i'm sorry but this is sending me into the goddamn stratosphere, if you send people to physically attack my mom, torture my sister, cut my six year old son's head off, threaten to murder my toddler, and then also threaten to rape my six year old daughter, i would be very happy and jovial in declaring war on your psycho ass for pulling that shit on people who literally didn't do a thing to you.

consequently, if i sent people to physically attack someone who never did me any harm, torture my sister who never did me any harm, cut my six year old nephew who never did me any harm's head off, threaten to murder my toddler nephew who never did me any harm, and also threaten to rape my six year old niece who never did me any harm, i would be very full of regret and sorrow for what i've done, because those are bad things that i did.

84 years ago i've promised an alicent and rhaenyra post, and i've finally got around into making it.

so book!rhaenyra and alicent is not that complicated. alicent was fine with rhaenyra when she thought that viserys will name their firstborn son heir, and when that wasn't the case they started beefing & despised each other.

the show's decision of making them former friends is actually a good choice. it adds depth and tragedy into their relationship & makes the entire conflict more personal. instead of the stepmother x stepdaughter dynamic we get 2 childhood friends, destined to become enemies.

young!rhaenyra and alicent arc was actually really good. alicent got married to viserys and tried to mend her relationship with an angry rhaenyra. and just when things were getting better the realization that things can never go back to the way they were & they were destined to become enemies = alicent becoming the green queen & the rivalry truly begins.

and that's where... thing got... messy

because in ep 6 we see alicent and rhaenyra fighting. they seem to hate each other & constantly trying to undermine each other. then we get to ep 7 & driftmark, and we all expected that from that moment on we will get book!alicent and rhaenyra rivalry and hatred. but no? all of the sudden, one dinner and they're friends again?

i'm sorry... what?

and then alicent refuses to hurt rhaenyra and her family, rhaenyra's crying over a piece of paper (i was with daemon going "the fuck is this") rhaenyra shocked over alicent's betrayal & both women do not want to hurt each other.

so, you're telling me that after driftmark - after rhaenyra wanted to have alicent's maimed son tortured & tried to get alicent accused of high treason and after alicent demanded luke's eye these women feel anything but hatred towards each other?

you're telling me that alicent - who has spent the entire show believing that her children's lives will be in danger if rhaenyra became queen suddenly goes "you'll make a good queen" (again, i was with otto giving her the side-eye because GURL) one dinner is apparently all it takes to fix 20 years of rivalry and hatred?

and that's the problem. the show doesn't seem to be able to tell the difference between "friendship" and "relationship". rhaenyra and alicent's relationship can still be the center of the show even if they are enemies. even if they're no longer friends. look at magnificent century, hurrem and mahidevran's rivalry is the center of the show & it's very clear that these two women were forced into becoming enemies and that the real villain is the sultan.

hotd wants to force the "friendship" narrative on the show, but they still have to stick to certain book canon events, so it comes off very forced and unnatural. they're unwilling to let these 2 women become enemies, so they take their agency and give it to otto and daemon. otto and daemon are the ones who want war, rhaenyra and alicent just want to go back into being friends :( look at this page from ep 1 that you've prob forgotten all about!

they literally have to sacrifice their agency. because alicent being the leader of the green council & rhaenyra being the one wanting to go to war against the people who took away the crown she was promised doesn't fit the "friendship" narrative. so let's make alicent unaware of everything & rhaenyra doesn't even want to go to war :( it's all daemon and otto and the eViL mEn. it's honestly such a disservice to their characters. they're stripped of their ambition and agency for the sake of forcing their "friendship".

and the thing that truly made me lose hope is ryan saying that "there's still hope".

my dude.

from the first moment we see the girl. from that first scene where they're sitting under the tree - there was no hope. there was never hope. they're doomed.

Giving all the bad traits to Aegon and all the good traits to Aemond IS NOT good writing by any means this also leads somr people to think that Aemond of all characters is better and more fitting to be king than Rhaenyra and Aegon lmao

I agree, anon. I think it's important to Aegon's and Aemond's stories that they kind of have inverse narratives. Aegon is the one who is underestimated but pulls through against all odds, while Aemond is the one who is overestimated and lets his family down when they need him. As much as I hate it, I've made my peace with the show softening Aemond by giving him the bullied child narrative, but I really hope the show doesn't pull any punches when it comes to the extent to which Aemond nearly singlehandedly costs the greens the war due to hubris and shortsightedness. The fact that Alicent is telling Rhaenyra that it will be her son Aemond that comes to save them, when in fact it is Aegon who eventually returns to King's Landing, has so much potential for drama and angst. And I don't mean to hate on Aemond. He can be a fun character if they let him do his badass dark prince thing, rather than trying to make him the actual competent one. He can strut around and look cool, fine, but it should be made clear that it's all bluster. Because while Aemond is ignoring strategy and going rogue, Aegon is rehabilitating his own injuries as well as his dragon's (while kicking a milk of the poppy addiction) and infiltrating Dragonstone by turning Rhaenyra's people over to his side, and doing this at a point when most had written him off as dead or dying. It's impressive, and the show should give credit where it's due.

As for who would make the better king, I think going by the books, Aemond falls behind both Aegon and Rhaenyra. He's holds grudges, listens to no one, does not compromise, shows no restraint, and on top of it, he has a huge violent streak paired with a gigantic dragon. Aegon can be violent and hot tempered, but he can also be talked down, and he does show both restraint and mercy. He and Rhaenyra both, at the very least, listened to their advisors, but Aegon had a lot more room to push back against his, whereas Rhaenyra was more beholden to hers (and when she finally does push them, her support disintegrates). In the end it's listening to the wrong people that does them both in, but I think the fact that they listen, period, puts them ages above Aemond. A king is only as good as his worst counselor, but a king who listens to no counsel whatsoever is just a tyrant.

Hi! First I wanted to say I loved your fics!! Read wws and threads both within four days (who needs sleep anyways?). I just wanted to ask, and sorry for the bother! No pressure, obvs🙈 but I was wondering if you could share with us some of the prompts you use for your character images? Please 🥺 I’m trying to figure out midjourney, but it’s giving me a headache tbh. The character’s face is fine, but her dress and the background are blurry (and ugly), I dunno what else to do😭 thank you so much for sharing with us your beautiful writing!

Thank you! I'm so happy you liked them! 💜

As for character images... Well, honestly, using Midjourney can be a bit tricky. Quite often the results I received were far from what I wanted. Sometimes, the images I generated were rather horrifying 😂 (multiple limbs or creepy faces).

Generally, Midjourney was confusing for me, so I used only basic prompts (what type of character I wanted, the setting, the style of image). To get somewhat consistent-looking characters, I used actors as the inspiration. Usually, I also ran the same prompt a few times until I got the result I wanted.

For example, in WwS, Rhaenyra is "inspired" by Suki Waterhouse.

The prompt for this image was: Suki Waterhouse as a 19-year-old girl in a period drama. She has long pale silver hair. She wears a dramatic black damask gown. At a garden banquet. Game of thrones setting.

This image comes from the same prompt:

And for this image, I only changed the banquet for a medieval fair(and I actually got my black dress!):

Honestly, it was a method of trial and error. I have tens of images generated from the same prompt because I was trying to get something different than Midjourney was giving me.

You can also find cool tutorials on YouTube made by people who actually know what they're doing there. Really good stuff about lightning and forming a prompt that would give you the best result.

Also, I haven't been using Midjourney in a few months now, so I'm not sure if it still works the same way.

Personal rant about an issues I’m having with my best friend under the cut, TW mentions of past sexual trauma both fictional and IRL

Thinking about how Alicent and Rhaenyra coded my best friend and I are, (minus the gay undertones) she’s headstrong, beautiful, confident, feels like she deserves what she wants no matter what and has no fear that her father won’t be there to catch her when she falls. But it makes her ignorant to the deeper plights of others and she lacks the knowledge to look further into things, and weigh her opinions and options before she speaks. She’s so strong and confident that she refuses to accept that her thoughts and opinions can be wrong, and she never does any research.

She was like “I’ve heard Andrew Tate talk some and I think he might be right” and I was like friend???? The man is a sex trafficker who has been quoted saying that women who aren’t virgins are damaged goods, and his OWN SISTER doesn’t talk to him. And she was like “oh I didn’t really look him up or anything” like motherfucker are you serious????

Then you’ve got me, quieter, more traditional, (still beautiful, but my goodness my best friend is a different level) always trying to do what’s right, do what I was supposed to do, trying to make sure everyone is okay, that my words and actions won’t harm and if they do can I take them back or make up for them?

I’m more agreeable, people see me as soft and kind, easy to talk to, but it comes with this guilt, religious, personal, social, whatever I’m always, always watching, always considering the other side because I know what it feels like to be powerless. And I do my fucking research because you have to know the rules!!!!

We’ve argued over TG or TB and she just refuses to accept that Alicent’s actions are motivated by valid reasons, that she was a child victim and was a victim until her husband finally died. She also blows past the fact that Daemon groomed and assaulted Rhaenyra because “they’re so hot” and I just???? I could not and cannot understand how she can overlook the pain and trauma these characters went through and act like it’s absolutely nothing.

Then we got in a bit of a thing because she got into booktok smut and I tried to warn her about the trigger stuff in some of the books and she’s like “oh it’s fine, yeah he like rapes her in this one part, but he basically makes it up with his words in the end” and I’m ????

Like yeah I like my dark stuff too but not a love interest who’s a rapist💀 there is no coming back from that for me????

And the fact that she just doesn’t care, doesn’t even stop to think about how her lack of care for the atrocities committed towards female characters in literally any media affects her is just so concerning to me. It’s like because nothing like that has happened to her then it’s not real??? Or it’s just like “not that big of a deal”????

Like y’all who read Pink Pastels know I went through shit, not a full assault but something similar that I left out of the fic because it was too much and I hadn’t really accepted what had happened. And the fact that what is it one in five women have been assaulted??? Statistically speaking she knows women who have been!!!!

So it makes me sick to my stomach that she’s so blasé about this stuff. To be fair to her, I never told her about it but I have now and I haven’t gotten a response yet so I’ll hold judgment until I do. (She hasn’t seen the Snapchat yet)

I just it really frustrates me because she is such a good friend outside of this stuff but she just lives such a different life from everyone else (her family is super rich) and I feel bad because I really want reality to knock some sense into her with a baseball bat. She just doesn’t understand that people actually suffer this stuff it’s not all just fun in games and ha ha giggles oh he’s so hot!!!

Like bestie I’m here, standing in front of you, asking if you fucked Daemon in a pleasure house (if you really are going to keep reading and flaunting your love of these dark, violent, terribly written books) while I’m trapped with your old ass father who’s been assaulting me and ignoring the children he forced me to have (carrying and trying to sort out the multitude of trauma from my ex) begging you to tell me that you didn’t and you still see me as your friend (that you aren’t a horrible pick me girl who doesn’t actually care about the pain and suffering women go through just because you haven’t experienced it)

Hi hi! (Before I begin I wanted to say I really love Stormbreak <3 Your writing is so powerful!) I have read your reply for anon on why you are a Book!Alicent apologist - as a book reader I'm not fond of her but I do concede to some of your points. However, wondering how you find Book!Aegon or Aemond? Aegon didn't rape, which is a good thing, but he also fed his sister alive to his dragon. And Aemond chose to pursue and kill Lucerys out of his free will (and not because he can't control Vhagar)

oh yeah i very much have thoughts about book aemond and aegon! let me say a few things here:

for aegon, there are still some allegations of him touching young girls inappropriately, though it's ofc always hard to tell with f&b what is meant to count as the accurate version, but i don't wanna ignore that since a commenter pointed it out.

as far as him feeding rhaenyra to his dragon, think of it this way: by this point in time, rhaenyra has had his six-year-old son slaughtered, has driven his wife insane to the point of suicide, was the reason his brother (aemond) was killed, and STILL poses a threat to his remaining family's lives. i would've fed her to sunfyre too at this point. if the roles were reversed, rhaenyra would have also done the same, and i would've also defended it.

i think aegon's willingness to keep aegon the younger alive and even to install him as his heir points to how willing he was to let bygones be bygones at the end of it all. he didn't want to punish baby aegon for who his mother was, and i think that's fairly honorable.

there's also the fact that the iron throne never cut aegon, which i think is so interesting. grrm makes a point of showing how when people are bad leaders (think viserys, think maegor towards the end of his life, and think rhaenyra towards the end of her life) the throne will reject them by cutting them. as a side note, i think rhaenyra would've been fine if she hadn't been so traumatized and twisted by the dance, i don't think she's inherently a bad ruler.

as for aemond, the book actually leaves it up to interpretation! as the accounts point out: no one knows exactly what happened up there. we know that both dragons took flight, and only vhagar and aemond returned, and that he did have lucerys's eyes. even the details we have, remember, can't be taken as actual fact, since the entire point of f&b is that history remembers things incorrectly. but still if you take them at face value, we don't know what actually happened up there, which is part of why the show didn't actually contradict the book with the season one finale. it simply added details the book did not show.

of course i'll always be the first to admit that i have a habit of trying to view characters from both sides in better lights than they are possibly meant to be perceived. but i still hold myself to using critical thinking and crafting actual, defensible arguments. i think part of why the unreliability of f&b is so interesting to me is because in many ways it doesn't rule out the possibilities of characters being actually not that evil, even while trying to make you think they are 100% evil (again this is true for members of team black as well imo and especially the women, not just for aegon and aemond). it has very clear agendas but doesn't always have evidence to back them up.

Maester Norren's claims about how Daemon "doted" on Nettles to me just sounds like Daemon reminding Nettles to take care of herself especially the part about brushing her hair and dressing. On a shallow level it might look like that is what Daemon is doing but it could honestly be misinterpreted since they refuse to see Daemon actually being in love with Nettles because he's obviously married and because of his past. Nettles isn't incapable of taking care of herself, she's VERY capable but living when living on the streets your whole life vanity is at the bottom on the list of things to tale care of, once you have a decent clothes on your back enough to cover you and get you through then you're good so of course Nettles can be forgetful that she now has the resources to take better care of her looks other than bathing. ALSO it's interesting to note that one of Daemons gifts to Nettles is a silver looking glass to me that just proves that Daemon wants Nettles to remember to take care of herself AND on a more romantic side Daemon could've gifted it to her so she can see the beauty in herself that he sees in her and so she can find the beauty within herself, honestly these gifts are so well thought out that it's no wonder Nettles fell for him too because no one has figuratively amd literally observed her so well that they are able to pin point the things she may want and need JUST LIKE SHE DID WITH SHEEPSTEALER the only difference is Daemon isn't doing this for any other reason he's doing it because he loves her and wants to take care of her and he wants to provide for her and show her that he sees and knows her.

This a thousand times🙌🏽 When it comes to Fire & Blood because it is not written in a traditional format people are always saying look at the actions or look at what this character has had to deal with, but suddenly with Nettles, everyone is allergic to actually analyzing her story and journey.

They don't see her as an actual character in her own right. They see her as a tool. Which spills over to their interpretation of her relationship with Daemon.

All this fuss and the arguments being made harkens back to one side wanting to make Nettles into Daemon’s victim and the other into some baby bada** feral pet. I’ve said this before, but both don’t want her to be an actual character with her own wants and desires because then she’s a threat.

So they ignore how Nettles grew up to say she didn’t know how to take care of herself. Even though she was smart enough to claim a dragon that no one else could claim, knowing how soap and water work is way too advanced for her🙃.

Daemon looks after Nettles, making sure she has nice things, that she’s looking after her physical appearance and health, caring for her because he cares for her because he loves her, gets ignored.

All in favor of Nettles is mentally a toddler and Daemon is being a sexual predator again. Yeah, it is easy enough to jump to the second conclusion(the first conclusion has to be one of the dumbest borderline-racist arguments I have seen in this fandom), but look at Daemon’s actions.

If he is grooming Nettles why save her? Why go through all that trouble to dote upon her when in the end he’s not going to be there to enjoy the fruits of his labor?

When this is pointed out they go oh yeah but he brought her into this mess in the first. Ignoring the fact yet again that Daemon isn’t in the business of saving people just to save them. Look at who he is.

If he did not genuinely love Nettles, if he had not put her before his own wife, which yeah it can be construed as wrong, but these same people overlook incest, child murder, and racism to shout true love so adultry really isn’t the highest crime one can commit, he would have let those orders be carried out.

This is the same guy who murdered his young nephew. Who was fine with killing his dead wife’s uncle (on Rhaenyra’s orders in the book). He isn’t Mr. Nice Guy. He would have killed Nettles himself if he felt nothing for her.

And yeah has it ever occurred to them that Nettles herself could actually want Daemon? That she wants a romantic relationship with him just as much as he wants one with her.

This man who is kind to her, loving towards her, who cares and looks after her, who in many ways is just as unseen as she is, but he sees her. She’s never had that before. It's little wonder for the reasons above why she wouldn't love him, but they ignore all that.

She's old enough to fight in a war a pointless war, because I've seen very few complaints on how she's too young to be used by Team Black, but she's too young to be loved. You hate to see it.

https://www.tumblr.com/thesilverlady/714939705545949184/ive-looked-and-i-havent-seen-you-talking-about?source=share

Please can you share your headcanons of Helaena and her relationships especially the one that she had with Aegon and her children

The fact the both of them are married and have children together but never shared one single interaction is one of the worst choices hbo has ever made and people want to convince you that they made Helaena better than her book counterpart lmao. Sorry but obsession with bugs is not even a personality to begin with

the fact HBO sucked out the dynamics from every single character was definitely... a choice

and yeah, I understand Helaena gets some ridiculous hate but pretending making her the way they did is somehow better than her book canon self is a deep delusion.

SO HELAENA HEADCANONS (I decided to make them a bit generic to cover more of her life, but if you want a solo only for Aegon x Helaena let me know)

1) Helaena isn't really pious. She follows the faith as any person but she doesn't really demonize other women the way her mother does

2) Similar to her brothers, she loves hearing tales of her Targaryen ancestors. She prefers the romance however and is something she bonds over with Rhaenyra - who is the best storyteller

3) Her older sister is someone she looks up to; as a child she dreams of being like to Rhaenyra when she grows older

4) Helaena has a small circle of lady friends but they've all been Hightower approved™ She doesn't mind this much, as long as there's no bad talking about other family members

5) She's the most patient of her siblings and lacks the temper the rest have. It takes a lot to piss her off - which is why it's shocking her she does snap

6) She gets along with her father just fine. He obviously loves Rhaenyra very much but he never makes her feel unwelcome or unfavored when she's with him. Her favorite past time is when he dines privately with her and Rhaenyra, calling them his sweet girls.

7) Aegon & Aemond are nasty as kids. It wasn't that bad before Aemond was born but having another boy around really clicked for her older brother. They mock her for not being pretty and always have a way to downplay everything she does. Alicent reprimands them if she hears it but she doesn't actually do anything to punish them. The only satisfaction she gets is when they try to do the same with Rhaenyra. Her older sister has a reply to everything and she always makes the boys flash with embarrassment

8) Helaena may not have the striking targaryen beauty (she's by no means ugly, just y'know, quite normal, a bit plain) but she has the prettiest voice when it comes to singing. And she knows how to play the harp. She performs to her father and sister a lot.

9) She loves her dragon and wishes she could fly with dreamfyre more but her mother has always been very discouraging of spending time with their dragons. The boys never listen to her but Helaena must be a proper lady so she tries to appease her. It doesn't make her miss dreamfyre any less though

10) She absolutely adores Daeron, and he's definitely her favorite of the boys. She visits him and Baby Jacaerys a lot

11) Helaena is devasted when Daeron is sent away, and it's one of the rare moments where she stands up for herself and argues with her mother. Viserys tries to comfort her by telling her she can always visit him and exchange letters

12) She does end up being the one to have the most familiarity with Daeron. She always sends the most letters to her siblings that are far away (daeron & rhaenyra) and for her nameday she gets her own raven

13) She seeks advice from her mother and her ladies when her marriage to Aegon comes closer. They give the usual unhelpful ones "Be good, have patience, obey your husband" bs, so predictably, she goes to Rhaenyra in tears, because Aemond has also added a bunch of doubts about what her older brother will do to her. Her older sister definitely isn't pleased to be awaken in the middle of the night, but she does humor her with some good advices ("don't let him do anything you don't want, try to be on top for the first time, don't be hesitant to push him, convince him to do what you want, sex shouldn't be painful, there's more than just producing children it's for pleasure too")

14) Her first night as a wife is... not bad. Aegon actually seems nervous for once, and they share a drink. She almost chokes with how nasty her brother's drink taste and he laughs. She confesses she doesn't want this to hurt and ask him to at least try to be gentle. The first time still hurts a bit (patience isn't her brother's virtue) but at least he did spend enough time to prepare her. In their second time she asks to be on top (which catches him off guard but allows it) and both end up enjoying it much better

15) As it's expected Aegon does ask her where she got these ideas from and Helaena is honest about who she asked. He doesn't say anything and she worries he might tell their mother but surprisingly that never happens

16) Marriage doesn't change her brother, or his tastes. She only requires him to not go after her ladies or servants. She knows better than to attempt to control any aspect of his life but out of sight, out of mind

17) While Aegon isn't the most gallant man, the past mockery does stop and he event fistfights with Aemond when he doesn't end his remarks. Helaena doubts he did it necessarily for her sake but she can't deny there's a... charm to it.

18) Another common ground she finds with her husband is the protectiveness they feel over their twins. Tongues can be cut from nobles but their family is a different matter. Alicent urges them to have another child. Otto is brutally honest about how Jaehaery's deformities andJaehaera's sex is against their cause. Aegon and Helaena become a shield for their twins and will fight anyone who make nasty comments about them. Their family learns to be more... delicate with expressing their opinions relating to the twins

19) Mothers aren't supposed to have a favorite child, she knows that. But Helaena can't help favoring Jaehaerys more. Her first born son is sweet, and needy and never wants to leave her side. Jaehaera is so much less expressive and while she tries to work with her it can be hard. Maelor has an adventurous spirit and loves exploring. He's good for Jaehaera who he forces out of her shell, but Jaehaerys remains constant. He's her most beloved though she'd never say it aloud.

20) After b&c Helaena gets lost into her head. She's too ashamed to look at Maelor, too hearbroken to face Jaehaera. In the dark, she seeks to find someone to blame; Rhaenyra for not giving up her throne, Aegon for thirsting for blood, Aemond for starting this when he murdered their child nephew. She wants to blame her mother who fed and nurtured this hatred between her siblings wants to blame her grandfather whose ambition and greed were always a priority, but in the end she only blames herself. For not finding a way to prevent this; the war, her son's death. All the loss and pain. She can't live with herself. When King's Landing falls to Rhaenyra and she's taken captive Helaena won't bear to see any of her children or siblings die. She ends her life so she won't have to witness any further the horror that has befallen on their house

I actually find it absolutely adorable how Green stans made a whole scenario in which Daenaera doesn’t exist and the Blackfyres come from the Greens’ line to usurp Rhaenyra’s line again lmao we all need that kind of coping in our lives sometimes. That and the House Whent one.

I mean, I know none of them read ASOIAF and F&B but do they know that BOTH Daeron II and Daemon Blackfyre are Daemyra’s great grandsons ??? That Daemon Blackfyre was named after Rhaenyra’s husband, the man who hired Blood & Cheese to murder one of the brothers of Jaehaera, meaning that it’s impossible for Jaehaera to be Daena’s mother ?

I don't think I'm understanding what you say some fans are doing.

The new "Daemon Blackfyre" would still have Rhaenyra's blood in him if Jaehaera were the one to birth him?!

The point of Jaehaera marrying Aegon was to COMBINE the two lines, Rhaenyra's & Aegon II's?!!!

Wouldn't the new "Daemon Blackfyre" just be usurping his trueborn cousin/brother?!

Why?

Let's say that these people are considering their options and realize that even Daena herself maybe gets her name from "Daemon"--Aegon III's father--if not from Daenaera, thus maybe removing Daemon's legacy in their fanfic. I'm guessing that they have renamed her to something else closer to Jaehaera. (This would have to happen for Daena to be Jaehaera's daughter and not Daenaera.) Or who knows, maybe they haven't. Unwisely.

For there to be a separate "Jaehaera's line" from Aegon's for the new "Blackfyres", she'd have to not marry Aegon at all, bc the Blackfyres came from a bastard! Daemon Blackfyre's actions and how it goes down b/t him & Daeron II is bc he is a bastard. And if Jaehaera does have this new "Daemon Blackfyre" through marriage to Aegon III, the above large-font sentences will still apply.

But back to the new-Daemon B. still being a bastard in their fanfics. Wouldn't this new Daemon Blackfyre's existence still require Aegon III to have new-Daena marry Aegon IV or Aemond the Dragonkight (Viserys' sons) so she could birth a "trueborn" Daemon Blackfyre (thus he's no longer a "Blackfyre" at all but a "Targaryen" so that storyline is now ruined & the meaning concerning gender, pseudo-absolute monarchy in the hands of abusive people, might vs right etc. that it brought to the canon ASoIaF universe is also lost)...

It's okay to create fanfics out of the canon with what you wish had happened or what you would have changed to make it coherent or more engaging, I think. But once you start making claims that the thematic reason for the story/characters ending up the way they do is "stupid" or "amoral" when really you want the villains to be the good guys when they never were and you refused to accept that from the jump, then there are issues of bad faith. You don't like the story for what it is and that is why you think GRRM is making amoral plot decisions when he isn't.

You just reveal yourself to not agree with the core principles--cosmic or ethical or whatever--that GRRM is basing his entire series on. Even this, in a fanfic context, also could have been fine if you hadn't just been prejudiced in your opposition by imagining a world where the women actually have less agency than they actually do in GRRM's original story! And as long as you consistently acknowledge the canon as separate from your own fanons and fanfics.

Because believing that Jaehaera should have continued to be Queen for her sake--birth heirs, and live with the same people who either hated or were indifferent enough to her dead family to take advantage of her is good for her mental well-being--is to lie. Even if she hadn't been mentally disabled already. Not to mention I'm sure Daena is not her fierce independent self in these fanfics, to make way for the males to shine. And it's presented as righteous or "necessary" unironically & uncritically.

i feel like i’m in the minority of the hotd fandom who doesn’t mind a lot of important plot points hinging on accidents/miscommunication, like luke’s death being an accident and alicent misunderstanding viserys’ last words. i love dramatic irony and i love greek and shakespearean tragedies. the characters are doomed from the start and the audience knows where the road is heading, but the characters misread the signs and walk straight towards their doom. like someone said on the true hellsite (twitter), everyone knows romeo and juliet, and they both die because of a misunderstanding.

alicent misunderstanding viserys is actually very much about their scene together in episode three, where he talks about how he always wanted to be a dreamer, and how he dreamed of a male heir wearing the conqueror’s crown. and we know what he means on his deathbed, but is it really so much of a reach that alicent hears what she hears? i don’t think it is. and it’s the deepest tragedy that this is what finally pushes her to one side of her internal conflict. alicent was finally starting to feel like herself again after rhaenyra’s speech and i think she did mean it when she said she’d make a good queen. i also think she doesn’t believe aegon will make a good king. but so much has happened between alicent and rhaenyra, and in the back of her mind she always fears for her children’s survival. so when viserys says what he says, her sense of duty tips the scales. and we know her decision will not save her children.

i mean it’s okay to like what you like and wishing alicent had been ambitious is fine but i’m just a sucker for tradedy

[title redacted for legal reasons]

i actually am most interested in maegor/rhaena but i’ve never found a fic i liked for them (except this noncon one here, it’s mostly porn with some slight character introspection with maegor) and also i’m obsessed with rhaenyra/viserys but ditto there, there’s not even good porn of those two. there’s also not any cat/robb which imo is a travesty considering i am convinced that michelle fairly and richard madden fucked nasty on set. i find ramsay/theon interesting aesthetically but i need some sort of emotional buy in from both parties and i just don’t read ramsay as being obsessively in love with theon so it’s not super interesting to me to read about. which leaves the one that people actually write fic about and coincidentally is the one i’m most interested in.

BUT. the problem i have here is that most aligon fic tends to go the route of aegon ordering alicent into ~something fucked up after he’s crowned, which isn’t to say this can’t be done in a way i really enjoy, like this one here that i think is just amazing, seriously it’s actually the one i think about the most, aegon’s dialogue just rings in my head. but most of these involve alicent actively fighting aegon (which is like, probably the point tbf) but on an emotional level i’m more interested in aegon attempting to seduce her than just forcing himself on her.

that’s part of why i really like this series, because it’s very much a back and forth dynamic where they are re-enacting their traumas on each other but like, willingly repeating the cycles over again against each other until they’re so disgusted they can’t go on (don’t read it unless you want your day ruined tho lmao).

there’s this one that basically does exactly what i’m bitching about tho - aegon forcing himself on alicent right as he’s being made king - but this one has it focus more on the moment she doesn’t tell him she loves him and then doesn’t just turn immediately into noncon porn, it really digs into the two of them and the structural issues surrounding consent, which is why i like it. i realize it’s maybe a big ask for well written incestuous sexy character pieces, but that’s why i’m pointing out the ones i like lmaooo because this one does a thing that’s also very common - aegon getting fixated on alicent’s seven pointed star necklace - and it’s also really sex heavy while still saying something about the characters (besides “i think tom and olivia are hot” i mean). i think the more forceful behavior from aegon works here because he is trying to seduce her, and also trying to punish her for hurting him. i’m also a sucker for fics that try to work within canon, taking something this fucked up and complex and pretending it’s happening just offscreen. idk, i think that’s fun!

there’s also this one, mostly it’s sex but it’s fucked up interesting sex and also from aegon’s pov which is rare tbh most of them focus on alicent, but i liked seeing the play of anger, sexual violence, and intimacy in his head here.

most of the rest of it that i’ve found is much more on the noncon side and like,,,,,, that’s just not the appeal to me for this one, it’s about them deciding to drown together, it is important and integral to the dynamic that alicent is at least a little into it and being forced to confront both her own revulsion towards targaryen incest practices as well as her own complicity in that cycle continuing to harm her own children, and aegon can’t just be the aggressor to alicent’s madonna here, he needs to be purposefully trying to pull her in because he’s conflated sex and violence and family and romance, and wants her to want him back. alicent has gotta be eroticizing her own disgust and reenacting her time as a teenage mother otherwise what are we even doing here!!!!

cersei/taena doesn’t count as dead dove that’s just regular fucked up lesbian shenanigans it’s fine. i see the appeal of otto/alicent but rhys doesn’t do anything for me i think he has negative charisma i’m sorry. i don’t think i’m interested in any others tbh, the main draws are maegor/rhaena and alicent/aegon.

I agree with the other anon that it's funny how much hate Helaemond gets from some green fans as if it's the worst thing that could happen but on the other hand they're either perfectly fine with Rhaen*cent or outright ship it?? A big part of all these characters is the loyalty to their own side and family! Normally, they will NEVER betray their own side for a person who's actively fighting on the other side so to have one character - Alicent in this case - trample said loyalty to go to Rhaenyra and grovel to her is just insane lmao. And it's going to be worse to justify something like this after B&C (and after Storm's End if we're speaking from Rhaenyra's POV). Is Alicent supposed to forget her nephew's death and her daughter going insane just so she can get back with Rhaenyra? Seriously? What then? Punish Aemond? Put Aegon to death if Daemon and Rhaenyra suggest so and accept it? Or have her poison him herself in S4? I mean I wouldn't be surprised if some people in the fandom would be fine with it since they're the ones who've always had the opinion that Alicent loves Rhaenyra more than her own children since they're the product of Viserys' marital rape on her or that she actually hates them (and no, I'm not claiming she's the best mother either, but anyone who believes she hates them is delusional, sorry)… Really, nothing about this makes sense. The show is an adaptation, I get it, but this ship does more damage across the entire narrative than any good. The writers' intention to highlight how these two women just want to be close to each other and how the men around them are preventing it because they're thirsty for war falls flat. I know it's a bit of an unpopular opinion to have nowadays but: there's nothing wrong with women scheming against each other! There's nothing wrong with Alicent fighting to put her own son on the throne and doing anything necessary to achieve this result! Just…please (& this is directed at the writers), stop making everything about men vs women and stop blaming anything controversial a woman may do on the men in her life.

i get the frustration and i do think going forward even more stuff will make less sense for those who wanted an adaptation that was closer to the original source and its intention. i know i will continue to get angry myself with some of their choices but i also know their minds are set on this rhaen*cent story so i'm trying to not expect anything positive.

honestly, there's a lot to be said about the writing choice they made and this whole "women couldn't possibly have differences of their own, or self interest, or ambition, or agency and they all just want to be friends deep down" but i won't get into it. i simply don't like the direction the show took and i think it's alicent's character who will suffer the most due to this writing when it comes to development and stuff.

alicent acknowledges that both daemon and rhaenyra will never bend the knee to her son and her crowning aegon rests entirely on the fickle premise that a dying man who never even attempted to change the succession suddenly mumbled something about aegon before dying. it's so fickle that even aegon laughs when his mother tries to seriously convince him that it was his father's wish.

this is what makes alicent crown aegon and she knows this is a declaration of war regardless of her trying to "make peace". so her development in this story of war will be just as fickle as her motivation and drive resting on the words of a dying man because she herself isn't convinced of it.

of course it's hard for many to see the point that she might have made in episode 6, and sympathize with what she really believes in, when she herself doesn't truly, deeply or fully believe in it.

but hey, at least those rhaen*cents get that dangeon sex scene or whatever. great writing 11/10

rhaenyra's character remains intact. she was named heir by her father, she believes the throne is her right and she fights for it. she loses people and she dies but she dies trying to get what she thought was hers to own. she has her convinctions and beliefs untouched. sure it might pain her that she has to go war for it, that she lost a childhood friend, that later she loses her family, she might even regret the war at one point because of the family members she loses, but her conviction remains true in her heart and in the heart of the audience.

meanwhile alicent isn't just disliked for what the audience, in their majority tb, sees "she does" to rhaenyra as a friend but can't also connect to her when she has no real drive of her own. sure, a lot of them find it sad that she was manipulated and groomed by her father and such, but there's only so many "poor manipulated alicent" you can have from a majority tb audience.

i'm not sure why the writers thought that alicent can't be both a victim of her father + viserys while also growing to be a woman who's driven by ambition (to see her children on the throne) and fear (that daemon if not rhaenyra would harm her children) but yeah.

anyway i think i've said, both now and in the past, all that can be said on this subject. this story to me is not the story to choose to do this rhaen*cent dynamic they're trying to do. it is just not the story for it. and let me not mention again and again and again how fickle their foundation is.

they had a scene where rhaenyra said she wants to eat cake and ride on dragon back w alicent. they stopped talking in episode 2. they started talking again after 3ish 4ish years and again stopped talking in episode 5. exhausting to try to convince me of this was real, good friendship. it falls so flat to other stories i've seen.

but i'm also trying to just........distance myself from this narrative and enjoy s2 in others ways.

(1) Before the show aired I used to say I was on TB, now I feel like that's admitting a shameful secret? Because I'd be putting myself in the same bag as A LOT of delusional TB/Rhaenyra stans, most of whom are just bullies. The more I see both teams fighting on reddit or here the more stupid it looks to me; I end up wanting to correct them but then it comes off as me siding with TG. I'm not but it kills me to see how wrong they got the story. Most TB fans read F&B and filled in the blanks with their own delusions and think that's what really happened; what's even worse is they can't separate book from show. They think they have the moral highground but a lot of them are terrible, with their double standards and self righteousness. Like when they accuse TG of mysoginy but then crucify Alicent for everything she did and didn't do. Even young Alicent, who did absolutely nothing wrong, but still gets attacked by Rhaenyra's feminist stans.

If anyone asked me now I'd say I'm not in any team; my favourite characters are aligned with Rhaenyra, whom I think is the rightful heir based on my understanding of succession. I will defend Alicent cause she's an interesting character that people refuse to try to understand and is treated unfairly. I actually loved watching most of the characters (and relationships) because they are all so complex, even if I don't agree or like them . They are engaging, despite what "team" they're on. It really annoys me that so many fans miss out on this because they're busy with the TB vs TG war.

i think that not being in any team is the best way to watch the show, anon.

i mean i'm TG but watching daemon is def very entertaining. he's a horrible person but matt smith (who's one of my fav actors from the good old doctor who days) is incredible. i can enjoy daemon's character while also acknowledging the fact that he's a horrible person. appreciating characters for their complexly & just how entertaining they are without agreeing with the things they do or even liking them is a skill this fandom desperately needs to learn.

i got a hate anon a few days ago accusing me of "having bad morals" for saying alicent did what she believed was right and honorable, and then just refused to understand that what alicent believes is right is not necessarily what i believe is right (i mean she's a fictional character from a medieval inspired fantasy world, of course we're not going to have the same set of values ? ). i'm not TG because i believe that men should inherit before women, i just like the characters better and find them more interesting.

i also think that this fandom has a HUGE problem separating headcanons from actual canon. with daemyra shippers being the obvious example. daemon and rhaenyra's relationship is very toxic. he's psychically abusive to her, he gr00med her, he abandoned her in a brothel... like this is obviously a very bad relationship. but people still insist on labeling daemon as a MaLeWiFe and a femenist (?) [he smashed his wife's head with a rock because he didn't like her but ok] and get very angry whenever someone tries to suggests that maybe... daemyra isn't that great of a ship.

don't get me wrong it's fine to ship daemyra, we all like to ship fictional toxic relationships, but you have to separate the headcanons you have from the actual show.

yeah the double standard with the so-called feminists attacking alicent is... a lot. an unhinged stan left a comment on one of my posts talking about alicent's "lowly hightower c***". a lot of them are accusing her of "seducing" viserys when she was 14-15, or defending corlys for offering his 12yo daughter as a bride to the middle aged viserys... i'm not very comfortable with these posts so i usually just end up blocking the op. (and don't even get me started on how some of them treat nettles)

thank you for the ask! ;)

I’m so intrigued by how you will construct Baela and Rhaena’s relationship and conflict. Especially when Baela in the show at least, has been very much characterized to be very loyal to Rhaenyra, her father’s favorite, and very much interested in marrying Jace. I’m really interested in seeing how being Daemon’s essential favorite (she’s the dragon rider who speaks Valyrian) has affected the way she sees her sister. Does she notice the neglect? Does she feel anything towards it? I know you’ve already sort of confirmed that at least so far, the sisters are loyal to each other and sticking together but I’m very interested in that conflict of Rhaena essentially being more neutral, hating/distrusting her father, and oh my gosh when she said she wanted to go sailing with Uncle Vaemond and knowing what’ll happen…. 💔 and it’ll likely only push towards her away from the Blacks cause even more. Gosh I’m so excited!

Be less intrigued!!!

I am 90% sure that what I've written is going to be the opposite of good. It's not going to be fun. Baela's going to be completely ooc for both the book and tv versions I guess.

My biggest problem was just the inconsistency. She's supposed to be like Daemon, pro-fighting, bold, brave, badass, etc... Well, Daemon wouldn't be cool with giving up his inheritance to the strongs if he was in her position. He wasn't even cool with giving up his non-inheritance to Rhaenyra or Baelon, Viserys' actual Targ children and we all know how he feels about Viserys' kids by Alicent. Rhaenyra is prepping to go to war for her throne and she moved out of King's Landing without looking back for years. Even Rhaenys is still not bowing to Rhaenyra because "it should have been me tho." So of all the characters with claim to a title, why is Baela like, "My greatest ambition is to marry Jace! Lucky me! I am speechless with joy!"

In version two or three, I tried to stick with her being Team Daemon, like from the perspective of the neglected child who becomes overly compliant, trying to earn her way back into the top spot of "number one child" by snitching on Rhaenys and Vaemond and joining Team "I will gladly sacrifice my dragon for Rhaenyra and her kids," but it just got sad, I couldn't. She's already doing that in the show so I decided, "nope, she's going to be very ooc and it'll be fine because this is a romcom and you're spending too much time on this."

I'm trying I guess to introduce Baela at a point where she's having a really drawn out epiphany moment and needing a moment. A quarter life crisis using medieval life expectancies? And Rhaena's sort of like, "You sweet summer child."

I honestly don't know anymore what I'm doing. I can't even say concretely what I'm trying to do. I just want to post it.😭

Hello can i ask you a quick question can i have your opinion of the strong bastards please i know you don’t enjoy them and i personally think they are hollow af and without substance but what do you think im curious

Hmm I don't hate them really. I think they're spoiled and protected from consequences all the time, which is bad parenting, but the worst thing about them is their parents in my opinion. Rhaenyra and Harwin knew very well what trying to pass off bastards as trueborns set to inherit the Iron Throne meant (exile/death), yet they still decided to have children. Jace could have been an accident, fine, but then they went on to have 2 more kids, which is just awful. A good parent that actually cared for her children would never put them in such a precarious and deathly situation, yet Rhaenyra and Harwin still did it. Not once, not twice, but three fucking times. Rhaenyra having bastards is not high treason, it is the fact that she tries to pass them off as trueborn which is. The way to prevent her children's execution/exile would be to abdicate from the succession and just live her life as a normal noblewoman, yet she did not do this, therefore making sure that her children would always be on death's door. Jace, Luke and Joff did not deserve that. I don't believe that children should have to pay for their parents' sins and in the show we know that both Jace and Luke know they are bastards. I imagine growing up with the knowledge that at any moment in time you could be executed just for being born was extremely damaging to their psyche, but it was also made very clear to them from a very young age that they would always be protected by the crown. Which led to their sheltered/spoiled upbringing (less noticeable in Jace than in Luke). They got away with everything, with maiming and permanently disabling the king's son, with being bastards who by law cannot inherit yet still being pushed to inherit the IT & Driftmark, with never apologizing for any of the wrongs they have committed, etc. The example set by the adults around them led to Luke (less so in Jace's case and Joff is still a little child so let's forget him) getting away for years with his awful behavior towards Aemond. Aemond is the king's son, Luke is the king's grandson. In all fairness, Aemond is closer to the king than Luke is, yet Viserys clearly and publicly showed the entire court which of the two he actually gave protection to and which one he did not grant such sympathies towards. It's what led to Luke getting away with not once in his entire life apologizing for permanently disabling a prince. That's pretty fucking horrible. Losing an eye is not the same as getting a cut on your arm, yet Luke never had to face any consequences for it. It happened and that was it for Luke, but for his victim, for Aemond, his entire life changed. Then he had the gall to scoff at an ancient bullying joke right in Aemond's face. Like ???? Who tf even remembers such a memory from back when you were 5 ten years later? It just goes on to shows how Luke was unrepentant of any wrong he has committed against Aemond, and that's awful. Aemond deserved an apology. Aemond deserved multiple apologies actually and he deserved acknowledgement. But he never did. Everyone just moved on like it never happened, but Aemond has the permanent psychical evidence of why he could not just "move on". He was only 10 years old...

I'm lukewarm towards the Strong children. Jace is an ok character, even though he is just your average nice guy with little personality outside of being nice. I don't have any strong feelings against him. Luke is a different story as you've just read. I don't hate him, but I hate that his parents raised him to be this way. I don't think he deserved to die while terrorized, but I also don't mourn him. Joffrey is just a little kid so no opinions on him really.

I hardly think you of all people should be so against Rhaenyra simply because she refuses to accept the boundaries a woman has in Westerosi society when so many of your characters that are presented as hero’s do the same.

I’m not for either her or Alicent completely because I think both have points working for and against them. I’m also not a person who likes Dany.

I still try and understand these women as well as possible.

It’s just that you’ve proven yourself to only like women in ASOIAF who aren’t rebellious or even if they are rebellious, it’s simply them wanting to learn how to fight.

You can try and defend yourself but your entire feed is a testament to this.

We all know it wasn’t a good decision but Rhaenyra made a choice when she had very little agency over so many other things.

Is it really so wrong to not go down without a fight? To just accept her situation as it was with Laenor and give up? I’m pretty sure you won’t understand what I mean because you’re not really trying to see things from Rhaenyra’s perspective or even give her the benefit of doubt.

Your dislike of Dany is creeping in so maybe don’t complain about other people’s live for Dany creeping in. Hypocrisy isn’t a good look.

My issue is that Rhaenyra is not well written in HotD. Do not get me wrong, she is an interesting character, but she’s the one character that has suffered the most from the constant time skips. Alicent has had a character arc and we can actually see where her decisions and growth (or opposite of growth, which I don’t know the right word to use would be) comes from. Thus far, Rhaenyra hasn’t really had a consistent arc. I still haven’t had the chance to watch the newest episode.

I don’t only like the traditionally female characters in ASOIAF, I just enjoy writing them. And I won’t try to defend myself. You’ve made your opinion known and you have either followed me for a long time or you have glanced through my feed and made your opinion based on that. That’s fine.

Again, Rhaenyra has suffered the most from the multiple timeskips so her character choices feel disjointed. And the show focuses WAY too much about telling us things instead of showing us.

I think we should have had one more episode with the younger characters so we could see how Harwin and Rhaenyra got together. So we can see her and Laenor dealing with “their first child” not looking like either of them. So we can see more of the aftermath of the wedding and how Criston kept his white cloak. How Rhaenyra entered more into her mature nature. This would be like if GoT went from the Season 1 finale to opening up with the first episode of Seaon 8.

You can block me so you don’t have to be bothered by my thoughts and opinions.

However, whether we like it or not, Dæny is connected to this series because HBO used her as their main promotional figure in the series and it’s most likely because of that we got this show. I am merely pointing out that HBO probably didn’t go with the Long Night series because the Targaryen fans are more vocal (which isn’t a bad thing).

Again, you have no obligation to interact with me or see my posts. Feel free to block me.