#this entire post is me being obsessed with rhaenicent and their poeticism

[davinaswp]

I really don’t understand this divide between greens vs blacks in the fandom.

*** this post got way longer than I wanted it to be so be warned aha

*** also this is about the show I could give a fawk about the books ngl

like i get choosing a side in a playful way but you’d think it was real life politics atp with how far it’s been taken like shit is it really that serious? enough for u to be attacking real people over? 😭😭😭😭 and then to pull 2022 morals into it as if one side isn’t romanticising incest and age gaps and wife killing and the other side isn’t sexist and borders on religious fanaticism. Do either have a leg to stand on in regards to morals? Be real.

On top of that, I feel like it’s much easier to root for individuals in this show rather than entire teams because each character has their own motivations, at least that’s how I’m finding it. I don’t think I could say I’m wholly on team green or team black because I love Rhaenyra and want her to get her throne but I also love love love Alicent and will be rooting for her regardless of morals or politics. I want to see her character absolutely pushed to the edge and going nuts. Can’t stand Viserys, want to punch Otto, i flip flop between liking and hating daemon but absolutely LOVE the velaryons esp Laena (also if Rhaenys was queen this shit really wouldn’t be happening I’m so serious) but yeah, idk it’s much easier to root for individual characters I think.

Another reason why this greens vs blacks thing is dumb is that both sides are kinda moving with the same motivation, it just so happens that their motivations make them enemies. Both sides see themselves as the protagonists of their own story, they’re very similar in that they’re just trying to promote their own self preservation because they genuinely see the other as a threat. It’s not a victim vs perpetrator situation, they both see themselves as the victim and in “retaliation” are becoming the perpetrator.

I think that’s very obvious in the figureheads for both sides which are Rhaenyra and Alicent. The parallels between them bc how they’re supposed to be opposites that are being put down by the same sexist system have been evident from the first episode.

On one hand, you have Rhaenyra who has been exposed to the sexism of the court through unit only herself and being dismissed as a claimant to the throne despite being Viserys’ first born but also through her mother. She saw how much pain her mother suffered for a potential male heir and saw how much no one cared about Aemma’s life so long as she had a boy. By seeing someone she loved go through that, she could recognise it as wrong and that’s one of the biggest differences between her and Alicent in that she doesn’t recognise it at all.

Alicent doesn’t see what could be or what should be, she sees the world as it is and accepts it. She recognises the rules and laws laid down on them by society and the gods and doesn’t question it, there’s no point, it’s just how it is. That’s why she’s always done as she’s been told, she’s always out duty first because she genuinely believes that to live a good life, you just have to abide by the rules and honestly, she doesn’t have the privilege to think otherwise. Rhaenyra does.

Rhaenyra is undoubtedly privileged, she’s the princess, of course she’s privileged. She might still be a victim of the patriarchy but her station still elevates her above other girls and even above other men. She knows that too which is why she’s constantly pushing the boundaries and she’s not afraid to stand up for what she thinks shoukd be hers by right. She can afford to be reckless and brave and someone who steps outside the box because there are less consequences for her if she does. Who’s going to scold the kings daughter? That privilege is magnified by the fact that her feminism has a powerful male mouthpiece in the form of Viserys, the king. That’s another thing, Rhaenyra has a father who will let her get out of his control and keep her safe while Otto would never allow Alicent to get out of his control but wold put her in danger. Viserys sees Rhaenyra as his daughter while Alicent is only viewed as a tool which is another privilege.

That difference in privilege is shown in their first scene together where Rhaenyra could fly off on her dragon and away from the worries of the world while alicent knew she didnt have that privilege and not only had to but chose to stay on the ground because shes very acutely aware of her station and accepts it because she believes she should. rhaenyra could live in the sky, in her dreams and in her ideals, alicent cant because she’s very aware of consequences and that the world has an “order” per say and she thinks by following that, thats how she’ll excel.

Alicent does that. She follows her fathers orders because as the dominant male figure in her life, he controls her future. That leads to her getting married to Viserys which was the worst thing to happen to her because now shes more lonely than ever, it put her on a station she wasnt ready for and isolated her from her closest friend and also viserys is just hideous ik she resists the urge to puke every time they segz. She chose Viserys over Rhaenyra (someone she genuinely cares about and feels comfortable with), duty over love and sure it made her queen but it also robbed her of any happiness. She’s followed the rules and she’s miserable and that conflicts her worldview massively.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, you have Rhaenyra who is constantly going against the rules and she’s somehow happier. She has people who love her and side with despite it. And that’s great! Good for her! Alicent is even one of the people who will side with her,,, but then it ends up negatively affecting her.

Yes, I’m talking about The Lie.

I know its easy to dismiss that as alicent holding a grudge over a lie or being judgy and jealous bc rhaenyra got to fuck whoever while Alicent was stuck with crusty old Viserys but I think it’s so much more than any of that.

That lie cost alicent a lot. It got her dad fired, leaving her alone at court when she was already feeling vulnerable and not only that but it showed alicent that she didnt have rhaenyra either bc the one person she thought would never hurt her, didnt care that she got caught in the crossfire. Rhaenyra showed alicent that she could be deceitful even towards her and there was a level of mistrust between them now even without the men coming between them. Alicent got left alone at court because Rhaenyra was excused for her recklessness and even Rhaenyra didn’t seem to care.

On the flip side youve got Rhaenyra who could never have told Alicent the truth, she was the daughter of the hand and the wife to the king and she’d went behind rhaenyras back before to perform her duty and she could do that again. For the record, I dont think alicent wouldve ratted her out, she would most likely have encouraged her to confess or thrown criston in it. but rhaenyra didnt know that for certain and she couldnt take that risk, she had to lie for the sake of protecting herself even to Alicent.

A similar incident happens again during the whole Aemond eye debacle.

Now i know Aemond is a shit, i dont like him either (yet) but … he lost an eye. Alicent and Viserys’s son was sat there bleeding because one of Rhaenyras kids slashed his eye out. And listen, i didnt expect for Viserys to take Jaces eye or anything but to stand there and question Aemond, YOUR SON BTW, over an insult which he’d already paid the consequence for because Rhaenyra asked you to? For Rhaenyra to order that Alicents already mutilated son be tortured so her lie could be protected? I can see why Alicents so fucking pissed. Thats not me saying she was right to call for Jaces eye or to attack Rhaenyra but to make her out to be purely evil and without reason is insane to me. Her son was permanently damaged and all everyone seemed to be focused on was protecting Rhaenyra and gaslighting Alicent, including her sons own father. Rhaenyra’s lies were being put above Alicent yet again. For her to break in that moment and do something that isnt in the rulebook made sense, shes followed the rules and still she has no one fighting in her corner. Alicent gave up her life, her autonomy and her happiness to have Viserys’ children and he didn’t even care.

I do think Alicent’s anger is misplaced. I think her worldview is kinda breaking down and she can’t handle that. She’s frustrated at the systems in place but is taking it out on Rhaenyra and blaming her for not following rules rather than criticising the rules. She’s been conditioned to see the systems as faultless because they were put in place by the gods so it must be people causing disruptions and that’s why she fixated on Rhaenyra.

Their differences when they were younger and less involved in the mens world is what made them such good friends. Alicent was a comfort that could bring Rhaenyra down to earth and make sure she didn’t get lost in her dreams. Rhaenyra was brave and bold and is always looking to pull people up with her away from the constraints of the world and Alicent was one of those people. They worked but then the external factors got introduced and their differences became weapons.

It’s sad because both of them are being kept down by men and dealing with it in the only way they know how. Rhaenyra through cheating the system and Alicent by playing along. They’re both trying to win a game that sets them up to lose and leads to them having to fight each other.

That’s why I don’t think either side was trying to start a fight (apart from Otto really, he was itching for one).

The second aegon was born, there was always going to be an issue of inheritance. Hell, I’m willing to say that the second Viserys pushed Aemma for a boy and therefore pushed her to her death instead of crowning Rhaenyra or Daemon, there was an issue to be had because he would have had to remarry anyway. And if from that marriage there came a boy, then that boy would have always been put against Rhaenyra. Whether that be through another council decision or an all out bloodbath. I mean can you imagine Corlys letting Laenas potential son by Viserys be snubbed in favour of Rhaenyra? After his own wife was denied the crown based on her sex? No! He would make sure Viserys stuck to the very law which got him his crown in the first place.

Even if Alicent and Criston and Otto didn’t bring up an issue with the inheritance themselves, someone else would have. The second Rhaenyra pissed someone off, her claim would be challenged and Aegon’s would be pushed because that court is ready to stop a woman from ruling. It’s the same court that chose Viserys over Rhaenys despite Rhaenys having more leadership qualities. It’s not like that decision was made 100 years ago by different people, literally the same sexist fucks that robbed Rhaenys are a part of Rhaenyras court. That precedent of male over female was set not long ago. The only reason Rhaenyra has any claim at all is because of that precedent.

So a war was always coming from the minute Aemma died and Viserys chose to remarry. On the greens part, the question was whether they be prepared and choose themselves & the lords or side with rhaenyra and there simply wasnt enough of a good relationship there for them to pick her when the better option was to pick themselves. On the blacks part, they were handed a difficult card and did their best to protect themselves. Rhaenyra was Viserys’ only heir for a long time (except for daemon) so the decision to name her heir was made when it seemed all hope was lost for a male heir. Rhaenyra then got married to a gay man who struggled to produce her heirs which she needed to secure her claim so she had to find a way. it wasn’t out of selfishness or indulgence but necessity.

“alicent couldve married helaena to jace and united their sides” mmmm no she couldnt. theyre very obviously bastards, the second rhaenyra pisses someone off, her kids legitimacy would be brought to question. that then backfires on alicent who now has herself and her kid implicated in this mess & why would she be willing to go down with someone who has been previously deceitful towards her anyway? Alicent stuck to her worldview which was that truth should prevail above else and she wouldnt help perpetuate a lie. Besides, if they wanted to unite claims then Aegon and Rhaenyra would’ve been married as icky as that is. But there’s too much damage for a union now.

anyway that’s all i have to say, stop attacking people over fictional characters, bye