Ewan Mitchell as Aemond Targaryen

House of the Dragon Fabien Frankel as Criston Cole -> Season 1

I got two asks concerning my Stark!Dunk x Daeron AU, so I shall answer them together.

So, to start off: Dunk is a legitimate, albeit younger, son of House Stark but not a greenseer. He does, however, still relate to Daeron over both of them being seen as disappointments.

Dunk's family...well, they aren't cruel. He loves them and they love him. It's just extremely obvious that they are not the happiest with his study. He's a fighter and a knight, not a politician. With more use on the battlefield than studying great houses and supporting his older brother with council. His body is large and unyieldy, he prefers the company of smallfolk and servants; he's entirely unlike the ideals of a proper Lord's son. Too soft and too kind and too stupid and too good-natured. So when Daeron ends up sent to Winterfell as a diplomatic envoy, partially as a desperate attempt of Maekar to get his oldest to 'man up' there's almost an immediate bond between them.

I feel Daeron would be drawn to him mostly because Dunk is like. The only chill person around who doesn't judge him for his perceived failures. Instead, he actually sits down to listen to him- going so far as to actually believe him about his dreams and ask earnest questions. There's not really much the Stark can do to help him, but Daeron quickly finds that having someone to listen to him does a lot. Even more so when he finds out that having a warm body to sleep against during a night where he was so drunk he somehow ended up on Dunk's rooms makes for a more restful night.

The Starks obviously have mixed feeling about their youngest son and The Anvil's heir. On one hand a friendship between them would give them insane advantages politically. On the other hand they're not sure if Daeron really is the best company for their softest child. But they let it happen, albeit while heavily supervising it. Most figure that he's doing something right though when he manages to get Daeron weaned off his bottles somewhat at least though. The alcoholism isn't cured entirely of course--- but it's not as bad as it used to be. And at this point people are just gonna take what they can get.

Freddie Fox as Gwayne Hightower