Better plot than what we have rn tbh
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Better plot than what we have rn tbh
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Back in like... 2000, 2001, I became aware of the OG Vindicare Assassin mini, but it was ten dollars, and I couldn't fathom spending such a fortune on a single little miniature. When I finally broke down and bought it I was so ashamed of myself.
Ten
American
dollars
for one Warhammer 40k mini
imagine.
Couple years ago I just-so happened to be on the GW website and I caught sight of how Ezekiel - Dark Angel librarian, as we all know - was on sale, and was somewhere in the region of £20 and I was given pause, because the model hasn't changed in, like, going on thirty years and when I was coming up it was, you know, like £6? £7?
And at the time that seemed exorbidant! Ridiculous! For a piece of metal! I can't possibly justify that! Who could?
(Didn't help I was a child and had no money.)
Now?
And yeah, I mean. Looking back, looking through old White Dwarfs? Looking at the cost of a Leman Russ then? Or, fuck, just a squad? A regiment of guys? Tactical squads for £10 when 3rd edition came out? Remember that?
How little we knew...
I know I haven't posted regularly on this blog in years but I'm not seeing a whole lot of posts on this site about what's happening in Minneapolis right now. And the posts I am seeing are not covering the scope of it. I'm genuinely surprised because tumblr is usually where I find out about things organically through my feed. So I'm making a post about it.
A brief summary of events, from someone who pays attention and also lives here, best taken with a grain of salt and some fact checking:
2020: George Floyd is murdered by Minneapolis police. There are weeks of protests about it. It makes national news. Protests happen in DC. The infamous Trump and his bible photo shoot happens.
2024: Gov. Tim Walz is Kamala Harris' running mate in the presidential election. He starts the "they're just weird" thing. Is folksy, Trump personally hates him.
November 2025: ICE starts showing up to "crack down" on "illegal immigrants" in our Somali community. I may remember the numbers wrong, but something like 90% of our Somali neighbors are either naturalized or were born here. People distribute ICE whistles and are on high alert. Localized to the twin cities.
December 2025: Nick Shirley is paid by a bunch of MN Republicans to do an exposé on daycare fraud. I didn't hear much about this. All I really know is this was an ongoing investigation that MN officials were already taking care of and some of the guilty parties have already gone to court from a COVID era food assistance program. Mostly, if not all, legal US citizens. He did a really bad job at doing journalism and just showed up to day cares with a camera crew and went "YUP nobody's here" as if they weren't in lock-down procedure because some fuck ass white men showed up with camera equipment that could easily be mistaken for guns. I believe. I will fact check all of this and will correct myself in a reblog if necessary. (source but not all the details that I remember hearing about but they said there was no recorded evidence of fraud)
Conservative internet explodes. Kristi Noem sends a mess of agents. I know it's more than a thousand more. They call it Operation Metro Surge. They are going everywhere. There are protests. People try to interrupt the arrests. It's a lot.
1/7/2026: Renee Nicole Good is shot by an ICE agent in the middle of a protest. A few blocks away from where George Floyd was killed. Broad daylight. In front of a crowd. While she was following instructions to turn her vehicle around. Jonathan Ross, the piece of shit Nazi who did it, was recording on his phone the whole time, switched his phone to his non dominant hand so he could more effectively shoot her in the face from 2 feet away. Claims self defense, several angles immediately disprove him. He releases his video, he calls her a "fucking bitch" as her corpse drives away. Does not help him at all. (source) He has not been seen since. Some photos/reports exist of a bunch of agents showing up to his house and taking some tubs and art away. His wife is an immigrant. (source but it's the daily mail so grain of salt.)
Not hours later they go raid a school and tear gas a bunch of kids. (source). Minneapolis has switched to distance learning. I'm not sure about St. Paul.
The last week: There are up to 3,000 ICE agents here. Keep in mind Minneapolis and St. Paul only have 600 or fewer police officers each. So these dudes are roaming in packs. It's 2-4 dudes to a car and 2-5 cars per pack. People are "commuting with" ICE agents to honk and alert people that they're there. People are going on patrols with their neighbors.
ICE is no longer asking "are you a citizen." They are simply walking up to you and taking you into custody. They are going door to door. They have started just breaking the door down if you don't comply. They are driving recklessly to just grab pedestrians and drivers alike (source). People are afraid to go get groceries. It's all over the state. I am learning names of cities in places I thought were just factory farm land and I've lived here my whole life because they're doing raids there. I had to text my family in the suburbs because I saw reports of my small little hometown an hour away getting door knocks today.
It's insane and I am not doing it justice. There are thousands of masked federal agents roaming around all of Minnesota with no warrant or specific goal. They are just trolling around looking for people. They are detaining anyone and everyone. They are beating people. They are pepper spraying people. They are kidnapping people. They are acting unconstitutionally, aggressively, and unpredictably. They are creating situations that are dangerous so that they can try to justify beating or shooting their way out. I will run an errand and then get fed a tiktok that was shot from the Cub Foods that I just left and there's 20+ ICE vehicles parked there now. They're taking people from work, from day care, from schools, from shopping centers.
Iceout.org tracks ice sightings. This is a screen shot with the date set to 12/1/2025.
And from today.
They have cut off SNAP and WIC benefits. Just for us. Not any other state, just Minnesota. They're saying it's because of fraud but I think it's because they hate that we use federal funds to give free breakfast and lunch to every public school student.
And this is breaking just now, 1/13/2026: the DOJ is trying to investigate Renee Good's widow. 4 people have resigned about it. (source). I don't even want to read the article to see what they're saying.
So that's a brief history.
Unicorn Riot is doing a lot of good reporting and they don't seem to have the spin that a lot of local news stations will have where they downplay everything. This article specifically goes into a lot of the specific instances of brutality.
It's also a rumor on TikTok that all of the videos of ICE and protests and the such and the like are being geo locked. So my feed is all footage of people being detained and talking about the "commuting" they're doing and what they're seeing but people outside of the state are not seeing it. So if you're also on that infernal app, try searching for Minneapolis or Minnesota and see what you see. I'm kind of curious if this is true. Because I've been living and breathing ICE and doomsday prepping content for a week. I'm sure those two topics aren't connected.
I don't really know what my goal with this post is. I'm tired. I'm in the first ring of suburbs, so it's been pretty quiet. But I have friends in south Minneapolis. And I'm worried for them. And I know it's a matter of time before my quiet pocket is affected. Because they're coming door to door.
Pay attention to Minnesota, I think an example is being made of us.
Update- Minnesota republicans are taking this opportunity to try to impeach Govt Waltz, who has already declared that he will not seek re-election in November because of Republican death threats against him and his family. Because of the "fraud". But actually because Waltz is speaking very plainly about what is happening here.
St Paul has gone to partial virtual learning for anyone who doesn't feel safe sending their kids to school.
Every school I know now has safety patrols.
The school districts are not mincing words about the clear and present threat. Everyone in the area is completely clear that we are under violent occupation.
Most of the white people ICE grab, are released within days, because ICE can't even keep track of who was grabbed by who over what. However, they are still subjected to beatings, gassing, having their home and car windows smashes, etc.
Local police are advising compliance with the blatant human rights violations and total lack of due process, because they are cowards.
Even conservative Minnesotans are balking at the total lack of due process and open violence against unresisting people for doing things like taking videos. I know a guy who was in his house recording ICE, and they smashed his home window, dragged him out over the broken glass, beat him while screaming slurs, smashed his phone, and detained for three days.
We need your help to spread the truth about what is going on. Find the videos and share them on any platform you have. Make noise about what's happening. Get your "don't tread on me" relatives whipped up about it if you can.
We need republicans to be afraid, otherwise ICE plans to be here for half a year attacking us.
If human rights can be revoked because Trump doesn't like your state, then they aren't rights anymore, they are favors dispensed by your king.
People saying “Alicent is Cersei 2” have zero media-literacy skills. The comparison collapses the moment you look at who they are, what they want, and what they’re doing. The only thing they share is “queen consorts married off by their fathers the Hand of the King who pushed their sons onto the throne,” and that’s like saying a dolphin is basically a shark because they both live in water.
Alicent as Robert’s wife? Honestly, the war of the five kings would never have happened. She’d have done her duty, had legitimate heirs, no cheating and Robert who was absolutely awful, he would have a beautiful, dutiful, politically competent wife who actually gave him male heirs without a conspiracy board. No Jon Arryn snooping, no Ned dying, no Joffrey non-paternity mystery, no domino-effect collapse of the entire kingdom. Robert would drunkenly stagger around killing boars and Alicent would run the realm.
Cersei as viserys’ wife? Cersei would’ve looked at her stepdaughter rhaenyra, blinked once, and quietly arranged a tragic horse-related accident before the girl even learned to read.
Horus is giving a speech to a crowd of civilians, with the Mournival around him as bodyguards, when someone in the audience throws something on the stage.
Abaddon sees it and his battlefield instinct kicks in immediately : he jumps on it like it's a grenade to protect his Warmaster. There's a few seconds of panic, but it is rapidly confirmed that it is, in fact, not a grenade. Abaddon gets to his feet and lifts the object in the air where it unfolds.
It's a bra.
The rest of the Mournival is lucky enough to be able to hide their fit of giggles behind their helmets. Horus is not wearing one. Horus has also been very tense lately and needs an outlet.
He fucking loses it. A full minute of pure, hysterical laughter, unable to catch his breath, all of his Primarch dignity and composure completely gone. Poor Abaddon has to stand there, dying of embarrasment, while Horus desperately tries to get himself together enough to continue his speech.
Obviously the entire thing was recorded by several remembrancers, and very soon the entire legion has seen this moment. Torgaddon will not stop bringing it up, and Abaddon is fucking fuming. They are never letting him forget about it.

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I came across one of your tweets on Shiera and wanted to ask you about more of your thoughts on her. Her character and intentions are kind of difficult to fully pin down.
Yeah, honestly I only recently have felt like I'm cracking the shell of her. With Shiera, she is purposefully elusive but she is also clever, intelligent, and mischievous so there are certain clues that an astute reader can pick up on, once you understand the webs she was in.
Shiera being the last of the Great Bastards from the last mistress Aegon IV 'loved' (Serenei of Lys) marked her as particularly vulnerable: a girl, motherless (and her mother's family was poor/foreign so they offered her nothing), and the youngest piece on the chessboard. In fact Shiera's inclusion in the category of Great Bastards is interesting because it comes from two sources: 1) her mother's family previously having been royalty, though Serenei was nonetheless a controversial figure and regarded by some as a foreigner witch, and 2) Shiera's proximity to the other GBs, mainly Aegor & Brynden Rivers. In and of herself Shiera didn't have a House or an inheritance to uphold her, so she was completely reliant on her father Aegon IV (who was by her birth ill/grotesque). Perhaps there were people who took her in out of kindness. We don't know. The main point I take from this set-up is that Shiera was dependent on a father who was notably a predator to young girls. Being his daughter was not a deterrent either: one of the nine mistresses Aegon claimed to have loved was allegedly also his daughter (Jeyne Lothston, born to Falena Stokeworth, herself the very first of Aegon's favored mistresses). So, Shiera's later relationship towards men is informed by her girlhood experiences, I imagine.
This is where Aegor Rivers comes in and I'll take a second to characterize him because he's relevant through Shiera's life. Aegor is the son of Aegon's perhaps most ambitious mistress, Barbra Bracken, who really might have been Queen if Naerys had died in the childbirth of Daenerys Lateborn + her stillborn twin brother. But, Barbra's father was a little too loud about these plans, so when Naerys lived obviously Barbra & Lord Bracken had to go, for appearance's sake. And this is how Aegor was raised: at two weeks old, instead of becoming a prince, he became a discarded bastard among many. The humiliations for House Bracken piled up soon after (and you can argue that much of it was Lord Bracken's hubris contributing to his House's various defeats) with Aegon taking a Blackwood as a new mistress during a visit to see Aegor (Melissa Blackwood by all means wildly successful in the role), followed by Bethany Bracken's horrific execution. Aegor, later Bittersteel, grew to be a very stern man. I would call him spiteful. He took offense easily (again, he was raised in an environment full of simmering resentments) and was frankly unpleasant to be around. While Daemon Blackfyre's later ambitions were at least informed by his unique parentage/set of circumstances, Aegor's were I believe mostly stoked by those early humiliations in his life which had the effect of making him intensely sensitive to mockery. Later, this shared sense of disenfranchisement would bring the half-brothers very close together indeed, but in Daemon's early life when he was more of an optimist I would hazard that Aegor was just one worshipful younger boy among several, special in that they shared the King's favor. Brynden occupied that position as well (and naturally Aegor hated his ass for taking away like three of the crumbs Aegor regarded as rightfully his).
It's interesting because in AWOIAF & ASOIAF, Aegor/Brynden's feelings for Shiera are described as "they both loved [her]"/she was "beloved" of both, yet when Brynden himself is speaking to Bran he calls her "a woman I desired," which is just so physical and sexual. Aegor & Brynden are mirrors of each other. When Brynden says he has a brother he loved, a brother he hated, and a woman he desired... it's very important that Aegor felt the exact same way in reverse. They both loved Daemon B, hated each other, and desired Shiera. And I think this is crucial because whereas Daemon B & Daenerys Lateborn were half-siblings who had a puppy love, clearly never consummated, Shiera's half-sibling relationships to Aegor/Brynden were denoted by this unsatisfied greed and violence, both certainly consummated. (Sorry, I'm seeing now this is gonna be a long answer, lol).
Logistically Shiera and Aegor could only physically have been together when she was very young. That's what I believe happened, but how I map it out is this: Shiera was vulnerable to her father the King. Aegor, who both thought himself as deserving of certain status as a son of his father, and grew up around women who were 'ruined' by Aegon IV, was something like a little protector. I imagine that Aegor thought as the daughter of the King Shiera was a quasi-princess, like he was a quasi-prince, and that it was his right and duty to keep her. Aegon IV perhaps found Aegor's knightly preening puerile while being sort of amused by it anyway. So, Aegon IV left Aegor to it but he teased Aegor as well, which Aegor of course just loved. Basically the seeds of his insecurity which fueled his desire to unimpeachably own Shiera were planted there (and this is repeated in how Aegor competes with Brynden over 'owning' Daemon's legacy, but this post isn't about them).
But I also think that as a young girl, Shiera appreciated Aegor because of the protectiveness (possessiveness). She did not understand him as dangerous or volatile towards hers. We know that Shiera was highly educated, a polyglot and a voracious reader, so young Shiera must have been studious-to-scholarly. With Aegor it was an 'out of the frying pan into the fire' situation— he was, I would take an educated guess, her first sexual encounter with a man (assuming that no molestation by her father took place), only it was not the encounter she expected it to be. Shiera's sexual cruelty and routine discarding of lovers (which mimics Aegon IV— all of the GBs have elements of their father's character in them; this is helpful to understanding them) came later but the sort of playful mockery that inexperienced kids use to cover up their first-time nerves was nonetheless present. That enraged Aegor, who was highly sensitive to perceived insults. Following, instead of a consensual encounter unfolding, he instead used violence to dominate her. He raped her. It was a 'lesson' to never speak or act that way with him again. It informed Shiera's view of men for the rest of her life, Aegor doing what he'd purported to be protecting Shiera from.
One of the reasons I believe this is because 'teaching a punishing lesson' is what Aegor did with Brynden too, when he blinded him in one eye yet left him alive. Why not kill him? Well, Aegor wanted him to live in what he'd done. Actually the relief Brynden might have felt at being killed 'with Daemon,' or Shiera might have felt at being left alone instead of having the sex she was not ready for, was not something Aegor's pride could accept. Aegor enforcing his superiority required living victims, hence the rape/maiming, both permanently scarring acts. Yet, Aegor's desire for Shiera did not die after that— something I'll get into in a minute.
The second reason I believe this, is coded in Shiera's presentation. Mainly, her choice of dress, and her allegedly bathing in blood (Egg says this in The Sworn Sword).
Shiera was born with one dark blue eye and one bright green one, but the singers said that this flaw only accentuated her loveliness. [...] As to how to paint her... she was fond of ivory and lace and cloth-of-silver (but not gold, which she considered too vulgar). Her favorite piece of jewelry was a heavy silver necklace of emeralds and star sapphires, alternating. [SSM]
I know the above SSM gets so much play people are sick of it lol but let's parse it like we've never seen it before. Ivory and lace and cloth-of-silver are all standard 'pretty' fabrics but more importantly they are all silver or white. Not richly colored. Notably they are used in ostentatious wedding gowns, so QED Shiera dressed up like a virgin [no House colors, fabrics that readers would interpret as maiden-esque] who could at any moment get married and serve up her loyalty to a particular man, a particular faction, but she had not yet. She was teasing Court the way she teased Brynden: with marriage. Through her dress she announced that she was independent, not beholden to any specific husband or husband's politics, but nonetheless you should not discount her. To this point, I would also highlight her heterochromia, which is used in ASOIAF to indicate characters with complex factional loyalties such as Tyrion Lannister & Euron Greyjoy. Shiera's necklace mimicked her eye coloration; given the importance of personal sigils at the time (Bloodraven's albino dragon, Bittersteel's stallion with wings, Daemon B 'the Black Dragon') I would posit that this necklace was effectively the closest thing she had to a personal coat of arms, and it represented... herself!
This conversation about her dress is doubly important because it's so concentrated on her physical body. Literally, she was wearing it. Shiera's body was the site of desire, speculation, even what we might call her power. The fact that she never wore gold, imo, ties back to the Golden Company founded by Aegor, whose mottos included "beneath the gold, the bitter steel." No gold— no Bittersteel. Meanwhile, her alleged bathing in blood we know about from this line: "Lord Bloodraven's paramour. She bathes in blood to keep her beauty." If you put these together, you can see that the physicality between this very spiky trio included Shiera refusing to allow Aegor on her very skin, while she is tied to Brynden in a paragraph about her most intimate bathing practices. That Bloodraven is her lover and well-acquainted with her body is really in your face as a reader.
And I think all that's important because Shiera generally straddling the fence politically makes her avoidance of Aegor (he's "vulgar"!) vs her public kinky closeness to Brynden feel quite stark and unique for her. Again, that's because I believe the feelings she had regarding Aegor were intense, following his assault of her at her most vulnerable. It was so traumatizing that Shiera's carefully kept neutrality left the building when it came to Aegor.
Now that we are on page 70988 of this meta you might ask where I am even getting this political neutrality thing from. Okay, yeah. The Blackfyre rebellion era was politically fraught. Shiera isn't explicitly involved in this despite living in Court (wow already my point is made!). I have compared the Shiera/Aegor/Brynden triangle to Daemon B/Daenerys already but I want to highlight that all of these couples involved half-siblings. It's easy to forget, honestly. And crucially Daemon/Daenerys were not allowed to marry because it would have been legitimizing for Daemon. Of all Aegon IV's children, Daenerys was unique in that her trueborn parentage was not in the question. Daeron II, notably, was rumored to be fathered by Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, therefore a bastard born to a Prince and a Queen; Daemon was the bastard born to a King and a Princess (Daena) who some would argue had a claim to the Iron throne herself. Daemon was given Blackfyre by King Aegon IV along with a whispered promise that he could polygamously marry his half-sister Princess Daenerys— a TARGCEST union for a BASTARD who, legally under the Rule of Exceptionalism, probably did not have the right to do that. He was a bastard. Unless he was... legitimate? Which Aegon IV did decree on his deathbed, but certain moves to that were made in Aegon's life as well. So the Blackfyre argument can be summed as: if we're all bastards (except Dany), then Daemon is the bastard with the best claim, who the previous king favored, and if he married Daenerys, he would the most Targaryen male claimant of them all, because he would alone be the one observing Targaryen tradition (Daeron was married to a Dornish Princess). Note: Daeron also utilized Daenerys's legitimacy to affirm his own, by arranging her marriage i.e. acting as her father with all the rights that entailed.
Later, Bloodraven was given Dark Sister by King Daeron II and, potentially, a promise that he could marry his half-sister, Shiera. "Where does it say that in the text?" please ask yourself why the FUCK Brynden would believe, given that Daemon had been refused Daenerys, he would be able to have a marriage in that very forbidden configuration of bastard-born half-siblings? Given the exchange of Dark Sister, we know that Daeron was willing to extend quite a bit of privilege to Brynden in exchange for his service/loyalty. Why? Because 1) it was not easy to coax this out of Brynden, as he did indeed love Daemon, and 2) it sowed discord among the Great Bastards who now had two prominent factions within their group.
So, we know that Bloodraven had some sort of go-ahead to propose to Shiera. Or else he would not have done it. And Shiera said what? NO. She said this despite, on some level, having a consistent relationship with him i.e. loving him, liking teasing him, liking fucking him, whatever.
That's the political neutrality I am talking about. The structure of power was quite fragile at that moment in time (no dragons left, the merging with Dorne, the Blackfyre rebellions, etc.). Yet Shiera was seemingly not moved by these special privileges Lord Hand Bloodraven had, or not moved enough to marry him... but, also, I think she realized the political symbolism involved and would have no parts in it. That despite having seemingly 'chosen a side' when she rejected Aegor and accepted Brynden in her life, that was a personal choice which she was unwilling to put all her eggs in the basket of, because it'd tie her to Brynden's political position.
Bloodraven's motives were clearly not entirely pure either, when it came to Shiera. I mean. "Desired." Daemon, he loved. Aegor, he hated. Shiera? He DESIRED. Obviously Shiera was more than just the woman he loved, his equal, his ideal partner, ASOIAF is not a Disney movie, yes. Shiera had a specific status thanks to her desirability & high-ish birth. Like Daemon with Princess Daenerys, Lord Bloodraven's public love for Lady Shiera was also a means to advance himself. This use was unwanted, unfair, and something both of those women were not comfortable with despite having affection for the men in question. Ergo, these women were political players under zero illusions that their love lives were some private affair.
Now I am going to speculate wildly. You can agree or disagree. I think Bloodraven's whole deal with Daemon was he felt betrayed that Daemon would pick Aegor over him vis-a-vis aligning with Aegor's plan of honorable righteous rebellion to claim the Iron Throne, instead of following Brynden's plan of careful ladder-climbing. Here comes the speculation: his plan did not involve Daemon being King but rather Hand of the King, to Baelor Breakspear, whose brothers were all in someway unsuitable while Daemon was awesome and capable. Daemon's daughter Calla (half-Tyroshi) could marry Valarr, probably, instead of the Tyroshi woman Valarr did marry, Kiera (as a means of securing Tyrosh's military allegiance should Daemon rebel, hah). The Targ and Blackfyre lines would be tied together + smooth sailing to legitimization for the GBs + 🌈 peace on Earth 🌈 ! Brynden's plan was optimistic and hopeful, maybe Daemon had once agreed— but then Daenerys got married, Baelor unhorsing Daemon at her wedding tourney so he could not crown Dany his QoLaB & cause scandal, and Daemon just... lost faith in it. He thought he'd be exiled to the margins forever so he made common cause with Aegor whose bitterness he by then shared. Daemon remembered Aegor's kindness to Shiera, so he engaged Aegor to Calla, thinking him a good man. Calla represented many of the same things Aegor had liked in Shiera: an innocent quasi-princess whose cause he could outwardly champion, raising himself in the process, and she'd worship him.
All this to say: Bloodraven loved Daemon and the betrayal he felt manifested in a vicious desire to prove that his PlanTM was the better one, which would have worked & gotten Daemon everything he wanted, if only Aegor hadn't ruined it all like he ruined everything. In that lens, Bloodraven's situation as the ancestral Targaryen sword-wielding Hand of the King to Maekar was proving a point. Marrying Shiera would have done that, too (on the Daemon-being-denied-Daenerys front). He'd have had everything Daemon had ever wanted, but didn't have the patience or trust in Brynden to achieve. Of course it was to Aegor he was proving all this— by replacing Daemon with himself, which Aegor was also doing, as he was busy representing the rights of Daemon's children to sit the Iron Throne.
And Shiera knew all that because she knew Brynden and Aegor so well as competitive animals who could never let go. Likely there was an empathy between her and Brynden as the two people Aegor had raped/maimed. However, she did not want to be Lord Bloodraven's prize. She did not want to be possessed and thereby dependent. Nor did she want to be Aegor's, should he ever prevail. I do not think Aegor ever forgot Shiera. Her being Brynden's paramour only inflamed Aegor, I imagine. His marriage to Calla wasn't satisfying because it did not comes on the heels of a victory but rather a stunning defeat— he wanted Shiera, to 'win' and be the powerful Lord she clung to, the only man she ever truly submitted to, and rightfully so, in his mind; the perfect prize.
But not, I think, the perfect person. Her personhood did not interest him. Just that she was his.
My final thing is Shiera's sexual cruelty. I mentioned earlier that it's the part of her father she inherited. We don't really see too much promiscuity in the other GBs (the Black Pearl was an upper-class courtesan, true, but courtesans were not necessarily always prostituted nor does that title imply the sadism/domination Aegon IV seemed to employ over his partners; Naerys above all). Shiera's the only one. Men committed suicide over her. They were fiendishly devoted to her. Aegor's assault was about power, and Shiera's promiscuity was, too. Aegon IV's dismissal of Barbra/Lord Bracken/execution of Bethany were Aegor's very first humiliations in life, the things which cut him deep, and Shiera inflicted that very degradation on many others. I am not saying that she didn't get personal pleasure out of 'playing the field'; that if women get off on sadism, or just like, variety, they must surely have been 'broken' somehow; that monogamy probably did not attract her because of it's limitations; or that her sway over men was anything other than a two-way street which she didn't force on anybody. However, I do think these things are all in conversation. Ultimately Shiera and Brynden were both forever battling Aegor who was their shared demon, and they were so deep in it they couldn't (or wouldn't) get themselves much less each other out. That's a big part of their tragedy, I think. Both together and as individuals.
I wish I had the time to do a Warhammer: the Old World Empire army
Consider Perry Miniatures and their War of the Roses range, or Warlord Games' "Pike and Shotte" plastics (in particular the Landsknechts)
With Targaryens being the "Incest House" and apparently canonically having no repercussions of inbreeding, I'm surprised they didn't solve all their Succession Problems with marriage.
Rhaenys is the First Born but Viserys is the Eldest Son? Marriage. Oh, "he loved Aemma? She loved Corlys?" Sorry, Duty and Sacrifice.
Rhaenyra is Heir but Aegon is First Son? Betrothed. Oh, the "age-gap is too big? She'll be past child-bearing years?" Aegon was visiting brothels daily when he brought Aemond at 13. And Rhaenyra was still having kids when Viserys died and she was 33. Speaking of, when Viserys finally dies, Rhaenyra is 32-33(roughly for both) and Aegon is 18(show) or 22(book). Their kids are similar ages.
It's Medieval Times. They ride Dragons and fuck family with no repercussions.
Where Rhaenys and Viserys are concerned, Rhaenys married Corlys while her father, Prince Aemon, was alive.
Had Prince Aemon outlived Jaehaerys, I doubt that there would have been any question of diverting the succession to Baelon's line. Rhaenys would have been established as heir as soon as Aemon became King, with Laenor to follow her, as per the inheritance practice of the Andals.
Jaehaerys was deviating from the standard practice in Westeros by vesting the succession in the younger son rather than the daughter of the older son, presumably because Rhaenys' position relative to Baelon's was the same as Princess Aerea's position relative to Jaehaerys, and he wanted no suggestion that he had usurped his niece's birthright.
Okay, most of Jaeherys and Alysanne's kids were betrothed as toddlers to each other, they obviously wanted to keep it in the family. The fact that Rhaenys, Viserys, Daemon and Gael weren't is astounding. I've made another post about how it feels like the King and Queen were using their children and their Incest Marriages to prove they weren't the weird ones and it was actually 'their Right', per the Doctrine of Exceptionalism, so it feels out of place but I've also made posts about Alysanne's seemingly growing guilt over her dead daughters.
But if Jaehaerys was really so smart, why did he not see the writing on the wall? After what, a decade? of his son having no other children -see a son- why did he not push for his Heir's Heir to marry his eldest male grandchild? Rhaenys literally went to him, too? And Viserys married 3 years later to a child.
So, the answer to the question? Marriage.
My perhaps controversial take on the HOTD characters, the GOT characters the writers are trying to mold them into, and the GOT characters they actually most resemble in the books (in my opinion - feel free to disagree).
Disclaimer: these are entirely disconnected series with unique characters, so it's impossible to do what the writers of HOTD seemed to be trying to do in season 1 i.e. mold the characters from Fire and Blood to fit the characters of GOT to try to recreate the success of the early seasons. Given this, I tried to choose one single character analogue from GOT that each HOTD/FB character is most like, but oftentimes the reality is that if any single character from Fire and Blood resembles a Game of Thrones character it is likely that they are a combination of more than one. All of this said, here is who I think the writers are trying to fit certain HOTD characters into vs the character they are actually most like (according to Fire and Blood):
Rhaenyra Targaryen: obviously the show wants her to be the new and improved Daenerys, a protagonist everyone can root for who wants to revolutionize the existing order. In reality, Rhaenyra is most like Cersei: a woman who seeks to use her three bastards to usurp thrones and gain even more power than she already has, all while committing incest with a family member and using her power to punish and silence her enemies. She uses the existing system to raise herself up and keep others below her. She does reach her goal of ultimate power but ultimately she is unable to hold it. In pursuit of holding onto power or gaining more of it, she watches as her children die early deaths. The smallfolk despise her for her methods of ruling. Eventually, she will cause her own downfall and die before her time.
Alicent Hightower: the show wants her to be Cersei, a mean-spirited, jealous woman protecting her problematic children and using her status as queen to put others in their place (they even used Cersei scenes as audition material for the role). In reality, I see Alicent as most like Catelyn - a flawed woman, mother to a king, seeking to further the rights of her son in the hopes of protecting her family from those who would harm them, guided by her own sense of justice, honor, and understanding of the laws of the land (and of course, hyper aware of the bastards in the room). All she wants is her and her children's safety, and she is willing to go to war for it. In the end, however, she watches as every last child is taken from her before she herself dies alone.
Viserys I Targaryen: the show wants us to see him as the ultimate father who loves his child unconditionally and always supports her, and that his view of right and wrong should be what guides the world. In reality, he is most like Robert Baratheon: a weak king unsuitable for rule whose mistakes and complacency lead to civil war after his death. His preoccupation with past events and people, and his role in a former love's demise, leads him to neglect his current wife and their children and make decisions that create long-term issues for his family and the realm.
Criston Cole: as soon as Criston turns away from Rhaenyra, the show wants you to view him as a Meryn Trant type of Kingsguard - a man unconcerned with honor and violently anti-women, more than willing to carry out terrible acts commanded of him. In reality, Criston is like more like Jaime: he seeks to make a name for himself as a knight, guided by his own sense of honor and justice, though he is judged by others as lacking such principles. His devotion to his position on the Kingsguard and his love for the royal family motivates him. Occasionally his self-confidence and delight in goading his enemies can make him appear callous and proud. Although he is not officially the royal children's "father," he has guided and protected them and their mother from early on in the absence of their official father.
Daemon Targaryen: the show wants you to both love and hate Daemon. It seems he should fill many roles that Jaime did - a sword fighter whose swagger and danger mix together, whose dishonorable acts follow him through the world. He acts primarily out of love or his pursuit of it, whether for his brother or his lover and her children. The viewer is supposed to see that deep down he is a good guy, no matter how many characters say that he's not. In reality, I see Daemon as a more capable Viserys III: a man adamant in his family's racial superiority, who believes he and his loved ones should have access to unchecked power because they're better than everyone else. A man who enjoys exercising his power over others and demanding obedience out of fear of his wrath. A man who uses his younger family member to further his own interests without much thought to her own wishes or agency and willing to hurt her if she doesn't act the way he wants her to.
Otto Hightower: the show wants you to view Otto as a new Littlefinger, someone sly about his intentions who uses spies, information, and unsavory methods to take advantage of the ruling family and further his own interests and increase his own power. I see him instead as more similar to Tywin: a Hand of the King seeking to put his family close to the throne in pursuit of legacy and advancing his family's station, a man who arranged for his daughter to marry the king so his blood would sit the Iron Throne and bring his family power for generations, a man acutely aware of the political world and how the game is played and willing to get his hands dirty to play it.
The Strong boys: the show wants you to root for Rhaenyra's perfect, good natured and pure intentioned sons as if they were the Stark boys (mixed with Jon Snow). Raised in a good family, these boys know right from wrong and love each other. Yet some people unfairly think less of them for their birth. In reality, the Strong boys are closest to Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella. Bastards set to inherit positions they have no claim to, they are coddled by their mother and protected from any consequences to their actions. When one attacks another child, their mother demands that the other child's family is punished for their actions (and doesn't even reprimand the child for his role in the conflict). The result is the child has no remorse for the harm done, and the other child's family festers resentment against the child. Some people uncover the truth of their birth and object to their place in the line of succession, and these people are killed for speaking the truth. Eventually, a war is fought to keep them and their mother away from the throne, resulting in all of them being killed.
Aegon II Targaryen: the show wants you to see him as Joffrey 2.0. A man interested in viewing sadistic acts for his own pleasure, who abuses women for his own enjoyment, and who is unfit to rule. In reality I see Aegon as closest to Robb: a first born son reluctant to rule as king once his father dies but who rises to the occasion to try to keep his remaining family safe. A king willing to fight his battles alongside his men, no matter the risk it might pose to him. A king who tries his best to rule but makes mistakes along the way that cost him dearly. In the end, he watches as he loses everything, and he dies young.
Okay, most of it gets close to reality, Daemon, Otto and Alicent are so spot on it's hurtful, but THE ABSOLUTE DISRESPECT TO POOR ROBB, I DON'T THINK I WILL SURVIVE
You seem to be an anti Aegon blog from your most recent posts (and you're entitled to that interpretation) but I would say check the comments on this post because you really could interpret Aegon as similar to Robb going just from Fire and Blood.
Of course show Aegon is being influenced by the writers by them including all of his negative Mushroom rumors from the book plus adding gross stuff that didn't happen in the book (like the assault of Dyana) so the viewers will view him as a Joffrey 2.0 - likely in the pursuit of propping up his rival Rhaenyra. Show Aegon is far from Robb of course, but one could interpret book Aegon much differently. Not saying they are perfect analogues by any means but Aegon of the book is less similar to Joffrey and more similar to Robb, in my eyes at least.

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YESSSSSS. UPFRONT CONFIRMATION
Ah, the Custodes superiority continues
found a clearer image:
You fucking losers celebrating as if this isn't a lore-breaking decision that's going to alienate people who've been part of the hobby for longer than you've been alive, even further.
This is a terrible decision, and you are fools for celebrating.
“40K HAS FALLEN”
I don't see the problem here. Space marines have decades of lore saying no girls allowed (and even then you can stretch it for some guys without problem, Cursed Founding for instance), but Custodes lore is much newer and has more irritating retcons besides, like the whole paintscheme fiasco
Daily reminder that if you're looking for a Canonical tier S++ daddy in Warhammer,
Huron Blackheart.
You're welcome.
We love a good 40k tax evader...
I originally put in the tags that i thought this *has* to be a bit, and yup, it’s a bit
Nick O'Neill is serious about crypto. But his joke crypto bro character has helped him go viral, and make money, on Twitter.
EREBUS is now the most unredeemable peice of feculant matter that has ever existed and I cannot WAIT for kharn to hunt him down and tear both of the black stumps of his heart out through his throat...
Counter point: he killed people I didn't like, so I'm happy :)
Counter-Counter Point. Argel-Tal
Counter counter counter point: Argel Tal deserved that.
You’re on thin ice for saying that.
This is what the creators said.
Wish I could reblog this extra loudly and powerfully
I remembered this article from Beasts of War about playing with house rules. It's got some good little things you can change in it.
These kind of sentiments come with wisdom, or guidance of wise old veterans. Sadly, however, certain table top game communities have instilled a sense that rules are gospel, and updates and changes are to be slavishly followed.
I summarize my attitude with a complementing quote from the independent war game creator, and illustrator, Rifle Infantry.

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Alena, assassin in the service of Rogue Trader Captain Tarriel Eleonora Corvinius, doggedly loyal to her through thick and thin.
***
I've had this one cooking for a while now. Finished it at the tail end of last month, but since it was meant as a Holiday present for a friend I obviously had to keep it under wraps. But now they've opened it I can finally show it off. It's their character from a Wrath & Glory campaign we played in last year.
This is to date my best conversion I've done. Despite being surprisingly simple to do. The most stand out bit is the head, which is a Daemonette with the mouth (and hair) removed. The body is the assassin from the Elucidian starstriders team, the braid is from Dark Eldar Wyches and the extra dagger is from the Escher box.
The demo charge is also homebuilt with some plasticard tubes, greenstuff, sewing thread and some random gubbins I had left over in my boxes.
Looks fantastic, might have to replicate it if I get my hands on the starstrider assassin for a reasonable cost.
Пепежабо.
[ image description: a green frog dressed as Perturabo from Warhammer 40,000 with the words "It's siegeday, my dudes." ]