Lucemond

Lucemond is the slash ship between Lucerys Velaryon and Aemond Targaryen from the Game of Thrones (House of the Dragon) fandom.

Childhood
Lucerys Velaryon and Aemond Targaryen are two Targaryen princes involved in The Dance of the Dragons, a deadly and destructive war fought over the Iron Throne. Years before the war, King Viserys names his daughter Rhaenyra Targaryen heir to the throne because he does not have a son. He later remarries to Alicent Hightower and has four more children, Aegon, Aemond, Helaena, and Daeron. Rhaenyra marries Laenor Velaryon and has three boys, Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey, who are rumored to be bastards. Thought they grew up in close proximity, Aemond and his brothers resent their Velaryon half-nephews, inheriting animosity that existed between Alicent and Rhaenyra. When Lucerys is five years old and Aemond is ten, they and their families are in Driftmark for Laenor Velaryon's funeral. Aemond, being the only one of his siblings without a dragon, decides to claim the formidable Vhagar, formerly the dragon of the recently-deceased Laena Velaryon. Sneaking out in the night, he's caught by Joffrey Velaryon (three years old), who threatens to tell before Aemond pushes him down. When Aemond returns from his first flight with Vhagar, Joffrey and his older brothers Jacaerys (six years old) and Lucerys are waiting for him, armed with wooden swords. In the ensuing fight, Aemond breaks Lucerys' nose and knocks Jacaerys down, before mocking their questionable parentage. Jacaerys attacks again, and Lucerys comes to his defense by slashing Aemond across the face with a dagger, taking out his right eye.

King Viserys, Aemond's father and Lucerys' grandfather, demands apologies, but these are not sufficient. Alicent demands that one of Lucerys' eyes be put out in return for her son's eye. In return, Rhaenyra demands that Aemond be "sharply questioned" for where he heard that the Velaryon brothers were bastards. King Viserys orders an end to the conflict. Aemond later says that he lost an eye and gained a dragon, a fair exchange. He becomes known as "Aemond One-Eye".

The Dance of the Dragons
Seven years later, in the waning of King Viserys' health, a feast is held. While the King is present, his children and grandchildren behave amicably, "greet[ing] one another with kisses and br[eaking] bread together at table." After the King's departure, Aemond toasts his nephews, praising their "strong" nature. This is yet another slight against their parentage, alleging that Harwin Strong and not Laenor Velaryon was their true father.

Following the death of King Viserys, both Rhaenyra and his eldest son, Aegon Targaryen, lay claim to the throne. The beginning is a "war of ravens", as both sides collect lords in support of their claim. Aemond (nineteen years old) is dispatched to Storm's End on Vhagar to seek the support of Lord Borros Baratheon by winning the hand of one of his daughters. Lucerys (thirteen years old) is sent to Storm's End on dragonback as well, to gain Borros Baratheon's allegiance, strictly as an envoy. Lucerys arrives in a gathering storm, finding Aemond already there haggling over dowries."You are wet, bastard. Is it raining or did you piss yourself in fear?"

- Aemond upon Lucerys' arrival at Storm's End

Aemond mocks Lucerys and his parentage, and Lucerys presents his mother's message. Borros Baratheon asks which daughter Lucerys will marry if the Lord sides with Rhaenyra, and Lucerys blushingly admits that he is already engaged to another. Borros dismisses him with an insult to Rhaenyra, but Aemond will not allow Lucerys to leave. He demands that Lucerys pay his debt by taking out his own eye. Lucerys refuses, Aemond says he will have Lucerys' eye or his life, and Borros interrupts them, declaring there will be no bloodshed in his hall. Lucerys is sent out to his young dragon, Arrax, to return home.

Maris Baratheon mocks Aemond, asking if Lucerys took one of Aemond's eyes or one of his balls. Aemond rushes out to pursue Lucerys on dragonback. In the stormy weather, Arrax is unable to outfly the five-times-larger Vhagar. The fight is short, and Arrax falls to the water in pieces. Accounts after this diverge: some say Lucerys is eaten by Vhagar, others say that his corpse washes up and Aemond cuts out his eyes for Lady Maris, and still others claim he survives the fall and lives the rest of his life as an amnesiac fisherman.

After Lucerys' death, the "war of ravens" becomes an outright bloody conflict that takes many lives and nearly ends the Targaryen line. Between that time and Aemond's own death a year later, he is known as "Aemond the Kinslayer". While his mother and grandfather despair when they learn about his actions, his brother King Aegon II throws a feast in his honor instead. Prince Daemon Targaryen, husband to Lucerys' mother Queen Rhaenyra and Lucerys' stepfather, promises his wife revenge for her son's death, saying " a son for a son". Using his contacts in the capital, Daemon arranges for two assassins to kill Jaehaerys, the six-year-old son of Aemond's siblings Aegon II and his wife Helaena.

Fanon
While some fan fics and fan arts date back to before House of the Dragon aired in 2022 (and are thus based on book canon), the ship became immensely popular after the show's latter episodes, in which the adult versions of Aemond and Lucerys were portrayed, had aired. It has immense appeal due to the enemies-to-lovers potential and the tragedy of Lucerys' canon fate (death at Aemond's hands).

As of September 17, 2023, Lucemond is the second most popular ship in the House of the Dragon tag on AO3 with 3215 works, only surpassed by the Daemyra ship with 3797 works, meaning it's also the most popular ship for either of the two characters. That makes it the most written slash ship in both the House of the Dragon (TV) tag and the A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms tag, and the fourth most written slash ship in the A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin tag.

Fandom

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 * Lucemond ship group on Facebook

Trivia

 * Lucemond was one of three House of the Dragon ships that made it into AO3's list of Top 100 ships for 2023, ranking in 25th place.
 * The most-used name of the ship, Lucemond, does follow neither alphabetical name order nor is it indicative of the top/bottom shipping preference, as indeed a large part of fandom prefers top!Aemond despite the ship name implying otherwise.
 * One of the alternative names of the ship, Fated Feud, was originally coined by the official HBO account on Instagram to hype up the characters' rivalry.
 * The first fanart for Lucemond was made in 2020, before the show aired.