#dunkaerion

As always both in English and Spanish

ENG

https://archiveofourown.org/works/87037751/chapters/240180911

ESP

https://archiveofourown.org/works/87029201/chapters/230439026

From what I’ve seen, D.S. AUs tend to focus on forced marriage and Omegaverse tropes—though I haven’t read them myself, since Omegaverse isn't really my thing—but the forced marriage premise seems plausible. I was thinking about a wartime backdrop: I believe House Stark has remained "loyal" to the Crown since the days of Aegon the Conqueror, so the story could be built around that fact. Along those same lines, I recall that the Starks practically surrendered to Aegon rather than waging war, so the plot could unfold during the first few generations after Aegon’s time. That gives me two possible options. Just to clarify, I’m no expert on ASOIAF lore—I don't know how canon-compliant this might be or if I'm suggesting something crazy—but I remember that Dorne was never truly conquered. It could be that during the Targaryens' military campaigns to conquer Dorne, they call upon their allies for support, and the Starks send Dunk. He and Aerion could meet during that campaign, I really like this option—it reminds me of The Song of Achilles. The other option could be that, in an effort to improve relations between the North and the Targaryens, Aerion is sent North to marry Dunk. Both options seem consistent, considering we're talking about the early generations following Aegon the Conqueror, and both allow for the adventure or mystery elements you enjoy writing. For instance, in the second scenario, they could visit the Wall and deal with alleged White Walker sightings or a conflict with the "wildlings." Again, I’m not sure if this fits the lore or logic perfectly, but they seem like viable options to me—or at least, that’s what occurred to me. Plus, in either case, there’s the possibility of Aerion getting a dragon.

This is all off the dome and mostly just word vomit. Please excuse.

I had to check the wiki. I obviously have not done any meaningful research into the Starks for IDD.

Torrhen Stark did submit rather than fight, but his sons reportedly resented the Targs. Torrhen protested the arranged marriage between his daughter and Ronnel Arryn, and his sons refused to even attend the wedding, so it seems relations were still pretty prickly even after Torrhen became the King Who Knelt. Could be interesting, though? The Starks submitted cuz dragons, not because they felt particularly keen to be subjugated by these dragonlords. They still retained their own culture, religion, and huge geographical distance from the center of Targaryen power. So a story about the Crown deliberately trying to bind Winterfell more closely to the dynasty already has a lot of baked-in tension. 

I don’t know if I’d worry too much about strict canon, though. We’re already discussing events that are kinda all over the place chronologically. 

If this is an AU that’s going to have dragons and involve some sort of political attempt to bind Starks and Targaryens, there are a lot of questions I’d need to sift through first. I’m a stickler for details, so I would need to develop a whole alternate timeline explaining why we are where we are in the AU. 

Where are we in the timeline? Aerion canonically belongs somewhere around 191-194 AC through 232 AC. The last dragon died in 153 AC. Then Daeron I began his conquest of Dorne in 157 AC, during which Rickon Stark (Cregan’s eldest son and heir) actually fought beneath the Targaryen banner and eventually died outside Sunspear.

If Duncan effectively takes Rickon’s place during Daeron’s conquest, Aerion and his whole family need to slide backward in time, and then dragons need a reason to still be around. Or just Aerion--as part of Aegon III’s or Daeron I’s generation? But then, who are his parents? Who are his siblings? I’d need to figure out this whole new Aerion. In every case, he’s going to be entirely different. Duncan, too. A Duncan Stark raised as a son of Winterfell is not going to be Dunk the hedge knight except in whatever underlying pieces of his personality I deliberately preserve.

Hahaha sorry, this def will require me to sit and do more research. I always need to know exactly what is going on in “the world” and why and how things happened. It doesn’t all need to be directly connected to the plot, but it informs how I structure the plot and characters. It tells me how things react to each other.

No hate of any kind will be tolerated - cheating will also not be tolerated - REFER TO MY RULES HERE PLEASE: POLL RULES - You will be BLOCKED immediately (think of this as your one and only warning!) if you don't follow these rules or will get your ship DISQUALIFIED if you cheat.

Omg this fanart is exactly how i imagine need you now dunk and aerion after four years😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

It makes me laugh a lot because I also imagine them like that, I even put some photos of how I imagined them, but for more precision, I upload these photos of how I imagine them.

duncan tall (pennytree) > season one.

season two (four years after).

I like to think he didn't cut his hair because it's a memento (he styles his hair when he's a paramedic, obviously). But that's how he looks.

As for Aerion, I haven't changed much, because he's still young (he was only 23 when he had the twins), so there isn't too much change, he just doesn't have his baby face anymore. Like he's still eternal..

You guys are making me FERAL for this AU. Please keep feeding me tropes.

Are there any Duncan Stark fics already? Or does this AU live mostly through tiktok edits?