#atopcat

[danyseastar]

givemelibertypleasw is focusing too much on show fanon, not what’s actually in the books.

Both Criston and Otto made wild accusations about her killing her siblings but Rhaenyra was ready to forgive them because she saw them as victims of Hightower ambition. She only turned on them AFTER Luke’s murder, not before.

People forget how damaging the tarnish of kinslaying is in Westerosi culture. Rhaenyra would never start her Queenship with this because it would make people turn against her.

Daemon’s shown to be a wild card in the show because the dumbass writers think passive women = feminism. In the books he’s Rhaenyra’s attack dog, he doesn’t kill without her direct order e.g. Vaemond Velaryon. So no, he wouldn’t kill her siblings because like I said kinslaying is political suicide and Rhaenyra made no indication she blames her siblings for her crown being usurped.

imo I think she would still be against kinslaying despite Luke’s death if Aemond had been punished, instead Aegon II threw him a feast. How else would a grieving mother react?

She wouldn’t kill them but she’s also smart enough to know keeping them around will have long term repercussions, especially for Jace. What I can see her do is have Daeron and Aemond sent to the Wall or to the Citadel to become Septons/Maesters that way they automatically lose their claim. She’d do the same to Jaehaerys and Maelor when they come of age. As for Aegon he would be put under house arrest, similar to what Baelor I had done to his three sisters. Helaena isn’t a threat by herself and Jaehaera could be easily married off to Joffrey.

Point is Rhaenyra had options when it came to her siblings that didn’t involve kinslaying. Options she would’ve gone through with if it wasn’t for Luke and Jace’s death and the Greens subsequent reaction to said deaths.

i don’t have anything to add, this right here is exactly it.

[seawitchmimi]

this commenter saw my soul and spoke the words engraved onto it

So funny to see someone call a m/m/f pairing "het"....I believe in women and I believe she can have gay sex with those men. if she wants

[fandomshatepeopleofcolor]

Do you know of any articles/posts discussing the fact that the majority of shows with a diverse cast are primarily police dramas? Brooklyn 99, The Rookie, L.A.’s Finest etc.

Hmmmmm so on the one hand the television industry is a bit of a hellscape but honestly I would question this assertion like yes the correlation is frustrating but just because police shows often feature actors of color, doesn’t mean that most shows featuring POC are police shows. Like okay off the top of my head, here are a few:

Harlem on Prime

2. Run The Burbs

3. Quantum Leap

4. Abbott Elementary

5. Interview With The Vampire

Honorable mention to NBC’s Found starring Shanola Hampton, imo the show took a little bit to find it’s footing and it’s only not a police show on a technicality but the core cast has done a solid job in their first season and they got picked up for a second season, so I’ll recommend it on this list

Anyone reading this feel free to send in an ask to shout out your favorite show featuring a majority non-white cast and ideally not a police show, always happy to boost 📨

• mod dyr

p.s. for the folks who enjoy/prefer YouTube video essays, Skip Intro has put out a ton of work re copaganda in entertainment https://youtube.com/@SkipIntroYT

[doomedyuri-69]

So I saw this post about Rhaenyra’s hairstyles:

tumblr.com/atopcat/759329316661264384/rhaenyra-targaryen-and-hairstyles

And it got me thinking about 2x08. Alicent’s finally abandoned her shackles, thus her hair is loose and open, a symbol of her freedom.

In contrast Rhaenyra’s hair is fashioned in these tight braids, a symbol of both her burden and her grief which are intertwined with one another.

Neither of them have known real happiness since becoming Queen, Alicent regained her’s when she abandoned her crown but Rhaenyra never can.

Hair styles have as symbols for change have always spoken to me and this one definitely stood out to me.

Alicent is finally free.

Rhaenyra has become too tightly shackled by her burdens to even dream of being free again.

Thank you anon for giving me another excuse to talk about the never ending parallels between rhaenyra and alicent.

[pessimisticpigeonsworld]

“She doesn't want people so see how hypocritical, sexist (to her own gender no less), and just plain awful her character is and take the dislike out on her”

This post pretty much sums up the problem with Olivia’s take on Alicent:

tumblr(.)com/atopcat/737404919685988352/i-really-liked-your-post-about-rhaenicent-what-do

Olivia doesn’t like Alicent, she doesn’t like Team Green, she only wants to desperately cling to fan support so she can stay popular with the general audience. The truth of the matter is Rhaenyra fans make up the largest chunk of the HotD fandom, which means they also make up most of Rhaenicent. If Olivia can ensure Alicent is reduced to nothing more than Rhaenyra’s personal cheerleader instead of a well developed antagonist then Rhaenyra stans will fully embrace her.

Olivia’s ideal ending is where Alicent joins Team Black, she’s convinced herself that if Alicent abandons her family then fans will finally like her and that’s more important to her than having a well written character. As much as I respect the grift it bugs me to no end because she’s intentionally destroying the show in order to protect her palatable version of Rhaenicent.

Olivia Cooke seems to fall into the same trap as Alicent stans: loving the idea and aesthetic of Alicent rather than her actual character. They are enamored with the idea of a pretty victim of the patriarchy who just cries and plays the pawn, rather than Alicent herself. They don't want Alicent to be active in her life or make her own decisions because of who she is in the story.

Alicent is a woman who constantly upholds the patriarchy and tears down other women. She's not a good person and loses sympathy very quickly. Olivia and Alicent stans don't want to accept this, so they make up all these ideas about her to make themselves feel better about playing/liking her.

I really love @atopcat's takes on HOTD, they never miss. Olivia wants to be loved by the fans, and she seems to think the only way to get that is by playing a loved character. There are instances where people hate the actor because of the character, so I can't be too upset about that mindset. But actors who embrace their characters as being villains/antagonists show their skill and grasp on reality.

Olivia and the HOTD show runners are all trying to make a rhaenicent fanfic, but they have opposing ideas of how they want it to play out. Olivia doesn't want Alicent to take any responsibility for her actions because that would mean Alicent was doing shitty things for the whole season. I will say, at least she isn't saying Rhaenyra was actually the monster all along like Alicent stans, so there's that.

[therealslimshakespeare]

Now I need a parallel with Edward III’s sons and the Blackfyre rebellions 🌚 @atopcat

A Song of Ice and Fire + The War of the Roses

[targwh0re]

New Ideas for HOTD Rhaenyra Fashion pt.7

First time I’m doing one of adult Rhaenyra’s costumes, and we’re starting off with the one I hateeee the most of all:

I just, it’s so-it’s so, wtf is this shit?!?!?

I get it’s a sort of call back go her of outfits when she was younger but bruh😶 you’re telling me this is what she chose. Even her younger outfits were better than that. And I get it, I get it, it’s supposed to be maternity wear but reminder that this:

Is what Alicent wore when pregnant with Helaena. And this is what Rhaenyra wore right after the birth:

Both are hella fire, stunning. The dress Rhaenyra’s wearing is very Velaryon esque, slowly, loose, a sort of beached of Greece type beauty. Now she can still wear Targaryen colors, but she can also still have some representation of her Velaryon marriage (as we really tryna post a happy front so no one thinks about daddy Harwin😘)

So I think she’s still be wearing something similar, but perhaps representing both family’s. This being an under dress:

With it blue threading running through the red it could easily be designed a scales.

I’d also add an open fronted petticoat so that she could keep her arms warm and protect her belly or breasts if she feels the need as a woman whom has freshly given birth.

I’d use these three for design reference:

Taking the pattern from the red gown, the design of the green gown w/ the white designs, and then the golden medallion chains binding them together from the third design.

I’d change the color of the petticoat to a Targaryen black, and trade the white designs for gold ones more similar to the ones we on her blue dress. As you can see the zigzagging in the first picture of the three is reminiscent of the blue threads on the red dress meant to be worn under so honestly those could just be changed to gold. Keeping the golden belt with the rubies in the second picture, I’d disregard the highest neck piece with the laces in the front. I’d keep the spacing of the open front in the third picture, turning the bands of the front to match the fabric of the underdress. The gold on either side of the bands could be formed into dragons heads (perhaps reminiscent of Syrax’s head if ur feeling fancy). Lastly, I think I would make the inside fabric of the petticoat a velaryon blue, replacing the yellowish color we see on the interior of the dress in the third picture.

Sorry if that was confusing, I might’ve got a little too descriptive to show you what going on in my mind 😭

As for her Jewelry, I just saw a Reddit post made before hotd came out about the color of Joffrey and Jace’s dragons. They were actually correct for the most part about Vermax (Jace’s dragon) so I have faith in their theory that Tyraxes (Joffrey’s dragon) is red & black or something similar.

(If you want to read their theory about how the colors of the dragons belonging to Rhaenyra’s first three sons reflect the Conquerors original three dragons and Dany’s three dragons check it out on Reddit u/OneirosDrakontos)

That being said I’d want to reflect his hatchling, or at least egg on her jewelry. (Bc I also saw someone say Rhaenyra wears a ring for everyone of her three sons @atopcat) Maybe it’d be cute if she did something to reflect their future dragons after their birth with her jewelry as well.

Red and black for Tyraxes, gold for the ring she wears for him:

Her hair is more of a simpler extent, as I feel like though time hasn’t calmed down her fashionista tastes to an extreme extent, she’s more concerned about her newborn baby than her hair right now.

Something like this, but instead make it a half-do w/ hair still hanging free from any binds/braids:

Replace the pink ribbon and bow with two Velaryon Blue colored bands with gold design embroidered onto it, golden thread braided at the edges of the fabric. Perhaps the bow could be replaced with a golden three headed dragon pin stick through the braid so it appears as if mini dragons heads are roaring at those walking behind her.

[alicentflorent]

I saw this and it reminded me why Alicent stans hate Rhaenicent:

tumblr.com/seamayweed/758356218697990144?source=share

Do you have any idea how many posts flooded the Alicent tag with this poem? @atopcat even did a rant about it

The funny thing is I have yet to see a Rhaenicent make the same post about Rhaenyra. Why is it that they can only envision a world where Rhaenyra gets Harwin and their sons but Alicent should be content simply being with Rhaenyra and having no one else?

Why does everything revolve around Rhaenyra's happiness?

Yes I’ve noticed how often this quote has been used for Alicent. Even back in season one.

It dismisses the point of alicents story. Yes her children might be a product of rape and she might not have maternal instincts after having children so young and not out of choice but her children exist and despite everything she loves them. They were all she had. I feel like Cersei’s quote to Sansa “Love no one but your children. On that front, a mother has no choice.” Applies more accurately to Alicent than “her children should just not exist”

These shippers think Alicent would be happy if only she got to be with Rhaenyra and like you said, Rhaenyra also gets to have children with Harwin because she is a good and worthy mother and her children are good kids that should still exist unlike Alicent’s kids who are messed up because of their upbringing. No one ever brings up the fact that teenage Rhaenyra specifically did not want kids and only had her first because she needed an heir to secure her claim.

Only Alicent has to be content with being Rhaenyra’s lover, with no other lovers, no children of her own and usually no goals of her own while Rhaenyra is allowed to become queen and have her children and another lover etc.

[royal-confessions]

“"Kamala Harris is the Meghan Markle of American politics" Why exactly? Because they're uppity biracial women who don't know their place?” - Submitted by atopcat

[notalicent]

So I saw this post about Rhaenyra’s hairstyles:

tumblr.com/atopcat/759329316661264384/rhaenyra-targaryen-and-hairstyles

And it got me thinking about 2x08. Alicent’s finally abandoned her shackles, thus her hair is loose and open, a symbol of her freedom.

In contrast Rhaenyra’s hair is fashioned in these tight braids, a symbol of both her burden and her grief which are intertwined with one another.

Neither of them have known real happiness since becoming Queen, Alicent regained her’s when she abandoned her crown but Rhaenyra never can.

I love all the details ! Honestly, I’m really looking forward to the bts book that’s coming out next month for even more details and descriptions

[nrilliree]

I think this post pretty much sums up the problem with Rhaenicent:

tumblr.com/atopcat/737404919685988352/i-really-liked-your-post-about-rhaenicent-what-do

There are three different types of Rhaenicents:

Fans who are convinced both women are nothing more than 24/7 victims. Alicent and Rhaenyra have no personality, no agency and no emotion, all they want is to abandon their kids for each other.

Rhaenyra stans who don’t give two craps about Alicent.

Alicent stans who don’t give two craps about Rhaenyra.

I definitely agree with this person on this and their post. Very good summary.

[danyseastar]

I’m actually sad they changed Rhaenyra’s banner ☹️

The original is more personal and tells us a lot about Rhaenyra as a person.

Arryn because she loves her mother, Aemma was just as important as Viserys and Rhaenyra never forgot her.

Valeryon to honour Laenor, they may not have been in love but he protected her and their boys and she’ll never forget that.

i am too honestly! like sure, is it very aesthetically pleasing? of course not, but just as you said it bore her deep meaning. i guess they’ve decided to flip it in the show, and while i think the traditional targaryen banner does show her as ‘in the right’ i guess (which at this point the writers probably think the general audience is too stupid to understand the meaning behind her og banner or just that they’re too focused on ‘prettiness’). i’m not surprised it was changed, just very disappointed. rhaenyra chose to respect her family whilst fighting for her throne, while aegon centered his cause around his dragon. i think it’s very telling of each of their characters.

[pattarainn]

I was tagged by @mar-nu-falmar oh dear, hello!

Tag game: Tag 9 people you’d like to get to know better.

Last song: Come fly with me by Ruelle

Currently watching: (more like currently finished) Silo

Three ships: Ned x Cat, Roslin x Adama, Moiraine x Siuan

Favorite color: Earth tones

Currently consuming: Sangria from last night, iced milk tea this morning, with 2 bottles of gifted honey white wines sitting in my apartment

First ship: Can't remember or rather prefer not to say lol

Relationship status: Single

Tagging: @yerevasunclair @fairleyandmanville @atopcat @leialannister @caitylove @ladycatofwinterfell @madamairlock @oh-mydarling @jessicallange

[nonbinarylesbianherb]

okay im gonna put this here as well in tags lowkey just skip to the end bit bc i have diagnosed yapper and i do in fact yap-

i did a few points cuz some of them r from s1 and my memory is not good so it can like count as one LOL. They’re all older rhaenicent because we’re talking abt older alicent / s2 writing of her, so im assuming we’re talking abt older rhaenicent. I do think older rhaenicent is a much more flawed ship than younger rhaenicent

1. I can’t remember specifically what it was but it may have been something to do with delaying the war- when Rhaenyra was given a torn page from Otto (one Alicent had kept) and agreed to not do something (its been a while since I saw s1 bear with me lmaoo)

2. When Alicent asked rhaenyra if she could come back (this was like after the dinner with everyone yk the one) and rhaenyra said okay (well it was more than that but okay was the gist)

3. When she wanted to go talk with Alicent and Mysaria was like brother, it would be easier to kill her damn- (Alicent has also been like aye let’s not kill rhaenyra actually)

and i agree with you! there should have just been- aye ill make aegon my heir we good-(obviously its too late for that now I think after everything that has happened) now i dont think id describe alicent as ‘happily’ giving over her sons, but i was also upset with how they did things and why she couldn’t at least leave with both helaena and aegon and their kid. i mean yea there were many options she couldve thought about first or something, i mean we haven’t even had a scene with her and aegon in ages (maybe she was going to go back to kl and talk to him, obviously atp he’s left but she doesn’t know that, but idk where they were going w it)

and you’re correct that both the show (and fandom tbh) are quick to jump Alicent’s flaws and shame her for them, but when they do eventually notice Rhaenyra’s flaws (and she has many as well) it’s seen more as “empowering” or smt that she is a flawed woman and that’s good representation etc- and it is upsetting to see the change with how they treat both characters. I do love both alicent and nyra (i mean i wont lie and say its fully equal, i am much more biased towards alicent) cuz people will blame Alicent for her flaws and mock or shame her, whilst rhaenyra they’ll say it wasn’t her fault or she’ll be empowered because of it. Now from what I’ve seen in the HOTD fandom i can say Alicent faces much more vitriol (and honestly just plain misogyny and victim blaming) than rhaenyra- and it IS unfair and annoying and upsetting to see the difference. (not that I want rhaenyra to face misogyny or victim blaming- and she has before! but by the fandom not as much as alicent- i mean like both of them have their flaws and actions recognised without one being “good” and the other being “bad”)

I think a lot of scenes esp w s2 I’ve actually seen the fandom upset at rhaenyra, esp the sept scene people were upset at her and saying she was stupid/bad and it made her look bad etc. And hey Alicent has more redeeming qualities than just loving and protecting her kids 😔 but i agree it was a quality that in s2 the writing for her character just became odd and contradictory and yea,,, rough. (i mean hey if they ever make her fully hate her kids ill be upset for her behalf and angry at the writers but they could never make me hate you alicent hightower no matter how hard they butcher your writing/character 🫡)

I understand your anger and I have felt a lot of it myself with how they’ve written and done things. -

Now I don’t think you’ll change your opinion on rhaenicent or stop hating the ship (which is fine because it is your opinion and you have rights LOL) in the same way I won’t change my opinion on rhaenicent/ or stop loving them- and this conversation may continue to drag on forever 😭 i can recognise why you hate rhaenicent and i hope you can recognise that rhaenicent (more specifically young rhaenicent, but rhaenicent all the same- in the same way i connect and am attached more deeply to young alicent but alicent all the same.) is important to me on many levels. At the end of the day we both love alicent and are upset with s2 writing of her!

I need Rhaenicent shippers to stay away from the Alicent Hightower tag, you never liked her, you're salivating over the fact she abandoned her own CHILDREN, you're praising the writers for robbing her of agency and personality, you got what you wanted a useless prop who exists solely to make Rhaenyra look good.

You won, now stay away from Alicent Hightower fans we do not want to see your bs!

[rynnthefangirl]

Someone sends your anons ask to someone account, there's Aegon the younger fan who was mad cuz theres Rhaenyra and Velaryon boys fans hating on Aegon the younger calling them Monsters (if you knew atopcat she was one of them out of nowhere calling them monsters on Aegon and Viserys Rhaenyra heartwarming fanart), rn there's also post of some team black calling this boys ungrateful bastard, should been eaten by sunfyre, dont deserve the throne, im one of people who love Aegon and hate that Aegon even got on list (Targ hate by Targ stans) he even mention more than his own parents on that list, this is some of the reasons why some Aegon fan hating on Velaryons boys (yes majority those people are Velaryons fans or Rhaenyra based on their pfp or their username) i dislike them but i also hate the fact now some of Aegon fans spreading hate like Rhaenyra didnt care about Aegon at all, never consider Aegon and Viserys as her sweet sons like her older sons, how this people even know this? They dont even have proper dialogue in the book, Rhaenyra doesnt care about Viserys only Aegon does she only care about jace how this people know this? Aegon losing Viserys was shock him the most, Rhaenyra losing Jace was shock her the most at the moment she keep getting this children death after death, Fire and Blood is historical book not an actual novel with characters pov how do we know she didnt mourn Viserys?, she get karma eaten by Sunfyre!.

as someone who loved Aegon and Rhaenyra relationship more than her other sons this is so tiring, Rhaenyra doesnt give a shit if Aegon or Viserys would recognize her as westeros ruler, changing historical records yada yada, that woman was already give up on her crown at the end of the day, i dont know why some rhaenyra fans acting like Rhaenyra want Aegon thank her or owe her his life that child is her baby, and he did what best at that moment.

I dont hate Velaryons boys i just dont care about them at all because those people behaviour, but this fandom drama keep getting on my nerves that people who i thought better than those Velaryons toxic fans it turn out they are just the same, even Aegon deserve a better fan cuz now some of them sound more as Aegon the second fan.

Yeah so when I made my original post about A&V and the Velaryon boys, that was really just based on a couple of weird anti-VB posts that i stumbled upon in the Aegon III tag. Then I proceeded to get more anon asks on that topic than on anything else I’ve ever posted in the history of my blog😅 so I kind of stumbled into more of a fandom drama that I was aware existed? Idk, I’ve never see any of the animosity you’ve described against A&V from TB/Velaryon boy stans, hence my confusion. I’m not denying that it exists (I’ll never underestimate how toxic fans of all sides can be), it just hasn’t entered my internet orbit. I very much prefer A&V, but I like the Velaryon boys as well. I bear no ill will towards any of Rhaenyra’s sons, she’s my Queen and they’re her babies.🥺

If I do ever come across that kind of BS being said about my boy Aegon III though, it’s gonna be on sight🤺

[spacerockfloater]

In regard to your Jace vs. Daemon post I saw this posted by a Daemon stan of all people: tumblr(.)com/atopcat/740941470738120704/interesting-take-usually-its-daemon-antis-who

It took me by surprise because normally it’s Greens who point out Daemon wanted his sons on the throne whilst Blacks are screaming that can’t possibly be true because JL&J are sooooo perfect and sooooo wonderful he loves them more than his actual kids.

Looking further into it, Jace v. Daemon seems to be a huge source of contention in the TB fandom. On one side you have obsessive Rhaenyra stans who have deluded themselves into believing Jacaerys Waters (his actual name btw) is gods gift to man and can do no wrong, everyone worships the ground he walks on including his stepfather because he’s that amazing. On the other side we have Daemon stans who cannot stand the fact Harwin Strong’s bastards would’ve sat on the throne if the events of the civil war never happened.

I’m not gonna lie, I feel like people are DESPERATE because it’s absolutely insane to me that Jace has this fairly large fanbase.

Like, why???? He doesn’t do anything??? He immediately dies during his first battle??? Someone please enlighten me as to why Jace has become so interesting to us all of a sudden.

Regarding your original point, you’re so right because people who claim that Daemon would never hurt Rhae’s bastards are delusional. This man would kill them asap. All of his descendants turn against one another. Be so for real rn.