#. jaenara

[lavellun]

I really love all the actors on hotd (especially Clinton liberty since he’s on TT and just seems so happy to be there! ) but I really, really, really hope there are different writers for these last seasons, I think they’re going for 4. Yet I keep hearing about budget cuts so I hope that doesn’t hurt this project more

hi, kim 💗 so sorry for the late reply btw! i totally agree with you! the actors of HOTD all seem so lovely and they were definitely doing their best with the scripts they were given. regarding this season, i have so many mixed feelings! there were some really cool moments that i absolutely loved:

> daemon in harrenal was my favorite arc of the season (and alys rivers became my favorite character this season too!)

> 'the red dragon and the gold' was an AMAZING episode

> 'the red sowing' was such a cool episode as well and it FINALLY gave us a grey character moment from rhaenyra

> alicent/criston was such an intersting dynamic too! could've been explored in more depth and with more complexity… 🗣️ IF THE SEASON HAD MORE EPISODES 🗣️

> obviously: the cinematography was stunning, the soundtrack phenomenal and the dragons looked amazing!

and for all the criticisms i had of alicent's character this season, i can definitely see what they were trying to do with her arc, and i wouldn't have minded if it had happened later on in the show, perhaps? this 'redemption' feels too rushed, it feels like the writers/the people in charge just want her to be a 'likeable' character so bad, if that makes sense. the scene between her and rhaenyra in the last episode, as beautifully acted it was (and with an intersting parallel with helaena also having to choose one of her children in the beginning of the season), it didn't make much sense to me. it seems the writers are like 'see guys??? alicent is ACTUALLY on rhaenyra's side!!!'. and i'm like… what happened to season 1!alicent? what happened to 'you are the challenge, aegon, simply by living and breathing'? to 'now you take my son's eye and to even that you feel entitled'? to 'what have i done but what was expected of me?'. and even this season, when baby jaehaerys was k*lled? the pain and trauma inflicted on her family, on helaena (and even aegon!)? i'm just so confused and dissapointed with this season, really... again, i don't think i minded if this 'redemption' arc of alicent happened, had it been done with more time to fully develop BUT ALSO… why are the writers so afraid of actually making her a character (or any character really...) consumed by her trauma, her grief, her pain?

why is everything in this show a mistake, a misunderstanding or a miscommunication? i think one of the things i loved the most about season 1 was how 'aware' these characters were of their actions and motivations, you know? even if they were questionable and 'not right'. like, rhaenyra was straight up lying to everyone's faces about her kids' parentage, she faked laenor's death (causing imense grief to rhaenys and corlys) just to marry daemon and strengthen her claim to the throne... alicent demanded that a kid's eye was removed as a form of justice and when that proved fruitless she attacked the heir to the throne in front of everybody (the king included)... like!!! what happened to moments like this? moments driven by pain and trauma? moments that actually told us so much about these characters and what they were going through?

this was waaay too long so sorry lmao but i don't know... i just wished we saw more complexity overall this season (and more drama™️ lol). the foundations were all there from season 1. to me, it was a bit of a shame. but it's just my opinion on the matter, it's totally okay if other people feel differently 😌💗

[athenawx]

Jaenara Belaerys and her dragon, Terrax.

[coldraindropsss]

Terrax, Jaenara Belaerys

[alicentzwaitinglady]

The Language Of Girls

jaenara velaryon (waters). only daughter of princess rhaenyra targaryen. twin to prince jacaerys velaryon. the beast of driftmark.

[fragilestorm]

Jaenara Velaryon (x  x )

Tag list: @arrthurpendragon @eddysocs @stanshollaand @bravelittleflower @richitozier @hiddenqveendom @foxesandmagic @waterloou

[hosts-of-valyria]

Daenys walked past tables with maps of Westeros and she looked at Winterfell in the North and Daenys frowned and she looked up as Gaemon came into the room, "Is everything okay little sister? Are you fine Daenys? Would you tell me what you're thinking about my love", and Daenys picked up a figure from Starks of Winterfell and she looked at the wolf in her hand the two Targaryen siblings looked at each other and Daenys threw the wolf figure into the fire.

"This is funny, everything is perfect big brother everything is fine, my love. Westeros is a war torn country this is a settler state built on genocide committed by the First Men and the Andals against the Children of the Forest", said Daenys and Gaemon nodded, "They beat each other up 24/7 in Westeros this continent cannot be helped", said Gaemon and Daenys nodded.

Over 400 years before Robert Baratheon, even before Jaehaerys the Old King with his Good Queen Alysanne and a century before Rhaenys, Aegon and Visenya Targaryen and their Conquest and Victory over the west - Westeros is a divided land a war torn country - its wealth and strength divided among a dozen petty kings who bicker like squabbling children; old families fighting over old disputes and old claims but across the Narrow Sea and before the Free Cities of Essos the Valyrian Empire is rising and a young woman known as Daenys the Dreamer - Balerion's first rider - and a young man known as Gaemon the Glorious both barely 20 years old and their eyes wander westward. The Rise of an Empire one of the most advanced realms with a strong and powerful economy the dawn of Valyria my entire life i guarded the Empire the biggest battle is yet to come.

• Volantis River Rhoyne the far East of Essos - Valyrian Colony the Rhoynish Valyrian Wars •

"Seize him and bring Blackfyre to me Ardrian fetch me a block. Any last words Garin now is the time", said Gaemon while Volantis burned brightly through dragonfire and Garin spat at Gaemon's feet and Ardrian Qoherys slapped Garin in the face and he gave Blackfyre to Gaemon, "I PISS ON VALYRIA A FAMILY OF LUNATICS BORN OUT FROM INCEST", called Garin and Gaemon cut off Garin's head with Blackfyre, "Execute Garin's followers and tell them in the capital that Nymeria escaped to Westeros the west is due", said Gaemon, "oh with pleasure Commander", and Ardrian Qoherys and his Valyrian Knights and Dragonlords killed Garin's followers.

Will Fletcher and Freya Allan as Gaemon Targaryen and Daenys Targaryen - Daenys the Dreamer and Gaemon the Glorious the riders from Balerion and Aegarax - Dakota Fanning as Lady Visenna Qoherys, Lee Pace as Lord Ardrian Qoherys - Marton Csokas and Charlize Theron as Lord Aenar Targaryen and Lady Shaena Targaryen born Belaerys - Luke Eisner and Anya Taylor-Joy as Jaenara Belaerys and Aurion Belaerys Emperor and Empress of the Valyrian Empire riders from Terrax and Urrax

Murat Yildirim as Garin of the Rhoynar - Garin the Great and Tuba Büyüküstün as Princess Nymeria of Ny Sar - Nymeria of the Rhoynar

Thoughts of Daenys Targaryen

The dawn of Valyria when the stars were young the greatest power in Essos nations tremble and hold their breath as the Valyrian Legions and Dragon Armies march nobody in the known world shall stand a chance against the might of the Valyrian Empire with a weapon arsenal, economy and manpower up to 1500 dragons, 6000 Valyrian War Ships, 90000 Valyrian Knights, 5000 Valyrian War Elephants, 10000 Firewyrms and over 100000 Dragonlords. Fear and Respect for the valyrian contingent and the war machinery. The greatest leaders for the Freehold and the golden generation for Valyria.

• Tyria capital of the Valyrian Empire the ancient home of the Targaryens, Qoherys and Belaerys and Seat of the Valyrian Senate - Reign of Emperor Aurion Belaerys and Empress Jaenara Belaerys - Valyrian Peninsula •

"My most loyal vassal is back Valyria's highest Commander is back from the Rhoynish Valyrian War in Volantis there was panic in Nymeria's eyes as she fled. Let's hear what my cousin Gaemon Targaryen and his best men have to say. Silence in the senate silence in the room i command Silence", said Jaenara and Aurion while Daenys, Aenar and Shaena smiled at Gaemon, "I greet the Senate, Dragonlords and Senators. Garin and his followers are dead i executed him myself. Nymeria and her Rhoynar fled to Westeros after Sunspear in Dorne so i would councel we have our eyes to the west", said Gaemon and Visenna Celtigar, Jaenara and Aurion nodded.

"Gulltown, Stonehelm or Duskendale are great for targeted attacks, conquests and invasions. We have unfinished business with the Andals and First Men", said Gaemon and Ardrian.

"Valyria has been waiting for such an opportunity for a long time and now it is within reach to compete with the West the Emperor and Empress have the final word", said Aenar, Shaena, Daenys Targaryen and Daemion Velaryon and the senators from their seats. Jaenara and Aurion turned with their chairs and the two Belaerys siblings looked at each other.

"The hell itself could not digest Westeros and we show Valyria's Might to the Westerosis we are light years apart. We show true power with our dragonfire and legions. Gather the armies across fair Valyria", said Jaenara and Aurion and the senate applauded loudly.

[entiish]

               𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐘   𝐉𝐀𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐀   𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐒

𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐑.    a noblewoman, daughter of 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬, born in the 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝, rider of 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐱 & the winged explorer of 𝐬𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐬.       she and terrax flew farther south in sothoryos than anyone had gone before, her exploration lasted three years and she returned to the valyrian freehold; declaring sothoryos as "𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐝"  —  jaenara discovered endless jungle, deserts, and mountain ranges, and it was she who releaved that sothoryos was as large as, if not larger, than essos.

[alvsanne]

with akotsk coming up i must once again think about my half-formed, came out screaming and running oc jaenara, who exists to serve dark-haired targ cunt at the tourney of ashford and then promptly dies of the plague with her entire family

[ride-thedragon]

While we are not on the topic, female dragonriders with male dragons are underappreciated and not talked about enough. We have five throughout the world we have now. From the doom to Daenerys. The only ones who we have from Aegon’s Conquest to the main continuity are Dany, Aerea and Nettles. Jaehaera has a male dragon, but she never rides him and one Jaenara Belaerys who flew the dragon Terrax in Old Valyria. Other than that, female dragonriders have female dragons and are tied to the fertility of dragons. It's also notable that pregnancy is not typically afforded to female dragonriders with male dragons

Dany loses Rhogo, and Nettles is notably without a kid that we know of by the end of her story. Jaehaera is married to Aegon but dies before they have kids. Aerea dies before she is married. And we don't know much else about Jaenara Belaerys other than she flew further than anyone has in Sothoryos.

Another strange thing is that with Dany and Netty, the threat of a potential child from them instigated an active threat to their lives from the rulers of Westeros at the time.

What I'm saying is that I think Nettles might be the last Dragonrider and her death, not just Targaryens unable to hatch them after the dance, Rhaenyra’s death and or the Maester conspiracy by themselves lead to the death of a lot of the magic and Dany is the catalyst for its return. There's the blood magic tie in to their unique bonds with their dragons as well, but that can be a separate post.

All in all, it's just a fun little thing I've noticed.

[daenystheedreamer]

slaynara beslayrys flying through the skies of vaslayria and travelling as far as motheryos

[lavellun]

3 & 23 :)

hi, kim! thank you so much for sending! 🤍🤍

3. a song outside of your usual genre already answered but i have to put this absolute banger called 'bruxos' by pongo, an angolan kuduro singer! she's so so good! her energy is just sooooo 🔥

23. your favorite cheesy pop song i don't know if this is considered pop (a pop power ballad maybe?), but the only song that comes to mind is 'it's all coming back to me now' by céline dion hahaha! i sing that "baby, baby, babyyyyy!" everytime lmao

[horizon-verizon]

I love the Targaryens, but I never really got the impression that they thought women were equal to men. Don’t get me wrong, Andal culture is extremely sexist and patriarchal, but the Valyrians/Targs were not written like the culture of the Dornish/Rhoynar who do believe women are equal to men. I think the Targaryens definitely gave their women much more freedom and respect than Andals did to their women, but in the end, men were still considered the final authority.

So I think the Targaryens were more progressive than the Andals but less than the Rhoynar. Aegon I did conquer Westeros alongside his sisters, but in the end, it is only him that is referred to as the conqueror, while his sisters are not. I also got the impression that Aegon was the one who made all the final decisions even though Visenya was the eldest. So that’s my opinion what do you think?

I think both similarly and similarly: there's the fact that both Valyrian women and men flew out to Valyrian outposts to control them. It wasn't a total democracy nor did Valyria think women were perfectly equal to men, but they were leagues better and more "progressive" than Westeros.

I would not use the word “progressive” as an absolute or an accurate term for Valyria because:

Valyria developed into a slave-state and practiced enslaving people

the 40 dragonlord families seemed to have lead the entire society (there were nonddragonriding noble and common families), thus making this an oligarchy

It’s still through the man that a child inherits their surname, as we know Aegon, Rhaenys and Visenya’s mother, Valaena, was a Velaryon. The Targ family also was inherited by its men, and Aegon I had to marry his oldest sister in Targ tradition and perform his duties. Then there is the fact that Valyrian men (mostly the sorcerers) can have multiples wives (polgyny); nothing is being said about women having multiple husbands (polyandry)

and so "progressive" puts a modern political value on an ancient people and that implies that the Valyrians and early Targs were studious and aware of patriarchal and other systematic oppressions--trying uproot society from the ground up for altruistic deeds (maybe the women after Aegon I conquerors Westeros, but that’s part of the group, not the whole). 

Again, I’d just say the Valyrians were better in this one regard--gender. The Targs and Valyrians are still more about power than altruism or perfect equality, like 90% of every other person/group in power in this system and world. Until Dany, of course. What makes the Targs-as-Westerosi-rulers different from their ancestors is that they did not colonize nor run an imperialist state; they merely conquered and ran a feudal state.

Let’s also then say that the Targs/Valyrian dragon-riders provide a means of social change in Westeros because their traditions, link to dragonriding, and the looser restrictions on women gives more of its members a bit of perspective and distance. Several notable members always have had this distance partially based on the fact that they are rulers trying to maintain their rule, but also because they are a people who are also foreign in culture and ID to the Westerosi nobles. Really, it’s the Faith of the Seven and the patriarchal traditons of the First Me and the Andals which create that ideological divide.

A Kinda-Digression about Dragons

Dragons are usually associated and stand in for untamed nature and chaos (disorder), or a huge force that ushers in a great change by clearing out what is before. A creature or a force that relentlessly consumes those things in its wake. a challenge that the hero must overcome or get through to obtain  In Greek myth, the serpent Ladon twisted himself the tree in the Hesperides’ Garden of the and guarded the tree’s golden apples. But they also can be the instruments of life giving and strength, as with Chinese dragons who are repsponsible for giving life-saving--or life-ruining--rains, or are made and intrinsically tied to the weather and the elements:

The Chinese dragon, lung, represents yang, the principle of heaven, activity, and maleness in the yinyang of Chinese cosmology. From ancient times it was the emblem of the imperial family, and until the founding of the republic (1911) the dragon adorned the Chinese flag.

They are raw, overwhelming power itself--while also embodying grace and balance-maintenance. 

The fact that women could ride dragons would automatically bump them up in a society that derives its power and identity through dragon-riding, even though only a section of Valyrians actually rode dragons--the 40 “dragonlord” families. this section fought for more influence and dominion over the Valyrian Freehold--the official name for Valyria and its territories. (The Velayrons and Celtigars historically were not part of the dragonriding families in Old Valyria). 

The Valyrians had no kings but instead called themselves the Freehold because all the citizenry who held land had a voice. Archons might be chosen to help lead, but they were elected by the lords freeholder from amongst their number, and only for a limited time. It was rare for Valyria to be swayed by one freeholding family alone although it was not entirely unknown either.

(A World of Ice and Fire,  pg. 13)

We don’t officially know if women could own land in their own right and autonomously and lead their families but it is likely -- dependent on circumstances where the male was unfit or dead and there would be less resistance or room to depose them.

Landholding was and remains a key defining part of being a citizen and having the right to vote when there was some form of voting allowed. Giving military commands and participating in government from the Romans of the Republic to the first leaders of the U.S. and their own ancestors who settled and colonized the Americas. 

Since women rode dragons, they definitely had a part in Valyrian expansion and imperialism (in the way that the Romans were imperialists, not 19th-20th century Europe and the U.S.), which also means that women had similar real, substantive political power as their male counterparts and particpated in govermental activities. The wars & using dragons to win them, after all, made Valyria as powerful as it was and dragons and the ability to ride them--symbolically, psychologically, culturally, etc. would have made the basis of their moral & aesthetic values. Again, they controlled Valyrian outposts as leaders as well.

So I think that Valyrian women could own land (and thus vote) in their own right, otherwise, how can they participate in expansion fully and maximize the use of their dragons?

Jaenara Belaerys rode her dragon Terrax, alone, to Sothoryos and didn’t come back until three yeas passed. We don’t officially know if she was weird even for the less-gender-restrictive Valyrians, or if women enjoyed having power and authority even while absent enough for her to expect that she’d still be welcome back into society. But I lean towards the latter.

Read this thread to start contemplating, if you want.

[coldraindropsss]

Jaenara Balaerys and her dragon Terrax.

[asongofsilks]

ASOIAF FANCASTING –> EVERY NAMED FEMALE CHARACTER ABOVE THE AGE OF FIVE, PART XXV

Helya (main series era): A bentback old woman, the steward of Pyke in the Iron Islands. Fancast: Geraldine McEwan.

Henrietta Woodhull (b. approx. 120 AC): The daughter of a landed knight of the Paps, she was presented as a marriage candidate for King Aegon III at the Maiden's Day Ball of 133 AC. She was the last to be presented to the king, and was one of a few candidates to be rushed past him after he had already been presented with the girl who would become his bride, Daenaera Velaryon. Fancast: Larisa Oleynik.

Hildy (main series era): Lover of Lord Jonos Bracken, before that the lover of a sworn sword of Lord Blackwood. Fancast: Nicole Whippy.

Holly (284-300 AC): A wildling spearwife who accompanies Mance Rayder, in the disguise of a singer travelling with six female companions, to Winterfell to rescue Arya Stark, who is supposed to be in the hands of the Boltons. She is shot by the Boltons' watchmen as Theon and "Arya" (actually Jeyne Poole, the Stark girls' childhood companion) escape. Fancast: Hannah Sharp.

Irri (b. 284 AC): One of Daenerys Targaryen's Dothraki handmaids, formerly daughter of a khal who was slain by Drogo. She stays with Daenerys after Drogo's death and journeys with her as far as Meereen. Fancast: Lesley-Ann Brandt.

Jaehaera Targaryen (123-133 AC): Daughter of King Aegon II and his wife Helaena Targaryen. After the death of her parents, siblings and uncles during the Dance of the Dragons, she was married to the only remaining candidate for the throne, Aegon III. However, two years later, she apparently threw herself out of her window onto the spikes of the dry moat surrounding Maegor's Holdfast. The King's Hand, Lord Unwin Peake, may in fact have been responsible for her death, as he immediately tried to arrange for Aegon to marry his daughter Myrielle. Fancast: Eleanor Worthington-Cox.

Jaenara Belaerys (era of Valyrian supremacy): A Valyrian dragonrider who attempted to reach the tip of the great southern continent, Sothoryos, on the back of her dragon Terrax. She returned to Valyria after three years, claiming that she had only encountered endless jungle and mountain. Fancast: Zoe Kravitz.

Janna Tyrell (b. approx. 270 AC): Youngest daughter of Lord Luthor Tyrell and his wife Olenna. She is married to Ser Jon Fossoway and accompanies her niece Margaery to King's Landing when it is arranged that she will wed the king. Fancast: Scarlett Johansson.

Janyce Hunter (main series era): Wife of Edwyn Frey, whose father, Ryman, is the heir to the Twins after the death of his grandfather Stevron. They have a young daughter, Walda, but it is rumoured that she is truly the daughter of Black Walder, Edwyn's brother. Fancast: Phoebe Dynevor.

Jayde (main series era): One of the girls at Chataya's brothel, an upmarket establishment that caters to many nobles in King's Landing. Fancast: Aifric O'Donnell.

Previous

[fragilestorm]

Jaenara Velaryon + Dorea Waters

Tag list: @arrthurpendragon @eddysocs @stanshollaand @bravelittleflower @richitozier @hiddenqveendom @foxesandmagic @waterloou

[inkblo0ded]

             —    𝐉𝐀𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐀  𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐒.                𝐭𝐡𝐞  𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝  𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐫  𝐨𝐟  𝐬𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐬.

    highborn  lady  of  house  belaerys ,  daughter  of  valyrian  dragonlords  and  explorer  of  sothoryos.         ⟨ rider  of  the  dragon  terrax ,  bloodmage. ⟩     .tag

birth : 4,700 BC.  jaenara was born at the end of the fifth ghiscari war. in the valyrian freehold to one of the forty dragonlord families known has house belaerys.

legacy : at seven years old the dragon egg belonging to the then-unborn terrax hatched for jaenara, the two bonded as dragon and dragonrider.

details : 28 years old, unmarried, bisexual.

ability : bloodmagic 

positive traits : venturesome, charismatic, passionate, uninhibited

neutral traits : ambitious, mystical, proud, spirited

negative traits : disobedient, sly, impulsive, spiteful

             SONG.      ⟨ set fire to the rain, adele. ⟩

“But there's a side to you, that I never knew, never knew. All the things you'd say, they were never true, never true And the games you play; you would always win, always win...

But I set fire to the rain, watched it pour as I touched your face. Well, it burned while I cried, ‘cause I heard it screaming out your name...”

             QUOTE.

       “What feeds a dragon's fire? All Valyrian sorcery was rooted in blood or fire.”                 —Marwyn to Samwell Tarly