#this isn't anti alicent

[fearthhereaper]

I'm glad they're making Aemond call Alicent out. She's puts Aegon on the throne and then acts naive about the consequences of it. Aemond, who got permanently disabled, has to listen to his mother defend a woman he partially blames and hates for it.

Alicent won't choose Rhaenyra over her kids, but her unwillingness to do her any harm will drive her kids away because they're the ones fighting and the ones losing something.

They're fighting this war for Alicent, for Alicent's wishes. And somehow, still, despite it all, despite all their devotion and loyalty, she would have them leave Rhaenyra (the figurehead of their enemies) unharmed.

Almost as if she's excusing and forgiving all that she's done (and didn't do, but that they still feel came from her as the leader of her fraction)

It must feel like such a slap in the face to him.

Another parent disregarding him, another parent choosing Rhaenyra over him, and this time it hurts more because it's his mother — the one person that stood up for him at Driftmark is now the one closing her eyes to the reality of the situation she got her kids in.

Blind just as Viserys once was.

[chemicalreal]

Rewatching episode 1x07 in light of recent events makes Alicent and Aemond's interactions with Aegon even more frustrating to watch. The writers seem intent on portraying him as clueless and dumb, despite in season 1 there is evidence to the contrary.

You have Aemond being harshly questioned by Viserys who at some point menacingly asks him who told him about Rhaenyra's children being bastards.

Aemond knows that he can't just throw Alicent under the bus because at least he and his brother are still the king's kin, so he knows nothing will happen to them (which isn't a guarantee for Alicent despite being the king's wife) regardless so he blames Aegon.

Now Aegon, who is FAR from stupid, immediately picks up what his brother might be actually doing without knowing the context (and let's remember, the two don't have a good relationship at this point and he could simply deny thinking Aemond is trying to put him in trouble to settle a score) and immediately plays along, even deflecting the argument to how there is no need to have a planted rumour because it's plain to see.

Throughout season 1, Aegon repeatedly demonstrates a greater awareness than other characters give him credit for. In the carriage scene he keeps acting skeptical to the news Viserys wanted him as heir, but Alicent as usual shuts him down even calling him stupid for doubting her love for him. Well, considering how things are going in season 2 he wasn't really wrong about that either, was he?

Season 1 Aegon would have immediately pointed out Alicent's hypocrisy for trying to diminish him in comparison to his father simply because contrarily to expectations he is not willing to be a mindless puppet like Viserys was. Aegon has already picked up on Otto and Alicent's real expectations of him. Why would he ask Alicent if she loves him? Because he genuinely doubt that especially now that he is being dragged to wear a crown out of nowhere. Friendly reminder that not being trained and literate doesn't automatically equate to being stupid.

Additionally, portraying episode 2 as Otto's grand triumph is just completely wrong. Otto, who has been manipulating everyone like pieces on a chessboard, finally gets booted off by the person he least expected it from. This comes after he shows no respect for his son's death, shamelessly declaring that he will parade his body for the sake of their image as the silent sisters were still sewing his head to his body. But of course, god forbid we don't immediately dumb down everything Aegon does, or the audience might start thinking he could actually be a fair competitor for the designated hero of the show.

[alicentflorent]

Succession writers knew how to write a women who was ambitious, flawed, underestimated, unjustly looked over and held to a higher standard for being a woman while being someone who isn’t a good person and does bad things for the sake of her success or for her family. HOTD wish they could pull that off.

[lady-of-the-spirit]

I hate fics where Alicent and Rhaenyra talk and Alicent tells her she was afraid Rhaenyra would hurt her children and Rhaenyra's like "I would never do something like that why would you think that?" And Alicent only goes "oh good, it was just my father trying to scare and manipulate me!"

Where's the fic where Rhaenyra says "I would never do something like that" and Alicent says "Your kid literally stabbed my child's eye out and you not only made sure Viserys focused only on you and your thing but also wanted my child to be tortured for it"

Edit: if it wasn't clear by the tags and the argument of the post itself, I am Pro Alicent Hightower. Making an argument of "But Alicent did this-" isn't relevant and won't sway me. Please shut the fuck up about it.

[izzy140105]

Me watching Alicent get upset because the misogynistic and incel men she supported won't let her be Queen Regent while Aegon is crippled as shit:

[asongofstarkandtargaryen]

I have nothing against Alicent sleeping with Criston Cole. Even if it's revealed that she started sleeping with him while Viserys was still alive, I will still have nothing against it. She was in a loveless marriage with a man she did not choose so if she managed to find love somewhere else, good for her.

I do find her comments on Rhaenyra the previous season hypocritic, though ( and Cole's insults on Rhaenyra as well, but this post isn't about him). Girl, you shouldn't accuse a woman for having a relationship out of wedlock when you are doing the same thing! But I guess when I look Alicent as a character her hypocrisy makes sense, many conservatives are the same. They talk about virtues only they possess and that their opponents lack according to them, only to be revealed that they are as human as the rest of the world with the same weaknesses and that they do not possess the supposed "virtues" they preached about.

What I do find interesting is how many of Alicent's fans have fall for her hypocrisy. They try really hard to justify why Alicent's case isn't as Rhaenyra's instead of admitting that their fav is a hypocrite. In a show like Hotd which features rapists and child murderers being a hypocrite is far from being the worse offense. So let her be that way. She's more interesting as a person with flaws, instead of a mary sue who can't do no wrong as some of her stans trying to make her be.

[sansacherie]

this might be a hot take but y'all very unserious where you hate alicent more for having internalised misogyny (in a world where most women have some form of it) than you hate actual male misogynists (particularly those who are violent) that created and endorsed these patriarchal systems first and is ultimately the ones who benefit most

[mailka]

No, but that Alicent/Rhaenyra scene is so stupid no matter how you look at it? That choice is not a choice and it never was, Alicent's sons were always going to die with Rhaenyra in power, we established that in s1. So it doesn't matter what Alicent says, it's never going to change that fact. So why the fuck she's surprised when Rhaenyra says that? What the fuck did she expect? "She didn't plan on killing her son", but what about Aemond and Daeron??? They are not disabled and have dragons and armies??? Alicent comes to Rhaenyra and is like "this war must end" but Aegon's head doesn't end the war??? "It gives her a chance to save Helaena and Jaehaera", does it? The premise of this whole deal that the war ends and Rhaenyra takes the throne but the war will not end with Aegon's death??? So pretty much all three of them are gonna to be held hostages until Rhaenyra deals with Aemond, Daeron and the rest of TG??? And that means that pretty much anything can happen during that time, especially with Daemon in proximity and Rhaenyra's religious zeal???

Alicent gets nothing from this deal. So where's that "Sophie's choice"? Aegon, Aemond and Daeron potential fates don't change, Helaena's and Jaehaera's potential fates don't change, the war is still going to continue for an unknown amount of time, so what was the point of it all? What was Aegon's coronation for if Alicent jumps the ship as soon as trouble arises?

This whole thing is so unbelievably stupid it's not even funny.

[darkpoisonouslove]

I am sick of people constantly reducing Alicent's entire character down to her being in love with Rhaenyra. I can ship it and still see Alicent as a separate character. Granted, I don't like the character arc they've written for her because it's slow as hell, it completely destroys her agency and it strands her outside of the main plot but people need to shut up about how Alicent was about to drown herself because of Rhaenyra kissing Mysaria.

First of all, she wasn't even trying to drown herself. I know that line about not being sure if she means to return to King's Landing was suspicious but at what point did Alicent show she was trying to drown herself? She wasn't just floating in the water, she was actually, very leisurely, swimming so she clearly didn't mean to drown. And she took off her dress to remain only in her underclothes since her dress would have gotten heavy and dragged her down. She was actively trying to avoid that and keep her dress dry, which means she very much meant to get out of the lake.

Second of all, I know the joke is that Alicent can sense Rhaenyra kissed another woman but I've seen people genuinely not saying it as a joke. She doesn't have the faintest clue what the fuck is happening with Rhaenyra and here's the part y'all are not gonna like - she doesn't actually care. If she got any kind of feeling something was off, it would have been drowned out by everything else that is wrong in her life and she perceives as her fault.

This woman has been having an ongoing existential crisis since the second fucking episode of this season when she decided her grandchild's brutal murder was a punishment from the gods for her sins. Things have only gone downhill from there. In episode three Rhaenyra delivered a truth that disillusioned Alicent about her excuse for going against Viserys' wishes and against Rhaenyra. She didn't actually believe he changed his mind about who should inherit the throne but it did provide her with an excuse that would give her enough peace of mind for her to not fall apart and prioritize her children's safety. Only for her grandson to get decapitated and for Rhaenyra to make it impossible to remain in denial about her own decision to go against her husband's wishes.

Given who Alicent is as a person, that would have been enough to send her spiraling but she now has to deal with - in her perception - the fact that her attempt to avoid the pain of losing her children has resulted in Helaena losing her child. She literally feels that she traded her children's lives for Helaena's son's life and avoiding mourning her children comes at the price of her passing that pain onto Helaena... and Aegon. However, Alicent cannot bear to empathize with Aegon's pain because he is the embodiment of all the ruin in her life. He was her first child, the first product of Viserys maritally raping her and still, he has her heart. He was the main challenge to Rhaenyra's reign. He would have to be killed first before any danger came for his brothers. He was the main reason she had to do what she did and expose Helaena to all this pain because she still wanted to save him. Jaehaerys was the price they paid for Alicent's attempt to keep Aegon alive. She blames him just as much for Helaena's suffering as she blames herself and that's what stops her from comforting him.

And then all that comes back to hurt her AND the realm again. Because of her behavior and her words Aegon decided to prove himself and is now disabled and disfigured by his own brother. Now Aemond has caused his siblings pain and she can't help any of them. She can't do anything for Aegon and Aemond won't let her do anything for him. She gives Aemond contradicting feelings and a disgust for the vulnerability he shows because of her the same way Aegon gives her contradicting feelings and disgust about his vulnerability and her own.

And on top of that! There was a riot that threatened Helaena. And while Alicent was there to protect her, all her life's work, all her attempts to do right by the small folk and be a good queen have been erased by a war that she had to fight for the sake of her children's lives. Everyone she's been trying to protect hates her and/or has pulled away from her. Things are even tense and uncertain between her and Criston - the guy she literally saved from taking his own life by becoming his cause! She's having a fucking existential crisis that's been slowly progressing since the end of the first episode! Rhaenyra's not anywhere near the top of her list with priorities. If I'm not mistaken she hasn't really mentioned her since the scene in the Sept. She's mentioned Viserys a few times instead.

While I'm not a fan of the way they're writing her as completely disconnected from the main plot since she's too busy having a meltdown, Alicent is having her own arc that revolves way more around her children rather than around Rhaenyra. Her feelings for Rhaenyra certainly are a part of that arc since her refusal to let go of them is what has stopped her from acting a lot more decisively towards protecting her children (all she had to do was tell her guards Rhaenyra was there when she left the Sept and she would have ended the whole war) but they aren't the sole point of her character as people too often claim, even if it's in jest.

[lullaebies]

no because after that ryan condal interview it really hit me aegon was really was standing in the shadow of every dead son, every stillborn and every boy that died in the cradle in the pursuit of an heir. rhaenyra too, of course, but even she ended up as the girl viserys settled on the pacify his guilt.

viserys wanted baelon because it would make things easier for him. he could have his heir and go by the rules and traditions and not feel bad about aemma. aegon, and later on his brothers, only made the situation he put himself in worse and worse. he resented those kids for what they are and what they aren't.

[alicenthelaena]

Rhaenyra and Alicent's current depictions and fan receptions scream Madonna/Whore. The debased Alicent who audiences are feening to see humiliated vs the respected Rhaenyra whose husband has erectile dysfunction.

[silver-dragonborn]

I don't know what I'm going to call my fanfic where the Greens lose and Criston runs away to Essos with Alicent and Aegon in exile where they're forced to sell mangos for a living.

Mango Craze

Mango Dreams

Mangogate

It's supposed to be pure crack but also has a lot of serious moments where the "victims" of Rhaenyra's "tyranny" come to the startling realization while selling fruit for a copper that if they had just stayed in their lanes, they wouldn't be in this situation.

[lemonhemlock]

"alicent is evil for taking the dragon porn off the walls"

well thanks to eagle-eyed @kindhearted-ocean, we can see how miss girl was kind enough to leave the sex tapestries in viserys' room so as to not mess with his feng shui

it adds a layer of irony to hear daemon complaining about this with the kamasutra behind him in the background

screenshots taken from here

[spirit-meets-the-b0ne]

Spring breaks loose, but so does fear He's gonna burn this house to the ground

[shimmerluna]

WAIT Elle has box braids in s3??? I could cry

I don't think she had bad hair in s1 or s2, but I'm excited that they're actually giving the Black girls Black hairstyles instead of having them wear it out.

Before, it felt like the (all-white, for context) hair department was just ignorant about Black hair, so they put wigs on the Black actresses and only did styles that also work on nonblack hair for their own sake/convenience. This theory was especially supported by the fact that Tara, whose 4c hair couldn't really be styled the same as nonblack hair, wore a twistout that would take literal hours to do every day, but she had box braids in s2! and Elle has box braids now!! I'm so excited!!!

I also feel like this fits her bold, fashion-loving personality so much better than leaving her hair out. Our hair is basically its own accessory, and the long box braids are very feminine. Again, I'm not saying not having a protective style isn't feminine or fashionable (I myself am a fashion girlie with an Afro), but having one is another outlet for her creativity, and I'm glad they're recognizing that now.

[lady-asteria]

Not someone saying that if you don’t side with Team Black in episode 7 you’re heartless-

You know the chapter when four kids attack one boy (who has been bullied by the other two boys in that fight) 

You know the chapter when Alicent’s fears of Viserys not caring about their kids become true

You know the chapter when Alicent and her (hers, bc V didn’t count as a father at this point) kids discover no one is in their side in that court 

You know the chapter when Aemond, a nine years old (11 at most) GET HIS EYE CUT 

One thing is being heartbroken for Rhaenys and Corlys, who are sure had lost their son after their daughter’s death- 

But, please

(Of all the moments, of all the episodes, this?) Look, ok if you are team Black, it’s fiction, I see the appeal. But this episode wasn’t the one in which they are the victims