#pro team green

[chocobroing]

And you know who wrote Aegon as a rapist to make us hate him over Rhaenyra?

- You do?

- I do. 

ALICENT HIGHTOWER & DYANA in HOUSE OF THE DRAGON

[coffeebooksrain18]

The way I've seen people try and explain why Sunfyre couldn't be put in season 1 pisses me off. Cause they bring up the Meleys scene and say "they didn't have enough budget so they did that scene instead." But they seem to forget one thing, MELEYS WASNT IN THE SHOW UNTIL THEN EITHER! they chose to give Rhaenys a badass scene (really it was dumb and poorly cgi'd) instead of sticking with the book and giving Aegon his ride of Sunfyre after his coronation. And I will never forgive Ryan Conadl for that!

[very-straight-blog]

I love the fact that literally the main problem with the Iron Throne is that it's impossible to sit on it without the risk of cutting yourself and Aegon is just:

[hed184]

Sunfyre moved his wing to shield Aegon from Vhagar's fire.

He landed on his wounded belly, which means even though he fell out of the sky backwards, he angled his body to avoid crushing Aegon.

Eventually, when Aemond found him, he curled up around his rider.

[thesunfyre4446]

manifesting for a scene of aegon smashing his deadbeat father's ugly ass legos

[spacerockfloater]

Aemond baby, get behind me.

[sunfyredefender77]

leave helaena alone you poor bitches

[peachysunrize]

TOM GLYNN-CARNEY as AEGON II TARGARYEN S2E7 | The Red Sowing

[gojuo]

Remember what they're taking from you

Fire and Blood, p. 398:

Fire and Blood, p. 387:

Fire and Blood, p. 390:

Fire and Blood, p. 401:

Fire and Blood, p. 402:

Fire and Blood, p. 409:

Fire and Blood, p. 424:

Fire and Blood, p. 425:

Fire and Blood, p. 437:

Fire and Blood, p. 473:

Fire and Blood, p. 561:

Dangerous Women, The Princess and the Queen, p. 783:

Fire and Blood, p. 506:

Fire and Blood, p. 381:

Fire and Blood, p. 380:

Fire and Blood, p. 533:

Fire and Blood, p. 541:

Fire and Blood, p. 542:

Fire and Blood, p. 550:

[beetlejuicyy]

criston cole is such a female-experience coded character and it is exactly why he is hated so much hear me out

his whole character is built around the idea that rhaenyra seduced him, had taken his dignity and made him feel like her whore. his vow and his duty are close enough to the idea of women's purity and value. you were sullied, you have to marry the man that devalued you, otherwise you are spoiled and unworthy.

on top of that, his identity as a knight, as kingsguard means he is submissive. he is not seen having a lot of opinions or plans to how things are done, the big guys in the council decide and he has to obey to their orders.

on top of that, when he does act at last, it's portrayed in the form of scheming, behind the backs of people, and it's mostly attributed to his sentimental nature, to his inability to think straight, be logical because of his personal feelings. that's how women have been portrayed for centuries.

another thing that makes his character harder to grasp is the choice to have the same actor play the pre-timeskip and past-timeskip criston. 20 years have passed and yet people see him as the same person who refused to be rhaenyra's whore but now he is hypocritical because he is alicent's whore. 20 years have passed and, even if you can't see it on his face, he's bound to have changed too.

in his relationship with alicent he doesn't talk as much. he is obedient, she's the one in charge. she gets to say when and how things happen, he is just at her service.

his entire character is build up to revolve around rhenyra, like women's lives are supposed to revolve around men. if he refuses to acknowledge his status in his youth he is no longer allowed to later (after 20 years mind you) find some sort of comfort in another master. it's like saying "if you say you hate the system why take part in it"?

his pent up rage and hatred is evil, because what happened to him was behind closed doors where no one saw or heard of it. because if they knew of it he would lose everything, exactly the way women have often refrained from talking about their condition in fear of being villainized themselves. in the meantime, the one in power will keep their dignity and spotless reputation like rhaenyra is not even held accountable for having bastards pushed forward as heirs, not to mention the fling she had with criston.

this rant is in no way trying to portray criston cole as a saint or a good guy or trying to justify his behaviour. this is actually the problem with hotd, the effort to draw a line between the good guys and bad guys. have it be either balck or white. it's not, it can't be. you either have complex, morally grey characters with flaws and mistakes or you go watch marvel or something. even there villains are more humanized than in this petty effort of righteousness.

LE: thank you everyone who mentioned the aspect of criston being a man of colour from dorne and the power dynamic between a royal and a lower born who fought his way into the world! this rant was written in a rush and while i couldn't express the latter as eloquently as most of you in the tags/comments, i completely overlooked the former. i love looking through everyone's tags and comments and seeing your takes. as @jazzyclarinet pointed out in the comments, seeing criston's character in this light does not erase or diminish the injustice other women in the story experience.

on another note, i feel like part of the blame is on the way hbo marketed the season with the pressure to pick a side. however, i think what we've been lacking as a society in the post covid years is actual unbiased analysis of art. swallowing up content without any question and making said content a personality trait is harmful. as i said, i don't like criston as a character, but i can make these points about him simply because i watch the show critically and i don't blindly defend a character while trashing another.

[nxpthys]

Helaena: Why are there little hand prints all over the wall?

Aegon, whispering to Jaehaera: Why are there little hand prints on the wall?

Jaehaera, whispering back: Because I have small hands!

Aegon: Because she has small hands.

[greenqueenhightower]

The primary reason I love the Greens is that they are so messed up. They are not perfect, they are not disinfected and favored by the narrative, and they are raw to the bone; they are real.

Aegon is as real as a devastated and soul-crushed father gets whose grief translates to anger and violence. Helaena’s silent inner turmoil and anguish haunt the Red Keep. Alicent has become a wreck as she weighs this tragedy the only way she knows how: against her own failed moral compass, holding herself responsible.

Otto sees his strings of power stretch and snap as he pursues the unattainable dream once more. Criston feels unworthy and consoles himself with the deception that he remains unsullied by still bearing a white cloak to his name, having been absolved of his original oath-breaking years before. And Aemond refuses to acknowledge any weakness or softness in front of his family so he seeks consolation elsewhere.

This green family doesn’t know how to process emotions, doesn’t know how to grieve together, and can’t find solace in each other’s suffering despite yearning for comfort. Otto doesn’t know how to comfort Alicent, Alicent doesn’t know how to comfort Aegon, and Aegon doesn’t know how to comfort Helaena.

Larys exerts his influence and puppeteers Alicent to his own liking by giving her a much-desired grasp of agency over political affairs. Alicent finds escape in undiscovered indulgences that give her the intoxicating illusion of control over a lifetime of servitude. Criston succumbs to the addictive drug of being desired and wanted on equal terms. The Greens live in a vicious circle of unhealed trauma, a bottomless pit of fears and insecurities, and a tangled web of deception and control.

They are wounded, dysfunctional, and forsaken, and that makes them so intriguing.

[coffeebooksrain18]

i remember back when s2 was airing, there was this rumour that they might make Daeron into a bastard and i-💀

oh they want Alicent to be as ahitty as Rhaenyra sooo bad

yeah, like they really can't handle that Alicent followed her duty, did her duty, and sacrificed more than Rhaenyra ever will.

I've seen some that say if Daeron has her hair TGs can't use the bastard argument anymore which makes me laugh cause they love to use Ned and Catelyn and how their kids have red so why can't Daeron be true born with his mommy's hair?

this isn't a one way street TB your arguments can be used against you.

[very-straight-blog]

Something about Aemond clinging to the Targaryen legacy, trying to get all of its attributes, including the world's largest dragon, but still having trouble controlling Vhagar. Something about the fact that Aegon, at the same time, denies everything related to his family, but has a dragon that obeys him naturally and intuitively, even when Aegon speaks English. Something about how it echoes the Iron Throne that Aemond craves so much, but that Aegon gets by birthright even though he doesn't want it.

[pookiebearhelaena]

“Helaena’s greatest joy in life is to take to the skies on the back of her dragon Dreamfyre.”

-GRRM

[urdeftonesgrrrl]

me when people call Aemond a coward for fleeing a 3v1 when Rhaenyra was too scared to go against Aemond in a 1v1: