pomegranatepeony

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reblog if freud would have diagnosed you with female hysteria in the 1800s

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i am begging

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I have to disagree with anon! I think there is good cause for my boy to have major-self esteem issues and bouts of self-loathing. In this essay I will-

Just kidding! But there’s some things that I want to point out. One: he was bullied throughout his entire childhood. Anyone who has been bullied knows that shit will follow you through your whole life, and quite often people with traumatic childhoods hide their pain into adulthood with confidence/coldness (especially Scorpios 😅 he’s a scorpio king through and through).

Next: All of his problems wouldn’t have magically been solved immediately after claiming Vhagar, but the loss of his eye only fuels that. He said it was a fair trade because he gained a dragon, but it’s really not, even if it is the last dragon of the conquest (also, he was a child when he said that, who had no clue the future issues losing an eye would cause him down the line, and wanted to comfort his mother). Losing an eye/having any disability is a big fucking deal in Westeros. It’s a big deal in our world too, don’t get me wrong - but life in Westeros is much crueler than ours. We as readers/viewers sometimes tend to look at this content with a modern lens, which is something we cannot do. In this world, he is lucky to be a prince. He can study and train all he wants, best the greatest swordsmen in all the seven kingdoms, but no matter how incredible he is, all of his potential will always be followed by ‘if only he hadn’t lost that eye’. “Imagine how much greater a warrior he would be if he had both eyes” (even though he beats Cole in the training yard with relative ease). “You have an unmarried son? Oh, but he’s missing an eye” (even though he is very obviously Valyrian and the Valyrians are all certified hotties). I wouldn’t say he’s repulsed by himself, but that the resentment over what happened to him is a big motivator for everything he does and becomes.

It makes perfect sense that he isn’t aware of how handsome he is, but I disagree that he doesn’t think much about how he looks. he is certainly not vain, but he does keep a very tidy appearance. His hair and hands are always clean, his clothes fit him well and he is just extremely well put together, something he probably learned from Alicent (queen of dying on the inside but slaying on the outside). One could argue that he only does this as it is expected of a man of his station, but Aegon exists.

It’s unfortunately realistic for the setting that almost noble ladies would be scared of him. The eyepatch is one thing, but his demeanour is described and shown as quite haunting as an adult (which just makes me EVEN MORE sad because he seemed like a very sweet child). He doesn’t strike me as the kind of man who would make the first move personally either, which would make finding someone to share his life with even more difficult. A lady who is unafraid of him would be rare, and for her to be that way, it’s likely she had been dealt her own cruel hand in life as well (I’m currently writing my own work where this is the case - not trying to self plug but 🤠). Someone who he could melt into in private, share his worst fears and thoughts with, allow them to touch his scars… I feel like he would cherish that greatly and want to protect that part of his life as well as he possibly can.

When he has the confrontation with his brother, where Aegon says he’ll run away so he may have the throne, you can see the cogs turning afterwards. I think he was quite sad in that moment, tormented by the ‘if only’ nature of his life. Yes, he does deserve the throne, but that doesn’t matter. He was not born to rule, Aegon was.

Sorry this was kind of a ramble, but I have a lot of thoughts because he’s such an interesting, beautifully tragic character. Let me know what you think!

Hi, my dear, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me! I loved reading them :)

This is in response to this post!

Aemond was absolutely bullied throughout his childhood, he was ganged up on by the other boys and I think the only person his age (who we know of) that wasn't mean to him was Helaena.

He had enough gumption, however, to claim the largest dragon in Westeros. To me, that takes no small amount of self-esteem, like "yeah, I deserve this". He received little to no attention/instruction/guidance from his father, instead I believe Cole filled that role. Aemond knows his prowess in sword fighting and carries himself with confidence accordingly. The man has swagger, I don't think by any means he loathes himself. Absolutely he is made to feel as less of a man because he is missing an eye, but literally everything he does is to make up for that (as you said).

As far as his appearance goes, let me explain better. Aemond takes pride in the traits he inherited that define him as a Targaryen. His silver hair, he takes excellent care of and grows long (like "see I am a legitimate heir") He takes care of himself, of course, but he has been given no reason to see himself as a particularly handsome man. Quite the opposite, as I am sure court whispers speak mainly of his missing eye and what horror may lie beneath the eyepatch. But yes, he does slay just like his mama. He is royalty, after all, and (once again) takes a GREAT amount of pride in his heritage (notice the dragon pins he wears on each of his outfits). Which also speaks to a certain amount of self-confidence.

Note also how Aegon is the opposite, he takes no pride in his appearance (the actor actually pointed this out too haha) or his Targaryen ancestry.

There is much nuance to Aemond's character (especially now with the show), and I certainly agree that he may have feelings of self-doubt, frustration, insecurity, but he uses these emotions to fuel himself to do better, train harder, study more...mold himself into the man he perceives his family needs.

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y’all love the morally gray, snarky, grief stricken characters until it’s a woman. i’ve seen so much discourse regarding female characters who display the exact same character traits as male leads and are criticized for it while the men are praised. let women be cruel and vindictive. let them deal with their grief and trauma in destructive ways. let them be real. give them the same treatment you would give to your favorite male love interest.

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mater dolorosa, mother of sorrows.

prints available here

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The homophobia leaving Otto's body when he needs to appeal to Rhaenyra's feelings for Alicent

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Me, whenever I see Aemond Targaryen on screen:

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“I fed my last husband to my dragon. If you make me take another, I may eat him myself.”

Fire and Blood

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Laena is a horse girl, but with like… dragons (x)

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Vhagar has dementia

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#house of the dragon #aemond targaryen #aemond x oc #aemond x targaryen OC #aemond x daemon’s daughter #strangers to friends #friends to lovers #lovers to strangers #secret relationship #girl daemon and evil legolas snarking at each other and ruining everyone's lives <3

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goodbye twitter, hello again tumblr

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Something random that I love is that Aemond wore an eyepatch in court as to not frighten the ladies😭. What a funky little psychopath, war crimes are alright but frightening the ladies is where the line must be drawn!

[pomegranatepeony]

DAEMON TARGARYEN & AEMOND TARGARYEN + reacting to one another.