#it feels so targed

[trickster-or-nothing-at-all]

i have this headcanon that suvi wears her two pigtails still but they’re just stacked now because it feels more formal so i drew it anyway i love a wizard in a fancy little outfit!! what a time to be alive!!

[crimsoncold]

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE IN THE HOTD FANDOM RIGHT now as someone who is disappointed in the show's handling of team green and really just critical the show's writing in general

Team Green Stans and/or HOTD critics:

"I know I'm going to get a barrage of criticism or even hate/harassment for saying this but...

HOTD's writing is rather biased and strays from the source material in ways that are frequently ridiculous, fails to actually improve the story, and totally ignores the anti-war and the general targ/ruling class critical tone of GRRM's writing.

Yes villain or dark character centric shows can be really good even when the purpose of the story isn't to condemn their actions- BUT purposefully changing an adaptation of a story so that it no longer contains the original message/themes that did criticize the characters and their actions is at the very least a questionable writing choice.

The characterization and the messages of the show are inconsistent in a way that doesn't feel intentional or in order to make a point- instead it just doesn't make sense. ALL characters suffer due to the choices of the writers/showrunners- including team black- but team green is obviously getting the worst of it (seriously its cartoonishly bad). It's all so nonsensical and frustrating that it's getting harder and harder to watch- really at this point its no longer even a fun bad! show that can still manage to be entertaining even when the story itself sucks.

Much like with d&d with the later seasons of GOT it's disappointing to see the poor quality of work coming from paid professional writers, this could have been a show about a tragic and dramatic conflict between characters who are mostly bad people yet are still compelling or sympathetic and instead we got ...well...this."

Some Team Black Stans:

"Come on people HoTD is an adaptation so of course things will differ from the books but the show still stays true to the heart of the book, the changes were not a big deal- in fact some were good choices by the showrunners making more disturbing and violent aspects of the book more palatable for the audience without lessening their emotional impact... B&C was toned down not to whitewash team black but because no one should want to see the multiple child homicides from the book take place on screen...and the violence here really isn't as important to the plot as it was for say GOT's red wedding... toning the violent or horrific nature of these deaths down and having it occur off screen is the right thing to do! It's still sad- and this way we didn't need to traumatize the actors OR the audience!

Really people just stop complaining... both sides of the conflict are presented as EQUALLY culpable and in the wrong as the other side, team green stans are just missing the subtle points being made in the show and are exaggerating when they criticize the writing or supposed inconsistent characterization and accuse the showrunner's of being biased.

These TG stans are just being so mean and should stop criticizing the writers/showrunners-who are just doing their job!- and even if they feel they have to criticize the writing it's really just so inappropriate to ever specifically name the writers/showrunners when doing so! It's one thing for fandom to anonymously criticize other fans- especially since TG Stan's takes are so misguided that they obviously need someone to explain to them how they are misinterpreting things- but criticizing the professional writers and showrunners through tumblr posts is out of line! Its not the writer's fault that Alicent and TG are hypocritical or less likable than TB- that may just be how they are in canon- to say that the storytellers are purposefully changing things to make TG less sympathetic or competent than they were in the books and to set them up as the unlikeable antagonistic opposite to the now more tragic and heroic TB is a ridiculous accusation!"

Other Team Black Stans:

"Daemyra is just the best ship, they have loved eachother since she was a teenager and now after years of pining and being kept apart they are finally free to be together, you never see supportive or healthy relationships like this in asoiaf, we stan a man who will do literally anything and kill anyone for his niece wife.

Lucerys was just an innocent baby when he sliced up Aemond's face, he was just protecting his big brother, it only happened because he was afraid for their lives! Viserys made the right choice not to punish anyone since the team black kids only attacked Aemond after he stole Rhaena's dragon and Lucerys was only using self defense when he used a knife on Aemond. Most especially Lucerys and his mother didn't deserve to be attacked by that bitch Alic*nt. And Rheanyra trying to have Aemond tortured for calling her sons bastards was just her being a rightfully protective mother! Team Green means her family harm and no way will a bamf like Rhaenyra let that slide... this is what a good mother does not like that terrible Alic*nt! Lucerys' death was so tragic can't wait to see a grieving mother get her revenge... TG believes in an eye for an eye don't they? Well how will they like a son for a son?

TG stans keep saying that Rhaenyra is just as violent entitled and problematic as anyone else on hotd! They are so wrong! They are just delusional haters that can't stand to see a woman have sexual freedom and be in a position of power! She is the better daughter/wife/mother and the only people she hates are the ones who deserve it!

See she isn't evil like the Hightowers- B&C was an accident and the book description was exaggerated to be used as propaganda against Rhaenyra- she didn't even know it was happening. It wasn't even team blacks intent to kill little Jaehaerys only to kill Aemond- but he's a kinslayer so them sending someone to assassinate their nephew/brother is totally in the right and not something any character in canon would judge them for!... Rhaenyra is just too good of a person to wish harm on any of her innocent family members. Everything that happened to Rhaenyra, Rhaenys, and Meleys is just so tragic... they are the only true queens in this series ...god i wish all of their pain was only experienced by team green lol.

You know what ...are TG stans children or something? Why do they keep complaining that team green is being unfairly villainized to make team black look better? Don't they know they can just watch a show where the characters are flawed/bad people without needing the story to spoon feed the audience the message that bad people need to be condemned? Why do they take things so seriously? Why is this their whole personality? Get a life and stop overthinking a book/tv show -not everything needs to be deep you know so just shut up and enjoy watching the dragons destroy things.

But for real how can you people stan misogynistic women haters like team green or a trad wife/women for trump like Alic*nt? Like yikes what does your fictional character preferences say about you as a person. Hey EVERYBODY look these weirdos are really out here defending and woobifying violent predatory and sexist characters like team green! This fandom is the worse i swear lmfao."

Meanwhile...

Showrunners/Writers:

"What if the civil war, brutal violence, and tragic kinslaying that happened in the dance of dragons was really just a series of accidents and misunderstandings?

What if Rhaenyra and Alicent were friends who never really hated one another, and Alicent was pining for Rhaenyra's friendship and acceptance for the last 20 years, what if neither of them even wanted to go to war?

Who cares about house stark or the pact of ice and fire, or Jace's interactions with Cregan or Sara? You know what Sara Snow doesn't even exist, Jon i mean Jace would never betray his betrothal/loyalty/vows to his dragonrider soulmate and future wife for some stark girl! This whole stark side plot isn't important lets just go back to the dragons!

What if Rhaenyra wanted the throne because she knew that from her descendants the prophesied saviour/prince that was promised would be born? What if instead of her surviving son Aegon being so traumatized by the horrors of this meaningless war that he actually hated and feared dragons afterward- and supposedly was even responsible for killing the last one- it is Rhaenyra who was actually responsible for saving Daenerys' future dragon eggs- and thus she the one who ensured the return of dragons to Westeros! It will be Rhaenyra through her choices and her descendants that will be responsible for saving the entire realm and defeating the others with dragon fire!

What if Alicent pushing her son to be crowned was all because she was a fool who misunderstood the words of her dying husband NOT because she felt her son was unfairly robbed of his birthright by his father?

What happened with Daenerys in the later seasons of GOT was so unfair- just terrible writing -she NEVER should have been made out to be a mad queen and i bet Rhaenyra wasn't actually a cruel or violent ruler either! I bet it was the men who slandered her, and the men who were pushing for war and violence while all the women were actually trying to keep the peace.

Wait...wait.... What if everything in the book that criticized Rhaenyra was actually propaganda made by her enemies to ruin her reputation!?!!? Yeah B&C and team black arranging the horrific murder of a child? That story was TOTALLY team green exaggerating the violent murder of their child/grandchild. Daenerys I mean Rhaenyra deserved so much better... and all the injustices that happened to her will be the most impactful and tragic element of this show.

What if TG didnt actually have strong bonds with their dragon or spend much time riding them?... just more propaganda! Yes! CGI is expensive so this also means we dont really have to show their dragons unless they are fighting the blacks. Team Black's bond with their dragons is much more powerful and important though so we should still show them spending time together and riding them.

What if the book description of the respect and loyalty team green had to one another and the terrible grief they felt at the loss of their family members was ALSO just team green propaganda? What if Alicent only ever struggled as a mother and failed to connect with her kids and actually didn't even like or respect her children? How many kids did she have anyway? Three? Yeah that sounds right. Oh wait! Wait! What if none of TG got along with or trusted one other? No...no...What if they actually hated and betrayed each other? YESSSS!!!!!!!

Team black and their descendants are the true Targaryens, no one is really interested in the boring team green anyways so at least these changes will make them more interesting and better foils for team black! This type of story is exactly what people want I just know they are going to love it."

NOTE: (because i know idiots will be lurking in the anti tags to complain or harass people)

this is mostly meant to be very critical of the showrunners and somewhat critical of a specific type of stanning behaviour and the weird criticism or harassment that gets directed at people who like team green or who criticize hotd - sure i may be exaggerating slightly for effect but l'm STILL pulling from real posts/comments/opinions that I see from TB stans ...Like sure they aren't putting ALL of this in a single post but collectively this is definitely the type of attitude and language many TB stans have

Fandom is just about enjoying a special interest - I dont actually care about or want to police who you stan or ship. I DO care that some of you purposefully and directly harass real people because you disagree with their opinion on fictional characters and that some of you leave uncharitable, ignorant, critical, or unpleasant comments on properly tagged Team Green/anti or TB critical/or hotd critical posts.

Most of all i just find it really funny the juxtaposition there is between how underwhelming and juvenile the show's storytelling choices are compared to how eloquently, persistently, or vehemently fans will write up either criticism or defense pieces for these characters, this objectively bad show, and it's deeply unimpressive writing... like sure some fans put more effort into understanding the source material and comparing it to the show and some put more effort into criticizing or defending the show,the writing, or specific characters but collectively nearly all of us are putting in more time, effort, and thought into hotd than ANY of the showrunners/writers.

In conclusion Guys just like or dislike whatever show/characters you want...you don't have to justify the things you like by being willfully in denial about what canon sources say/the nature of certain characters/or the quality of the show's writing. You definitely don't need to be disrespectful or attack people on behalf of fictional characters or the well paid hbo showrunners/writers.

[ladystoneboobs]

no of fence to jon snow fans who for some reason care about his exact age, but these discussions just annoy me no end. not only bc there's no way any weirwood flashbacks bran has to rhaegar/lyanna will come with time/datestamps, but also bc there's always comments like this:

SEVERAL turns of the moon (ie, months)?! have these people never seen a human baby before or just have no concept of their ages? even if we take into account travel time from the toj to wf, meaning jon was not a newborn too fresh out the oven when catelyn and robb arrived, there's still a difference between a newborn and a 3mo and an even bigger difference between those infants and an older baby 5-7mo. there's very good reasons these lines were cut. whatever birthdates can be worked out internally for jon and robb from when they're first mentioned as 15 and 16 don't matter in the end, bc grrm doesn't care about a consistent timeline and the actual text of catelyn's pov and ned's convo with robert about cheating on her should outweigh any guesstimates about jon's official nameday wrt robb's. catelyn may not have cared for jon, but she would sure as hell have noticed his nameday if it came before robb's and made him ned's firstborn. if jon's birthday canonically came before robb's then either ned's cover story would not involve adultery (not impossible for him to sire a bastard before his wedding), or he'd just give jon a new nameday along with his new name to fit the adultery lie. it makes no sense for him to lie about one and not the other, undermining the big lie with a little public clue of his story not adding up. whatever else she was as a stepmother, cat wasn't stupid and a bastard who was actually the eldest son being raised alongside her trueborn heir could be an even bigger insult than whether he was born of adultery or not.

BUT, the unknowability of jon's true birthday is not the only reason this annoys me, it's bc this is all based on the assumption that jon must be older since rhaegar/lyanna ran off together before ned married cat, as if both boys must have been conceived asap as robb canonically was when his parents consummated their marriage. and that's not how human reproduction works! even if you don't understand how fast babies grow in the first year, you should know that people who get pregnant do so through ovulation cycles and a lucky sperm finding an egg and all that, not just immediately getting knocked up as soon as one has p-in-v sex for the first time. not unless you only know mean girls sex ed where if you have sex you will get pregnant and die. (even tho lyanna did die, there's plenty of canon examples where pregnancy did not lead straight to death. also examples of people who did not get pregnant right away and even some who are/were sexually active and childless without always having moon tea on hand.) we can't know how long lyanna was having sex before that sperm+egg match happened or even how long she was with rhaegar before losing her technical virginity. if they were married, doesn't it make sense to think they didn't consummate their relationship until the wedding night either? that's the only leverage there is to ensure a status as wife rather than just mistress.

and while i just said grrm doesn't care about exact timelines and a lot is still foggy surrounding the rebellion and esp rhaegar, there is one timemarker wrt robert's rebellion he voluntarily threw in, time and time again: that stannis was besieged at storm's end for almost a whole year. that siege, which mind you, did not match the duration of the entire war. it only started after robert won his battles at gulltown and summerhall, returned to storm's end, and then went out and lost the battle of ashford, leaving his homeland open to the reachermen. the same siege which only ended when ned made a detour there after the sack of king's landing, before going to the toj. even if lyanna may not have given birth that exact day ned found her, she could only be waiting in that bloody bed for weeks at the most, not months. so if rhaegar knocked her up the very same night he carried her off and jon was still a newborn when ned found her after the siege of storm's end had ended, wouldn't that mean lyanna was pregnant for well over a year? that's not how human pregnancy works either! so, maybe that's proof that jon and robb, whichever order they were actually born in, were actually very close in age as babies, much closer than if they were both conceived asap.

and really, jon's actual birthdate does not matter imho, when he was raised not just as the bastard to robb's trueborn heir, but with robb also known by catelyn and the world as ned's firstborn (which he was, in any case, as jon was ned's nephew by birth). what difference could a birthdate before robb's make (even were there some means of discovery) after ned, cat, and robb are all dead? if one is looking only at his birth parents then he's only a firstborn child on lyanna's side, but definitely a second son on rhaegar's side. maybe he was always meant to be a second son with a not much older half-brother! even if the aegon fka young griff is not in fact rhaegar's son, he'll still be known as aegon vi targaryen, meaning jon will never be known as any father's elder son. if i may reference mean girls again, it's not going to happen.

[lostchildofthenewworld]

i am asking pro daemyra/pro targaryen/pro daemon writers to be mindful of their writing. cause at this point it’s starting to look like ya’ll riding out in black and red hoods, and screaming Vu Vlux Vlan with how pro-valyrian the writing is. ya’ll are literally regurgitating white supremacist rhetoric and not even in a “this is a critique” way but in a “they are superior!” way which is crazy. step away from ao3, now

[got-brainrot]

posting daenerys memes separately from the rest i made lol

[daeneryseastar]

“the targaryen’s think they’re better than everyone else! they must be evil reincarnated!!”

i hate to break the news to you bestie but that’s like… EVERY house in westeros major and small. i guess in ur in-depth analysis you decided that the hightower’s are the *real* pinnacles of servitude and graciousness and don’t believe they are better than anyone else in opposition to the big bad evil targaryen’s who do how could this possibly not reach y’all’s itty bitty bite sized brains

[fromtheseventhhell]

"The Starks are going to hate Dany because her father killed their grandfather and uncle"

The Starks thinking about Rickard and Brandon:

[melrosing]

sometimes worrying Tyrion Targaryen may be true in the early hours of a thursday

[maegalkarven]

In light of Alicole reveal, let me just say that I will absolutely LOSE my mind (in the best possible way) if the reason Daeron was sent to Oldtown is because he has brown hair.

[rhaenyra-first-of-her-name]

Somebody send me recs about Team Black please.

[rhaenin-time]

i don't like to get involved with ship wars, but i desperately need to point out that so many of the people who claim House Targaryen is inherently evil for practicing incest, who bash Rhaenyra whom in their eyes is both victim and yet evil for being a victim.... also ship two cousins who were raised as siblings. and just, come on.

[kingcunny]

paddy i love you. dont piss me off. you know damn well mentioning hotd wigs in the same sentence as danys wigs is an insult

[atopvisenyashill]

Getting a Shella Whent AND an Anya Waynwood shout out in the same chapter was like catnip to me, a person obsessed with women who rule in Westeros.

I also think it’s super interesting how Anya Waynwood’s sons are all kinda old - her heir, Morton, puts himself forward for Lysa’s hand - yet it’s Anya that is clearly head of House Waynwood, which probably means two of our most forefront examples of women ruling in their own right are Jeyne Arryn and Anya Waynwood, both in the Vale. And you have female line inheritance with Harry Hardyng as well, fostering with a ruling lady. The Vale prides itself on its chivalry and its knighthood but unlike the Reach, which is often also considered very "conservative" (likely as a sort of culture war esque backlash to the Marches and their rivalry with Dorne), the Vale is almost unique in having female line inheritance that is actually followed (unlike in the North, which talks a big game about daughters coming before uncles yet has two infamous usurpations in its history) or even ruling women.

There's something to be said about a people whose ruling family dies off so often that even with male preference primogeniture and a number of rebellions against Jeyne Arryn, they've been forced to take the more pragmatic approach of "well the boys are all dead so we best raise our girls well so they're not idiots and can rule." I think the geography really shapes this approach - it's difficult to get to the seat of House Arryn, it's difficult to travel through the Vale period, and like the North, they have to deal with Wildlings as an added threat the Reach doesn't have to deal with (because it's notable that Dorne is a lot more centralized in its rule than either group of Wildlings! The issues in the Marches are cultural and border disputes, which is different than like, two groups of people descended from the same common ancestor getting into issues without any sort of negotiations going on. The Dornish Conquest was bloody and violent and had war crimes on both sides, but there was parlaying and attempts at peace that there just isn't between the Vale and the Wildlings, or the North and Wildlings [until Jon sticks his nose in it, anyway, and I do imagine the Vale Wildlings are about to stick their nose in some shit too]).

[sskk-manifesto]

!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[witchofthevale]

do ya'll ever think that if rhaenyra gave herself that chance to be an older sister to aegon and the other green children how wildly different everything could've become?

we already have that deleted scene of nyra trying to teach aeg to pronounce her name but i digress...

viserys already neglects nyra in his own way, telling the realm she is his heir but not actually teaching her her duties (as his heir or otherwise), by upholding her as his heir in proclamation he is assuaging his guilt to his wife's death (as if that's all it took), so it stands that if she got the chance and took it (as even i am aware how hard it must have been to come to terms with your new half siblings, your new half siblings popping one after another, threatening your position, from your former best friend), but if she had gripe with it and made peace with her half siblings,

i bet my bottom dollar aegon would be absolutely obsessed with his older sister, that age gap would be enough for aegon to be completely obsessed with nyra's attention, and his natural lax attitude would put nyra to ease.

helaena would find her presence soothing, as she takes enough personality that she can gather spotlight but has that undertone of maternal care (oldest daughters will always develop a maternal instinct of some kind if they're around enough, speaking as an oldest sibling lol, especially to a disjointed family function) that she would find it easy to be around her. would find her drawl of bugs boring but would indulge her nevertheless. her only sister sparking so much with life from little critters, she cannot possibly bereave her this.

aemond would have an older sister who could scold aegon for being a twat— and aegon, enamoured with nyra so much he had proposed to her when he was five, would be properly chastised and listen to whatever she said — and at the same time share her enjoyment with literature, with high valyrian and their ancestral roots. would have someone to share a lookin a room when someone made a stupid comment and share an eye roll and a giggle. would boast about their uncle daemon like a couple of fangirls.

even baby daeron would find nyra fun, her baby brother with his blue dragon against her gold, teaching him to properly care and bond with tessarion and at the same time teaching him how to have fun. the youngest brother rarely knows the taste of power. she would be most at eased with him.

even if otto bares down hard on alicent's anxiety— which is such a fucked up thing to do, and i've worked in a hospital lmao — aegon would not budge, would refuse with a hiss and gritted teeth even a whisper of treason against his sister. his sister whose skirts he clung to when they got harsh with his lack of interest in education or ruling, his sister whose disappointed look had made him cry worse than any hard hit of his grandsire, his sister who raced him with sunfyre and syrax, who made jokes on who is the prettiest dragon.

the minute alicent tells them that viserys said aegon was his heir, aegon would snort wine so hard he'd blow it out his asshole. because he was never his father's favourite, never was his son nor his child. and that hurt but he didn't care.

because nyra was his sister. and so was his heir.

im having so much feels with my nighttime medicine yall, i feel both lucid and floaty

[blood0fthedragon]

House of The Dragon: Visella Targaryen, second-born daughter of King Viserys I and Queen Aemma Arryn, sister to Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen

around 10 years younger than Rhaenyra and grew up looking up to her (show timeline)

dragonrider from the age of 10

supports her sister's claim to the throne

survives the Dance but her dragon does not