The whole “Alicent is just protecting her children” argument is really getting old.

If her main priority truly was the wellbeing of her children, she wouldn’t have spent years turning them against Rhaenyra.

The only way she could have protected her children would have been to do the exact opposite: attempt to bring them and Rhaenyra close together.

But that’s not what she did. She made herself Rhaenyra’s enemy, not only by bullying her, but also by controlling Viserys, turning her children against their half-sister, and constantly gossiping about the parentage of Rhaenyra’s boys.

Didn’t she realize that as soon as Rhaenyra became Queen the fates of her children would be in Rhaenyra’s hands?

What did she hope to accomplish through all those foolish acts?

The only possible answer: she didn’t care about the consequences, because she knew that as soon as Viserys died, she and her “Green” party would usurp the throne.

All of Alicent’s actions resulted in the deaths of her children as well as her grandchildren. She is the only one truly responsible for the downfall of her family.

Something something the Dance showing how much harm can a loud minority cause something something the Green stans being a loud minority sprouting misogynistic retoric.

Ben Blackwood carried with him the broken body of Ser Addam Velaryon, found dead beside his dragon. His bones would rest at Raventree Hall for eight years.

Artist: @asoiafattherite

I present to you the funniest asoiaf related graph ever, counting the number of Targaryens alive per year.

Obviously everyone knows how george comes up with tragedies over the years to whittle down the amount of Targaryen branches hanging around, but it's kind of funny to see it in a visual form. I think the funniest bit of info, aside from the sheer cliff drop due to everyone killing each other over the Dance, has to be how the number of Targs skyrockets after Aegon the Unworthy starts siring bastards. Even after the Great Spring Sickness decimated Westeros, there's still more Targaryens around than there ever was before.

Honorable shout out for the sharp drop once all of Jaehaerys's children start dying like lemmings, though.

" When Prince Daemon sent forth his call to arms, they rose up all along the rivers, knights and men-at-arms and humble peasants who yet remembered the Realm's Delight, so beloved of her father, and the way she smiled and charmed them as she made her progress through the Riverlands in her youth. Hundreds and then thousands buckled on their swordbelts and donned their mail, or grabbed a pitchfork or a hoe and a crude wooden shield, and began to make their way to Harrenhal to fight for Viserys's little girl." — George R.R. Martin; Fire & Blood.

For some reason I keep hearing people say “If I was in the dance I would be a noble lady from House *insert house* and I would get with *insert character*” or “I would support/fight for *insert team*”. Guys I'm being so for real, I'm avoiding that crap at all costs.

Me at the border of Dorne (cause they didn't get involved at all):

aemond targaryen i still think of you fondly on occasion when the nights are cold and dark . feel free to give me a call if youd like

daemon, rhaenyra, rhaenys, alicent, 114 ac.

some quick characters designs <3

REAL:Queen Jaehaera Targaryen is alive and well(I’m delusional)

oh fuck, oh fuck fuck fuck fuck...

rhaenyra is as much of a girl’s girl as the society she lives in allows her to be.

book wise she has multiple ladies in waiting (not just alicent, which is a grave oversight in the show), one of which is said to have gouged out her own eyes at the sight of rhaenyra’s murder. that doesn’t sound like someone who isn’t capable of inspiring loyalty from the women around them. rhaenys fully and wholeheartedly supported rhaenyra and her cause, even dying in her attempts to make her the first queen regnant of the seven kingdoms. laena betrothed her daughters to rhaenyra’s sons, ensuring that her blood sat both the iron throne and the driftwood throne, all while being a pretty difficult backing to break due to the wealth and naval power of the velaryons (all of this in spite of the bastardy rumors surrounding jace and luke). the agreement also puts forward how politically astute rhaenyra is, and how she didn’t just rely on her father’s word to put her on the throne. she made alliances using her sons hand in marriage; borros baratheon might not have declared for aegon had a proposal taken place the night luke brought rhaenyra��s terms. baela was only held back from partaking in the many battles because of her dragon’s size, otherwise she would have been right beside her betrothed fighting for rhaenyra. there’s even a chance that rhaena would have joined had she had a rideable dragon of her own. she had mysaria, a former sex worker, as her mistress of whisperers, a very esteemed position on her small council. the cases of rosby and stokeworth have no bearing on this, because they were never named as heirs (along with being literal children during a war time) which is what rhaenyra was using as the basis for her rulership. jeyne arryn knew her own position as lady of the eyrie would be challenged (again) if aegon stepped over rhaenyra and subsequently supported her cause. important women like alysanne blackwood and sabitha frey were key players in cregan’s army.

show wise she is shown in the season two trailer to be taking advice from rhaenys and allowing her to be a part of the war efforts. baela and rhaena are explicitly included on her war council, with rhaena as her cupbearer. moondancer is no longer a hardly rideable dragon and baela seems to be taking direct part in the war. rhaenyra is already shown in a set picture to be communicating with mysaria (whether that’s discussing blood and cheese, the aftermath of it, or something entirely different remains to be seen). these are not the acts of someone who hated other women, and using her falling out with alicent and the resulting enmity between them (that is almost completely one-sided due to the difference in power dynamics) as an excuse to otherwise is worse than strange, considering alicent’s canonical goal was to seat her son, a known violent misogynist, on the throne over a woman who was the named heir to the king.

the green’s entire ideological standpoint is that women cannot rule, ever, for it would make the main members of the green’s powerless, and any other lord or heir’s claim would be up for debate if they have an elder sister. if the iron throne had truly been aegon’s by right alicent, otto, and criston would not have left viserys’ body to rot for days AND they would have had the backing of most of the houses. if alicent had cared more for her children’s wellbeing she would have convened a great council before the war began or considered any other effort that would not lead to her children fighting on dragonback. rhaenyra’s (peaceful) ascension would have at least started the necessary changes needed to grant women more authority and (!) autonomy in the seven kingdoms. queen consorts had significantly less influence after her murder, along with the targaryen’s losing their ability to hatch dragons. rhaenyra does not need to be a feminist for her cause to be inherently feminist by proxy.

rhaenyra was not a feminist, but she did have great love for other women. it’s disingenuous at best and downright insulting at worst to try to paint her as anything else. she inspired loyalty even after her murder. if the black’s cause had truly relied on putting rhaenyra on the throne, her armies would have disbanded once she was dead. instead corlys and larys poisoned aegon, with rhaenyra’s son being placed on the throne afterwards. it was ultimately about bloodlines in the end. jaehaera suffered the unfortunate consequences of an ambitious hand because of her status as aegon’s daughter. it plays directly into how alicent outlived her entire family, besides jaehaera, and went mad with grief, learning to hate the color green. how greed and the allure of power can and will corrupt those who choose to make that a priority in their lives, and how the innocent will usually pay the price for those sins.

I feel I must say it again: It’s not Rhaenyra’s job to ensure that firstborn daughters get a chance to inherit their father’s positions in the Realm.

Rhaenyra is not a crusader for women’s rights. She is a woman who fought for her own rightful claim to the Iron Throne.

Other women who feel they have been wronged by the patriarchy, can/should fight their own battles…or not. But it’s not Rhaenyra’s job to hold their hands through this, especially not at a time when her own position is unstable.

The point is that with Rhaenyra seated on the Iron Throne, she is living proof that yes, it is possible to have a woman sit a throne in Westeros. And as such, she helps other young women fight for their claims, and also gives the lords of the Realm the possibility to choose their daughters to succeed them.

So enough with the preposterous accusations that Rhaenyra gave something something to second sons over first daughter bla bla whatever. You cannot turn a whole system upside down overnight, and Rhaenyra followed the advice of her own Hand, Corlys Velaryon, when she made those decisions.

Just because Rhaenyra is Queen, you expect her to take away everything the lords have and give them to the ladies born before them?

Rhaenyra has sons, who would inherit everything from her after she passes. This isn’t about turning Westeros into Barbie Land, it’s about slowly allowing women the possibility to inherit in the future (but not women exclusively!!)

love the parallel between Aegon III and Alicent where they both develop a visceral aversion to the main symbols of their respective houses. after the Dance finally comes to an end Aegon can no longer stand the sight of dragons just like Alicent can no longer stand the color green. his ascension to the iron throne should've been a testament that the blacks prevailed but at what cost? he is just a boy and he is absolutely broken because he lost everyone and his deep traumas render him little more than a shell of a human being. and then there's Alicent who had done everything to ensure her children would stay in power only to spend the rest of her days alone in confinement, childless and on the brink of madness. truly goes to show how this war had no true winners, only mutual destruction.

Made of fire.

Even if Viserys had named Aegon heir and no war took place, the dragons would have died out anyway.

The dragons died because a woman was denied the throne, House Targaryen lost its might for betraying their woman. It is not a coincidence that Morning dies so young, it is not a coincidence that is Daenerys who brings back the dragons. Steeling from women has terrible magical consequences in Asoiaf, the first long night and the dying of the dragons are great examples.

House Targaryen tried for centuries to bring back the dragons, but only a girl, Daenerys, could. Only a queen.

It can't be a coincidence.