#no I dont not hate rhaenyra/the blacks

[dirtytransmasc]

mild rant, cause hotd TikTok is insufferable.

so I saw an edit, with the scene of Viserys on his death bed, calling Rhaenyra his only child...

these were some of the comments...

how dense do people have to be to say this shit, as if the abuse/neglect Aegon, Helaena, Aemond (and Dearon) faced, is the reason they are the way that they are????

aegon turned to his cups so young because he had to face the fact that his father didn't love him, his mother had... complicated feelings towards him (he was her first, born of marital rape that destroyed her life and childhood, and she loved him no doubt, but part of her hated what he represented in her life. all of which is Viserys and Otto's fault). not to mention the abuse he faced from Viserys and Otto (focus on Otto, cause he did what he wanted, since Viserys wasn't around enough to thoroughly abuse his son himself and wouldn't punish Otto for doing so). his drinking and need to self destruct to escape a life he doesn't want, turned him into the destructive, drunken bastard he is.

aemond was permanently maimed, an injury that very well could have killed him or hindered him greatly in life, and was ignored by his father, who then supported such an obvious lie instead of protecting his own son (aka, treating the greens and the blacks as equals and not playing favorites, they're aren't asking for miracles they asking for bare minimum). he suffered so greatly and his father couldn't give less of a shit. so on top of everything else, he had this anger boiling in his chest for years and years, stoked by his father's willing negligence. not to mention the fear it cause his mother (who was being manipulated by Otto) that Rhaenyra truly was a threat to his livelihood, which only targeted his anger.

Helaena, on a direct/surface level, was the best off, in terms of her father, but the ripple effect he caused on her life and those around her caused her to be married to her brother, who she didn't love, who didn't live her, and brought her suffering to some degree. it was the war Viserys practically created (tell me he didn't, I dare you) that sent her to madness (amongst other things *ahem* blood and cheese).

like, this man destroyed his children, directly or not, everything he did broke them down and apart, until he died, leaving them with a war that would end them all. his actions made them (Aegon and Aemond) into the people they were, but of course, that doesn't matter, apparently.

[karinonsan]

Nyra doodle because the spoilers in twt are giving me live juice and anxiety at the same time. Also, I was trying out new app

[venusbyline]

please dont listen to hateful anons, dark jacaerys content is so rare and ur writing is >>>>>

just know your dead dove stuff is appreciated <3

tysm darling 🥺🥺 i'm loving writing dark!Jacaerys content and dead dove stuff, and i'm so happy you guys are enjoying it.

i'm still preparing an official masterlist and also a new icon and header, but this is a makeshift list about the dark!Jacaerys fics that i already wrote <3 <3

DARK!JACAERYS VELARYON FICS

FATES — Jacaerys Velaryon x wife!reader

(one-shot, dark, smut, angst)

— summary: Jacaerys Velaryon had become the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and you had become his Queen Consort. Grief, sacrifice and pain carried the weight of crowns. The daily tragedies would happen forever until one of you died. This was the true destiny of the Greens and Blacks. There were never victors after the war. The eternal unhappiness was the only conquest.

NINE MOONS — Jacaerys Velaryon x twin sister!reader

(sequel to Sleep, longfic, dark, smut, angst)

— summary: After Lucerys' death and the arrival of the dragonseeds, Jacaerys no longer wants to be betrothed with Baela. He wants to marry his twin sister, even if it means going against Rhaenyra's decisions and sealing suffering in your life and his.

SLEEP — Jacaerys Velaryon x twin sister!reader

(prequel to Nine Moons, one-shot, dark, smut)

— summary: Jacaerys was determined to make you his wife, forcing his mother to marry him to you, even against her will. Or against your will too.

TEARS — Jacaerys Velaryon x fiancée!reader

(one-shot, dark, smut)

— summary: Jacaerys had a perfect betrothal with his younger sister. But everything changed when you found out about his past affair with Cregan Stark's half-sister.

⚠️: All of these fics have non-con or dubcon content, and all of them have Targcest content too.

[the-daily-dreamer]

Well well well… GRRM confirmed team 💚? ✔️✅✔️✅

GRRM SAID HELAENA THE BELOVED & RHAENYRA THE REVILED

I DONT WANT TO HEAR ANYMORE MAESTER THEORY. GRRM HIMSELF CONFIRMED RHAENYRA WAS HATED AND ITS NOT HISTORY WRITTEN BY THE WINNERS OR BY ANTI-TARG MAESTERS.

GRRM wrote this story to show that both sides were capable of evil and corruption, both sides had innocents who paid the price, and BOTH sides had a reason to fight. The reduction and changes by the writers to preserve the image of team black has even disappointed the creator of this universe! Because important character traits and plot lines have been destroyed and lost their impact and for what?

To push a “feminist” narrative of a toothless heroine in Rhaenyra. As opposed to a real story about the cost of power and war.

[knightsickness]

Alicent’s arc this season sucked sooo badddd

i think that part of the issue with it is that theyre trying to make alicent less hated by the general fandom. in the process gutting her existing characterisation and catering to rhaenyra/team black fans by having alicent want her kids dead if it more effectively worships rhaenyra and aligns her with team black because ‘being team black’ is the most important possible moral marker that shes supposed to be a good person. but it doesnt and will never work bc the people theyre catering to are the kind of diehards who will never not consider her a whiny homewrecking slut bitch whore etc and theyve removed all her existing motivations to try to endear her to them meaning people who like s1 alicent and team green are also now cold on her. just a wildly misled choice why is the apparent target audience for alicents arc people who call her alicunt. dont worry though its feminist we were girls together hashtag yuriii

[shaunaenabler]

speaking of helaena and her role in the dance, i think it's deeply unserious to argue that she should have just taken her young children to dragonstone and "bend the knee to rhaenyra" and then get upset about aegon & viserys having positions at court because according to y'all its just a hostage situation???

like either y'all not smart enough to realise that helaenas children would just very quickly become hostages the same thing y'all so enraged over potentially happening to rhaenyras or more accurately y'all just dont care. which is unsurprising.

furthermore, i kinda take issue with the whole aegon & viserys being treated as this whole hostage thing and like how dare the Greens demand hostages on top of "stealing" rhaenyras crown.... expect that's not what actually happened, lmafo.

from what i recall, if rhaenyra *wished*, she didn't have to send her boys to court. she could very easily have said no to that part and still bent the knee. last time i checked, families don't get a choice when hostages are taken, lol.

of course, aegon and viserys situation could very easily turn INTO being hostages. I'm not disputing that.

but it's not as though rhaenyra/the blacks couldn't have asked for 2 "guests" of their own - in this case, one of aegon and helaenas own children.

hate really does make some of y'all stupid lmafo

[yappathon]

My honest gripe with HOTD as an adaption of one of my favourite books:

(disclaimer, I am team black and this is my opinion so dont like dont engage, just block and move on i'm not interested in convincing anyone or debating about it xoxo)

This is going to be a long post, I'm just making a list of everything at once so I dont have to make multiple posts about it, its going to be a long one with lot of over explaining so just strap in:

1. HOTD fumbled the Laenor/Rhaenyra/Harwin triangle

I dislike how the show takes the route of erasing ambiguity out of Rhaenyra's children's parentage out of it and makes it obvious. For me when I read f&b, the discussion of it especially since Book!Rhaenys had dark hair, was intentionally done in bad faith to find any reason to discredit Rhaenyra's claim as the Heir and to sully her reputation. It wouldn't have mattered to them if Laenor was father or not, her enemies simply weaponised it to use against her (misogyny).

HOTD should have kept Dark Haired Rhaenys especially since her season 1 wig was egregious and should have not casted a caucasian man as Harwin Strong since they changed the race of Velaryon's to adapt to the ambiguity. I think they should have changed Harwin's race as well 🤷‍♀️.

They purposefully erased the ambiguity by making Rhaenys silver haired woman and I could not think of why other than the fact that this change made Rhaenyra looked stupid and incompetent like ?

2. Book Rhaenys would spit on Show Rhaenys

They did her so dirty, adapted her so poorly I have no words like I'm flabbergasted, you could not even call them the same character.

B!Rhaenys was literally Rhaenyra's closest and arguably one of her biggest supporters. Show Rhaenys on the other hand, oh boy. From the moment of their first conversation you could tell that she was out to get Rhaenyra like idk the actress who plays her, plays her with a very haughty smug demeanor.

Show Rhaenys treats Rhaenyra's sons (J+L+J) coldly, having being offended on her son's behalf while her son is perfectly happy with this arrangement and treats those boys as her son. But during S2, she happily accepts her husband's bastards 😭😭 bro where is your sense of self. I wish I could say that this was the only stupid decision she made this season but I literally cannot believe that she advised Rhaenyra to find peace and sneak into Kings Landing.

She feels more like a mouthpiece for someone rather than her own character (like remember when at the end of Season 1, she gave Alicent grand speech about how Alicent toils in service of men in her life blah blah... literally pot calling kettle black) and I blame the writers team for that completely.

tldr; Rhaenys in the book seems like the kind of character who had been robbed of their birthright so she died to make sure Rhaenyra got hers. Rhaenys in the show is the kind of character that is bitter about her stolen birthright and internalises it and takes it out on Rhaenyra rather than the system in the sense that instead of a leaning support she feels like an obstacle of sorts in regards to Rhaenyra

3. The Alicent dilemma

Oh boy where to even start with this can of worms. First things first, I have to say I was a tentative fan of Season 1 Alicent but I am not the fan of the route her character is taking in Season 2.

I thought de-ageing Alicent and ageing up Rhaenyra was a choice. I have a love-hate relationship with it. As a sapphic woman myself I thought young RhaenyraxAlicent was cute but the writers are dragging it and both the characters are suffering for it.

So I know the majority of book fans and show fans agree on the point that Book!Alicent is a one dimensional character of an evil stepmother trope but I have an unpopular opinion about it. I agree that B!Alicent can come across as one dimensional and it was intentional because F&B is a history book written by misogynistic men and all the women would suffer from it.

I think Book!Alicent's motives of crowning her son as the King is a perfectly sensible in universe motivation where male primogeniture is commonplace (considering that was the only reason Viserys became king) and felt slighted that her son was denied the right. The motivation does not condone her actions but at least it makes sense in the context of the world.

Show!Alicent on the other hand feels like nothing but a perpetual victim. She is a chess piece and not particularly powerful either. All her agency and ambition is stripped off of her.

When we see Adult Show Alicent for the first time, her and Rhaenyra are hostile hostile and I was happy with the doomed yuri we got and that we are somewhat on the track but then.... sigh

In the same episode we see Adult Rhaenyra offering to betroth Jace and Haelaena as a while flag but Alicent rejects it without considering it at all. Alicent undermines Rhaenyra constantly but then in S2 when her allies turned on her because surprise surprise misogyny... she had her soul searching journey like gtfo i hated the storyline

Comparing it to the Book, where the Green Council was originally called The Queen's Party. Book Alicent was an active player who made decisions.

Like oh my god, remember how they butchered Show Alicent during Blood and Cheese like omg I'm convinced the showrunner actually hates woman like first Rhaenys then Alicent... (not to mention Helaena like, the show tried to make Helaena dragon dreamer and fumbled it, didnt even have her crowned alongside Aegon)

The Green Council plotting in the show versus the book tells you everything about this adaptation of Alicent.

4. How ageing up and down undermines the book canon negatively

Ok but HOTD failed as an adaptation when the victim in the books is villainized and while her abusers are victimised.

The amt of Rhaenyra coerced Cole into having sex with her takes that came out during S1 was so mind boggling. Especially in the books when Alicent herself says "Ser Criston Cole protects the princess from her enemies but who protects the princess from Ser Criston Cole" (I am paraphrasing), like this is egregious.

Book!Aemma being a child-bride forced to marry Viserys when she was only eleven and she dies at just twenty three (!), the show aged her up to be in her early thirties at least by casting a much older actress (Sian Brooke who plays Aemma was born in 1980) while Book!Alicent was eighteen when she married Viserys while the show aged her down to 14-16 (I am unsure).

5. Erasure of female characters and medieval politics

Rhaenyra's Ladies in Waiting were all not adapted to the screen. Except for Elinda Massey who they turned into a maid-midwife-wetnurse and had her dressed as literally servant rather than a noble woman. Rhaenyra has no other friends or loyal companions in the show, Harwin's sisters are also erased with no mention at all.

And now from what I've read Nettles has also been erased like fuck off

5. Suffering from the eight episodes per season problem

So this doesnt have anything to do with the way they've been adapted Fire & Blood but I don't think eight episodes per season was the right medium to adapt this story. Because of this format the children of Rhaenyra and Alicent arent given enough screentime to develop and for general people to care about them, S2 felt like most happened during that and still nothing happened at all. The general audience are only emotionally connected to Rhaenyra and Alicent as they both are the only characters in the show to appear to have an arc or journey.

I really miss that we did not get a filler episode during time skip of Rhaenyra and Daemon on Dragonstone with their children so we can gauge their family dynamics like what is adult Daemyra's normal relationship like? how is their relationship with their children or stepchildren? Atleast something so when at the end of S1 Daemon chokes Rhaenyra (jesus christ) we atleast feel something other than shock and disgust like I hope you understand what I am trying to say here.

I think HOTD would have benefitted with a 26 episodes, hell even a 13 episodes season. The Episodes were needed to flesh out the cast of ensemble of characters

6. Laena and the disrespect to her and Rhaena

Laena and Rhaenyra might only have a single line in the books about their implied relationship but that was the excellent opening to flesh it out, instead Laena was de-aged (Laena was in her early twenties when Daemon pursues her rather than late teens). In the most blunt way, Laena was treated as a disposable black girlfriend trope whose was dishonored at her own funeral.

Laena is not fleshed out, forget implied relationship Rhaenyra is not even with her in the birthing chambers, they're not shown as nothing more than acquainted strangers and i hate it, i hate it so much

The show also attempts to other Rhaena because she doesn't have a dragon (Season 2) which makes no sense at all, it's attempting something and failing at it, it's not interesting, it's not working, it's not good. They're changing her story too and all it does is cause her misery, oh my god Let Rhaena be accepted and Loved.

Why was Rhaenyra mourning Luke scene cut with a scene with Alicent lighting a candle for him but we did not get Rhaena or any of Luke's siblings mourning for him.

7. What are they doing with Daemon?

Like seriously what are they doing with him? Daemon did nothing this season at all. The writers knew Daemon would never allow for the fuckass sneaking into KL, but they wanted it so badly so they had him hallucinate the entire reason. What a waste of Matt Smith.

8. Adding meaningless characters while erasing existing ones (why tf is Ormund Hightower needed)

Yesterday Ryan Condal reported that Ormund Hightower is going to have a big role in Season 3 and I just have one question, why? who needs more irrelevant characters when they should flesh out the ensemble of already existing ones.

Ok so Nettles was erased from HOTD plotline (an important character who is a black woman btw), along with Sabitha Frey and Black Aly but they added khia #13 to the main rooster.

(Spoiler for Season 3) Jace is going to die during Season 3 and the general audience wont even care that much because the writing team is fucking ass !

9. What is the show timeline again and casting decisions?

Seriously what is the show timeline, because every interview the writers did during Season 2, the ages of children of R & A is ambiguous as fuck like, fucking up ages has actually fucked the timeline.

And before I talk about casting decisions, disclaimer I am not hating on actors or I think they are bad actors, I think all the actors are phenomenal who did a phenomenal job with what they were given.

With that out of the way, I think Aemond is miscast because his actor looks older than he is and when placed alongside Luke's actor, it does not look like a squabble between 17-19 year old and a 13-14 yr old, it looks like a man in his late twenties harassing a child 😭 especially in regards to the actor they cast as Aegon and he looks much younger than Aemond's actor

And while I am not against the decision to make the Velaryon's black, I can't help but feel like it was done thoughtlessly and without much care because Jaeherys I's mother is a Velaryon yet he is depicted as a white man in the show instead of mixed. Both Jaeherys and Alyssane would be half black, making all the future Targaryen's to be of mixed race.

10. Who stole whose nachos?

In the books, it was actually Viserys and Alicents wedding anniversary tourney feast (squint im not 100% sure about the occasion) that Alicent wore a green gown and it was Rhaenyra who upstaged it by arriving in a bold black and red gown, rather than the other way around as seen in the show.

Instead of Jace, Luke and Aegon teaming up against and bullying Aemond as seen in the show, in the books it was Aegon, Aemond and Daeron teaming up against Rhaenyra's children because they felt like Rhaenyra + children stole their birthright, the iron throne

Instead of Daemon commanding the Council in Rhaenyra's absence (S1), it was actually Rhaenys who did that in the books

Rhaenicents got Laenyra's nachos plain and simple

and I'm only giving this from the top of my head, there's probably a few more that I am not remembering.

11. Saintly peace loving women

HOTD pretends to be a 'feminist' adaptation by changing the one dimensional female characters of books (intentionally done so by misogynistic maesters) but it fails at it. In trying to develop the female characters and making them more real, they are stripped of their agency and ambitions. They are not allowed to be petty and ambitious and morally gray ie Alicent Rhaenyra Rhaenys Helaena while other female characters are erased completely and its very frustrating because regardless what twitter says The Dance of Dragons was always about misogyny and how Green Council gathered alliances to try to strip Rhaenyra of her birthright just because of her gender.

Oh they can try to disguise it as gender not mattering and doing only whats good for realm as Rhaenyra would not be a good ruler but the guy they want on the throne is so infinitely worse in every way that their propaganda fails.

In the end, while making big changes in S1 (age) the writers have cornered themselves where they can do nothing but dig the hole deeper. They had a biased history book and all they had to do was expand some parts of it that was sensible but no.....

It might stand well as a show if S2 was a better season and I can only hope they can redeem themselves in S3, because they've already failed as an adaptation of a book but it can still be a good entertaining show and that's literally our best bet.

[dirtytransmasc]

Are yyou team green or black? And why?

team green, though I'm not in support of every green character (namely Otto though my opinion of him is complicated. I also have opinions on Aegon and his characterization that makes it even more complicated)

[I have only read bits and pieces of the book, so my opinion is based almost solely on the show. keep this in mind]

I'm team green for 3 big reasons. they're more complex, thought not perfect by any means, more morally "right", and are simply more my vibe when it comes to characters. now this is very simplified and not at all nuanced, so stick with me for a minute.

Firstly, they're more complex. the greens have very deep, detailed, and nuanced lives and stories that lead to them being very complex characters that can't be put into a box. Alicent was a child bride who had lost her mother young became a mother young and suffered at the hands of power and men all her life. her children were affected by this and the world they were forced to grow up in throughout their lives. even individually her kids are drastically different; aegon the child who was forced into a life he did not want and suffered due to his father neglect and mother pain. Helaena who was never understood and grew up treated like an oddity. Aemond who was never seen to his full potential, always ignored or looked over, angry throughout his life. each of them has strengths and weaknesses, flaws and benefits, they're imperfect but never completely horrid. they're also never simplified (not entirely, even when the plot and writers seek to simplify them) to the point that they put on a moral pedestal or made straight evil (i'd even argue that the attempts of the writer to oversimplify them as evil and in the wrong makes them 10x more fascinating). I find TB characters tended to miss the mark on that, always put in the moral light, not even allowed a moment to reflect on their actions, lives, or positions in any nuanced or meaningful way, so they always just feel dull. they're also out on a moral highground that they can never be budged from, which makes them harder to like and honestly, really boring. they get away with everything instead of being emotionally and morally nuanced.

secondly, they're more morally "right". I will never say that any of the greens are perfect, they are far from it (with the exception of Helaena and her kids, who have done literally nothing to anyone, but I digress). what I will say, 9/10 times there is some level of reasoning that has some level of reasoning. Alicent always tries to do whats best for everyone, all throughout the series she tried to do best by the court, the king, her children, the realm, and Rhaenyra. did she always succeed? no, but she always tried and her mistakes were almost always honest. I will say she held resentment towards Rhaenya, but honestly, I can't blame her. Rhaenyra's lies and behavior hurt Alicent over and over again so for her to be angry is expected.when it came to succession, Alicent backed Rhaenyra until it was made clear she and Daemon would be a threat to her children's lives and even than she held mercy for Rhaenyra. Aegon's drinking can be blamed on the abuse and neglect he suffered at Viserys, Otto, and Alicent's (though the abuse and neglect from his mother is insanely different and nuanced. she perpetuated her pain onto him because she couldn't heal herself. so I hesitate to call it abuse, cause its so much more complicated than that) hands. though nothing will justify his rape of Dyana, I personally think it was a bad add in on the writers part, and leave it at that. Aemonds rage after years of being ignored doesn't entirely justify what he did to luke, but he had reason for his cruelty after years of Luke (and jace tbh) being cruel just because they could. TB characters tend to do terrible things in response to either A. nothing B. their own terrible things. Daemon kills who he wants when he feels like it, even for stating facts. Rhaneyra will lie and hurt those around her to protect her bastard children. both of them conspire to protect themselves and allow themselves to be wed, really just cause. while there are times they have their reasons, its a lot less of the time, and typically the backing to their actions, is they were trying to unbury themselves from within their own graves. (to preface, I don't care about rhaenyra sleeping around, it doesn't bother me, but its the fact that she will hurt everyone around her to protect her lies, allowing a child to be maimed and people to be murdered)

thirdly, they're my vibe. I like morally complex character, who are, to be frank, pathetic. I like characters with complex trauma's and issues, who aren't perfect people but its not entirely their fault. I would much rather watch a whole show about alicent, a child bride who tries so hard to be a good wife, queen, and mother while not prepared for any such role. Aegon who is a boy with severe mommy and daddy issues, a drinking problem, a flawed past, and constantly wet eyes. Helaena an ignored girl who has suffered for no better reason then her family. and Aemond, a boy who was tormented, bullied, maimed, and made stronger by it at the cost of his compassion and emotional stability - over a nepo baby who was coddled by her father, her murderous husband with a knack for unneeded violence, and her similarly coddled children (the show boiled them down to this, in my opinion). one is simply more up my alley than the other. I want character that need to be dissected, who have suffered, who hurt me to look at.

also, team black created almost all of their own problems. seeing as the main source of contention had to do with Rhaenyra's kids being bastards, which was Rhaenyra's problem, which she caused, and kept digging and digging that grave (faking Laenors death just so she could marry daemon, turning the blame on aemond when luke maimed him furthering the divide amongst the house, trying to wed Helaena to Jace putting her in danger, trying to take the driftmark throne and killing Vaemond for a claim her sons did not have, etc,) till viserys's death, earns her a lot less pity from me. at the end of the day, her being a woman was only a needle in a haystack worth of problems she caused herself that hurt her claim. if she had just strived to create to connection with ancient and her kids, and didn't make herself look like a threat to everyone who lessened her claim (which alicents kids would be the first people to be taken out) alicent would have backed like she had all season and there would have been no war, maybe conflict, but no war.

theres also the effect of the fans on my opinion. I have faced more cruelty, terrible media analysis, and outright ableism/misogny/(blood and sexual based) purist ideology/etc. from the TB fans then I have ever witness by TG fans. TB fans have ruined almost all of the TB characters for me in more ways than I can count, so I will say I am very biased.

thats why I'm team green. as a whole they are simply more appealing, their stories are more interesting, demand more attention to detail and emotional understanding, and from my point of view were the "right" side to be on in the war (the war was wrong on both sides, but my chips lie in the favour of the greens).

[brynnsasha191]

You did the right thing, stopping watching hotd. The way this show is not even hiding the fact it hates Daemon, has every single person badmouthing him, all self inserts of writers. It's not the serve they think it is. They literally have Daemon begging for army from a horrid boy. What book did they read? The greens edition of fire and blood, existing only in greens mind.

Why not make another green fantasy true, have Daemon say with his whole chest, Rhaenyra, your first three boys are ba*******, my boys are pureblood targaryen (doesn't matter in show they are illegitimate too) get rid of them and Rhaenyra agrees, because she is selfish and wants the throne the most.

Rhaenyra's childrens affection for each other is erased. Youngest two dont even interact with their oldest at all, they are just with nannies. Even Daemon's daughters don't really care for them.

They even said Aegon and Aemond are pure targs. What? Alicent is a hightower, you can say Aegon and Helaena's three children are targs but not their parents.

The self insert and green propaganda of this show is actually insane to me. Sarah Hess openly hates Daemon and has said so multiple times, she shouldn't be trusted with writing him then. This show only exists for the greens.

There are so many things wrong with the show but what they did to Alyssa and Daemon was my final straw. Turning Alyssa into a sexual being in order to portray her son in a certain manner is disgusting to me. Daemon loves Rhaenyra, he was literally written for her, he's her husband and the father of ALL her children.

S2 stripped the blacks of everything they had in the book. Intelligence, kindness, outrage, and love. You're completely correct. They not only erased the love Rhaenyra's children had for each other, but it also seems like they've erased Rhaenyra's love for her children. Luke's death started the war, A mothers love started this war, they erased that by having Rhaenyra still pursue 'peace'. I haven't been watching the new episodes but I've still seen a couple of clips on YouTube and edits, and it seems to me that Jace and Rhaenyra are having some sort of fight over Daemon, Rhaenyra's choices, and even his parentage, Jace was her RIGHT HAND MAN in the book. He secured most of her allies who would later put his younger brother on the throne. Also have you noticed how little screen time the blacks have had this season compared to the greens?

This show somehow hates the Targaryen Dynasty AND are Targ blood purists at the same time. It truly has stopped make sense. The greens have been turned into victims and this show should truly only satisfy TG. That means the writers have failed. They made a huge fuss over having two different trailers for two different teams, only for them to completely butcher one. No black fan should be happy right now. I literally had to stop watching because it made me so angry to the point where I needed to go on walks to calm down.

It's my firm belief that every single writer of this show is actually a narcissist and when they read the book they saw themselves in the greens and now are turning the greens into victims because of their own narcissism. Thanks for the anon, can't wait for the season to end so the nightmare can be over for a couple years.

[bl00dlight]

EPISODE 8 - THOUGHTS

I dont think this was Ryan's intention but by attempting to make Aemond seem more deranged and 'humanise' everyone else, the show has accidentally made Aemond seem the most rational on team Green LMAO. Like? Yea no like, this episode - no baby g I get you. What the fuck is going on?

Also likeeee why is he the only one making sense? Like no I think he actually was kinda justified in being really upset - obviously not to the degree of.... well uhhh.... mass murder... BUT in terms of being fed up with Alicent. No he is totally right. Alicent was the one who incited this war, she indoctrinated him and Aegon from birth to fight it, to go against Rhaenyra... and now that he is basically going up against like seven other dragons, he has NO choice but ask Helaena to fight because??? What else is he going to do? Sit around and die? And Alicent is just lowkey like "oh well there is another way" and it's like well... no the fuck there isn't girl. And you know what? Even though I get why Helaena refuses, Aemond DOES also have a point that - from his perspective, she has to take action as Queen and show a united front. He is basically fighting the war alone. So like? Girl I'd be mad as hell too if my sister had a big ass dragon and she refused to help. He definitely could have gone about it a different way, like uh... not assaulting her. But in principle he was fully justified in asking her. I mean look if it were me I'd be ready to SUIT UP AND SAY SIR YES SIR. but I'm a slut for the man so....

I think accidentally the show has become less tragic now that they continue to centre the show as Rhaenyra and Alicent's story over Rhaenyra and her siblings. I don't really want to see Alicent remorseful yet because... that's going to take away from her story overall and her arc when the dance is finally done? It was tragic in the books when Alicent's final wish was to be able to see her sons and daughter again. Like... I just... I mean okay hbo.

Criston Cole ate this episode. I loved his speech, I thought that whole scene was perfect. And honestly? Yes slay, finally he is cooking because I wanna die too rn King.

Helaena... I'm not sure what the fuck is going on with her and Daemon? I avoided those leaks and yea... that was weird as hell. Like even his face was like? What the fuck are YOU doing here? We've really spent no time developing her powers at all... and it's irritating to me. Because why would she be connected to the weirwood? Is this purely for the fact that she'll haunt Aemond once he gets to Harrenhal? Or.... was that just something fun to throw in there?

The CGI on the white walkers was.... I mean... clearly all the budget been going to the Velaryons wigs cause they have been EATING it up.

Speaking of that I love Rhaena so fucking much. She's become my new favourite on the Blacks. However not showing her claiming sheepstealer is a criminal offence.

Jace was eating again. He spoke nothing but facts and I get why he is mad too.

Ulf is fucking annoying.

Daenerys has always BEEN that bitch and will always be that bitch. So clock that.

Alys is??? Again... helping the Blacks? So... what does that mean for her relationship with Aemond? I guess... well, I guess I can only assume she'll be working to lead him to his doom, right?

Rhaenyra slayed a little but I hate this cult leader thing. It's so weird, I want my rage filled mother who mourns her son.

Aegon... I miss him for some fucking reason. But weird mention of his dick being chopped off.

Still no sign of Maelor.

Daeron yea yea I know everyone is quaking but it doesn't really matter since? I mean... this is unpopular opinion - but I'd rather he be cut then bring him in and have him be super irrelevant and take up precious screentime.

The pirate shit was fun, but three whole scenes? Again? THREE ENTIRE SCENES... when we still need to wrap up major plot points? Couldn't that have been achieved in two scenes?

Allyn ate Coryls up and I'm glad about it. That's what you get for being a deadbeat dad and cheating on your wife.

Love Addam, whom also ate Ulf up. I absolutely am pro Addam atm.

Baela being useless again.... which disappoints me... but at least she got another scene with Jace, instead of giving her an arc that explores the complexities of her relationship with Daemon.

And well...... Simon? His ass is cute and quaint.

Anyway, a part of me is lowkey excited to see Aemond fuck shit up. I honestly. I know I talk about what a shit bitch he is but, girl I LOVE HIM. Like LMAOOOO his ass so crazy and mad and as the youngest sibling myself, I lowkey get why he is so fucked off with his useless ass family. I don't blame him at this point because if my mother did that shit to me after priming me for 18 to go to war and now she is basically like 'oh no I'd rather go skip in the fields' girl.... it would be on sight.

That being said this was a solid episode with some beautiful moments. And as always 99% of the actors were incredible, the score and the cinematography was unbelievable. And if this were episode 8 out of 10 I would be UNBELIEVABLY excited. But because it's the finale... I feel a tad underwhelmed.

I am going to go back and rewatch this season to check in and see how it flows. But yea, it is missing that magic season 1 had. I'm not sure what it is.

[rougesdelight]

I love Daemon and Rhaenyra as characters but i feel tb are weird when it come two this two, a lot of tb i know can write a whole essai about b&c, Daemon laughing at baby's death (the same people also hate Aemond and Aegon for celebrating Luke's death) but when it come to Rhaenyra want to executed the dragonseed they only said she's not perfect? And she is wrong, Like other character can do their job better than her? I stumble to three people calling her she's not perfect That's the only answer they give, but She was betrayed by two dragonseed, even if she was not betrayed she had valid reason to not trust them (few pages before we got Jaehaerys freak out losing three dragon egg! Dragon egg!) i dont get it how all Rhaenyra crimes are way worse than Daemon. this people could excuse a murder but draw the line at racist?.

The only thing when they want to talk about her was just "she was usurped!" "She's a woman" "Misogyny" they even said Rhaenyra was happy married to Laenor? But they dislike Rhaegar arrange marriage to Elia Martell, Rhaenyra literally had nothing good to said to Laenor rather than she insult him just like Daemon to Rhea was, how her marriage was happy?. "She wouldnt get supporter if it not because of Jace" (she literally had supporter since she was fifteen with her black dress while Jace need to promise Joff marriage and his "future" daughter to get support) majority tb dont actually like Rhaenyra they just using her to argue with team green so similar to what they did to Aegon the younger.

Sometimes i think this is not about tb vs tg but team Hightower vs Strong vs Velaryon.

anon, thats all misogyny. they will excuse every single flaw their favourite male characters have, but when it comes to rhaenyra she is suddenly called the worst possible names they can think of. a few years ago the hate she was getting was insane, i do feel like now book rhaenyra is gaining more love ❤️ or at least she is not getting that amount of hate she used to. every bad thing she did was out of desperation, she lost so many people, she was manipulated by mysaria, and was betrayed so many times to the point she did not trust anyone. looking at her character every single action was justified. i do not think she was perfect as you say or imply, she is not the perfect book heroine, she is not a saint, george clearly wanted to write her that way, she was very complex character. i wish we got more of her inner thoughts, but thats the price we have to pay with the way f&b is written (and we are paying it with show rhaenyra).

FOR ME book rhaenyra is not some cold, manipulative bitch, for me she was very smart, but also sometimes impulsive, followed her heart, was sweet to people she cared about and probably did not pay attention to people she did not like. i see her as this girl who was educated since young age, had to carry burden of being heir to the throne, but also wanted the freedom to express love and lust, was not ashamed for her desires, was very bold and wanted to fight for things she believed in. and that makes her the best character for me, and i adore her and find her so so interesting, but im going to stop since this is getting long.

one thing more, only few people understand her and the point of her character. they say they stan her but then say shit like 'she was happy with laenor'. but thats hotd fault. and yes, people use her for their arguments just as they use aegon iii, and im praying that those stans leave both of them alone since they don't know shit 🙏

[priceforrottenjudgement]

Ive seen a lot of bitching about hotd in the tag, which surprised me bc there was none of this two weeks ago and now all these ppl are acting like season 2 sucks and its badly written and its rewriting the books and bla bla. This surprised me, so i did a little snooping

Like. First off, isnt grrm consulting them this time? I know he was doing it for s1 and im sure i read he was doing s2 too. I cant say anything about bad writing, tbh i havent examined it that closely bc nothing about pacing or dialogue has bothered me enough to spend time thinking about it.

The "its not like the book!!!" Thing really bothers me though bc have you read the book? Lmao im not so sure bc some of the stuff you complain about is so weird, also how did you miss that fire & blood has deeply unreliable narrators? It literally says gyldayn is an unreliable narrator on the Wikipedia, hes taking a bunch of biased sources and kind of patches the history of house targaryen together. If you had read the book, youd KNOW that it isnt a definitive chronicle and stuff was likely altered, embellished and left out. Some of the alterations make sense, because why would some maester know about these ppls private lives. Fire and blood is full of propaganda, rumours and bias. Also the stuff that WAS changed isnt really that deep? I really like the change to the rhaenicent dynamic (ill come back to this, theres a reason ppl seem to hate this change lmao), i dont care about maelor and the nettes changes dont bother me that much? (Some ppl are convinced rhaena will get the ENTIRE nettles storyline. Which would indeed suck cough cough, but i dont think thats where theyre going at all lmao)

So i took a look at some of the other opinions of ppl who really really HATE s2 and, WOOOOOOWWWWW,there sure is a lot of homophobia on the yuri Website huh? All of a sudden it makes sense why these ppl popped up 2 weeks ago huh? (And why theyre so bitchy about the changes to alicents character not being a wicked stepmother but more of an... almost lover) Wow, what a fucking pathetic reason to be a hater. Awww nooooooooo this female character is kissing women noooo, theyre ruined!! Even though the relationship was kind of maybe sort of a little implied in the book. (Granted the book talks about a close relationship between rhaenyra, mysaria and DAMON, but see above for rumours and inaccuracies) Also there are a lot of ppl who were genuinely Team green (i did not realise those ppl existed unironically, gonna be honest) who are mad that Team green is portrayed more negatively than Team black and apparently thats unfair. Yeah, idk what to say about that, do you always expect to opposing sides of a fictional conflict to be treated the same and to be equally good and justified? Granted, the "pick a side" Marketing was dumb and encouraged this sort of thinking, but those two teams are not equal lol you can still like the characters even though theyre cheaters, usurpers and Bad ppl.

If you had genuinely read and UNDERSTOOD the books and that theyre full of propaganda you would understand why SOME PPL are either portrayed more positively or more negatively in the show than they were in the book. Just consider WHO was writing the history for one sec.

Yeah, rant over, this was just too ridiculous not to get off my chest.

Like yeah, you can criticise some of the changes and the simple fact that 8 ep seasons are SHIT for building a plot, but considering some ppl call an ep "filler" just because nobody got roasted by a dragon, maybe we dont deserve 20 ep seasons with a slow building of plot and tension anymore....

[patrocles]

the thing about the hotd fandom (at least on twt) is i’ve never in my life seen a group of people so committed to being absolutely miserable and hateful for absolutely no reason. it’s almost a little beyond needless discourse, but that the response to any sort of analysis or observation can be met with active discouragement and hatred for doing just that.

i was literally getting called the R slur and told to kill myself at the mere suggestion that baela and rhaena’s storyline (and the dragonstone dynamics as a whole) could have had way more depth than it got? and people got so mad at me for writing a thread on the dynamic between rhaenyra and jace, for suggesting that anything could be less that perfect between them..

and it’s just so mad to me bc regardless of any drama and discourse on asoiafblr, analysis and nit-picking think pieces are our strong suit and its actively encouraged to talk about the thing, expand upon the thing, pore over every detail of the thing.

so to have the series that has kept so much traction because of this type of fan-engagement be met with vitriol when those fans do that and not accept everything surface value and accept being spoonfed Rhaenyra is Good, the blacks are the Goods, you cant like anything else and if you do, you need to die, is INSANE to me. bc it rly reads like yall just dont want a good show. you truly enjoy being angry and pissy about everything.

like you’re always at risk of having someone jump in your shit and throw a temper tantrum in your mentions bc you said something positive about your fave… like it’s so fucking bleak.

anyways, today they’re mad bc someone said they hoped ramin would make a theme for helaena and i guess thats against the law or something

[greenqueenhightower]

I can understand why people like Rhaenyra. I can understand why Alicent isn't to everyone's taste. I still don't understand how she is so hated for behaving like a human considering the gaslighting and abuse she's been through, and how she has much less free agency than Rhaenyra. It was reading through the horrific and vitriolic extreme takes on Alicent that made me side with her. And something about Rhaenyra and her mean diehards just remind me so much of white feminism. I feel like it's no coincidence I see way more WoC tending to sympathize with Alicent, as a WoC myself. The gaslighting and watching someone else consistently get away with things you wouldn't while being trapped in a cage is all too relatable. The rules dont apply to Rhaenyra and Rhaenyra only. And seeing Rhaenyra being the only one in the narrative made to look extra sympathetic (like the double birth scenes, as if all births aren't horrific and like Alicent didn't give birth even younger too). I also hate how despite their efforts in diverse casting, black actors are just backdrops or tools to make Rhaenyra and TB look better and how they're disposable to move the plot forward for her. This matter has been brought up in the TG subreddit thank God I was not the only one who saw that. Now it seems like they're even butchering B&C to absolve TB. 🙂🙃 Girl I am not ready for the blind Rhaenyra dickriding and Alicent victim blaming to come this season. You'll know it'll be misogyny and double standards all around. The suffering Alicent endured in Season 1 will be even more disregarded.

Hi anon! 💚

Alicent isn't to everyone's taste because to understand her character, motivations, and aspirations, one needs to take the whole show as context, instead of some stand-alone scenes that provide dissatisfaction or lack the "wow"/"badass" factor that the average got/hotd viewer is used to.

I understand how Rhaenyra's character appeals to people because she is the female Targaryen heir, desires the best for her children, and is determined to honor her cause and her late father's wishes to serve the realm. Rhaenyra believes so much in herself; Alicent doesn't. Rhaenyra's overconfidence, her "flouting to do as she pleases" is what is so attractive to a lot of viewers, me included, because, well, she doesn't give a damn. She can go against the conventions of her time because she has already entered the game in a good battle formation, has the means, and is ready to play it (I'm trying to go for a chess analogy here as we saw in the promo, bear with me).

Alicent on the other hand, has entered the game as a foreigner. She did not wish this, she has no historical ties to rulership, no dragon blood to base her confidence on, and no pride in taming and riding wild beasts. She is common as Rhaenyra is exotic. What Alicent has and brings to the game is "honor, duty, sacrifice." These values alone make Alicent compelling and intriguing because they are very subtle qualities and principles that one needs to notice to comprehend her character. They are not as easily identifiable as riding a dragon or slicing a wild boar.

Yet they are equally powerful, because as Rhaenyra plays the game in the open field, being free to make her own decisions, unstoppable in always getting what she wants and being able to claim it herself, Alicent plays the game behind closed doors, in septs, praying to the seven, following directions, seeking council, and moving strategically. Rhaenyra's battle is more visually impactful, but Alicent's is equally moving if one cares to observe and understand it properly.

Therefore, what you are saying about WoC standing by Alicent makes perfect sense because the motivations and experiences as well as the feeling of always having to try twice as hard to achieve what is simply given to others is a point of connection for WoC.

You also very poignantly highlight the show's "humanization" of Rhaenyra through two birth scenes, because again, she is this exotic being whom the audience loves to aspire to, but we must also not forget that she is special while also being human. Alicent's suffering in S1 very much humanizes her in my eyes and is precisely also what distinguishes her from a commoner. She becomes a strong woman who doesn’t shy away in the fear of danger, learns to hold her head high and pushes forward the interests of herself and her children. The hate Alicent receives is uncalled for, and it stems from a misreading of her character, despite being the most interesting character in hotd in my opinion.

I’m glad you decided to stan Alicent after reading all the horrific takes about her! There are so many people in the fandom who want to vilify her, but there are also many who totally connect to her and sympathize with her character, like queer people, WoC, etc.

I didn’t like what the show did with black characters in s1 either. They served mostly as props and had brutal deaths. For S2, it does seem as if the show will want to downgrade the events of B&C and continue emphasize the narrative of Rhaenyra’s superiority (and the Greens and Alicent will be blamed and hated a lot this season), but I honestly stopped reading leaks and spoilers because they affect me a lot. I’d rather wait and see what the producers decide to do with their portrayal and then comment on the events. I’m so scared about B&C though and how this will affect the Greens’ arc and their perception by the public, but again, I’ll be standing by Alicent’s side till the end lol. 💚

[tweedfrog]

For the character ask, wondering if you have anything about the strongs (namely thinking alys and larys but also harwin if you have any thoughts about him lol)

Alys - This is kind of like ???? Predicted hate but it hasn't happened yet so I can't actually say I hate it but i hate that there's even a faint possibility that Show! Alys might end up being a team black warrior like I don't care about her personal relationship with Aemond I just want to retain some goddamn mystery and not have this show suck every character into their TG/TB vortex. People can have their own motivations. If Alys must be a rhaenyra supporter I think it'd be really funny if it's because she's like yk what family loyalty time to put my half-nephew??? Great nephew??? Great great nephew???? On the throne and then she instantly defects when she has a kid with aemond.

For book alys I HATE THAT WE DONT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO HER AND HER KID POST DANCE RELEASE BLOOD AND FIRE RN GEORGE!!!

Larys - book larys no notes he's like evil advisor archetype. I will give credit where it's due i like how they've fleshed out his character in the show. For show larys i hate that they did the foot scene and apparently didn't decide to interrogate it at all. I thought they were going to subvert it and do a commentary about desirability and ableism but nope they didn't do shit with it just like they didn't do shit with Meleys and Rhaenys floor bombing the coronation. Apparently we *were* supposed to laugh and point and be like lmao weird foot guy 🫵😆. Ok.

Harwin - for both book and show harwin i have the same complaint which is that we basically don't get ANY development of Rhaenyra and Harwins love. Why is Rhaenyra willing to risk 2 more obviously non-targ kids by continuing her affair with harwin? It clearly meant something to her to be important enough to jeopardise her station and I would have liked to see that explored more beyond what the show did which was show us that he's a nice dude. Like ok so are a lot of people. I'm sure there are nice guys in Lys with silver hair and purple eyes why is Rhaenyra sticking to this one man like glue?

[rachel-berry]

chapter 8

why am i already tearing up at the 2004 - ? author's note

I DONT CRY EVER BY THE WAY (u can ask anyone)

continuing......................

of course when alicent gets home the house is a disaster like come on she can't even get a little bit of help

i am to november, and i am getting scared

Alicent hated Rhaenyra, and she hated herself for the way that that was a lie, really, because she loved Rhaenyra more than anything else in the world.  :(((((((((((

“It won’t be fun,” Helaena whined, “You’re always sad and Daddy is never home and Aemond keeps licking my toys.”  lol

They were watching the first Harry Potter when Helaena became enamored with a baby dragon that hatched on screen. She immediately asked for pencils and paper to draw her own dragon, and she spent the rest of the movie with her tongue sticking out of her mouth as she concentrated on her coloring. 

Alicent, on instinct, thought about how she would have to remember to email Rhaenyra about this later tonight. 

Then, she remembered, and Alicent kind of felt like she was drowning.  :(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

uh oh what is happening with the film i am scared

oh NOOOOOOOOOOO WUAT THE FUCK

alicent not calling rhaenyra until her life is sorted :( i fear the worst :(

NOT RHAENYRA DELETING HER EMAIL MY HEART IS BREAKING

./.... she did not deletee it i am FINE IM NOT CRYING

On the back wall, in black sharpie, Rhaenyra had written “FUCK ALICENT” and immediately below it, in small letters she had written “(sorry, I didn’t mean it.)” im crying

There, in front of her, so casually as if they were not objects haunted with a broken past and a stolen future, was the friendship bracelet Alicent had once made her and the camp shirt that Alicent had lost after they went skinny dipping, the AH written in black marker still legible on the tag. 

It was too much, then, and Alicent balled up the shirt and held it to her mouth, muffling her scream.  i hope i d*e

“Rhaenyra, God, she really is your kid.” Alicent laughed to an empty room, and reread the letter for the thousandth time.  SOBBING

omg this letter is going to make me cry isnt it

im crying typing this and i havent even read it yet

oh my god

HOW CAN I READ THROUGH TEARS

But, if you do… I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life. Fuck, I know we’re 17 and kids but sometimes I close my eyes and see us twenty years from now with a chubby baby living in some progressive beach town. (Don’t make fun of me for being cheesy).  HELAENA 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

this was cruel and unusual punishment i seriously never cry (u can ask anyone) thank u for everything it was beautiful <3

I love seeing ppls ch. 8 progression as tjey read bc its like wow thats bad. Things cant get much worse and then! Surprise!

Thank u so much for reading nd sending me these they made my week fr