#the dance isn’t just viserys fucking up

[soyboywenzie]

i think we as a fandom need to talk about the fact that the targtower children’s resentment and disdain for rhaenyra is not just the work of viserys lack of parenting but due to everyone else too.

it’s from otto doing everything in his power to stop rhaenyra from getting the throne so his blood can get it, not because he thinks aegon is or would be a good king, not because he thinks his grandson deserves it, but because his blood would take the throne, not rhaenyra’s, not daemon’s. HIS.

it’s from alicent’s every conversation on screen with aegon revolving around rhaenyra. how, in ep.6, his mother stops his session to tell him he needs to be better to his brother in public so we can be a united family against her, how if rhaenyra takes the throne, she’ll have no choice but to kill them to keep her throne, how in ep.8, alicent is mad at his continuous behaviors but only this mad because rhaenyra is about to be in town.

the talk before his coronation is explicitly about how much his father wanted rhaenyra on the throne, how he had twenty years to change it and never did. it’s about alicent telling him not to not be swayed by judgements to kill rhaenyra, how above all the terrible she’s done, she still his sister. yet no one has ever acted like she is.

it’s from aemond’s eye being taken out and it ending with his mother yelling at rhaenyra about duty and sacrifices, how she can do all and never get in trouble, how she does as she pleases and is happy, yet she, the queen, is dutiful and isn’t. aemond’s eye is used to get back at rhaenyra, his mother is mad that his eye is gone but it’s more because RHAENYRA’S sons took it then it being taken at all. how he has to soothe his mother even if he’s the one bleeding.

it’s from criston cole bullying and tormenting rhaenyra’s sons because they are rhaenyra’s sons. It’s about them being lesser because they came from her indecency, them being worse because they came from her. her sons being lower than them because of them being a direct connection to rhaenyra and him feeling mad about not being the one she choose.

the targtower children entire world revolved around rhaenyra. it wasn’t just viserys who preferred her, everyone did! rhaenyra’s stepmother would rather fight her than love them! their mother’s sworn sword would rather mess with her children as an act of vengeance than genuinely be interested in them, their grandfather’s every political move was to stop her husband from being near power. love or hate, those children never had a chance to see rhaenyra on their own before or after Driftmark.

their father, her father, loved her more. their mother, her stepmother, hated her more than she cared for them. their grandfather, who has no connection to her, would rather deal with politics through them against her than for them. their mother’s sworn sword, who was rhaenyra’s sworn sword first, hates her more than he likes them.

these kids, again, never stood a damn chance!!

#house of the dragon #hotd #rhaenyra targaryen #my original work #alicent hightower #otto hightower #criston cole #viserys i targaryen #this family did more damage to rhaenyra’s name more than she did! #‘her bastard…’ that no one cared about but them #‘her husband…’ that they hated more than anyone else in the realm #team black #asoiaf #it started with viserys but it didn’t end with him #they hate her because everyone around them is obsessed with her #with her children. with her husband. with her honor #with her vagina. with her associates. with her maidenhood. #everyone is obsessed with her yet can’t even bat an eye for them #the dance isn’t just viserys fucking up #it’s everyone being fuckin obsessed with her that those obsession negatively impacted the next generation #anti team green #anti alicent hightower #anti otto hightower #anti criston cole

[knightsickness]

rhaenyra and allicent would be in a full cage match to the death over who gets visery's model trains. rhaenyra gets it as a keep sake but is over taken by visery's genes and gets so obsessed with building minis mushroom writes about it. allicent wants it to put in her shrine of shame that she prays to after larys foot time

my biggest issue w a lot of ‘how the dance should have gone <33’ screeds is that they so frequently assume a level of emotional intelligence and modern therapy nobody in the dance was in the same room as their entire lives. ‘rhaenyra and alicent come together and realise all the evil men in their lives are to blame for their not liking each other!’ Like Fuck They Do did viserys fuck over both of them yes would either of them EVERR admit that to anyone least of all themselves theyd literally sooner die

for rhaenyra thats her dad ! she loved him and he loved her and she owes her claim to him his word and the ideal of old valyria his model represents. viserys’ handling of the succession was weak but everything he did wrong ever can be chalked up in her mind to the influence of poisonous advisors he was good and kind and peaceful. if rhaenyra deeps for any length of time that the dance going the way it did was his fault thats upsetting so she just doesnt do that

idk if it’s controversial to say i think hotd alicent did love viserys or wanted more than anything to love viserys bc it made the absolute horrorshow of her life slightly more bearable. she is a woman in a medieval society the workings of it are inside her brain and it isn’t viserys’ fault, really, the situation shes in, is it? or ottos, or anyones, really. its just the way it is. she looks after him she watches him make his models for years its only right to feel fondness for your husband etc etc shes already deep in it and digging

#asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #hotd #house of the dragon #alicent hightower #rhaenyra targaryen #viserys targaryen

[disgraceful-writings]

Meant To Be

Chapter 6

Y/n and Aegon were born on the same day, with velvet eyes and white crowns. Y/n is sent to Oldtown by their mother to keep her pure. What happens when she doesn't return so? How will her twin react?

Y/n was laid in a field of wildflowers. The wind dancing through the tall grass and flowers. The sun kissing her cheeks. Suddenly, a tightness overtook her throat. She began clawing at her throat in an attempt to relieve the pressure, but it seemed in vain. When her vision went black, she rose in her bed, sweat dripping from her hairline. She gasped and looked around her room for reassurance. When she realized she was in her room back at the Keep, she relaxed a bit. Still, she decided to request some wine be sent to her room and put her housecoat on to speak to the guards. However, when she opened the door, Xavier was waiting for her. She screamed and stumbled backwards, crashing into the table. He lunged at her and his hand encircled her throat. “You will never escape me”, he whispered in her ear. 

The princess bolted upright to find a maid trying to shake her awake, “Your grace, are you alright?” Y/n pushed her hands away and tried to adjust her eyes to the morning sun. “How long was I asleep”, the princess asked, while the maid wiped her forehead with a cool cloth. “You slept through dinner and the night, your grace. Your mother asked we let you rest.” Y/n nodded and stood up to be washed of the sweat and dressed by the maids. Afterward, still shaken from her dreams, the princess visited her mother’s chambers. “Y/n, how are you, my love?” Alicent raised both arms to her elder daughter. Y/n sunk into her mother’s hold, “y/n? You look white as a ghost.”

“Mother…I-”, y/n was interrupted by a guard entering the room. “Your grace”, he bowed, “the maester has asked for you in the king’s chambers.” She nodded and looked to her daughter, caressed her cheek, “We will speak later, dear.” Alicent kissed y/n’s forehead and stood to follow the guard to Viserys’s chambers. Y/n watched her walk out of the room and sighed. Will he haunt her forever? She knows she is safe, her uncle made sure of his death, and now she is with her family. Her mother wouldn’t let anything happen while she is within her grasp. She decided to go to the Sept, maybe the gods will bring a sense of calm to her. 

“Stupid, stupid, stupid”, Aegon gradually shouted in his chambers, kicking a candle stand over, then falling onto his bed face first. Why did he have to open his mouth? It isn’t like anyone was asking him to say those things, especially y/n. Y/n…he doesn’t deserve her. She’s too perfect and proper for him. He should just put an heir in her and stick to the whores of flea bottom. That’s all he’s good at. He looked over to the drawer that held his peasant clothes. Not that he needed them, with the white hair and all, and the whores always welcomed their favorite cock…at least the coin that had come with it. He rose from the bed and changed into them. Before climbing out of his window, he secured a pouch of coins to his belt. Tonight, he was going to do as he pleased. 

The prince made his way to flea bottom, specifically one of the more curious whorehouses. After fucking two women, he laid on his back with them cuddled up to his sides, feeding him and keeping his goblet full. He was curious of the woman on display, nude, and inserting the handle of a blade into herself. She was loud and fake, but that didn’t stop his mind wondering how y/n was in bed. “Shall I suck your cock, my prince”, one of the girls asked. He grabbed her by the throat and kissed her deeply, when departed, he whispered, “I’ll put a prince’s bastard in you.” At this she climbed onto his lap, lined him up, and sunk herself onto him. She let out a fake moan like the other girl had been doing, and Aegon huffed, putting his hands on her waist to quicken her pace. When she let out another exaggerated moan, he picked her up off of him and shoved her to the floor, where he stuffed his cock down her throat. 

“Now I don’t have to hear you”, Aegon grunted out, the sounds of her choking being music to his ears. When he finished, he pushed her off of him, collected his clothes, dropped a bag of coins, and left the whorehouse into the morning sun. “Always happy to house our favorite prince for the night”, the madam said as he walked out. He walked towards the Keep, however, he felt the need to go to the Sept. He had never cared for the gods, why would they be calling him of all people? At the last turn, he decided to go to the Sept. The room was dark and musty smelling. People shuffled around like they couldn’t make noise for fear the gods would strike them where they stand. Then he saw her, y/n was on her knees, praying to the gods. What would she need to pray to the gods for? 

Then he noticed the tear stains on her cheeks and the quiet sobs threatening to leave her mouth as she whispered her prayer.

Y/n heard someone walking in her direction and suddenly turned to them. Aegon. What is he doing here?

“Y/n”, Aegon looked puzzled, “are you alright?”

Y/n hadn’t noticed she was crying until he changed her thoughts. She turned back to the candles and said, “yes. I just felt the power of the gods come over me.” She wiped her tears with the backs of her hands. 

“I don’t believe you.” She looked scared and small to him. He decided to sit beside her with his back to the table holding all the candles. She looked into his eyes, but stayed quiet. His hand reached to wipe her cheek of a fresh tear, and she fell into him, sobbing. He just held her, not knowing what to do for her. 

When she had calmed a bit, she pushed herself off of him, “Sorry, I-.” She couldn’t finish her sentence, or she would cry again. She stood and started walking back to the keep. Aegon quickly rose and caught up to her quickly. Holding onto her arms, out of breath from getting up so quickly, “Y/n, what’s wrong?” She opened her mouth, however, no words could exit. She just stared into his eyes. Could she trust him? With her mind intact currently, she decided to get a proper look at him. He smells of wine and sex, he just came from flea bottom. Maybe he is as cruel and sick as the people say. “Prince Aegon, Princess Y/n, your mother has requested your presence”, the guard who had come with y/n said after receiving word from another.

Taglist : @watercolorskyy, @xitsemm, @d3nny,

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Masterlist

#aegon ii fanfic #aegon targaryen ii #aegon ii #aegon ii targaryen #hotd aegon ii #aegon ii fic #aegon ii x reader #aegon ii x you #Aegon ii smut #Aegon ii brainrot #Aegon ii targaryen brainrot #aegon ii targaryen fanfic #prince aegon ii targaryen #prince aegon ii #aegon ii targaryen fanfiction #prince aegon ii targaryen fanfiction #king aegon ii targaryen #aegon targeryen ii fanfic #aegon targeryan ii fanfiction #prince aegon targaryen ii #king aegon targaryen ii #aegon ii x y/n #aegon targaryen the second #aegon the second

[blackcat419]

I’m a real blogger I got my first hate comment 🥹

This is from my post about Jaehera’s death and her deserving better.

I’ll admit where I’m wrong, the dance isn’t based entirely off the war of the roses but more about Empress Matilda/Maude and her cousin Stephen of Blois during the time called the Anarchy. This war is actually about sexism keeping a woman off the throne in favor of her male family member and ends with her son inheriting the throne as her cousin’s heir. The similarities are Matilda’s young brother dying young and her father naming her heir with the lords swearing to follow her. But unlike Viserys, her father doesn’t remarry and cause an entire succession crisis. The war of the roses influence comes from both sides fearing their complete destruction so the other side won’t have claimants threatening their rule later on.

On to the other points of your ‘argument’.

1. Team green is salty that the blacks carry on the targ line.

Nope, I’m anti Targaryens as they are terrible rulers who end their own dragons, kingdom, and dynasty through pure stupidity (I know there’s more than them being stupid but shhh).

Rhaenyra’s line gave us Aegon the unworthy and the black fire rebellions along with the war of the 9 penny kings which did way more danage to the kingdom than any other conflict. You also get Aerys the mad king, Daeron the young dragon who gets himself killed cause he thought he could beat the dornish, Baelon the blessed a man so chaste he literally locks his sisters up so he won’t fuck them, and Rhaegar a man so obsessed with prophecy he runs away with a teenager and leaves his wife and children to be viciously murdered.

2. You don’t hate Jaehera, you just make fun of her for how we react.

What the fuck kind of reasoning is that? You make fun of a kids death cause people care?? Wow. Just wow.

3. A family continues a dynasty so there for they’re right.

I guess Tywin is the greatest of all time cause his grandkids get to be kings without any Baratheon blood.

Also that means that Vaemond was right cause his Granddaughter got to be queen.

4. Complain to George.

Nah the old man has enough distractions and doesn’t need to be bothered with this.

5. My three strong boys are the reeaaaly innocents.

Hah. Jace and Luke are not innocent. Luke cut out Aemonds eye and Jace was a big part of the war effort.

Jeoffrey, Jaehearys, and Maelor are completely innocent. Jeoffrey was killed by his mom’s dragon, Jaehearys was killed by Daemon’s assassins, and Maelor was killed on Rhaenyra’s orders.

So anyways hope we learned a valuable lesson on fuck around and find out. See y’all next time!

#house of the dragon #hotd #hotd discussion #team green #anti team black #tw team black #Jaehera Targaryen #jaehearys targaryen #maelor targaryen #justice for Jaehera #justice for Jaehearys #justice for Maelor #jace velaryon #luke velaryon #Jeoffrey valaryon #Luke deserved it

[incandescentlysomething]

Lady of the Ashes: Chapter 5

House of the Dragon Season 1

Aemond x TargaryenOC

Chapter Word Count: 4012

She was his everything… For her…he would do anything.

From the moment of her birth, Aemond Targaryen swore himself to the protection of his niece Aelinor Velaryon. As the two grew up inseparable, they find themselves entangled in the Dance of Dragons, battling to stay together even as their families try to pull them apart.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Cross posted on A03

Let me know what you think!

Masterlist A03

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 P.1 P.2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5

Aelinor was beaming when she finally reached the chambers that had been allotted to her family. After nine long years, her reunion with Aemond had been everything she had hoped for. And Aemond…well he was certainly more than she had hoped for.

But when she stepped through the doors, she found her family sulking in tense silence.

“Whatever has happened?” She asked, causing her mother to look up from her seat. 

“Our meeting with the Queen did not go as planned.” Rhaenyra sighed.

“And the King?” Aelinor moved to take baby Viserys from the nursemaid, holding her half-brother close to her chest.

Rhaenyra clenched her fist, looking toward where Daemon stood in the window. “My father is…not well.”

Aelinor frowned at that, easily bouncing the baby on her hip. She did not like to hear that her grandfather was unwell, though she couldn’t pretend that it was a surprise. His health had not been good for as long as she had known him. But it saddened her to think of the man who had taught her to paint marble figurines and who had always had a seat for her on his knee as suffering and in pain.

Daemon smacked the wall loudly, causing everyone to flinch. “That green bitch has let Viserys rot, all the while she paints the halls with her damned piety. It’s borderline treason.”

Aelinor lifted her skirt as she made her way to a small sofa, setting Viserys down before sitting next to Lucerys. “Well this isn’t good.”

“They’ve been like this since we got back,” He whispered. “You’re just lucky that you missed the screaming.”

“There was screaming?” She raised an eyebrow. “I’m almost disappointed to have missed it.”

A hand wrapped around her shoulders, and she nearly screamed as Jacaerys pulled her back against his chest. “Where the fuck did you come from?”

He snorted, leaning over the back of the couch to hold onto her. “You said you were almost disappointed, sister. Would that ‘almost’ have something to do with who you were talking to?”

“Jace!” She hissed. “Shut your—”

“What is this, Aelinor?” Her mother asked, both of her parents now staring at her. “You were talking to someone?”

She winced. It wasn’t that she wanted to keep Aemond a secret, only that she knew her parents would not be pleased to see her take up with him again. They weren’t children anymore, and if their parents had seen no issues in them being close as children, it would be impossible to avoid the political implications now.

“Yes,” she coughed. “Lord Vaemond. He was arriving just as I went to meet the boys in the yard.”

“Oh,” Her mother relaxed. “And did he…say anything about this entire affair?”

Luc tensed beside her, and she reached around the baby to pat his leg. “No, Mother. Or, nothing more than some low-effort jibes. But we were in the training yard, so I doubt he would have started anything.”

“I wouldn’t put anything past him,” Rhaenyra sighed.

“Who else were you talking to, Aelinor?” Jace teased, unwilling to let the matter go.

She shook off his grip and reached back to smack him on the head. “Gods, you are insufferable. Can’t you just keep—”

“Who else, Aelinor?” Rhaenyra asked.

Aelinor sighed, picking at the fabric of her skirt. Lying was not in her nature, but she could tell just from the stiff set of her mother’s mouth, and how Daemon loomed behind her, that this was not something that they would just brush aside.

“I was speaking to Aemond,” she said finally. “We met him in the yard.”

“And then he chased after her because—”

Aelinor threw a fist back, catching her elder brother in the shoulder. “I hate you.”

“You adore me.” He snickered.

“Children!” Her mother snapped. “This is serious. What did you speak of with Aemond, Aelinor?”

“Nothing,” She insisted. “We haven’t seen each other in nine years, we were just catching up.”

“You two used to be joined at the hip, and you expect me to believe that you were just catching up?” There was nothing accusatory in her mother’s voice, only something like resignation.

“Truly, mother.” She insisted. “He is…he is my friend. I don’t know what else you expect.”

Daemon scoffed, and Aelinor was unable to bite her tongue.

“What should I have told him, Prince Daemon?” She demanded. “Perhaps how you have Luc and Jace practicing battle formations on dragonback? Or should I just outright accused his mother of treachery, as you have just done?”

“Aelinor!” Her mother protested.

“You should mind your tongue,” Daemon frowned. “I do not expect you to understand why—”

“I understand plenty!” Aelinor stood. “I know that we are here to support Lucerys’ claim, and I know that both of you fear that your time away from court has irreparably damaged our reputations. But surely it does no one any good for us to come in with our armor up. As if we have something to hide.”

“We have nothing to hide.” Rhaenyra insisted.

“Exactly!” Aelinor closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. “I only think that the best thing we can do is to act like we belong. I don’t see how this scheming and sniping can get anything done.”

“Scheming and sniping is how kings are made.” Daemon said. “However unfortunate that may be.”

“Then I leave you to it.” She said. “But I will have no part.”

“You already have a part in it!” Daemon began. “Just by existing, you validate your—”

“Daemon!” Rhaenyra held up a hand. She carefully eased herself out of her chair, one hand on her stomach. “Aelinor, we talked about this.”

“We talked about presenting a united front.” Aelinor said, “I fail to see how this is undermining that. As far as the court should be concerned, we are family.”

Rhaenyra took a deep breath, steadying herself. “That notion is not incorrect.”

Aelinor was a little surprised to hear that admission. She had expected more resistance, considering how heartily everyone had resisted her friendship with Aemond when they were children. “Truly?”

“Truly.” Her mother nodded. “You are a woman now, Aelinor, and I will not harp on your every move. I only implore you to remember your family in all this.”

“Of course I will, Mother.” She gave a small smile.

“And,” Rhaenyra added. “Remember that, as you are no longer a child, the implications of your friendship with Aemond may be…different than before.”

Luc and Jace snickered, and Aelinor whirled to glare at them.

“I understand, Mother.” She smiled, some of her satisfaction fading at the look Daemon leveled her. 

“Now I must rest,” Rhaenyra said. “I think I shall take dinner in my chamber this evening. We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow.”

The children all watched as Daemon helped Rhaenyra from the room, collecting the small children before they left and leaving the older ones to fend for themselves for dinner. It made sense, as all of them were exhausted from the day and would relish the opportunity to relax in solitude.

As soon as her parents were out of sight, Aelinor turned to glare at Jace. “You couldn’t keep your mouth shut?”

“Not when teasing you is so fun.” He laughed.

“You’re an ass.” She shook her head. “Luc, you continue to be my favourite.”

Luc beamed. “You’re my favourite too.”

“And you’re both pathetic.” Jace rolled his eyes. “I’m going to go unpack and then return to the training yard. I’ll see you both later.”

Aelinor gave him a crude gesture as he left. Once he was gone, she dropped back onto the couch next to Luc. He reached out and played with a piece of her hair, something she could remember him doing when he was only a babe.

“It’s strange, being back here.” He said quietly. “Everything feels different.”

“It does. But I think we’re different too.” She replied. “Maybe we just need to give ourselves time to settle in.”

“Maybe,” He hummed. “At least you have Aemond. Was it nice to see him again?”

‘Nice’ didn’t even begin to describe her elation at seeing Aemond. “It…yes,it was nice.”

“That’s good.” Luc looked down at the hair twining his fingers. 

“Chin up,” Aelinor nudged him. “Things will get better. We all used to be friends, once. We can be friends again.”

Luc shook his head. “Aegon is…he’s something else now. And Aemond was never our friend.”

“What? Of course he was.”

“No, Aelinor, he wasn’t.” Luc sighed. “He only ever liked you. He hated us. And with good reason.”

“His own brother teased him as much as you or Jace did.” Aelinor frowned, remembering how they used to torment him. She had hated it, even hating her brothers some days for what they did. Now that she was older, she knew that it was just boys being cruel, and that she couldn’t hold it against them. Surely Aemond wouldn’t either.

“Yes, but…” Luc trailed off.

“But what?” She prompted.

“I’m the one who cut out his eye.”

Aemond was waiting outside the library as the sun set, pretending to study the fading light on the horizon as he paced back and forth. She wasn’t late — in fact he was early — but his nerves were already standing on end. What if she didn’t come? He knew that if it were up to Aelinor, she would be there, but there were any number of things that might stop her. One of her brothers could turn her against him, or her mother might forbid her from meeting him.

He had no doubt that his own mother would have tried to prevent their dinner, which was why he had avoided his family all day. This was beyond them, and it was something they would never understand. 

“Aemond!” He turned toward her voice, and his mouth went dry.

Aelinor was rushing down the hallway with hurried steps, holding her skirt above her ankles as her shoes clicked against the stone. She had changed into a new dress, this one of a dark purple velvet that cut closely to her figure, betraying the slope of her waist and the shape of her hips. Her hair was unbound, flowing like liquid silver as she ran toward him.

“I’m so sorry I’m late!” She exclaimed, coming to a stop in front of him. “I had to wait for Jace to be in his chambers so that I could sneak away.”

He had to swallow a few times before he regained the ability to speak. “Will he give you trouble?”

She waved her hand. “Nothing serious, he just likes to tease. Besides, Luc agreed to cover for me.”

The thought of Jacaerys and Lucerys filled him with something between rage and jealousy. For nine years he had seethed at the thought of them spending time with her, of them not appreciating her for what she was. Now she was here, with him, and yet her brothers seemed ever-present.

But he forced his face to remain passive, extending a hand to Aelinor with a small bow. “Well then, shall we?”

“Oh, we shall!” Aelinor beamed, grabbing his hand in hers. She ignored the proper etiquette, which would have demanded that she gently place her fingers in his, allow him to bow over it, and then quickly resume an appropriate distance. Instead she entwined her fingers through his, holding him tightly in her grip. It made Aemond’s head spin as he rose out of his bow. This was all so easy for her, to just fall into how things used to be, when all he could think about was how much things had changed.

He opened the door to the library, allowing her to step through first before following. She let their joined hands fall to her side, his knuckles brushing the soft velvet of her dress.

The King’s library was one of Aemond’s favourite places in the castle, and it had been since he was a child. The looming shelves cast a dark shadow across the room, which on a normal night would create an almost unsettling atmosphere. But the first thing Aelinor saw when she stepped into the room was the small table set up in front of the large picture window, with dozens of small candles propped up on piles of books to accentuate the light of the moon. It had taken Aemond close to an hour to get everything perfect, but from the smile on Aelinor’s face, he had succeeded.

“Aemond, this is wonderful!” She exclaimed, letting her hand slide from his as she rushed forward, spinning around to take it all in. “However did you manage all this?”

“A prince has his ways,” He said with false bravado.

She gave a little snort, quickly covering her mouth as she looked away. He grinned, deciding to let that pass without teasing her. 

“You’re ridiculous,” She shook her head.

“Only the best,” He stepped past her and pulled out a chair. “Princess?”

With an exaggerated swish of her skirts, Aelinor dropped into the chair. He had removed the heavy oak table, shoving it into one of the aisles out of sight, and pushed one of the smaller study tables up against the window bench. When they were younger, they had spent many hours curled up on that bench while Aemond read stories to her, but he had opted for two chairs this time.

He grabbed the rolling cart from one of the aisles, pouring some wine into both of their glasses before filling a third glass with some sweet ale, which he set in front of her. Only then did he sit in his own seat.

Aelinor was studying the spread of food on the cart, which was laden with enough bread, meat, cheese and desserts to feed a small village.

“You intend to serve us yourself?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Of course,” He took a sip of his wine. “We can’t very well keep this a secret if I have a flight of servants waiting on us.”

She glanced toward the table, with its silver place settings, and then to the many candles flickering around them. “And these?”

“All done by myself,” He added. “I didn’t cook, obviously, but the cook is hardly going to reveal us.”

She was silent for a long moment, and he worried that perhaps he had gone too far. He knew that his brother would ridicule him for putting in this much work, for spending an hour arranging candles and folding napkins, but he had strived to make everything perfect.

But Aelinor just smiled. “It is exceptional. You have given me quite the challenge to beat you next time.”

Next time . The thought filled him with warmth.

Aelinor took a sip of her ale, turning to look out the window. “The city hasn’t changed.”

“Did you expect it to?” He asked.

She shook her head. “I’m not sure. But I think it’s reassuring, in a way. That no matter how much else is different, the view from the library is the same.”

“I suppose that’s true. But what all do you think has changed?”

Aelinor hummed, considering her answer. Aemond took the opportunity to begin serving some of the bread and cheese, serving it smoothly onto their plates.

“Everything and nothing has changed.” She said finally. “The halls are the same, but the tapestries are different. The Kingsguard is the same, but some of the knights are new. And the courtiers still whisper and scheme, but I’m more aware of it now. So perhaps that hasn’t changed, and only I have. And you…”

He looked up quickly. “I have changed?”

She nodded slowly. “You have.”

He felt his heart drop from his chest. Was this it, then? Had she finally seen him for what he had become, and she was turning away? Perhaps the whispers of the court had already reached her and turned her mind.

Aelinor saw the worry on his face, and reached across the table to squeeze his wrist. “You have changed, Aemond. You’re even better than I remembered.”

Gods, was he blushing. Embarrassment flooded him, and he coughed quickly to hide it. “You don’t wear your glove anymore.”

Aelinor lifted her injured hand, letting the draped fabric of the sleeve fall away to reveal the injury. “I do, just not if I can help it. I’m sure I’ll wear one to the ball tomorrow.”

“You shouldn’t if you don’t want to.” He insisted. 

She smiled. “Then maybe I won’t.”

They fell into comfortable silence as they ate the first part of their meal, each of them sneaking glances when they thought the other wasn’t looking.

Aelinor spread some soft cheese on her bread, peering around the empty library. “This room doesn’t seem to get much use anymore.”

“No,” Aemond admitted. “I come when I can, but only the Maesters visit to maintain it.”

“Hm,” She frowned. “And my Grandfather?”

Aemond shook his head. “I have not seen him well enough to get out of bed in several months. He has not visited in…a long time.”

Aelinor turned her head, studying a set of heavy mahogany doors. “His chambers are right through there?”

“Yes.”

“And he is not even well enough to travel to the next room,” She sighed. “It is…it saddens me to hear it.”

“It saddens us all,” Aemond agreed, not liking the melancholy expression that had overcome her face. “But you must tell me more of you, Lina.”

“Like what?”

“Like…” He searched for something to distract her. “Darrax. You are flying now? What is he like?”

The thought of her dear dragon caused a bright smile to spread across her face. “Darrax is…he is a dream. He was ever so patient when I was learning to fly, and now he is a positive beast, in the best of ways.”

“He’s grown, then?” 

“Yes. He is only slightly smaller than Vermithor. Though truthfully he still grows, and I have not seen Vermithor in several years.”

“But he’s bigger than the dragons your brothers have?”

Aelinor gave him a sly look. “Of course he is. Did you ever doubt it?”

“Certainly not,” Aemond popped a bite of cheese in his mouth. “He’s bonded to a true Targaryen princess, I would expect nothing less.”

It took him a moment to realize what he had said, and by then Aelinor’s eyes had only darkened.

“That was unkind, Aemond.” She said quietly.

“I did not mean…” He said hurriedly. “Only that you are…and that they are…”

“I know what you meant, Aemond.” She sighed. “May I be frank with you?”

“Always.” He was internally cursing himself for letting his inner thoughts slip. These years at court, far away from the Princess Rhaenyra’s family, had made him forget himself.

“I know what people say about us, about my mother and my brothers,” She began, excluding herself from the group. “And there is not much I can do to stop it. But I would hope for better from you. If only out of…out of your affection for me.”

“I swear, Lina. I only meant—”

“I know you are loyal to your mother, and perhaps even to your brother, but I had hoped that—”

“Lina!” He exclaimed, reaching across the table. Her hand was too far away for him to reach, which was probably for the best. “I swear, my loyalty…there is nothing that could compete with my affection for you.”

That was dangerously close to a declaration, and both of them knew it.

Aemond slowly drew his hand back across the table. “May I ask you a question? One that is perhaps a bit…frank?”

“Of course you may,” Her wide violet eyes were sparkling with the candlelight.

Aemond swallowed, trying to organize the jumble of thoughts in his mind. “Is it…only we had heard rumours…about you and Jacaerys.”

“Oh,” She glanced down at her lap. “Yes. It would seem so.”

His fingernails dug into the table. “And you…you’re happy with this?”

Gods, if she said she was unhappy to be marrying Jace, he wasn’t sure what he might do. He might censor himself around Aelinor, but there was no way that that grubby bastard deserved her. 

Aelinor just shrugged. “It is my mother’s wish, and I am willing to do what she asks.”

“But are you happy?”

“Was Aegon happy to marry Helaena?”

He saw the point she was trying to make, but if she knew the truth of it, knew what kind of a leech his brother had become, or how wretchedly unhappy Helaena was, she would not be drawing the comparison. 

‘If you…if you didn’t want to…”

“Then I’m sure my mother would respect that choice,” Aelinor said, and he sensed that she honestly believed that. “It’s alright, Aemond.”

It wasn’t even close to alright, but he had to pretend that it was. For her. He had to pretend that he wasn’t fighting the urge to run Jacaerys through with his sword, and Lucerys too, just for good measure. 

“But enough about me,” Aelinor said. “Tell me of Vhagar. You had only ridden her once the last time we saw each other.”

It was easy to let her change the subject, though the thought of her and Jace loomed in his mind as they dissolved into easy conversation that carried them well into the night. Eventually Aelinor migrated from her chair to the cushioned window seat, gesturing impatiently until Aemond took a seat at her side.

She rested her cheek on the cold window, sighing happily. Aemond stared, trying to memorize her features. She was content and a bit sleepy, but still smiling brightly as she looked at the dull lights of King’s Landing below them, and he found that he wanted to remember her forever.

“Are you happy to be back?” He asked quietly.

She shifted closer, her thigh brushing against his knee. “I don’t know that I’ve ever been this happy.” She admitted. “It’s like coming home.”

“I’ve missed you so much,” He whispered.

“Gods, I’ve missed you too.” She lifted her head to face him. “I honestly thought that we might never see each other again.”

“But we did. We have.” His fingers traced over her injured hand, gliding up her wrist before gently lacing his fingers through hers. “You can’t imagine how empty this place has been without you.”

“Can’t I?” She chuckled. “Try being at Dragonstone. With only Luc and J—”

“Don’t talk about them.” He frowned. 

“Why Aemond,” Aelinor teased, leaning closer. “Are you jealous?”

He felt himself being drawn in, until they were only a breath apart. “Always, Lina. Always.”

Her eyes were fluttering closed, her face shifting until he felt her nose brush against his. Another second, another breath and they would be—”

The heavy mahogany door creaked behind them, and they jerked away.

“What was that?” Aelinor exclaimed.

Aemond jumped up and studied the door to his father’s chambers. It was firmly closed, but still, someone must have opened it for it to have made a sound. It was too heavy to creak in a passing draft.

“It must have been one of the maesters.” He said finally. “I’m sure it’s fine.”

“If they saw…” Aelinor began. 

If they saw what they had been about to do. How close Aemond had just come to ruining Aelinor’s reputation. She was engaged, and he had almost…almost…

Gods, why hadn’t he kissed her. 

“I’ll track them down in the morning,” He promised. “But I’m sure we have nothing to worry about.”

Aelinor didn’t look convinced, but she nodded anyway. Standing slowly from the bench, she smoothed out her dress. “I should get back.”

It was past midnight, and tomorrow was the ball. He shouldn’t have kept her this long, and yet he hadn’t been able to help himself.

“I’ll walk you back to your chambers.”

“No, someone might see,” She sighed, reaching out to give his hand a squeeze. “Thank you, Aemond. Tonight was perfect.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Of course you will,” She smiled. “Save me a dance?”

“Always.”

#house of the dragon #hotd #aemond x oc #aemond fanfiction #aemond targaryen #aemond one eye #fanfiction #fanfic #lady of the ashes

[atopvisenyashill]

If you had the chance to change something about the dance of the dragons (TV show or book), what would it be? For example, how a character dies, which team a house is on,or an entire character personally. How would you change it to make the story better, in your opinion? 💙💚🖤♥️

JUST ONE THING. ANON U R A SADIST.

aksjdjd no okay thank you great ask. sorry if it’s a lil all over the place, i think obsessively about how i would adapt f&b and asoiaf if i was a millionaire lmao.

for the show it’s so easy (besides just giving it like ten more episodes to cook before getting to the Dance, I mean) - lean into the dueling protagonists of alicent & rhaenyra by giving them dueling deuteragonists in aegon ii and jacaerys. i realize this would completely reframe the whole show lmao, but we can even compromise and say once they do that ten year skip, the narrative should focus in on building up the two sides through the dueling protagonists alicent & rhaenyra, and dueling deuteragonists aegon & jace. it makes way more sense to have the character they most interact with be their sons & “heirs” and contrast those relationships & all the politics that exist in how they act as mothers towards their sons. rather than focus in on daemon as the second main character for rhaenyra and…this weird fucking musical chairs male protagonist with the greens they’re doing. it doesn’t fix everything but i think shifting the focus from rhaenyra’s marriages to her as a mother and queen regnant, and from alicent’s conga line of abuses to again, an active role as a mother and queen consort/queen mother, as well as fleshing out the two men who are objectively thee most important men in their lives (argue with the wall jace & aegon haters!!!!). explaining why jace & aegon developed into the sort of men they are through how they exist in the most important relationship in their lives, literally until the day they both die. (and if you’re curious, daemon’s counterpart is aemond, they get to be number three for both their sides. viserys isn’t on a “team” but he does have a counterpart and it’s QOREN).

i think the way they did it in the show really does a disservice to the potential of aegon and especially jacaerys as characters, as well as downplaying the importance of a lot of critical relationships like rhaewin, laenyra, criston’s entire demented relationship with both women, rhaenys’ relationship with laena & rhaenyra, alicent’s whole ass relationship with her kids, AND rhaenyra’s whole ass relationship with her kids. imo they go for this kind of half in half out “we want to appeal to the insane targ stans who genuinely believe incest will save westeros” and “we want to write a story about the complexities of motherhood & sexuality in a patriarchal society” and wound up in a weird place where daemon & alicent are both bisexual but only in deleted scenes and completely drop rhaenyra’s gender fuckery the moment she’s played by an actually non-binary actor and also completely bury the other non-binary actor (rhaena’s actor, phoebe campbell) by giving their character like two fucking lines and no depth.

also better wigs jesus FUCKING christ hbo i know you have the budget!!

for the books….a lot of the problem with the dance is that f&b is so antithetical to how george writes. it’s effectively a very long and detailed outline of a plot and george doesn’t write exclusively by outline. as he says himself, he gardens - he writes and he sees where the writing takes him. if he had actually sat down and written out the dance as a series of short stories the way he does with dunk & egg, i think the plot would not only be massively different it would also be leaps and bounds better. what i want to change is to make george actually WRITE the dance and not just outline and call it a day!!!!

BUT. Okay if I can change ONE thing. fuck that’s hard.

I’d make Larys’ motivation more clear, and when i say more clear i mean my theory is that Larys just straight up hated the Targaryens and Velaryons bc he believed one of them killed Harwin, and decided to get revenge by completely fucking over the whole family tree. i get why people like his show version (I like parts of him a lot too and the actor has some galaxy brained takes!!!) but i think while Larys is well done, his character adaption & the way he’s completely unknowable in the series itself is just a rehash of Tyrion. We already have a disabled younger brother who hates his older brother for being condescending in his love & conditional acceptance, and hates his father for being a patriarchal monster, and is a sexually abusive menace to teenage girls, and I don’t think they are saying anything new or groundbreaking with Larys in the show or book. He is just there to be the evil crippled henchman, and then die.

No, what I want is a true chaos agent to rival Littlefucker, a man who becomes obsessively and uncomfortably devoted to Harwin, the only person in his entire life who ever treated him with any love or respect or care, who launches this bloody, demented quest to completely wipe out every Valyrian left alive for the misuse and murder of his brother. Willing to help kill his own nephews. Willing to burn the kingdom to the ground. Willing to destroy his own house if it means Harwin will be avenged, if it means the dragons die. All leading to Larys getting his Pyrrhic victory and choosing to die because he feels he has nothing left.

Why the extreme change? I think it fits better with a lot of the themes in F&B and the dance in particular - not just family, and “the things we do for love” but the legacy of Valyria, of the Targaryens and the dragons, the clash and growing pains of this group of interlinked cultures learning to tolerate each other’s existence on the same continent, and of course, what being told every day of your life that you’re a monster does to how you view yourself. You can keep all the rest of his weird behavior from the show and the books even - the sexual abuse of Alicent being Larys unable to stop himself from turning into the same sort of awful man his father was; of him switching sides without a care or without any seeming sense in the books, always ready to be the devil on a shoulder to Viserys, Aegon, Alicent, and Corlys - but a little bit here and there to let us know that Larys genuinely loved Harwin until the bitter end. We already have several stories about a brother who grows to resent another and lets the resentment fester until he’s willing to cross a line you can’t come back from and murder his brother for a perceived sleight. I think Larys & the dance as a whole benefit from him being a brother who romanticizes and saintifies Harwin (but not lyonel!) so much that he weaponizes his years of resentment & turns it against the entire world and damn the consequences. I think he fits in much more with Rhaenyra, Alicent, Corlys, Viserys, Daemon, and Rhaenys that way and steps away from being Tyrion but slightly to the left and into his own type of character instead.

#if i can get a buy one get one i want to reimagine mysaria as well bc like larys she’s just a rehash of varys but worse. #hotd critical #asks #anons #you can even KEEP the clumsy angry protectiveness of harwin in the show or the relative distance in their narratives in the books #bc the point is that larys romanticizes this relationship bc it is the only thing that resembles love he has ever experienced. #how harwin acts doesn’t matter; what matters is that larys turns him into a shining example of the warrior and father in his mind & losing #this touchstone breaks him open just like rhaenyra alicent viserys etc all break at their own losses. it’s just that larys is smarter and #plays the game better and actually accomplished his goal before he let the war eat him alive! #damn i should add house strong to my list of blorbo houses aksjdjd

[writingsofwesteros]

Imagine

While Jace is starting to fuck Alicent for the first time

She’s trying to hold firm as she always did, but she’s struggling with his…. size. And the strength in his thrusting.

Jace is just completely lost in the feeling of being inside her. Squeezing her breasts and kissing her neck. But then he angles himself. And hits a point inside Alicent that makes her yelp and moan.

That he notices. Now he knows he’s got her.

He shifts his position, puts her legs over his shoulders, and pounds hard into it. Allicent is clutching the sheets. Trying so hard just to keep her composure and failing miserably. The shame…. This young bastard man! Relentlessly pounding the cunt of his former queen, fucking her with the intent to fill her womb, as if he has any business doing so!

Through her moans she actually starts praying to the seven. But her prayers come out more…. lewdly than she wishes they would. Jace teases her again. Starts describing the feeling of her clenching on his cock. And then the bastard begins rubbing her clit.

It’s all over for the poor woman then.

She’s yelping and moaning. He’s going too fast, he’s stretching her too much, her body is too sensitive, oh she begs him to stop but it comes out as more moaning. She’s finally losing composure.

Jace shifts the position again. Until he’s using his strength to half hold her in the air while he slams her down on his cock. Her slender body shakes. Her head thrown back. It’s simply too much!

Jace won’t just finish in her once….

But the first time he does, he makes sure to pull out. So she can watch his semen leak from her. And know EXACTLY what that means. There’s no going back now.

It isn’t until dawn that former Queen Allicent is spared. When it ends she’s covered in sweat. Panting like some dog. Her long waves of hair completely disheveled. Her body lying on the bed and twitching slightly. But the worst is her cunt. Aching and throbbing from the relentless penetration. Ever so slightly gaping. And worst of all, she feels the bastard seed of Jacerys leaking from it. She could scarcely keep up with the stamina of the young man. And the sheer amount he finished inside her….

With Viserys it was simple. Especially as he got older. Lift her nightgown a little. Put it in. Gave a steady pace of thrusting. Spent a little in her. The end. Jace couldn’t have been more different. He had been ferocious

Alicent can hardly think straight at all. The only thing she’s certain of… until her womb begins to swell, she’ll be expecting many more visits such as this

POOR THING

Jace is enjoying himself a little too much, he's never seen Alicent so out of control and its become a sight he's addicted to. As well as the tight, creamy pussy he so desperately wants to return to.

Still, Alicent stares away from him; lying on her side as Jace debates staying. No, not yet...its too soon.

"I am sure you need to rest..." His taunting words are whispered into her ear and Jace can't help himself. He leans in and messily captures her soft lips; dancing with her tongue as he takes her breath away.

#sons for sons

[corviids]

in retrospect, it would tactically make more sense for lucemond to NOT remain neutral.

summerhall isn't.... hereditary yet. since the next generation hasn't inherited the seat, there is no precedent there for summerhall to continue in their family line beyond the initial declaration by viserys. essentially, they could lose it all in one generation if the crown, whoever comes out on top after the dance, choses to have summerhall revert back to the throne.

ofc, they would fight and argue and try to protect their claim but considering how essential both luke and aemond are to their respective family camps, whoever wins will be (understandably) pissed off with them and look for a way for them to hurt, and what better way than to take away their home, income, lands and pride?

it would make sense for them to appease BOTH sides and keep them adequately pleased while playing a complex game of envoy-raven-political checkers shitshow where they don't have to exactly declare for one side, only make each of them think that they or on their side. and everytime they are asked to participate in the war, they could bring up their young kids, summerhall's relative isolation or even creaky fucking joints as an excuse.

they would need to have the mirage of political alignment without actually doing anything comprehensive for either of the camps, if only for the future of their line.

if lucemond were to declare neutrality, it wouldn’t be overt. like you said, it’d be an act of appeasing both side — saying something without actually saying anything.

where summerhall lucks out is in the fact that if the dance were to be won by either side, they have the leverage (for lack of a better word) of their kids. if rhaenyra won, i don’t envision her stripping her own son and grandchildren of what is technically now their birthright because luke didn’t want to put himself or them in harms way. on the flip side, if aegon won — yes he is definitely more unhinged and unpredictable but lucemond are now in possession of really the only dragons and i think they, with help from alicent, would manage to keep summerhall going to aenys whether it be through a marriage or just convincing aegon cuz he really isn’t the politically savvy type. even if he wanted to take it from aemond, i don’t envision that going well.

but yeah, lucemond aren’t tyrell neutral, they’d be war of ravens “summerhall has nothing to offer” type.

tho again, that’s if they stayed neutral lol

#asks

[pterodactylterrace]

Team Black and their fantasy of a happy family...they cannot assume that even if Rhaenyra had reigned, her eldest sons would not have inherited the throne. Speaking of the book, her two sons with Daemon were legitimate, and practically any man in Westeros would prefer his own sons on the throne that his wife's BASTARD children, this word offends them too much, there are characters in this saga who are bastards and I love them and I do not deny their origin by trying to justify that they are not using purely modern assumptions like adoption. Daemon was a medieval man, with his daughter as consort, his name does not last on the throne (in the book there is nothing mentioned that there would be a change of name, which makes sense since if the Velaryons endured so much humiliation it is because at least their name, and through their granddaughters their blood, would end up on the Iron Throne and Driftmark), there would be a change of dynasty, however with his son on the throne his legacy would endure, this man waited years to have a son of his own as well as mentioned in the book and he was not going to let three false velaryon keep the throne that he had always coveted...It is very obvious, they immediately accuse you of bastardphobia and misogyny but the truth is that we are analyzing a work where society was misogynist and hated bastards, they have to be very stupid to judge people and their thoughts on today's society because they analyze a work in its context. If the dance had not taken place, the conflict would have been between Rhaenyra's children, since she made their positions as bastards even more vulnerable when she had legitimate Targaryen sons, I do not know if there would be war or if Daemon would kill them first. Many say that would never happen because Rhaenyra would make Syrax kill Daemon...they give too much credit to her intelligence, plus we are talking about a lady who did not kill Alicent after saying that her children were just bastard blood...Literally this lady would not even consider that it was Daemon and would deceive herself about it (she was too similar to her father Viserys in many ways) But well, you will always get team blanks and their four usual insults because they analyze this work as if the characters were part of the woke culture of the 21st century, they fix everything with Daemon girldad and Baela, his favorite would be queen, but the truth is that even though he had two daughters, this man still wanted a son, he was not a feminist and if he supported Rhaenyra's claim it was because HE was interested.

You are absolutely correct on every point.

Rhaenyra have Syrax kill Daemon 😂😂😂 that is laughably out of character.

I’ve said for a while now, had Aegon not taken the throne, it wouldn’t have stopped the Dance from happening. It would have only delayed it for a generation. Funny thing is, that ends up making Rhaenyra the bad guy instead of a “girl boss”. Fuck I hate that term. I’m a woman, not a girl, and my gender has no bearing on if I can be a boss or not.

Anywhore, had Aegon not ascended, him and his brothers would, at best, be sent to the wall. Considering Daemon doesn’t design some “accident” to befall the strong boys during her reign, Jace would be next in line. Except his status as a bastard means he cannot inherit. It’s not like Rhaenyra can easily just legitimize him once she ascends either. Not after all the time she spent insisting they were trueborn.

Daemon isn’t going to let a bastard come between his blood and the throne. He is a patient man, and that makes him dangerous. He is insidious. He has time to make things happen. If Rhaenyra dies before he can eliminate all her illegitimate sons, there will either be a massacre or the dance would have just been delayed a generation.

“Daemon wouldn’t do that!” Bet? We watched him choke his wife because he was jealous Viserys never told him the super special prophecy. We have seen what he does when someone is in the way of something he wants, a la divorce rock. He murdered his first wife just so he could marry someone else. No particular woman in mind, either seeing as he only took an interest in Laena at Rhaenyra’s wedding. Just killed Rhea so he had an opportunity to marry someone else to possibly strengthen his claim. If he is willing to do that just for a chance to get a little closer to the throne, imagine what he will do when he is in the home stretch and getting his blood on the throne is within reach.

#hotd critical #asks

[bohemian-nights]

People that ship Daemon and Rhaenyra, have some sort a family trauma and mental health issue if that think that there relationship is okay. Especially when they say Viserys should have married them from the start but Viserys knew his brother and knew he craved power more and that Daemon won’t settle for the role of consort, he wants the throne, there both spoiled and selfish and together they won’t bring greatness to the seven kingdoms, they bring nothing be stupidity and destruction. They left for 6 YEARS!!! And expected that everyone would just say “oh yeah Rhaenyra is back hurray!! Like no of course Otto is gonna plot and use his spy’s and shit because they basically left kings landing in the palm of his hand like I just can’t with how dumb they are and the they leave AGAIN!!! Like have YOU LEARNED NOTHING!!!

sorry for the rant but omg I just hate Dumbyra shippers and defenders like it’s a grooming love story wtf and yes I know the age difference between nettles and daemon isn’t better but it’s waaaaaaay healthier than Dumbrya (one being she’s not his fucking niece and not his daughter)

And as usual what they wanted doesn’t even fit with book!canon(which they claim to love and recognize as the only version of the Dance yet they keep trying to insert show!canon and their own headcanons into the equation).

Let’s not forget that Daemon was still married to Rhea Royce the first time he asked Viserys to give him Rhaenyra. Viserys would’ve had to say f*ck the seven and even then I doubt he wanted his underage daughter to marry a already married man who was as you pointed out using her to get closer to the crown.

Before anyone brings up the wedding where Rhaenyra is begging Daemon to marry her , that doesn’t even happen in the books. And even with Daemon being free and available, what does he do? Goes and marries Laena🙃

I will say that I don’t think Daemon exactly wants to sit on the Iron Throne, but I think he wants to be as close to it as possible. Really he just wants to be his brothers #2 and since he couldn’t be that with his brother, he settled for his daughter(with the intention of being the puppet master).

Them going off for six years and isolating themselves on Dragonstone really shows their incompetence. If they actually cared about the state of the kingdom and securing Rhaenyra’s future reign and making sure that Viserys was okay they would’ve gathered allies and gone back and forth between Dragonstone and Kings Landing. They are very unserious self centered people.

Now for those that still think Dumbnyra is a romance, well you can’t help the delusional, but I would encourage them to look at actual romances(and not Weathering Heights because that’s not #goals) and compare the two. 🤣

#bnask #bnasks #daemon is way to into Viserys to really give a damn about Rhaenyra #she’s a pawn #anti dumbnyra stans

[goodeapple]

soooooooo how do we feel about Aegon mixing with Aem and Ysilla? >>is this a yay or a nay?

imma go ahead and say YAY (but it all depends on the setting ofc) how about something modern?

.

.

.

“I think she’s what the kids call, thick as fuck.” aegon smirks, taking a swig from his lukewarm newcastle, eyes fixated on the hot piece of ass in front of him. 

ysilla spins in a circle, trying to settle the trio of unruly babies dancing between her legs. the twirl sends her long blue skirt dashing open at the slit, shapely calves peeking out which aemond trails up up up with his lone eye, ending his journey at just above her mid-thigh. smooth, buttery skin shines in the sunlight, a waist-length curtain of black hair swinging with her movements. an itty-bitty cream crop-top is wrapped tight around her tits, navel bared, a sterling silver seahorse charm dangling there, resting against the slight pudge of her lower belly. 

she looks, aegon tries to think of the right word. bottle rim against his lips, he let his eyes glaze over, tracing the spread of her hips, the slope of her back, the swell of her arse. the word springs to his mind, pulling at a moan he has to stunt with teeth in his tongue. juicy. 

he wants to take a bite out of her-  a nibble from her neck, a chomp from her thigh, a chew from her belly. ahe looks soft and warm and plush. fucking delicious, and somehow, even with a gut full of beer and chips, he feels ravenous. a spot that can only be filled with a good, long pull from his alluring niece. 

pervy fucking uncle- tick that box off the family reunion checklist. 

viserys 2 takes a tumble over an undone shoelace, sprawling face first on the grass. a whine comes from his lips, climbing in volume until it reaches a cacophonous cry. ysilla bends over in a blink, sweeping up her baby brother into a hug, murmuring sweet nothings against his bangs. the boy sniffles, burrowing his face into his sister’s neck. 

aemond sucks in a ragged breath at the vision of her pert arse in the air, trying to disguise it behind a too-late phony cough. aegon spares him a look- his brother’s eye trained steadily on their distant cousins drinking their fill from their father’s abundant open bar. 

aegon smirks. looks like liquor and avoiding their family isn’t the only thing he and his little brother have in common. their taste in women is immaculate. 

“what are you two troublemakers up to, hmm?” ice water down his jeans would be less effective than his big sister’s hand plopping down on his shoulder.

#this is all happening at a bbq btw #modern hotd #modern aegon #modern aemond #aegon targaryen x oc #aemond targaryen x oc #aemond x oc x aegon

[lya-dustin]

Someone will remember us

Chapter 31

Cw: underage sex, underage drinking, some ableism and as usual vigorous slutshaming by the greens

Gif by: @onemillionyous

Taglist: @arrthurpendragon @ocappreciationtag @fyeahhotdocs @stargaryenx @theboyishtree

“I do not know what you are speaking about, your grace. My granddaughter is a perfectly healthy girl.” The Targaryen princess lies with ease.

“She was petrified with fear, that was all,” Teora adds.

“I was told that my son was making inquiries about atonic seizures to Maester Orwyle. Then I saw it happen.” The queen’s eyes mist up in pity.

“Vaegon lived to be eighty, Aegon the Conqueror lived to be sixty, the odds aren’t against her.” Rhaenys said, reminding them all that Aemma will not die. “If you breathe a word to anyone, I am honor bound to kill you.”

Viserys knows, but even at the Stranger’s door he knew better than to let Otto know.

“My father has begun to suspect about it, I told him the girl was just afraid my son would die like her father did. Lord Strong has spies in her mother’s household, it is only a matter of time before it reaches him.” The queen is afraid.

Not afraid of Aemma’s condition and fearing her early death, afraid of how her father and Lord Strong will exploit it once they know.

“I will ensure her condition remains a secret, your grace. I only ask that you do not confront her about it.” Rhaenys knows Daemon will be able to sniff out the rats, if only her family did not have to depend on her brute cousin for everything.

“How can I help her?” the queen asks finally remembering that it is a girl of six and ten they are speaking of, not a threat to her son.

“By keeping her secret from everyone.” The princess answered and prayed the queen will keep her end of the deal.

-----

They wear black and green to show the unification of both factions.

Her dress is cut scandalously low, and every second is spent with Aemond daring anyone to follow the thin golden chain into her cleavage.

Aemma’s long hair hangs in ringlets to her waist just as Laena’s once did and at Aemond’s behest, she wears the flower laurel Stark had the nerve to give her during the tourney.

She drinks to forget what she knows and try to enjoy the festivities. She’s always liked parties; it should be easy.

By the time the dancing begins she is tipsy and wanting to retch from the dizziness.

She giggles like an idiot when Aemond makes up some horseshit excuse to get her out of there.

“I’ve never been drunk before, no wonder Aegon loves drinking so much.” The princess breathes the cool air in the balcony with gusto.

“You’ll feel absolutely wretched tomorrow, love.” He says softly as he holds her back by pretending this is just a normal embrace.

Maris had joked that his chin would be uncomfortable to feel, but it feels rather pleasant as he rested it on her shoulder.

“Gods why did I let my mother talk me into a seven-day celebration, we have a hunt tomorrow.” She complained and he had the fucking cheek to laugh at her complaint. “You get to get your blood running and hunt, and I have to stay with all the hens in your mother’s coop and avoid strangling them as they pretend they are powerless to do anything of worth.”

“They are, not all of them are given the freedom you and my sisters have.” He points out and Aemma remembers her mother is actually his own half-sister.

Some were repulsed by that, but the Seven allowed for one to marry their uncles, as did the First Men and the Rhoynar.

Besides their marriage elicited far less repulsion than Aegon and Helaena’s did.

Their children will not practice brother-sister incest, she thinks. Her children will wed whom they please like the children of Jaehaerys and Alysanne did.

“I suppose, although don’t call my mother your sister again, it kills the mood.” Aemma has no idea why she says that which she also says out loud.

“Never drank this much, have you?” he is laughing at her, she can feel his chest shake in silent mirth behind her.

“Isn’t it obvious?” she asks looking at the city as they light up their candles, illuminating the streets below them. “Gods, all I wanted was to put it out of my mind, and no matter how much I drink it doesn’t work.”

“I have other ideas, Aemee.” He suggests and she knows he is grinning like the cat that ate the canary.

“Is it why you made me wear this fucking flower crown?” she turned to face him.

The wine tastes better in his mouth, she thinks.

“Such a bad word for a lady.” Aemond smiles into the kiss and tugged her until she was pinned between him and the walls adjacent to them.

“Not a lady, a queen.” She helped him hike up her skirts with a giggle.

“And a shit gambler too. How much did you lose on me?” he asks kissing her lips, her jaw, her neck.

His hands roam over the bodice and then under the skirts. Her skin was gooseflesh everywhere he touched.

They are fire made flesh, never did she take those words seriously until now.

“Fuck.” Aemma hardly ever swears, but she cannot articulate any other words.

“Fuck me.” She moans as she pulled his hair and brought his wicked mouth back to hers.

“I will indulge you, if you answer my question, ābrazȳrys.” The word wife rolls of his tongue beautifully, gods no wonder people claimed High Valyrian was the language of love.

“A hundred,” the Valyrian Siren struggles to keep her train of thought when she sees her husband go down on his knees for her. “A hundred gold dragons.”

----

“The girl is as wanton as her mother.” Otto comments when the young couple come back with just a few hints of what happened the moment they were away.

The music had been loud enough to cover the bawdy noises they had made, but nothing could hide the embarrassment in the guards faces nor the shameless grin her son was sporting as he came back with his eye patch gone and Aemma’s flowers looking worse for wear.

“They are wed, father, at least it is done in the bounds of holy matrimony.” Alicent looks at her son whispering something filthy in his bride’s ear going by how she bites her lip to keep herself from giggling too loudly.

It was almost difficult to remember how afraid she had been when Aemond pushed Stark to give him a real fight.

They are happy, that is all that matters. That is what should matter, but they are not up jumped commoners, they are royalty. Royalty cannot behave so brazenly in public.

“Where is your eye patch, sweetling?” Alicent asks her son who is drunk on sex and wine and northern whiskey Stark’s men had introduced him to.

“Serving as my lady wife’s garter.” He answered quietly, trying his best to hide some of his embarrassment. He sounded like a child waiting to be scolded.

And she would have, but Aegon heard what he said and raised a toast to his little brother.

“We have been over this, son. It is improper for you to leave it off, the ladies are scared by the scars.” Alicent tries to remind him and hope he listens to her.

“Not Aemma, not you nor Helaena.” He points out and looks with fondness at his wife who is laughing and talking with her daughter and her cousins and the Baratheon girl. “Besides my eye patch is keeping her right stocking on, I tossed her garter off the balcony, I think.”

He has always been serious, and yet there were moments when he could be as impulsive and irresponsible as any young man his age.

The queen groaned in frustration, she never thought her son, her favorite son, would be led astray by Rhaenyra’s only daughter of all people.

“Mother, mama, let Aemond live a little. He just married, once the week is over, he will tire of Aemma, like any sensible husband does.” Aegon half jokes and laughs at his own words.

“I won’t.” Aemond narrowed his eye at her eldest son, already forgetting she was there. Aemond hardly drinks, but she knows he is forgetful when he drinks, looser too, laughs more.

It is the only few times the boys resemble each other.

“I never will.” Her boy vows.

But what does he know, he is six and ten, still a boy even if the law says he is a man.

“People are staring, Aemond.” The queen hates how they stare, how they look at him and gawk because of his disfiguration.

“Do you think people were afraid of Symeon Star-Eyes?” he asks, his eye still following every movement Aemma made.

“I am sure they were; it must’ve been concerning to see gems where eyes should be.” Alicent doesn’t know why he asks such a strange question.

If people do not see the extent of his loss, people will not say cruel things about him. If they do not see, he cannot be hurt.

Lucerys Waters had taken his eye, Alicent would be damned if anyone else hurt her boy.

“Do you know what Aemma said when I asked her? Only the stupid ones were afraid of him.” His tone is soft when he speaks about her, loves her so much it pains Alicent.

If only it had been a different girl.

“Retire early, if it gets too much to you, my love.” The queen concedes and lets him ignore the stares and the whispers for love.

#aemma velaryon #asoiaf fanfic #someone will remember us fic #house of the dragon #asoiaf au #oc fanfiction #aemond targaryen x velaryon!oc #asoiaf #hotd #ocappreciationtag #fyeahhotdocs

[simplynotcapable]

If Visenya is reborn as Alicent herself, does she make a run for Essos to avoid marrying Viserys? I imagine if Baelon is around they can just get married themselves.

This was terrible to think about, anon, thank you for asking!

You have plucked one of the few lives where Baelon and Visenya would absolutely fucking hate each other.

A version of Visenya born with no dragon and no Baelon is never going to run off alone. It just isn’t a world where that’s something she’s willing to risk when she has no weapons training and no dragon to keep herself safe. She’s going to end up assaulted at best or in a brothel at worst, because she just doesn’t have any sort of skillset to help her survive outside of sheltered nobility.

But also, it’s a version where she’s born fifteen years before Baelon. She hasn’t lost him, she’s not dreaming of him. She’s not a Targaryen, so she most likely isn’t dreaming at all. She doesn’t know anything except what her father is telling her.

She’s in love with Rhaenyra, just like Alicent is, and she’s just as aware that nothing can ever come from that because Rhaenyra isn’t really willing to run off and eat only cake.

Visenya loves her family. That’s the core of her. She’ll do whatever she needs to do for the people she decides are her family, and, in this life, that’s Otto. It’s Gwayne. It’s the Hightowers.

Her dad tells her to go, that it’s important for their family, so she goes.

Because he’s her dad. She loves him. She wants to do whatever is best for their family, and she trusts him, and he says the best thing is this.

Her dad tells her she has to marry him, she does it.

Then, there’s two options.

One: Baelon is alive.

Listen, Visenya loves this kid right up until he’s old enough to develop a personality and then she wants to drown him.

Laena as Baelon/Visenya’s stepmother manages this kind of convoluted relationship with them. They don’t see her a mother, she’s not their sister, she isn’t really their friend, but at the same time she’s all three of them. Part of that comes from Laena being between the ages of nine and twelve when the twins are born, part of it is just Laena herself, part of it is because Laena is family even without being married to Viserys so it’s easier for them to shove the stepmother part aside and focus on that instead.

Any other woman Viserys marries does not have the ability to keep that dynamic, and it’s even worse for a Hightower woman because of Rhaenyra and Daemon.

Daemon hates the Hightowers. He isn’t shy about it. Baelon idolizes Daemon, especially when he’s very young.

Rhaenyra is angry her childhood friend/gay awakening married her dad. She’s bitter. She doesn’t do a good job of hiding it. Baelon adores his sister.

Add this on top of Baelon’s just barely compressed rage over the death of his mother and all the resentment he feels towards Viserys that he doesn’t have much of an avenue to express, and he’s a stepson from hell.

He’s a dick. An absolute 100% dictionary definition asshole.

He loves whatever kids she has with his dad, don’t get me wrong, because they’re separate from her, but there is absolutely no love between the two of them. The absolute bare minimum is that Visenya would interfere with any assassination attempts because, no matter how much of a cunt he is, he’s her kids’ brother and they love him and she doesn’t really care about having her blood on the throne anyway.

Option two, Baelon is dead:

The Dance happens. Visenya does whatever she can to get her son on the throne.

Because that’s the only option she sees.

I know I write Alicent as very basic and oooh “wicked stepmother” but I do that because that’s how Visenya sees her. She isn’t looking for depth in her. She doesn’t want to relate to her. It is easier for her to hate her if she doesn’t see her point of view, so she does her absolute damnedest not to see it.

Book!Alicent is different story, but show!Alicent is doing exactly what she feels she needs to do to protect her kids? She and Rhaenyra haven’t gotten along in years, Otto is filling her head with “she has no choice but to kill your children”, one of Rhaenyra’s kids cut her son’s eye out and was not punished at all—regardless of how you view that scene and who was in the wrong within it, you can’t deny that Alicent reacted within the limits of what a very pissed off, terrified mother would. Rhaenyra is married to Daemon, who has been proven to be perfectly willing to kill people for little reason, and Laenor dies in super suspicious circumstances. She has absolutely no reason to not believe her father, who honestly isn’t entirely wrong about the risk, and she is perfectly valid in thinking the only path to keeping her kids alive is to make sure one of them is on the throne and has the power to keep himself and his siblings safe.

I’m Team Black. Alicent Hightower had no reason not to do what she did, and I do not blame her for it in the least.

Visenya is going to make mostly the same choices Alicent did because she thinks that’s what she needs to do. Little things will change, of course, because her children aren’t Aegon-Helaena-Aemond-Daeron and I don’t think she’d be quite as vocal as proclaiming the Velaryon boys bastards and she would under no circumstances ever deal with Larys Strong. But the core of the story doesn’t change. There’s still a civil war. If it becomes as decimating as the original Dance is up in the air, but it happens.

[honuofhawaii]

So I just read an interesting article that explains that the House of the Dragon TV show is altering things in order to demonstrate how the patriarchy is to blame for the Dance of the Dragons.

They are doing this by following the woman’s perspective, and thereby demonstrating how it’s Viserys that leads them into the Dance through his weakness.

Some of the changes have included making Rhaenyra and Alicent close childhood companions. And then proceed to have Viserys not notice, or at least do nothing about the fact that him marrying Alicent drove a wedge into their friendship.

There’s an emphasis placed on Rhaenys’s dismissed claim that there isn’t in the book. They took an instance of systemic misogyny where she wasn’t held in serious consideration as a woman, to making her one of the main contenders and then passed over.

We get to see a warmth in Rhaenyra and in Alicent which isn’t going to be written about by the men recording history.

The way “Fire and Blood” is written leaves a great deal to interpretation and reading between the lines, as the accounts are from deliberately biased sources. And so some of these changes are valid interpretations however I want to point out some of the pitfalls that HBO has either already fallen into, or may fall into in the future.

The Dance of the Dragons, is a serious blow to the power and strength of House Targaryen. HBO is presenting it as something spurred on by Otto Hightower and more importantly allowed to fester by Visery’s weakness.

Specifically that he isn’t stronger in his defense of Rhaenyra’s claim. He fails to notice and/or bridge the gap between his daughter and wife when they were childhood friends, he neglects his children with Alicent which allows resentment to grow. He kind of keeps shielding from problems, forbidding speech about them rather than getting to the root of the issue (why is Alicent so concerned with Rhaenyra’s children’s parentage?). He just wants her questions to go away.

We also get Rhaenys’s line that “men would rather put the realm to the torch than see a woman on the Iron Throne.” Outlining that the problem is that men won’t accept a ruling Queen under any circumstances.

In trying to emphasize the role the patriarchy creates the Dance in obvious ways, HBO is undermining the point. They are showing “men don’t trust women to rule so they fight to stop woman from ruling, and if a man wants to change that he has to be strong about it.”

While the Patriarchy sometimes is exactly this: “Women are second class citizens.” Or “women are no different than animals and just have a human shape to not scare men” (some paraphrasing from our world today 2022. Please let me take a moment to beg that people pay attention to what is going on in Iran. Woman, Life, Freedom)

The Patriarchy is often more subtle than these overt misogynistic practices.

Rhaenys is a great example. In the books she’s not really considered for the throne bc she’s a woman. That’s Misogyny built into the world view of the people making the decision. However in the show they make a point if calling her the top contender with Viserys. And then say they didn’t choose her. With the implied (bc she’s a woman).

From the perspective of understanding House of the Dragon as an adaptation of Fire and Blood I think it’s unfair to make Viserys the bad guy in the breakdown of Rhaenyra and Alicent’s friendship, since in the source material, that close childhood friendship didn’t exists. (Obviously in the show and only in the show, yeah it’s really fucked up that he married his daughter’s best friend, shattered their relationship and barely lifted a figure to help mend the rift he created). But this is an example of HBO trying to show a man breaking the friendship between women rather than addressing a more complicated topic of marriage, and step parents and the difficulties that ensue when inheritance is at steak and playing into the relationships. (Them being childhood friends should just add another layer, but instead it flattens it to basically just that broken friendship)

Also the show runners made some comments about how even after being named heir, no one listens to Rhaenyra, nothings really changed, she’s just the cup bearer. They completely ignore two things. One, that she wasn’t the cup bearer before becoming heir in the book. Second, she becomes the cup bearer so that she can learn how to rule and govern. (You know the same reason Jon Snow was made a steward. He gets pissed about it until Sam points out ‘you know that’s how you learn to command right? By being in the meetings, hearing what’s done, taking letters’) relegating Rhaenyra’s position as a cup bearer to a state of her being walked over, is frustrating.

Okay now I’m going to talk about what I think lead to the Dance, and how it has its roots in patriarchy and misogyny but in a way that is more complicated than some men thinking women shouldn’t rule.

The Faith of the Seven has been opposing Targaryen rule since Aegon I. (Though not overtly, but rebellions breaking out the moment he died cannot be blamed on Aenys). Men hold the power in the Faith. Sure there are women, but septa’s don’t seem to lead anything except for women’s education. The silent sisters literally are meant never to speak and are know as brides of the stranger. There’s a high septon. They are generally far harsher on women for so called sexual transgressions than men. It’s just generally gross.

The Maester’s are heavily influenced by the faith. Probably due to their headquarters being in the same place Old Town. (Well untill Baelor brought the high septon to Kings Landing). They are also sexist. Only men can study at the citadel. Furthermore, the Maester are for the most part against magic, and general pursuit of knowledge of which they disapprove. (You know how Sam gets warned not to bring up the Others or else he might just get poison in his porage). The Maesters are well positioned to influence how things progress bc they are in change of Medicine and education.

There are a lot of Targaryen’s that die of mysterious bad bellies over the years. People who have the ability to strengthen House Targaryen suddenly die leaving succession to a weaker person, or completely in doubt.

The Maesters don’t like magic and the Targaryen’s are incredibly magical. It makes sense that there might at least be a certain level of conspiracy against them.

Here’s where the patriarchy comes in. Magic challenges the current power structure. It doesn’t matter if a dragon rider is a man or a woman, they can still burn an army if they want to.

The result of the Dance isn’t just that a woman doesn’t take the Iron Throne. The result is that House Targaryen looses a lot of the magic that allowed them to challenge the status quo.

Basically I think they should have focused less on “oh men think women are inferior” and more on ways in which House Targaryen challenged an already strongly Patriarchal society and so there were several forces working to turn the house against itself.

(Okay I’m going to end this here, it probably needs some reworking, but I just needed to get my thoughts out. Feel free to comment suggestions, arguments, objections and whatnot)

#house of the dragon spoilers #house of the dragon #meta #patriarchy #subtle vs obvious patriarchy #adaptation

[luthien-under-bough]

WIP Wednesday

A little snippet (below the cut) from what I'm working on today, for the following prompt from  Fire, Blood, & Kink's Summer of Dove event. 🕊️

unlike almost everything in the world, uncle daemon was off limits to her. rhaenyra was a greedy girl with an appetite for both materialistic things and men. when her father remarries, she has the perfect opportunity to spike her uncle's drink, lead him upstairs to her bedroom, and make him hers. and she was almost sure uncle daemon wouldn't mind being her puppet for a night.

Daemon blinks slowly, his eyelids resisting the motion, as if they're weighed down. There’s a dull thumping in the base of his skull and a sour twisting in his gut. He hasn't felt this out-of-it since he went on a bender in Volantis and woke up two weeks later in the back room of a Myrish tavern.

What the fuck happened?

He remembers arriving at his brother’s house. Remembers attending the garden party-turned-surprise wedding. Remembers the stunned faces—his niece’s most of all. Remembers offering his congratulations to Viserys and Alicent, and his condolences to Rhaenyra. Remembers eating. Drinking. Dancing. More drinking. 

Then nothing.

But did he drink that much? He doesn’t think so—no more than a usual night out, and with far fewer party-enhancing drugs, even. His thoughts are slippery as he tries to piece everything together. But his memory fizzles away to black somewhere between the time he switched from wine to whisky. 

Don’t panic. This isn’t your first blackout. 

Even so, a low-level anxiety buzzes around his skull. Daemon strains until, finally, his eyelids relent, and he’s met with a flood of darkness. His vision is blurry, every movement of his eyes sending a pulse of pain ricocheting around his head.

It’s still so dark, but his pupils expand enough to drink in the little light that exists and make sense of the world—a dim light coming from somewhere just behind his right ear. Another thin sliver of light from beneath a crack in a door. 

Vague shapes shimmer just beyond the scope of his vision: A desk, perhaps? Yes, a desk, with a computer, emitting a tiny dot of red light. A dresser. A bedroom, then, he thinks. Which means, he must be on the bed. 

A few more brief flashes of the evening are revealed to him.

A toast. Raising a glass of fine Pentoshi sparkling wine. His head growing fuzzy, his thoughts turning to thick sludge. Sick, unsteady. Had to sit down. Someone offered him water. Or maybe more sparkling wine. 

Someone helping him upstairs. Thin arms looped around him, him sagging against a smaller frame. 

A black dress.

A flash of silver against a slender neck.

A cascade of white-blonde hair.

A doll’s eyes.

A demon’s smile.

Rhaenyra.

#wip wednesday #my fics #daemyra #daemyra fanfic #dead dove #house of the dragon #hotd fanfiction #hotd fanfic

[momonashi]

I’m a firm believer that both green and black sides are fucked up and have their own issues, neither alicent nor rhaenyra are perfect, and that’s what makes the show so interesting. I’d you’re choosing a side you’re missing the point. BUT you can really see the difference so clearly in how A and R raised their sons.

Aegon is a spoiled, cruel, rapist brat whose mother covers for his crimes even as she scolds him. She may hate what he does but her main concern is for appearances. Jace is determined to be a good king (learning Valyrian), chugs his respect women juice (the whole dinner scene), and even toasts to the people who made his childhood hell. (Because he sees his mother do the same with Alicent! They learn from what they see!)

I feel like Rhaenyra’s words at the dinner rang so much truer than anyone else’s. She’s tried to reconcile before and she truly just wants the fighting to end. She’s exhausted and she loves her father and wants to do right by him.

I know that even the best parents can produce awful children, but just watching the interactions between mothers and sons in this episode it’s so clear to me that while Alicent is obsessed with the *appearance* of honor, duty, etc, Rhaenyra is trying to actually raise her son well and fulfill her duty to her father. Both women suffer under the weight of this patriarchal culture that oppressed them (and stopped them from being together) but their reactions are very different.

Again, Rhaenyra isn’t perfect. Incest, adultery, etc. I sided with Vaemond and think Viserys’s willful ignorance could have caused the end of a great house’s bloodline. Not to mention the significance of them being one of the only non-white noble houses in Westeros. But with the Strong boys marrying their cousins, that point is moot and the greens should have just accepted that Rhaenyra will be queen and that’s the end of it. A bastard might be king but at least he has Targaryen blood, his queen and children will be Velaryon, and both Corlys and Viserys chose to ignore their bastard status. Alicent just HAD to hear what she wants to hear from Viserys, and even though she hates her son and he doesn’t even want to be king, she forces it out of spite. The dance is technically the greens’ fault, sorry.

#what I’m saying is like mother like son #to some extent #we all learn things from our parents and become like them #hotd #hotd spoilers #house of the dragon spoilers