate. Shavepate all over this chapter.

Reznak would be happy Meereen is healing, while the Shavepate would be pissed. And it's Reznak she mistrusts.

+.+.+

"It is not my place to choose your husband."

"It is not," she agreed, "but it is important to me that you should understand. My people are bleeding. Dying. A queen belongs not to herself, but to the realm. Marriage or carnage, those are my choices. A wedding or a war."

"Your Grace, may I speak frankly?"

"Always."

"There is a third choice."

"Westeros?"

He nodded. "I am sworn to serve Your Grace, and to keep you safe from harm wherever you may go. My place is by your side, whether here or in King's Landing … but your place is back in Westeros, upon the Iron Throne that was your father's. The Seven Kingdoms will never accept Hizdahr zo Loraq as king."

"No more than Meereen will accept Daenerys Targaryen as queen. The Green Grace has the right of that. I need a king beside me, a king of old Ghiscari blood. Elsewise they will always see me as the uncouth barbarian who smashed through their gates, impaled their kin on spikes, and stole their wealth."

"In Westeros you will be the lost child who returns to gladden her father's heart. Your people will cheer when you ride by, and all good men will love you."

Oh, well, if Barristan is saying it.

Her place is not in Westeros. It's here, cleaning up this mess.

I've gone from thinking Barristan Selmy is a bootlicking loser to thinking he's a massive liability that will cost her dearly.

+.+.+

"And if he does not fail? What will Your Grace do then?"

"Her duty." The word felt cold upon her tongue. "You saw my brother Rhaegar wed. Tell me, did he wed for love or duty?"

The old knight hesitated. "Princess Elia was a good woman, Your Grace. She was kind and clever, with a gentle heart and a sweet wit. I know the prince was very fond of her."

Fond, thought Dany. The word spoke volumes. I could become fond of Hizdahr zo Loraq, in time. Perhaps.

Targaryens doing their duty? Don't hold your breath.

+.+.+

Ser Barristan went on. "I saw your father and your mother wed as well. Forgive me, but there was no fondness there, and the realm paid dearly for that, my queen."

What the hell is he talking about? Since when did the realm pay dearly because Aerys married Rhaella? As if she made him go batshit crazy.

+.+.+

"Why did they wed if they did not love each other?"

"Your grandsire commanded it. A woods witch had told him that the prince was promised would be born of their line."

"A woods witch?" Dany was astonished.

"She came to court with Jenny of Oldstones. A stunted thing, grotesque to look upon. A dwarf, most people said, though dear to Lady Jenny, who always claimed that she was one of the children of the forest."

"What became of her?"

"Summerhall." The word was fraught with doom.

+.+.+

Daario. Her heart gave a flutter in her chest. "How long has … when did he …?" She could not seem to get the words out.

[...]

How could I ever hope to sleep, knowing that my captain so close? "Send him up at once. And … I will have no more need of you this evening. I shall be safe with Daario. Oh, and send Irri and Jhiqui, if you would be so good. And Missandei." I need to change, to make myself beautiful.

She said as much to her handmaids when they came. "What does Your Grace wish to wear?" asked Missandei.

Starlight and seafoam, Dany thought, a wisp of silk that leaves my left breast bare for Daario's delight. Oh, and flowers for my hair. When first they met, the captain brought her flowers every day, all the way from Yunkai to Meereen. "Bring the grey linen gown with the pearls on the bodice. Oh, and my white lion's pelt." She always felt safer wrapped in Drogo's lionskin.

It's giving 11-year-old Sansa.

+.+.+

"How many men did you lose in the fighting?"

"Nine," said Daario, "but a dozen of the Long Lances decided they would sooner be Stormcrows than corpses, so we came out three ahead. I told them they would live longer fighting with your dragons than against them, and they saw the wisdom in my words."

The more turncoats the better!

+.+.+

That made her wary. "They might be spying for Yunkai."

"They are too stupid to be spies. You do not know them."

"Neither do you. Do you trust them?"

"I trust all my men. Just as far as I can spit." He spat out a seed and smiled at her suspicions. "Shall I bring their heads to you? I will, if you command it. One is bald and two have braids and one dyes his beard four different colors. What spy would wear such a beard, I ask you? The slinger can put a stone through a gnat's eye at forty paces, and the ugly one has a way with horses, but if my queen says that they must die …"

I don't know Daario, what type of spy would dye his beard?

+.+.+

Daario tossed away the pear stem. "Qartheen have milk in their veins. Let them see your dragons, and they'll run."

Dany did not want to talk about the dragons. Farmers still came to her court with burned bones, complaining of missing sheep, though Drogon had not returned to the city. Some reported seeing him north of the river, above the grass of the Dothraki sea. Down in the pit, Viserion had snapped one of his chains; he and Rhaegal grew more savage every day. 

Viserion, Breaker of Chains.

The dragons are growing more savage by the day! They're wild, they're untamed! She can't be controlled!

+.+.+

"This I knew. One of the Long Lances lived long enough to tell us that men were eating one another in the Red City. He said Meereen's turn would come soon, so I cut his tongue out and fed it to a yellow dog. No dog will eat a liar's tongue. When the yellow dog ate his, I knew he spoke the truth."

I've never been more aroused by a man.

You know who else cuts out tongues? Happy to see she wasn't instantly turned off.

+.+.+

"You are fighting shadows when you should be fighting the men who cast them," Daario went on. "Kill them all and take their treasures, I say. Whisper the command, and your Daario will make you a pile of their heads taller than this pyramid."

The next Jon chapter,

"Every man who walks the earth casts a shadow on the world. Some are thin and weak, others long and dark. You should look behind you, Lord Snow. The moon has kissed you and etched your shadow upon the ice twenty feet tall." - Jon VI, ADWD

And not long after that,

No doubt that was one reason the high priest Benerro had chosen him to bring the faith of R'hllor to Daenerys Targaryen. "Dragons old and young, true and false, bright and dark. And you. A small man with a big shadow, snarling in the midst of all." - Tyrion VIII, ADWD

+.+.+

He had been so long away, Dany had almost forgotten what he was. Sellswords were treacherous by nature, she reminded herself. Fickle, faithless, brutal. He will never be more than he is. He will never be the stuff of kings. 

How astute.

I'm excited to see more personal development in her chapters to come.

+.+.+

"Then winkle them out of their pyramids on some pretext. A wedding might serve. Why not? Promise your hand to Hizdahr and all the Great Masters will come to see you married. When they gather in the Temple of the Graces, turn us loose upon them."

Dany was appalled. He is a monster. A gallant monster, but a monster still.

Alright, Tywin.

A million voices in her ear, and all the wrong ones get amplified.

+.+.+

Daario shrugged. "Most queens have no purpose but to warm some king's bed and pop out sons for him. If that's the sort of queen you mean to be, best marry Hizdahr."

Her anger flashed. "Have you forgotten who I am?"

"No. Have you?"

Viserys would have his head off for that insolence. "I am the blood of the dragon. Do not presume to teach me lessons." When Dany stood, the lion pelt slipped from her shoulders and tumbled to the ground. "Leave me."

No, she hasn't.

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. - Daenerys X, ADWD

+.+.+

"I want them gone. Let them scout the Yunkish hinterlands and give protection to any caravans coming over the Khyzai Pass. Henceforth Daario shall make his reports to you. Give him every honor that is due him and see that his men are well paid, but on no account admit him to my presence."

Super impressed with her maturity here.

I can't wait to read her next few chapters and witness more growth.

+.+.+

That night she could not sleep but turned and twisted restlessly in her bed. She even went so far as to summon Irri, hoping her caresses might help ease her way to rest, but after a short while she pushed the Dothraki girl away. Irri was sweet and soft and willing, but she was not Daario.

When Tyrion and Daenerys meet and it gets awkward, maybe they can discuss their shared interest in bed slaves.

+.+.+

What have I done? she thought, huddled in her empty bed. I have waited so long for him to come back, and I send him away. "He would make a monster of me," she whispered, "a butcher queen." But then she thought of Drogon far away, and the dragons in the pit. There is blood on my hands too, and on my heart. We are not so different, Daario and I. We are both monsters.

All the memes!

Final thoughts:

Not all girls know what it means to be bound by duty. Not all girls are meant to be queens.

-> return to menu <-

#operation stumpy re-read #adwd #daenerys iv

[weirwoodsugar]

ok like. if there IS a The Harpy. it’s gotta be galazza galare right

#asoiaf reread

[docpiplup]

DAENERYS TARGARYEN APPRECIATION MONTH 2022

Day 24: Feminist themes

-Daenerys refusing to let Hizdahr's mother and sisters to inspect her parts and be his handmaid.

The priestess and the seneschal were happy to see her garbed in a tokar, a proper Meereenese lady for once, but what they really wanted was to strip her bare. Daenerys heard them out, incredulous. When they were done, she said, "I have no wish to give offense, but I will not present myself naked to Hizdahr's mother and sisters."

"But," said Reznak mo Reznak, blinking, "but you must, Your Worship. Before a marriage it is traditional for the women of the man's house to examine the bride's womb and, ah … her female parts. To ascertain that they are well formed and, ah …" "… fertile," finished Galazza Galare. "An ancient ritual, Your Radiance. Three Graces shall be present to witness the examination and say the proper prayers."

"Yes," said Reznak, "and afterward there is a special cake. A women's cake, baked only for betrothals. Men are not allowed to taste it. I am told it is delicious. Magical."

And if my womb is withered and my female parts accursed, is there a special cake for that as well? "Hizdahr zo Loraq may inspect my women's parts after we are wed." Khal Drogo found no fault with them, why should he? "Let his mother and his sisters examine one another and share the special cake. I shall not be eating it. Nor shall I wash the noble Hizdahr's noble feet."

"Magnificence, you do not understand," protested Reznak. "The washing of the feet is hallowed by tradition. It signifies that you shall be your husband's handmaid. The wedding garb is fraught with meaning too. The bride is dressed in dark red veils above a tokar of white silk, fringed with baby pearls."

A Dance with Dragons, Daenerys VI

~

She rose. "If my husband wishes me to wash his feet, he must first wash mine. I will tell him so this evening."She wondered how her betrothed would take that.

A Dance with Dragons, Daenerys VI

#danymonth2022 #daenerys targaryen #asoiaf #canondany #a song of ice and fire #adwd #day 24 #danymonth2022 day 24 #text #asoiaf book quotes #feminist themes

[goodqueenaly]

Hello! Do you think Dany might have a child in the series? I'm thinking about the number of times throughout the books where she affirms to herself that she's not able to bear a child, only to miscarriage at the end of ADWD. Do you think that's foreshadowing her having son/daughter? If not, what would the miscarriage symbolize?

I don't particularly think Daenerys will have a child by the end of the series, although less from any physiological (or supernatural) impediment and more from a narrative unwillingness to sideline her as the story reaches its climax. ASOIAF has entered its third and presumably final act, when the ultimate threat of the Others is being realized. Daenerys is the hero destined to fight this ultimate threat (though by no means the only one), the Mother of Dragons and Breaker of Chains whose epithets combined will, I think, lead her to finally defeat the eldritch slavers who bring death and postmortem supernatural control to all living creatures. I think this specific destiny necessitates a certain level of physical capability - actually being on a dragon to actually torch the heart of winter once and for all - and I don't think that the story has time to have Daenerys sit out from what I would imagine would be an objectively physically dangerous and taxing mission due to a third-act pregnancy. (Whether or not you think she has a child following the series depends on whether you believe she survives the series; I don't, but that's me.)

Anyway, as goes her miscarriage in ADWD, I think this is rather unsubtle symbolism for the end of her story in Meereen. Although Daenerys had initially resisted the idea of being forced into a political marriage with a member of Meereen's former slaving elite, she had committed herself to the marriage to Hizdahr on the belief that it would bring peace to Meereen. Of course, both Galazza Galare and Hizdahr himself confidently expected that such a marriage would result in a Targaryen-Loraq son - a son who, they might have supposed, would eventually nudge his mother off the throne and rule as a Loraq king, with power consequently back in the hands of those same former slaving elites (if indeed the former slaving faction didn't simply remove or try to remove Dany entirely once her son with Hizdahr was born). If armed resistance, bribery, and terrorism had all failed to oust Dany from ruling Meereen, then the former slaving faction may have hoped that relegation of her to a strictly maternal sphere would do the trick, smoothly transferring her power to her son by that faction's chosen candidate.

So when Daenerys miscarries the child conceived in Meereen, she is miscarrying the hope of the former slaving faction to guarantee its power in Meereen in the years to come. As a child represents the promise of the future, so this child represented Daenerys' future in Meereen, a permanent tie between her and this city (and, specifically, between her and its former slaving faction). This miscarriage thus acts as the physical complement to Daenerys' internal realization in that chapter that "Meereen was not her home, and never would be", and the sequel to the sudden appearance of Drogon to deliver her from the fighting pits; no part of her belongs in this "city of strange men with strange gods and stranger hair", especially not a child of hers (whose father would be one of those "slavers wrapped in fringed tokars", no less). If there were any question, in other words, of Daenerys possibly going back to life as it had been in Meereen (what she, perhaps somewhat ruefully, thinks of in that chapter as "[h]er home ... back in Meereen, with her husband and her lover"), then this is the end of any uncertainty on that score; her ties with Meereen, and specifically the Meereen she had tried to make work in ADWD have been cut, and there is nothing there for her anymore save the people (and ships, and dragons) she is going to lead to Westeros. (I don't want to undersell the physical and personal trauma of Dany's miscarriage, to be clear; I'm simply speaking on what I see as the author's intended use of it in a literary and narrative sense.)

#asoiaf meta #adwd #daenerys targaryen #miscarriage tw

[beneaththeshadows]

Daenerys Targaryen, the queen of Meereen

"It was these calamities that transformed my people into slavers,” Galazza Galare had told her, at the Temple of the Graces. And I am the calamity that will change these slavers back into people, Dany had sworn to herself."

Daenerys as queen of meereen, this was meant to be a series of portrait of pov characters at ADWD and AFFC, that cersei was the first one to finish and now this one, next will be Tyrion Lannister. The paper looks unkempt and for that I'm sorry, the truth is that this one here is probably 3 or 5 month old (yes, I got lazy on many moments of the journey).

Now about the drawing, it is very inspired by Babylonian and assyrian details on the clothing. For the jewelry, egyptian necklaces with mughal period indian jewelry (the majority of the jewelry is very Indian inspired), for the crown I looked over many artists interpretations of it to get a firm grasp over what it meant physically, this one was the closest to my mental picture of it. And this is it, basically (I do gotta say that I regret finishing and posting it only now, because boy do I see a lot of proportion mistakes)

Also shout-out to @nobodysuspectsthebutterfly for her very organized system of tagging that permitted me to do a research about other artists interpretations of dany's crown (it's all very meticulously organized, I don't know where I'd be without all that references)

#daenerys targaryen #house targaryen #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #my art #fanart #valyrianscrolls #did i overthought a million times before thanking/tagging somebody #you can bet #social anxiety on my virtual interactions #insert that Scarlett Johansson crying meme