#for alinahams | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

la-pheacienne · 1 year

Note

Hi! I asked @aemontargaryen-bloodraven this question, who kindly directed me to you.

I would like know if you think Rhaenyra was intelligent throughout the book, if she made for a good political strategist, knew how to command her people, would make for/was a good queen?

I also sent this question other people I was directed to, I’m sorry if that is somehow wrong and if you have covered this questions before… thanks

Hi! So I will redirect you to this post by @alinahams that I personally love about book!Rhaenyra.

I can't respond to this question in length right now cause I am kind of drained, but I will say that Rhaenyra was admired by many people, trained by her father for the role of heir to the throne from an early age and she thrived as a ruler in Dragonstone. Her dynamism, perseveration, defiance and charm made her an ideal Queen. Sure she dismissed certain rules and had extra-marital affairs cause her husband was gay but we would never say that a man who had extra-marital affairs (one specifically) is not fit to be king, now, would we?

That is until the usurpation. After the usurpation, pretty much every single person in this game went into a fatal spiral, including Rhaenyra. But that's the whole point actually. It's a tragedy, fuelled by the combination of the Greens' betrayal and Viserys' incompetence, negligence and passivity. Rhaenyra is not to blame in this.

That's my stance, I unapollogetically stan Rhaenyra. Did she kind of lose her mind in the end? Yeah. Did she become authoritarian and obsessive? Yeah. Does that mean she would not make for a great Queen? No. That's the point. She is not the flawless heroine, but she's in the right. She was meant to be Queen, she would have been a good Queen. If they had let her.

And in any case, I don't really like the question. What does that mean exactly, "was she a good strategist"? This is a literary text, it's not a political discourse. This is not a football game, the endgoal here isn't to see who is the best ruler lmao. The author imagined certain characters and a certain plot to serve a certain message, to tell a story. Nobody actually cares if she was a good strategist. We care about how the house Targaryen and the entire realm was literally torn to pieces because a woman was named heir.

And who exactly was more fit to rule? Aegon? The alcoholic, gluttonous rapist who got poisoned like a clown by his own men? Aemond the psycho who eradicated entire villages for fun and started a war that killed his entire family over a personal feud? Does that make him a good strategist? Or Alicent "mayhaps the whore will die in childbirth" Hightower who literally destroyed her entire family with her own hands and died in a cell alone and delusional? Was she a better strategist? All three of them barely cover two pages of characterization (and I'm being generous) in the entire 700+ pages of Fire and Blood.

#rhaenyra targaryen #hotd #house of the dragon #anti aemond targaryen #anti aegon ii targaryen #anti alicent hightower #fire and blood #asks

61 notes · View notes

horizon-verizon · 1 year

Note

Who do you prefer more Book! Rhaenyra or Show! Rhaenyra?

*EDITED as of 6/11/23*

Book!Rhaenyra, most definitely. This is a rant.

Though she is not as good with strategy as she could have been on her own--due to Viserys not giving her a proper political and military education like Jaehaerys I gave his sons--I prefer her because her being a "girly girl" from birth while pursuing her claim to the throne and never wavering from the belief that it is her birthright when the some of the court and Alicent have made it their business to remind her--most likely since she is the first female appointed heir--that her gender makes her less worthy of it gives me a thrill.

It could have been tempting to give in at several moments throughout her life not long after Alicent birthed Aegon--again, Alicent and the greens plotted, harassed, disparaged ("safe from Criston Cole"), and thus also most likely made her feel unwelcome in her own home since Rhaenyra was 10. It takes special persistence and resilience to be as sure as Rhaenyra was. Even if she did have private moments of doubt unrecorded, they never stopped her from her course or even made her pause (...until the betrayal of course. We all have limits, and again her childhood though Martin could have at least put in a few refusals against Celtigar's taxes and/or have put out one mid-successful strategy. How hard would it have been to clarify that it was her idea to send Daemon and Nettles out against Aemond or be the one to provide one element of the plan to take King's Landing?).

The determination to do as she thinks despite naysayers, while being as femme as she is great to see. And I don't mean that I think "soft femininity" will win the day or some Sansa-Stan bull, I mean that in patriarchal societies, the more femme-presenting a person of any gender is, the more they are taken as weak of heart or lacking in courage and strength and ability and competency, bc such elaborateness and care to one's appearance that could be read as "seductive" is societally coded feminine/"weaker".

And Doylstically, while GRRM made her much too vulnerable and w/o strategy or focus for much of the war (which is itself scented with sexist writing), again, that boldness and self-advocacy is what I like. She reminds me a lot of Cersei, but with comparatively more sense. I also think she was, for the most part, what alinahams says about her HERE. Except Rhaenyra--before her paranoia--took counsel pretty well....unlike Aegon her brother.

Show!Rhaenyra, from her Milly/young self to her Emma/older self annoys me a bit. Just from the way the writers chose to write her.

Show!Rhaenyra losing much of her fire in her adulthood and by episode 6 might seem expected or inevitable to some people because of the long fighting mostly spent alone, the guilt over Joffrey's death, and her need to look out for her sons in a hostile court, but I see it as a flaw in the writing and more sexist than the original story.

Show!Rhaenyra does not really contend with Alicent unless it concerns her kids. And she is not as decisive as the book! counterpart until Daemon chokes her out, her son dies (but not her daughter, who died before Luke and she called a council for in the book after losing?!), and she realizes that Viserys never told Daemon about the prophecy and thus shows to her that Viserys had much more confidence in her than in his male possible-heir...even though she has witnessed--everyone has witnessed!--for YEARS Viserys never named Daemon heir and she has already been the declared heir for those years. Finally, for YEARS, she has known that the greens sought to usurp her, yet at her moment of truth, she hesitates and disproves Daemon fortifying the castle?! That's all he's doing, too, fortifying it! When she has specifically proposed to Daemon asking for his violent/effective help and support for this very reason (other than loving him)?!!!

No Rhaenyra would be more decisive in such a scenario -- not necessarily gungho into violence after she's had w minute from her rage at Visenya's loss, but she'd be planning for a war and accepting that it would happen! Ignoring this just dumbs her down and makes her overly emotional and more vulnerable to Daemon's supposed roughshodding/external pressures instead of her own urgency and drive for power.

Aside from Rhaenyra already having left KL for Dragonstone after she marries, before she births Jaecaerys and ruing it for years alone before she marries Daemon, coming to befriend Laena, and having the chance to rule away from Alicent's presence, @xenonwitch points this out about Alicent:

the writers decided that a woman could only align with patriarchy if she had been brutally crushed beneath it and deprived or all agency. Hence Alicia becomes a doll for the men in her life to play with. This victimization also causes massive discontinuity during the scenes the writers decided to include actual text-based Alicent moments. The character they have set up is simply not designed to state the agency/ambition-based quotes that her book “counterpart” (term used loosely) showcases so easily.

I feel that something like this is also true for Rhaenyra in that the writers could not feel or imagine how/why a woman would fight for her throne on her own merit without the justification of an overhanging prophecy or her father's instructions, or with some awareness of some grand plan set down to define your entire existence to: to make sure that they create progeny who will fight in the Long Night. Both women suffer from the toothlessness of their fathers: Rhaenyra-Viserys, by what I say in the linked post above; Alicent-Otto, by the show making Alicent younger and unwilling to marry Viserys, only doing it by Otto's pressuring her, thus making both more victims than they are supposed to be.

Constant victimhood is not compelling, it's just trauma plot AND it's misogynist because it espouses that a woman can only hold power through suffering to uphold her male relatives' desires and that female power in any form is always given, not taken.

And when has the Dance or any event in the Westerosi monarchial/feudal history has it ever been about "the realm"? That goes for before the Targ Conquest as well--can we actually sit back and assume that any of these people are ever acting for the smallfolk (Alicent against Dyana, the bursting through the floor who Hess called "civilians", Otto not thinking about smallfolk when he pressured Alicent into bonding w/Viserys, etc)? So who is the "realm'? The only ones left to count as "the realm" are rich traders, merchants, and nobles. These are people that Alicent and Viserys tell each other, themselves and Rhaenyra needs protecting?! No, this is a narrative excuse for the prophecy to be the only real indicator for the "good" people vs the "bad" people. The "good" ones are Rhaenyra, Alicent, Rhaenys, & Viserys--those who think of the "realm", while the "bad" are Otto, Daemon, etc. are those who think selfishly--such a reductive thing to do! It became less about Rhaenyra-the-person, and more Rhaenyra-the-device of every male in existence and in her lineage for the sake of the known prophecy.

And to make Alicent more...central or impressive, they took some of Rhaenyra's properties or moments and gave them to Alicent. For example, the show took away her moment of self-advocacy when they gave it to Alicent in episode 5, the reveal of the green dress. Probably b/c they so stripped Alicent down to a helpless goody-two-shoes that they had to give her something some people would sympathize with her for, or think she's heroic. Just to make her more interesting. At the expense of Rhaenyra's characterization, though. And the result is that we also can't really imagine show!Rhaenyra calling for Vaemond's head (she may have or have not made eyes at Daemon, but she still bothered to try and defend herself to the greens when before in the book she took matters into her own hands concerning the Driftmark claim. Viserys didn't have to make a long walk to defend her) OR feeding his corpse to Syrax OR saying "they stole my crown" or "they killed my daughter". this Rhaenyra is nearly unrecognizable...you know why? Because she has become a mere protesting tool.

That isn't at all what ASoIaF--with all its (mostly) gray, well-developed characters--is about. I fell for ASoIaF because it depicted characters trying to find control and a stronger, more autonomous sense of identity in a world that wishes to deny them these and they often find the building blocks. Book!Rhaenyra found strength by recognizing herself as at least part of a great house, similar to what Dany does. In contrast to people like Jon, Tyrion, Arya, who all suffer struggle from their "ancestry not giving them enough solace" to create stabler and healthier identities:

I don't like how the show has made this story about what's good for the "realm" because it detracts from Daenerys and the Big Five's stories by claiming to be that story. And it's not just about fighting for the Long Night, it's also developing personhood through living conflicts between love vs duty vs power.

The Dance is where the Targs began to lose it all. Dany/the Big Five and the main ASoIaF story is when the Targs are gone and the real realm of Westeros AND the realm of humanity are facing a huge fantastical environmental catastrophe. Let the Dance be the Dance, Dany be Dany, etc.

@mononijikayu states with Alicent:

i also have to mention that many people said that the story was not feminist enough when the literal title of the origin was princess and the queen, focusing on the two powerful women who held the reins of power - one fighting for her right to the throne and her house and the other wanting to establish a legacy of her own by using her own children. it wasn't an just an archetypal stepmother story, thats just one part of the vindictiveness that runs along the story. it was two women challenging the status quo in their own way, creating a sense of agency in the damn patriarchal society. people like to apply so much of the modern peripheral on medieval society but look away when the main lead were women trying to decide for themselves what their lives should look like.

This part is especially true: "the main lead were women trying to decide for themselves what their lives should look like." This is what both book!Alicent and Rhaenyra were, women who both were trying to create a future for themselves where they'd benefit, trying to engineer their own lives by their own means and claims to resources, by their own will.

No, because a girl or a woman couldn't possibly try to flout patriarchal mores or try to decide her own fate if she truly is as "girly", feudal woman/girl (think Lucrezia Borgia from 2011 The Borgias) as canon states Rhaenyra to be. We have to have a modern, 2000s, "independent" young girl placed in a feudal world to suffer its inequities (look how bad things were, aren't we so much better off?!)....only to basically give up entirely and not fight for the birthright because....of a page that her treacherous former friend gives her...and ignore the risk to lives and dignities of not only her sons but herself, her husband, her sworn lords, and every other black faction member?

Therefore, it's also the stark dichotomy of her young vs older selves that is justified, by the show's writing, that Rhaenyra is less self-confident or willign to fight back. That she didn't fight with Alicent through innuendos, slight jabs, references of suspicions, or even hint that she thinks that Alicent is after her and her throne. Where's the clever verbal sparring? (This doesn't appear in the book, but esp with Rhaenyra having had her red/black dress moment, do we really think that she would have taken comments like "who protects the princess from Criston Cole" down lightly, as we should know Alicent definitely would have kept making such comments up until Rhaenyra left for Dragonstone and whenever she came back to KL?)

Now just because you get older, doesn't mean you lose a temper or that anger doesn't fill you up when you feel slighted if you are the type of person Rhaenyra in the book was. Remember, her canon characterization was that she could be charming but "never forgot a slight".

azureflight has a post explaining Rhaenyra's canon character HERE, while alinahams has one HERE.

Rant over.

*EDIT* (8/21/23):

THIS is a great post by mononijikayu about medieval queens, female rulers, the history of how women in leadership positions were made and seen as threats to the very structure of social “order”, and contextualizing Rhaenyra thru Empress Matilda. I didn’t even know about Matilda’s husband being comparable to Rhaneyra’s Daemon! PLZ READ!!!!

Excerpt:

just as much, along with these fictitious portrayals, more lies are depicted. these women are considered vixens that cause havoc to men by shifting them into desires and danger. through the written word, we see how women are cast in roles of villains in men’s lives. it is because by their conclusive thoughts, women are the only creatures that are able to turn ‘good honorable men’ into despicable creatures who do shameful, deplorable acts for the sake of women’s pleasures. […] it is within this narrative that ancient chroniclers declare that women were in fact the doom of men. if they were not able to control the dangers posed by the wiles of women, then the foundations of the mighty society they had built would be up in flames. [...] as i mentioned, these factors of community are written down and preserved. and with that, the example of the ancients were the foundations by which medieval society built itself. the same concepts continued to cause the same issue within society and that was the exclusion of women from participating in the bigger picture of community and state, much so with governing states in their own right—without judgment or disapproval.

#asoiaf asks to me #a song of ice and fire #asoiaf #hotd characterization #fire and blood characters #fire and blood #hotd #house of the dragon #rhaenyra's characterization #rhaenyra targaryen #character comparison #hotd writing #hotd aegon's prophecy #hotd wrongs

44 notes · View notes

writingsofwesteros · 1 year

Note

Just saw a post and I agree with it so much! This person pointed out how stupid and selfish Rhaenyra was being in ep10.

Like she's a Daemon supporter and doesn't like the Greens, but she explains it so well why Rhaenyra is beyond a doubt an idiot who got on Daemon's last nerve.

Basically she points out how Daemon had only stayed because she told him Alicent was abusing her and plotting against her. He stayed to be by her side (almost like a slave, doing her bidding), put his daughters future in her hands by engaging them to her sons (like Alicent, Baela and Rhaena's life would depend on their husband's wishes) and he has two sons with her. His blood.

And then Rhaenyra not only puts the entire blame of war on Daemon's head as though she literally hadn't told him Alicent would block her way to power, told him her half brothers and Otto would usurp her etc. (Technically, Daemon never had any interaction with his nephews and barely one with Alicent. Any hate he'd have is based on what Rhaenyra tells him happened in the 10 years and frankly I'm not sure she was 100% truthful) and on top of that, when she says she'll surrender, she's essentially agreeing to give up HIS sons as hostages (That was in Otto's deal, baby Aegon and Viserys would be raised in Red keep, prisoners like Sansa was) and all but ruining Baela's future and maybe even Rhaena's.

Why wouldn't Daemon lose his shit with her? When she refused to ever acknowledge a single ONE of his concerns.

Yes the Greens aren't evil as he seems to think, but they aren't his friends. He's right to worry about an attack (Aemond had Vhagar!), he should have a say in whether his sons would become hostages for "peace" or not etc. Baseline, he should get his fears validated!

But Rhaenyra literally brushes everything off and calls him out for what? Wanting to protect her? His kids? Her kids?

She legit reminds me of Viserys during Eye incident. Alicent goes crazy worrying about her children's lives. Viserys pays no mind.

Here Daemon is going crazy thinking his kids, his family are in danger and Rhaenyra goes worse than Viserys, blames him for wanting war when so far, he's just been trying to fortify their home. Wtf is wrong with her???

The link!

https://at.tumblr.com/alinahams/you-really-think-rhaenyra-wanting-to-give-her/ktr27n9awq7q

I really wish she was a green supporter, I love how she calls out Rhaenyra's bullshit.

Thank you so much for the link and thoughts of your own !

I think a lot of Daemon's hate towards Alicent and her children comes from their association with Otto to be honest.

He witnessed driftmark but a part of me thinks if it was anyone but aemond/children of Alicent he would have appreciated a boy being so brave to take Vhagar..but yeah, we don't know what she's said in those 10 years..or 6 ..stupid time jumps.

Thanks again!! x

#opinion submission

14 notes · View notes

princesssszzzz · 1 year

Note

https://at.tumblr.com/alinahams/you-really-think-rhaenyra-wanting-to-give-her/meyri0jdnsio

Finally someone talks about the shit Rhaenyra's shitty choices were gonna cause ALL of Daemon's children-including Baela and Rhaena. He didn't say it, but Daemon's choice to fight was very much for his children as it was for his admittedly dumb queen.

I’m going to break into the writers room and hack Ryan Condal’s laptop. Then I’m gonna delete whatever he wrote for Baela and Rhaena and write this: The girls looked around and saw all the bullshit. It had nothing to do with them so they decided to peace out. Baela injected steroids into Moondancer to make her grow faster. The same steroids Aemond used to grow thrice the size he was when his cousins first met him. After spending a week pocketing gold, jewels, and dragon eggs the girls hoped on the dragon and flew back to Pentos to live lavishly. They sent a letter to their grandmother and told her she can come and live with them with Meleys if she wants to. Everyone killed each other in Westeros and Morning hatched. 😌 10 years later they come back and re-conquer the seven kingdoms. Baela takes Dark Sister because it looks cool and Rhaena reaches in the water to take the jewel out of Aemond’s eye because it’s sparkly. She paints it pink and Baela and Rhaena lived happily ever after

#how I would write them to nope out #good luck dad!! have fun dealing with this if you choose to stay #anti hotd #I am the shows biggest hater #house of the dragon

9 notes · View notes

sweetestpopcorn · 2 years

Note

I would give my right tit to read Alicent’s reaction of Daemon’s 5th born son LOL

😂😂😂😂👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

I just… I laughed so hard at this that I forgot to put a cup under my coffee machine and everything fell on the table.

It’s for asks like these that I keep a blog 😂👏🏻

Here you go: 👑💍 Queen!

@alinahams time to update Fire and Blood!

#daemon targaryen #Alicent Hightower #omg #I would not cut my right tit for this but I would pay good money #popcorn answers #cof cof Alinahams you are needed

8 notes · View notes

sweetestpopcorn · 6 months

Note

I hope you know that I have “Alicent Hightower” blocked/filtered because it’s easier to avoid her fans that way. However when it’s you who has her tagged I immediately click to see because I know it’s going to be good! 😂

😂

I have no idea why you wouldn't want to see this in your dash more often:

Please, Alicent has like 5 fans. The one with tons of fans is Alicia or Alisaint, the Realm's Delight and Victim.

That's me with any redacted tag and @alinahams I just unblock to see what she's sharing since I know it will always make me laugh and be spot on.

Also leave a like for Ammmy and her amazing art! I will never ask for likes for myself but I will do for others! Y'all need to start sharing and giving visibility to things you like if you want to see more. We pay with our love around here so give likes and reblogs. You are liking the work not the character!

#alicent hightower #canon alicent hightower #from the books not the show :)#I pity your favourite alicia actually #imagine having renada for a bff and the Phantom of the Leprosy for a husband #shivers #anti hotd #when I think of the mediocre sh:t I see getting so many likes and reblogs and then yall sleeping on ammmy #shakes head #popocorn answers

13 notes · View notes

horizon-verizon · 1 year

Note

What are your favourite headcanons about marriage of daemyra?

The recent one alinahams just answered about Daemon comforting Rhaenyra after he came back to King's Landing in his own AND courtly ways and became a "comedian". Apart from being cute, it also makes Daemon blow Mushroom out of the water in an ironic twist, where he makes her laugh and kind of "steals" Mushroom's job. (I guess that this is pre-marriage, but I'm counting it anyway for absolute cuteness.) Can you tell I dislike Mushroom?

That Daemon wanted to and was there for their sons' births. In the room. Perhaps Rhaenyra tried to get him out, but he insisted. Also, for Visenya.

Daemon constantly watched, supported, or touched Rhaenyra in her first pregnancy (when she let him) with Aegon, remembering his first, lost children with Laena and Mysaria. It annoys and endears him to Rhaenyra.

Rhaenyra disliked Mysaria and tolerated her presence or mention only for business. Nough said. Daemon finds this funny or tiresome. Depends on his mood and context.

That Daemon personally trained Jace, Luke, and Joff most of the time and reveled in it. And spent time with them out of training yard enough to actually become their father (they didn't interact with Laenor much with Laenor gone to Driftmark most of their lives and dead soon enough. While Harwin was there a little bit when they were all kids and would have some memory of him, they spent most of their lives with Daemon and being raised by him).

They continued to fly their dragons together whenever they could, apart from the kids. But maybe they also flew with the three V boys?

Rhaenyra bonds with her stepdaughters over stories of her and Aemma and Laena. Perhaps she even picked out Moondancer's egg for Baela, or encouraged her to pick an egg and Moondancer's was picked.

Rhaenyra encouraged Baela's "unladylike" behaviors and way of dress, regaling her and Rhaena with ideas and feelings about Visenya. Why she loves her and how much both remind her of her. She gives them dragon tips as does Daemon, and maybe the couple argues about their ways?

Daemon continues to read Valrian poetry to her.

They taught their kids High Valyrian before the Common tongue. And I mean all their kids, even when they were with other people.

They had to keep the door to their room open to avoid sexing each other instead of talking when they have real serious conversations -- just cuz I just find this hilarious and endearing.

Rhaenyra often pokes fun at his age now and again, just to rile him up. Maybe even just to "prove" her wrong....in bed.

They're just horny as hell, Rhaenyra and Daemon. It's actually quite disturbing in a wholesome way.

Can't remember anymore right now. Might reblog this with more, if I remember to.

#daemyra #rhaenyra and daemon #rhaenyra targaryen #daemon targaryen #asoiaf asks to me #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #daemon amd rhaenyra headcanon #fire and blood character #fire and blood

21 notes · View notes

horizon-verizon · 1 year

Note

Hi just recently started following you and finished watching the show,I love your posts thank you for sharing them!

As for the green dress debacle,I don't know I think it's worse than anyone thinks because if you just came into this show,the scene holds no significance whatsoever?

It's not even a establishing moment,you wouldn't even notice it if not for the color change and those two extras giving exposition in the most lazy way ever?

I am just not a fan idk.

Many things in this show make no sense because the context is changed and there is obvious bias towards one side and the one side they biased on are the villians.

Seriously this show should just be called misery,who watched this and actually came out rooting for anyone?

A whole bunch of the decisions make no sense,like a short headcount here:

Aegon is pathetic and entitled and supposedly plays a big role in here but half of the time you forget he is there,Heleana is a weirdo who is supposedly a dreamer and what she is completely fine with the fucked shit that is gonna go down and happen to her and her family?

Not to even mention the icky implications of her being autistic and that somehow being connected to that trend of only autistic people have special powers and also giving autistic traits to someone who has such a terrible fate in canon,and for what?

Aemond is a psycho with a brother/mother/sister/inferiority complex and daddy issues that the plot continues to justify because he was bullied?

Daeron isn't even there.

Alicent might as well not be there for all the fucking nothing she did. And she is a hypocrite who peddles the system because she gains from it.And despises everyone who isn't as miserable as her?Like really?

Also considering the age they all are supposed to be how is everyone still so political inept and naive?

This show is just weird,like it goes out of its way to demonize anyone with active agency and praises anyone who rolls with the system and this is supposed be realistic?

What kind of political agenda is this?

They went out of their way to take all the agency from Alicent because the evil stepmother trope is apparently sexist?

Yeah because evil woman don't exist right?

We are all saints and man are ruining everything.

Ugh.

Any time Rhaenyra makes a decision she is a evil whore that is controlled by her passions and any time Alicent continues her impressive impression of a doormat,oh gee she is suffering for everyone we should praise her,what a good woman/wife/mother.

Supposedly this is feminist.

Seriously I get the feeling that the show is trying villianize the Targaryens but is only popular because of them?

You know the writers just hate them because the favorites of the people they go out of their way to demonize and the ones they like they literally completely rewrote.

I am baffled.

Thank fuck for the decent cast.

@shokos-lazy-life, thank you for reading them!

I recommend alinahams, sweetestpopcorn, xenonwitch, azureflight, la-pheacienne, theblackqveen, mononijikayu, rhaenyragendereuphoria, jackoshadows, the-king-andthe-lionheart, thelustybraavosimaid, hamliet, darklinaforever, lady-corrine, and ozymalek for more in-depth analyses of the ASoIaF novels, AWoIaF, and F&B and the fandom. (If I pinged you, I tried not to, I'm sorry!)

"Not to even mention the icky implications of her being autistic and that somehow being connected to that trend of only autistic people have special powers and also giving autistic traits to someone who has such a terrible fate in canon,and for what?" I never considered that. But it is making these two separate things parallel like in more-faith-based views of the world that demonized or othered disability. Great catch!

Yeah, this show would be nothing without such amazing actors like Matt Smith, Emma D'Arcy, Paddy Considine, Olivia Cooke, Tom Glynn Carney, etc, Eve Best, Steve Toussaint, etc. There's too many. HBO relies on great actors to make up for their writers' terrible and misogynist scripts. It is known.

I mean, the costumes and hair....*shivers.

#asoiaf asks to me #hotd critical #hotd #hotd comment #hotd writing #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #hbo and asoiaf

13 notes · View notes

la-pheacienne · 1 year

Note

Hello! I wanted to ask you something about Daemon and Rhaenyra? In the book. I still haven’t read Fire and Blood (I really need to) but I have read stuff about Rhaenyra and Daemon. Were they happily married and in love? I read that Daemon was unfaithful to Rhaenyra (he had other lovers). I don’t want that to be true but… even if it is Daemrya will still remain my third favorite Targaryen couple after Rhaegar and Lyanna and Jon and Daenerys.

Hello @whitedragonwolf4961!! So it's complicated. They were happily married and in love. Their bond started long before their marriage, they spent a lot of time together when Rhaenyra was a teen, they enjoyed a lot of different activities together, there was a strong spark and Daemon was her only source of comfort against the abuse she had been subjected to by Alicent and the greens. Then as you know, Rhaenyra married Laenor and Daemon married Laena and during their marriage they were still very close, they still spent a lot of time together, their kids got along as well, when Laena died it was Rhaenyra who stood beside him as he kept vigil to her body, they mourned together and then they started/resumed their relationship almost immediately. It was a love marriage through and through. Rhaenyra didn't need Daemon to secure her claim. Daemon was her oncle, so there was no significant political alliance between houses to be made here that could benefit her and her claim. From Daemon's side, he was already estranged from Viserys and the court, and Rhaenyra was already slandered and her reputation maimed. A marriage with her would anger Viserys even more and it would be entirely possible for him to supplant Rhaenyra and name Aegon his heir after this offense. It was not a political marriage, but purely a love marriage, they just didn't give a fuck about Viserys and everybody else and got married. After the marriage they still lived happily with their joined family, Daemon raised Rhaenyra's sons like his own and vice versa. She thrived in Dragonstone with him by her side (you can check this post by @alinahams you will love it).

Then it got complicated because the Dance started, Rhaenyra's kids started dying like flies and everything went to shit. Still Daemon ordered Blood and Cheese to avenge Rhaenyra's son from another man. He fought for her cause and for their children, he put the crown on her head, he took care of her and protected her. After a certain point Rhaenyra got increasingly unstable because of the war and the terrible tragedies that succeeded one another, so they grew estranged. Yes Daemon MAYBE had sex with Mysaria with Rhaenyra's permission (not certain it happened), eventually Mysaria started manipulating Rhaenyra, making her believe that Daemon and Nettles were lovers and that Daemon had betrayed her so she ordered Nettles' execution. Daemon was really distraught by this but in an act of final sacrifice, to prove his loyalty and devotion to his wife and avenge Luke, he killed Aemond and died in the process. So in the end he died for Rhaenyra and his family.

That's the story more or less, it is tragic and messy but not let anyone convince you they weren't a strong loving couple because they were. It's the Greens that ruined everything, their family, their relationship, and the realm.

#hotd #house of the dragon #rhaenyra targaryen #daemon targaryen #daemyra #fire and blood #aspa rambles #ask

23 notes · View notes

writingsofwesteros · 1 year

Note

You should read 'Sibling Rivalry' by alinahams on ao3!!

it's the most perfect femDaemon x maleRhaenyra fic ever! Also with a hint of dark yandere Aemond x femDaemon!!

It's so perfectly hilarious and hot! The smut scene is prefect!!

Thank you!!! I shall do this!!!

You are the best for recommending such a thing ;)

#fic recs

6 notes · View notes

horizon-verizon · 1 year

Note

I'm so sick of this "Rhaenyra abused Criston Cole" bullshit. It's wrong. Already, the scriptwriters and actors have said it well. Although I don't give too much credence to what they say. Especially that good, in their logic Older Daemon to groom Rhaenyra. Why is it not the same for Criston? 'Cause he's not a Targaryen I guess... Cretinian screenwriters. Anyway, this take of "imagine if Criston Cole had been a woman" to justify this point is so dumb. You can't imagine that, simply because a woman would never have had the position that Criston Cole had, namely that of a Kingsguard. A woman can NOT be Kingsguards. And a Kingsguard is certainly not the same rank as a landa servant! Criston serves the king too, not Rhaenyra. And especially Criston is a man whose word alone would be enough to slander Rhaenyra for life. Never mind that Rhaenyra is a princess. She remains a woman. Criston Cole made the only choice to go against his wishes! He could have said no! This take of “Rhaenyra could have done anything to him if he ever refused! She had the upper hand over him”! Already, he knows Rhaenyra very well, and so do we, and we know that she would never have done such a thing. Criston knew that too, otherwise he wouldn't have pissed her off when she proposed that they continue to be lovers... People who try to compare Criston to a Landa servant are stupid. And for once, it goes not only against what the series but also what the writers say. For once they say a coherent thing that is reflected on the screen...

I argue against Criston HERE and alinahams writes against him HERE (read alinahams’ first, they talk about canon Criston assaulting Rhaenyra and how the show twists his relationship with Rhaenyra into something more against her character than it should).

I agree, anon. BTW, this Criston anon talks about is from the show, not the book.

#asoiaf #asoiaf asks to me #a song of ice and fire #criston cole #criston cole's characterization #hotd characterization #HotD misogyny #HotD writing #house of the dragon #HotD #rhaenyra and criston

6 notes · View notes

horizon-verizon · 10 months

Note

Do you think Daemon tried to marry Rhaenyra, in the book, when he returned from the war after 7 years, to gain access to the throne as husband to the future queen, or husband to the queen when she would be? Or had he already moved on according to you at that time? After all, with the sons Viserys had, Daemon had been pushed extremely far in the line of succession. So he could very well have stopped caring when he got back, and simply courted Rhaenyra out of pure interest in her, and not her title of heiress and her future title of queen.

But I think that even though Daemon might have had the brief thought of seducing/marrying Rhaenyra for, precisely, an ambition for a position of power in the beginning (after all, even though he wasn't a misogynist, a female queen before had never seen herself before), he was really interested in her, then fell in love with her, (also, maybe he would have realized that she deserved the position?) and very quickly, the ambition part is trapped in his mind. Makes sense, since when they were reunited years later, he never tried to act above her, nor to use for his personal advantage his position as the husband of the future queen of the kingdom / and as the husband of the queen when she became one.

Honestly, it seems both. It's not mutually exclusive.

Like I said in this post, Daemon is also motivated more by love for his immediate family AND the idea of being a dragon rider of said family who managed to conquer an entire continent (or most of it) with fiery persistence and purpose. You can't really separate the Targs from their pride of the house, the house's dragon riding, and regard for each other. Daemon is not a political animal but he respects power-through-will.

And the green boys' princes could very well be even more of an incentive for Daemon to make his move if he were thinking purely about politics because if he can marry Rhaenyra and become her consort he can guarantee that he'd outrank and outpower these claimants.

I think Daemon came back to marry Rhaenyra and force Viserys' hand a little because he definitely would think that this would be best not just for himself but Viserys and Rhaenyra. He is in his interests but would be more for theirs than anyone else's, and no one can claim the same. They have no other family left (Vaegon unaccounted for).

But I also think he genuinely was attracted to Rhaenyra and thought her the best possible companion for him even without the Queenship.

She's beautiful and Targs tend to be more beautiful to Andal/FM Westerosi than most other nonValyrian persons so she's a "goddess" to many men by the time she's in her marriable age of her mid-teens.

She became a rider at 7 and brought more glory to the house that way while showing that force of will Daemon admires.

as she got older and they hung out whenever and then even more, her confidence coming from the heritage he also takes pride in provides room for commiseration over Viserys' treatment of them/him expecting fewer disagreements over what a Targ ruler performs

he feels that with Rhaenyra he can finally fulfill that purpose of protecting that legacy because she also gets disadvantaged and ignored by Viserys and they built a team of 2 over the years without really realizing it (HotD and F&B)

she also wants love and intimacy and a family WITH power, and feels the two should not be mutually exclusive, as he does

Regarding this last point, I refer to how alinahams described canon!Rhaenyra:

But instead of wilting, she fights. Refuses to give up. She's stubborn, not just by her nature but because she has to be. She has to be strong. She won't let Alicent and her family take away her birthright or her father (she is as much his priority and more so as his heir than Alicent). She won't let Alicent's (and this is very much Alicent's doing, not Otto's) rumour mongering spoil her dreams of a happy marriage and family (she is said to express her desire to marry Daemon whom she chose and loved), she won't let King Viserys' foolishness/hypocrisy rob her of the chance to love (Daemon and Harwin), she won't take abuse against her and her children lying down (Daemon is hers, ofc she can command him to fight on her behalf), she won't forgive the wrongs done to her (she hadn't done anything to deserve not getting the chance to mourn her father, to lose her only daughter so tragically, to lose her son so violently, to be usurped on account of something she just CAN'T control) and in all these moments, we see her pride and stubbornness. They aren't necessarily the best character traits but they help her stay strong and keep fighting. It's both a flaw in some instances and a greatly admirable trait in other. That's how character writing works. They have a set of characteristics that is unique to them, that becomes their undoing but is also their inner strength. For Rhaenyra, it's her heart and her desire to love freely and be loved. ....

She wants to be persued and wants to be with someone who understands her. She wants to be protected and defended, isn't interested in fighting/goofing or other traditionally masculine activities. She has her chosen Prince Consort for that.

... He provided her with confidence and protection and she soaked it all up. It was very much a courtly love. He's her strength and she seeks him out. She wants to marry him, have children, watch them grow and play with them, recieve presents from her hubby, be courted with poems and songs by him.

A bit of a Diversion: You can be attracted to a person but also think they do not deserve the same political rights or social graces as you, we see it with many cis white men all the time. You can even have daughters and act like the woman across the street should give you her number just because you think you are a "nice guy" yet talk about her as if she is an object to your buddy (I overheard stuff like this on a bus ride once). It's just that in Daemon's/Daemyra's case, his general misogyny doesn't translate to outright beating, terrorizing, taking away the rights of, nor actively ruining women to feel powerful so much as not caring to do much nor motivating anyone aside from this one woman and his daughters because they are family. Of course, this is bad and still misogynist, but he's in a sense "controlled" by his own need and reaching for significant love & intimacy.

Back on Track: In his mind (and actually with good reason), he'd be better able to protect them while also forever able to at least influence Rhaenyra's decisions if not overwhelm her, as Queen Consorts can do for their King-Husbands. It changes a bit bc he's an impatient, impulsive (but not actually "crazy" and more mellowed the older he got), confrontational man with military experience and a strange but battle-hardened dragon. And not a woman who's been essentially trained to expect to contort her psyche and body into ridiculous parameters sometimes only by the feelings of a person who has the ability to deprive them of their basic needs, set them aside for another, while being unable to do the same without greater sociopolitical consequences, have his being reduced to his penis and being convinced that his penis "justifies" such treatment, or just beat them. Or take a relatively subservient position to his spouse.

I suppose that another thing that is different and appealing about him is that he chooses nevertheless to be like this as much, as a prideful man allows himself to be, and it is very much enough and what Rhaenyra needs. That the lines are not so rigid and insurmountable, as patriarchy would want us to believe, that a man (while confused) choosing intimacy and true loyalty and being adaptable is at least possible in A realm. Because you are correct, he never tried to overrule Rhaenyra. Ever.

Aside from actually ruling, making substantive decisions for different infrastructures and practices that would reshape several aspects of society and how the ruled behave specifically or generally, there are other parts of being entrusted to rule that could appeal to a person. For some, it is being considered at all, and not wanting to actually make these sorts of decisions that require more thought than direct military commands. Daemon always struck me as a doer sort of guy, someone who'd be always uncomfortable and burdened with making hefty decisions not because he's dumb but because the results are not immediately observable or just accessible/present to his person enough to match the work and he's impulsive. This man is not Dany nor Jon, who both have deep introspective (both Dany and Jon), or just broody thought patterns (Jon). He's more a protector, not a ruler. And he seems like someone who'd know that hence the many position changes. He could rule...for a time of course or be a master of laws and do "boring" bureaucratic "desk" work, but it's not a long-term thing he'd devote himself to. and not a thing that he would ever want to do for very long if it didn't have some sort of set duration or was something that would greatly please/help the person who likely installed him as such. Basically, if it were absolutely necessary and he was on good/not bad terms with the person(s) he's doing this for. Still, Daemon is Daemon, so not for long.

He wants to be involved and recognized for enacting meaning and empowering those he protects, but not too involved with the social and other stuff. His voice and sword matter, but to grab the pen or have to rub elbows with other nobles and courtiers. and if he is not being valued or involved/used to his potential or even considered, he will make it everyone's problem/bring it to their attention. Or just look for attention to supply that lovelessness.

The family has the magical, superhuman ability to use dragons according to their will as if they were some sort of sorcerers (I mean the ability to wield powers most humans cannot, which in a sense makes one a "witch"). and no matter what, Daemon IS a man, and a man living as a prince in a feudalist monarchy with a brother for a king, a father as an heir to inherit, a grandfather who was king, and so on. It's possible he acknowledges it here and there by pointing out double standards like in HotD's 4th episode (here is where I point out how the Dance account is the least reliable part of the Targ history so far and feel it's necessary and apt), but we also know he's very concerned with how the Targs/his family keep power above most things and he did that particular line when it concerned him and Rhaenyra, NOT "WOMEN". And that he wouldn't know how/care to actually press for reform for women.

(He may not have been treated right by several of his family members, but he ALSO has much more advantages over most ordinary folk, not just other aristocrats who themselves have many advantages and power over those same [small]folk of any region in this world and your errant slave of Essos. Because he is a man, he is and never was socially not held responsible for his "wandering" antics and cannot understand [nor do we ever see him try to] either a royal/common woman's plight just for being a woman.)

The point of marriage is to combine families' economic and political futures through their offspring who'd inherit the family's resources and privileges according to the current laws of the Dance account is the least reliable part of the Targ history so far and feel it's necessaland. To keep that inherited power/resources, who better to marry than a relative? And the closer the "better", again, according to whatever laws and restrictions were developed.

A Little More On the Misogyny

The guy would/did have had era-/society-specific misogyny, I don't think that we should pretend otherwise.

If one is not thinking about injustice(s), they are more likely to be either more vulnerable to its effects because they cannot defend or avoid some of it, or they will enact it themselves against those less advantaged because they do not have a nuanced look at it or have the experience to know it.

Remember Visenya still decided that and would have likely suggested marrying a girl who happened to be born before either her own or Rhaenys' son to the next boy, thus undermining that girl's to bluster the boy's. What happened to the Queen Dowager Rhaena basically. And since he's not that deep of a thinker nor very compassionate for its own sake, Daemon's not going to ponder and act against the hypocrisies of misogyny, nor be totally able to recognize it to even stop himself from performing some of it. Remember him and Mysaria, when he attached her sex work to his "curse" of her when he realized she helped Rhaenyra become distrustful of him? And again, calling your wife an ugly bitch who resembles the ugly sheep of her ugly homeland because you hate that you were forced to marry her, and constantly, is misogyny.

#daemon's characterization #asoiaf asks to me #daemon targaryen #asoiaf #fire and blood characters #fire and blood

4 notes · View notes