#book!alicent hightower | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sarcasticsweetlara · 11 months

Text

I can't help but have another image vibe of Alicent's book depiction.

All my respect to Olivia Cooke, but Book! Alicent is slender and graceful to Show! Alicent who seems to try to hide herself, and Book! Alicent is so witty, sassy (a trait she passed down to all her children) and unafraid to use the power she has as queen consort and then queen mother in a manner that Show! Alicent could never be.

Whether you prefer her book version or show version is up to you, but you can not deny Book! Alicent is indeed more powerful and less maleable than Show! Alicent, the show runners wanted to make her more sympathetic but they didn't have to strip her of her agency.

Book! Alicent would have never showed Larys her feet, she would have made him give her information whether he wanted or not as Book! Alicent was in more control of her power, and the thing with the Green Council is that she initiated it! Alicent wanted to protect her children, yes, but that scene should have portrayed her power and control of the Council not this meek woman who everyone kept in the dark about their plans for her son that she believed in.

Also, Book! Corlys is far more proud than his suck it up version in the show - again my respect to Steve Touissant, but I feel like they failed in portraying that Corlys was not only ambitious but highly cunning, proud and clever that Show! Rhaenyra would have to do more than offer a random proposal (that actually was made by Laena when the children were toddlers) to get him back to her side, she made him her hand in the end.

In both the show and book versions House Velaryon fought for everything they have and Book! Corlys would not let himself and his family be humiliated.

And Book! Rhaenys is brave, witty and with a no-nonsense attitude that she would never let Corlys go over her like Show! Rhaenys.

I know all of them are complex and flawed but it's like the show is refusing to really portray that.

43 notes · View notes

reignof-fyre · 2 years

Text

Book!Alicent: knows what she wants, gladly marries the king at 18 and becomes queen-consort, actively desires power and Aegon on the throne and Viserys knows it, openly hates Rhaenyra and doesn't try to like her (Rhaenyra is nine btw), thought of by many as someone reaching far too high above her station

Show!Alicent: I'm just a victim and a blind idiot also I think my former best friend capable of kinslaying and uwu I'm an abusive mother and have no agency or real purpose other than being a contrived, badly written mean gurl manipulated by the patriarchy feel sowwy for me 👉🥺👈

#book alicent hightower is superior to show alicent #anti show alicent #alicent hightower #kind of pro book alicent but only because she has actual purpose lmao #show alicent is just eh #book!alicent hightower

32 notes · View notes

faeporcelain · 9 months

Text

966 notes · View notes

shebsart · 2 years

Text

their disney villain slay

#house of the dragon #alicent hightower #otto hightower #aegon ii targaryen #aemond targaryen #helaena targaryen #asoiaf #grrm #tv #book #fanart #my art

5K notes · View notes

fragileheartbeats · 2 months

Text

What we expected:

"My sister is the heir, not me," "What sort of brother steals his sister’s birthright?"

"Am I a king, or no?" "If I am king, then crown me."

"Thrones are won with swords, not quills. Spill blood, not ink."

R:"Dear brother, I had hoped you were dead." A:"After you. You are elder." R:"Do not think that you will hold us long. My leal lords will find me." A:"If they search the seven hells, mayhaps."

"Let the ravens fly that the realm may know the pretender is dead, and their true king is coming home to reclaim his father's throne"

What we got:

"I have no wish to rule. No taste for duty. I'm not suited."

"I will find a ship and sail away, never to be found."

"I want my mother."

"I did not ask for this. I've done everything you asked me to, and I try...I try so hard, but it will never be enough for you or father."

"Do you love me?"

341 notes · View notes

shortnotsweet · 1 year

Text

Rhaenyra’s relationship with her stepmother Alicent was complicated, as some days it was filled with hostility, and others…

…it was more than fond. It was baffling to the Court, to the King, and most of all, to themselves.

#rhaenicent #rhaenyra targaryen #alicent hightower #house of the dragon #hotd #ngl this started as an excuse to design different armor dress combos for Rhaenyra #also in my mind this is a bit of a show + book fusion + my own take obvs #the origins of the relationship and the age gap are lifted from the book #but the subtext??? the homoeroticism?? ya that’s from the show #in my mind they’re having this on again off again affair made of hate and love and everything in between #these are just rough warm up sketches tho #my art

2K notes · View notes

dulcewrites · 1 month

Text

I think the thing that shocks me the most about the discourse, if you can even call it that, around book Alicent vs show Alicent, is the idea that people think book Alicent had full autonomy over all her choices and she wasn’t a “victim” like show Alicent.

Now first, I put victim in quotations bc the way people who do not like her have almost bastardized that word. Alicent is a victim, and those things (rape, abuse, neglect) were done to her. That says everything about the men who did that do her and nothing about her. But people are hellbent on throwing Alicent, a woman in a violently patriarchal environment, being victimized back at people as if it is moral flaw of hers. Which is just terribly ironic bc the same folks who say Alicent “did it to herself” or “deserves what she is getting” also seem to think the crux of the story isn’t about generational trauma catching up with itself, how far people will go for power, or even how all girls and women are harmed - albeit to different degrees. But more the fact that Rhaenyra is the only woman to be harmed - and the only harm done is not getting the throne easily. Those same people wouldn’t be caught dead admitting that Rhaenyra is also a victim in the way they shit on Alicent for being. From the father who sets her up fail, to the baby daddy that’s been eyeing her since she was barely 18, to the uncle that grooms her. It takes away from the fantasy projected onto Rhaenyra if she too is surrounded by men that use her and she never escapes that.

Second, it’s funny how F&B gets heralded by some as this exploration of how history is skewed depending on who is telling it. But people can’t read between the lines (you honestly don’t even have to do that much work) with book Alicent. Showing 14 year old Alicent being preyed on, 16 year old Alicent being pregnant with her second child, and 18 year old Alicent being raped is somehow the show needlessly making Alicent a victim. But reading about a 13 year old bathing, dressing, and taking care of a king who mistakes her for the daughter he abused and neglected, and then that same girl, at 18, marrying another king that killed his previous child bride is just girl bossism on book Alicent’s part?

People hate conceptualizing the idea that (even book) Alicent is caught in patriarchal trappings bc to some that takes away from Rhaenyra’s plight…. Bc they can’t wrap their heads around several women *gasp* all going through hardships, and that ultimately people will respond to trauma differently depending on tools/knowledge they have at their disposal. Alicent neither being gleefully evil nor picking herself up by her bootstraps to somehow end years of patriarchal violence is not the neat box they want for her.

#people want Alicent to gleefully be evil not bc it would be more interesting (newsflash it wouldn’t)#but so they can be justified placing her in the ‘evil woman’ category #bc to them their is only ‘good woman’ and ‘bad woman’#but since the show doesn’t lineup perfectly with the woman they made up… they put her in the ‘weak woman’ category #bc the only thing worse for a woman than being a bitch is being perceived as passive in your demise #trust me I would have loved to see Alicent let Viserys rot and plot against him just as much as the next person #but please do not act like that wasn’t probably self preservation and trauma on book Alicent’s part #not her doing it for shits and giggles #and lbr the same people wishing the show went that route would’ve been the same people STILL shitting on her #pro alicent hightower #alicent hightower #pro team green #anti viserys i targaryen #anti targaryen #ok NOW I’m done lol #told myself no more of these lol

319 notes · View notes

daenerysies · 21 days

Text

hot take maybe but the only reason most show runners/producers/writers/etc. age up the (female) characters from book to show adaptation is to overtly sexualize them and not face mass amounts of scrutiny for it.

put 13 year old daenerys next to 30 year old drogo and the audience understands that daenerys is a victim to him and not an equal. put 22 year old emilia clarke as daenerys next to 32 year old jason mamoa as drogo and they’re seen as a budding romance with a tragic ending (by the general audience) due to their on screen chemistry.

flash forward to today, and now we’re dealing with 21 year old milly alcock playing rhaenyra from 14-19 and how her relationship with (28 year old fabien) a mid twenties criston is seen as -morally acceptable- and not a result of a degenerate pedophile taking advantage of and grooming his charge. “ser criston protects the princess from her enemies, but who protects the princess from ser criston?” rhaenyra was 14 when rumors started speculating that she slept with an almost 30 year old criston. a criston who had know her since she was 8 and had been her sworn shield since she was 9. obviously seeing a teenager in the early stages of puberty next to a fully grown man would emphasize rhaenyra being THE victim, as opposed to the show having an 18-19 year old explore her sexuality and seek out ‘consensual’ sex with her peer bodyguard. the discourse has even reached the point where certain stans try to paint the much younger woman as the perpetrator and aggressor of this event, who forced the unassuming man into having sex with her.

i’ll even take this a step farther, and bring up how if they had shown a 19 year old alicent abusing a 10 year old rhaenyra it would be identified and mutually agreed upon as a reprehensible act on alicent’s part. instead they’re of similar age, so people can attempt to paint the picture as two women of equal standing hating each other, and not a much older woman bullying a motherless child. once again however, some stans even go so far as to try and paint alicent as a victim of rhaenyra, and not the other way around. further cementing this is how both versions of alicent are younger than both versions of rhaenyra, AND how criston is still played by an actor who is younger than older!rhaenyra despite his character being the same age as daemon in canon.

they know exactly what they’re doing too, considering they aged alicent down to give her that innate compassion one typically feels when seeing children being abused on tv (something that can no longer be applied to rhaenyra). despite that never being her story; *she* was the abuser, and rhaenyra was her victim. criston’s victim. it’s a nasty cop out, and i wish more people would call out how sickening it is to flip the switch and attempt to make abusive individuals more sympathetic than the *actual* victims of said abusers.

#asoiaf #game of thrones #fire and blood #house of the dragon #got critical #hotd critical #daenerys targaryen #pro daenerys targaryen #rhaenyra targaryen #pro rhaenyra targaryen #team black #anti khal drogo #anti criston cole #anti alicent hightower #anti team green #anti team green stans #anti ryan condal #anti sara hess #this isn’t even including them aging the dragon twins + jace and luke #up to victimize aem*nd #he was beating the boys brutally in the books and was stated to be much older and stronger than them #the twins weren’t even involved #but now it’s 4 kids almost the same age as him beating him up #poor woe is him #but he still defeated all of them and screamed death threats at grieving children #it’s an all around fucked up scenario #and if i catch those two in the streets they’re done for #i have very… strong… feelings about this subject :/

207 notes · View notes

allicentsallure · 3 months

Text

SANSA STARK

#house of the dragon #asoiaf #hotd #a song of ice and fire #game of thrones #alicent hightower #sansa stark #sansaery #sansa stark supremacy book sansa #book sansa #book sansa stark

296 notes · View notes

eliaism · 1 month

Text

— “As the Old King’s strength and wits began to fail, he was oft confined to his bed. Ser Otto’s precocious fifteen-year-old daughter, Alicent, became his constant companion, fetching His Grace his meals, reading to him, helping him to bathe and dress himself. The Old King sometimes mistook her for one of his daughters, calling her by their names; near the end, he grew certain she was his daughter Saera, returned to him from beyond the narrow sea.

In the year 103 AC King Jaehaerys I Targaryen died in his bed as Lady Alicent was reading to him from Septon Barth’s Unnatural History.” — Fire & Blood

song: “who is she?” by i monster / jaehaerys fc: richard schiff, alicent fc: mariya andreeva, saera fc: jodie comer / art: douglas wheatley / paintings: “the king of thule” by pierre jean van der ouderaa, “girl with lilac” by albert henry collings

#jaehaerys targaryen #jaehaerys i targaryen #alicent hightower #book alicent #saera targaryen #house targaryen #house hightower #a song of ice and fire #asoiaf #fire and blood #f&b #web weaving

203 notes · View notes

drakaripykiros130ac · 1 month

Text

One thing that genuinely astounds me is how certain people are under the impression that Aemma Arryn and Alicent Hightower are equal victims, who would comfort each other in the afterlife for what “big, bad” Viserys did to them.

As if Queen Aemma wouldn’t pull Alicent’s hair by its dark roots for what she did to her only daughter, Rhaenyra.

But seeing as how Alicent is in the Seven Hells, Aemma likely wouldn’t get her chance.

187 notes · View notes

birdmans · 4 months

Text

my dark vanessa, kate elizabeth russell / house of the dragon (2022–)

#sorry i just read this book and it was…#my dark vanessa #alicent hightower #house of the dragon #web weaving

232 notes · View notes

nanstgeorge · 4 months

Text

All they have sowed, now shall they reap.

#alicent hightower #alicenthightoweredit #house of the dragon #fire and blood #litedit #my edits*#team green #pro alicent hightower #book moodboard #hotd #alicenthightowerdaily

364 notes · View notes

bunnyshideawayy · 2 months

Text

i’ve never seen someone actually explain how Criston Cole got away with killing a noblemen and harming the heir of Driftmark IN PUBLIC during RHAENYRA’S wedding.

like realistically there should’ve been nothing to protect him from the law, not even Alicent. honestly that is why i could never fully say Viserys was a great man/king/father/husband/whatever because he should’ve had Cole immediately arrested and delt with once the commotion was settled, if not Viserys than Corlys as Cole literally punches Laenor in the face causing him to bleed, probably breaking his nose. one man dead, two heirs humiliated and one physically harmed, all literally during the princess’s very important political wedding with the entire court + other important noble houses in attendance- this is treason on some degree.

becoming Alicent’s personal knight wouldn’t have absolved him of his actions, so why was he never punished? in fact him never getting punished is what makes him think he’s allowed to act any way he wishes- mocking Rhaenyra and her children, especially with/in front of the Queen, killing those who support Rhaenyra at court (it wasn’t just that one lord on the council), he just feels so comfortable to act any way he wants and Alicent indulges him in that.

but WHY do Viserys and Corlys never hold him accountable? why is Cole never put on trail? why is he allowed to become the “Protector of the Queen” and train her children? it literally makes no sense and is one of the many show changes that i can’t stand because it makes no sense. any other king and Cole would’ve been killed or sent to the wall as punishment.

168 notes · View notes

shortnotsweet · 6 months

Text

[ “SOMEBODY TOLD ME”]:

BREAKING MY BACK JUST TO KNOW YOUR NAME. SEVENTEEN TRACKS AND I’VE HAD IT WITH THIS GAME. A BREAKIN’ MY BACK JUST TO KNOW YOUR NAME—BUT HEAVEN AIN’T CLOSE IN A PLACE LIKE THIS.

— The Killers, Hot Fuss (2004)

Princess Rhaenyra’s insolence is wearing her stepmother’s patience thin. Queen Alicent is not ten years her senior, but even during her own sixteenth year, she cannot recall herself behaving so brazenly. She would never burst into courtly discussions in nothing but gilded armor and the underskirts of her riding leathers, awash in blood. (She would never be spotted in blood that was not her own, anyway. Alicent has never picked up a sword, not one that belonged to her.) Nevermind that Rhaenyra is attending to diplomatic affairs with bared teeth and scales, no—the crux of the matter is just that, her affairs. Rhaenyra is the Realm’s Delight, a beauty incomparable to any fair maiden, Alicent included. She indulges herself with appetite of a spoiled child, the confidence of man, and the pickings befitting only to her royal blood. Criston Cole. Daemon Targaryen. Harwin Strong. Laena Velaryon. She’s full of love, isn’t she? That selfish, foolish girl. What does Rhaenyra Targaryen know of love, of duty? She is a child in so many ways—she thinks killing makes her a man, thinks the throne is hers despite being a woman, thinks she can have her knight and her uncle and her protector and Laena Velaryon in one fail swoop. She’s wrong. She doesn’t know herself half as well as Alicent does. Alicent, who sees her for what she truly is, who wants to see all of her and more of her and none of her. Alicent has been stolen into the Keep by her own father—both of their fathers—but Rhaenyra is the key to this place, is the window to everything barred. Rhaenyra Targaryen has a dragon. Rhaenyra can fly.

That’s what Rhaenyra had promised her once, with her lips pulled back in a grin, exposing the white of her teeth like the violently radiant creature she was. “Perhaps when you grow tired of plotting against me, we shall ride on dragonback together,” she had said. The tease.

Alicent had yanked her into an empty corridor by the silk of her sleeve, ready to chastise her for her ill behavior. Conversing with the lords and ladies of the court at a feast was one thing, but chattering about her bloody encounters in battle over the pudding tureen were another. The lord at her elbow was going green. Alicent’s own face was likely red; her heart raced whenever Rhaenyra got like this. Alicent had never seen the battlefield—only seen battered men in dented armor and the slumps of corpses lined along dirt roads in the aftermath of war—but her own imagination terrified her like nothing else.

(Rhaenyra is better with a sword than half of the knights in Westeros, and more lovely than the lot. Her reign has not yet begun, but already the commoners flock to her—lured in by tales of her beauty and fine hair—and soldiers would follow her into battle. Alicent would not follow, but she would watch and bite her nails down to the quick.

She thinks of the figure Rhaenyra cuts in full armor, the heat in her gaze underneath the slots of her helmet. Alicent remembers the weight of her own hand in Rhaenyra’s—which was gloved—when the princess rode up to the spectators box and grasped it in her own, bringing Alicent’s knuckles to her lips. She thinks of Rhaenyra murdered in the sky, skewered with another man’s sword, plummeting to the ground, torn in half, streaking crimson across the clouds. Alicent would scream, or cry. She might laugh. She would throw herself from the window of her tower. Rhaenyra’s bloody exploits terrified Alicent for reasons she could not identify, and excited her for reasons she refused to.)

“I’d sooner be confined to the castle for the rest of my days than get on the back of that bloody lizard,” Alicent scoffed. Rhaenyra only tucked her hand over Alicent’s, where it was resting on her forearm. She flexed her fingers, moving to release her grip on the dark fabric, but Rhaenyra intertwined their fingers and held them fast.

“You’re confined already. You are already accustomed to such a thing. I know you. But—”

“But you forget yourself. You think you’re invulnerable, Rhaenyra. You don’t know who you are.” Alicent intends for it to be a sneer, but instead it comes out quietly, and too gentle for disdain. She can’t know. Rhaenyra is as trapped as she is, but they’re trapped together. They belong together. She belongs with Alicent.

“I am Rhaenyra Targaryen, Heir to the Iron Throne and all of Westeros. I am a dragonrider. I am—I am your daughter. In a way. Your sister, too. Your enemy. Your sword, your shield.”

“And what am I?” What else is left for me? Alicent wonders.

“My Queen. For now.” Rhaenyra cocks her head, and the gleam in her eyes burns like fire raining down. “When I am Queen, you will be my lady.”

#rhaenicent #rhaenyra targaryen #alicent hightower #house of the dragon #hotd #rhaenyra x alicent #my art #a book show fusion where alicent is the wicked resentful older stepmother first and foremost but even so she and rhaenyra have a connection #burdened by envy and fixation and reluctant affection. in this universe rhaenyra is given more liberties and trains as a knight would #is given a sword and flies into battle frequently and wears extravagant clothes which endears her to the small folk and makes her a hot #topic amongst royalty for her strangeness and charisma. alicent is expression not only of her freedom and expression #but of the company she keeps. rhaenyra has so many lovers and so many who are willing to follow her and it’s just not fair ok. alicent #and rhaenyra understand each other and know each others misery like no other. those other flings and beloved friends are going to get #her killed w how much they indulge her and encourage her dangerous habits and alicent may be in a cage but she won’t live in it alone. with #out her stepdaughter to torment and be tormented by (she represses the urges rhaenyra inspires bc she is devout to the faith) then there is #no meaning to suffering. god she’s in love w her. she hates her so much she wants to be her she wants to be with her she needs to touch her #she need rhaenyra to stop looking at other people bc it’s killing alicent by the day

464 notes · View notes

witheredoffherwitch · 2 months

Text

This debate has reached peak annoyance. Like seriously, WTF? Rhaenyra's entire story revolves around her struggle against the oppressive patriarchy and navigating her own femininity within its confines. Even Emma themselves have pointed this out - but nope, you guys just want to stick with your narrow interpretations of the text. Rhaenyra was named heir, but even then she faced different expectations and challenges because of her gender. It's only natural that she grapples with it throughout the narrative.

It's so funny how Emma and Olivia's insights on their characters are often met with eye-rolls in this fandom - and yet, when the show continues to explore these same themes, you all go back to whining like toddlers in a candy store. Both Rhaenyra and Alicent's gender is at the forefront during the dance as they navigate a world run by men who can't seem to stop warring with each other.

The show may not be perfect, but at least these writers are trying to bring something fresh to the table instead of rehashing the tired, misogynistic showdown between an evil stepmother and a perfect valiant princess.

#rhaenyra targaryen #alicent hightower #if a butch rhaenyra scares you off then good riddance #so far the book snobs have been insufferable #and it is quite evident that most of you can't see past your own biases #rhaenicent #hotd #house of the dragon #hotd fandom #fandom bs

164 notes · View notes