alicent-boleyn - Tumblr blog

alicent-boleyn · 20 hours

Note

What if Jaehaerys died instead of Aemon?

So if Jaehaerys decided “i’ll take care of those pirates on Vermithor” and then took an arrow to the face, Aemon becomes King no problem, no muss, no fuss. There’s like. A lot of moving parts here and unknowns so I’m kinda breaking this up a bit-

Whomst Is All Here

So Jaehaerys dies in 92 AC. Aemon is King. Rhaenys is his heir presumptive, Laena HER heir presumptive. Baelon is alive for about nine more years, Alysanne for eight, though her memory is starting to go and she’s going to stop riding Silverwing within a few years. Gael is still alive. Viserys & Aemma haven’t married yet, nor have Daemon & Rhea. Laenor is two years from being born, Rhaenyra is….three I think idr exactly ajsj. I think Alysanne and Baelon are both gonna die at roughly the same time, given Aly is old & frail and Baelon had appendicitis, but imo, Aemma, Gael, Jocelyn, & Aemon are really up in the air here.

Succession Issues

What does Aemon do for succession? Well, considering Rhaenys’ argument is “you would rob my son of his birthright” I think it’s very likely that Aemon names Laenor Crown Prince/Prince of Dragonstone the moment he’s born, or soon after. Im……a bit unsure on the interim, because Laenor is born in 94, two years after Jaehaerys dies. Not a long time but long enough that people are probably going “well……what happens when you die tho.” Aemon is said to be a man who was quiet and dedicated to law and justice (whatever his definition that means, lmao), so I think he goes for the Aegon I approach after Rhaena is born but before Aegon the Uncrowned is born and goes “*cough cough* anyway look at how cute my granddaughter Laena is, you know she can ALREADY hold her head up, so strong, she’ll be a dragon rider for sure.”

It’s not that he’s actively trying to spurn Baelon & Viserys, it’s that Rhaenys can only have kids so fast, and they are nowhere near the point where she needs to feel rushed yet. She’s like 17, this is her first child, and it was perfectly healthy. With the shock of Jaehaerys dying in such a stupid way (he’s supposed to be like, The Conciliator, The Old Guy, and he goes out in an accident during a minor skirmish when he’d historically been very adept at squashing minor skirmishes), so that approach probably works until Laenor is born.

After that, Laenor is named Crown Prince and given all the education, privilege, and trappings that go with that title. If Aemon outlives Baelon but not by long, I………do think maybe the exact titles are a little messy? Because Alyssa was a queen Already when she’s Queen Regent, same for Cersei later on, but Rhaenys is never a Queen, Jocelyn is. So would Jocelyn maybe want the title Queen Regent? Or would she name Rhaenys…..Princess Regent? Out of respect for the fact that Laenor is Rhaenys’ son and she should have a say in his life? They could just name Lord Corlys Regent and Hand Of The King tbf, but we know nothing about Jocelyn’s personality, and we know Rhaenys is a proud woman, so I do wonder if there’s a lil thing going on here for a minute over who gets to Regent. That goes double if Aemon doesn’t outlive Baelon because I think Baelon would also put his hat in the ring, given it’s likely he serves as his brother’s hand. I mean, there’s not gonna be a war over who gets to be Regent, lol, but I do think there’s some power jockeying if Aemon doesn’t live too much longer, and Laenor doesn’t come of age before his grandfather dies.

Marriage Matches

With Aemon and Baelon being besties, I think it’s pretty natural to expect them to engage little Laenor and Viserys’ daughter - it just might not be Rhaenyra. the aemma marriage happens after Baelon is named Crown Prince, likely to ensure Viserys goes uncontested. With Rhaenys not yet having a daughter, I think there’s a chance Alysanne and/or Jocelyn, Rhaenys, even Aemon himself puts the kibbosh on that match until Laenor is born. THEN they’d be allowed to get married, imo, to ensure they have a Perfect Valyrian Bride option for Laenor. Laena is there, obviously, to be his sister-wife as well, BUT if Laenor doesn’t take an early interest in her (lol) I think Alysanne might push for them to have another Valyrian girl for him to get interested in. I think especially given Alysanne’s reaction to her daughters’ deaths, she might want to watch over their children and for Alysanne, that means match making, and on paper, Viserys is a nice match for Aemma. So maybe the Viserys-Aemma marriage happens, just later, so maybe Rhaenyra is born a little later, or maybe Aemma lives longer because her “purpose” isn’t to have a son, but a daughter, and she does this quickly.

ANOTHER marriage to take into consideration outside of Laenor is Laena herself. See, if Laenor is Crown Prince, he can’t be Lord or Driftmark. Does Corlys want to wait for Laenor to have more than one son, so he can name his grandchild his heir, risking that Laenor never has more than one son? Is he happy with Laena as eventual Lady of Driftmark? (seems….doubtful given his actions re: passing over Baela AND Rhaena for Addam and Alyn) Do he and Rhaenys try for a third child, and hope it’s a son? Lot of factors here, but if he is waiting for Laenor to have a second son, Laena is heir presumptive literally until adulthood. I think Corlys may be a bit more careful with engaging her to random sea lords willy nilly, if he’s risking going like twenty years without a clear heir. Also, given that Corlys is Velaryon, I do think it’s more likely he wants Laenor married to a born Targaryen woman, and not to Laena, and same for Laena - I don’t think she’s marrying a younger sibling lol. But also - maybe Aemon feels some type of way about this? I mean, he married his aunt, a way of joining the two lines of Alyssa Velaryon, so I do feel he would Also be more inclined to have Laenor marry Rhaenyra, and give Corlys the room to marry Laena off to whomever he wants. If the reason Rhaenys only had two kids is because birth was hard on Rhaenys, I think Aemon might step in to be like “Hey I didn’t force Jocelyn, I waited around for a grandson, so you better not be forcing my daughter, you can wait for Laena’s grandson too.” Like i THINK. And I’m not sure Corlys is the sort of man who would force a pregnancy on Rhaenys either, if only for pragmatism sake (but also, it just doesn’t seem his style). Anyways, as usual, Driftmark succession is messy.

Daemon is still likely bound for the Vale, considering the reason for that match was likely “give Daemon a seat he can fuck off to so he’s not a problem in the capital” and they already have Viserys as the extra dude at king’s landing, they don’t need ANOTHER of these guys hanging around wanting a dragon. and i DO wonder if he’s MORE miserable here - we don’t get a sense of his relationships with Rhaenys, Aemon, Baelon, or Alysanne but I can’t imagine they are any more sympathetic to his hatred of his marriage than Viserys was PLUS Aemon is still alive and therefor still riding Caraxes, so I think it’s not unlikely Daemon hasn’t claimed a dragon because there’s just not one to claim.

Gael, imo, wouldn’t be married off until after Alysanne dies, since Alysanne did not seem like she was in a hurry to do it. I can’t see Rhaenys pushing the point, and I do wonder if Aemon just puts it off bc like, it wasn’t an issue he wanted to push on Alysanne, and after that it’s just instinctual to go “yeah that’s Gael she’s always in the corner talking dragons with Laena, sisters, what can ya do” until there’s like, a good political reason to marry her off. My reasoning here btw is a) he seems to be a bit hands off when it comes to Jocelyn and Rhaenys and b) i think gael being Laena, Laenor, & Rhaenyra’s weird maiden aunt to be really funny, personally.

DRAGONS

So. It’s the year 102 AC. Aemon has been king for a decade, with a clear heir for eight years, though his mother, Alysanne, died a few years ago and his beloved brother Baelon died suddenly a year ago. He is still riding Caraxes! Living dragons that are riderless include Dreamfyre, Vhagar, Vermithor, Silverwing, potentially Seasmoke. Rhaenys has Meleys, Balerion just died. Kind of a dearth of dragon riders right now.

Again, this means either Daemon had to claim a different one - but WHICH ONE, I mean, Balerion, assuming Viserys still claims him just cuz, like, why would you give a dying dragon to your crown prince, but if the man who will eventually be the father of your grandson’s wife wants him, that might be a cool thing to brag about? and I do NAWT thing Aemon is letting Daemon get near Vhagar & I can’t see Daemon and Dreamfyre liking each other lmao - or Daemon still doesn’t have a dragon. Caraxes/Daemon aside, if you’re king, how do you plan this all out? I imagine Jaehaerys OR Alysanne had some sort of discussion with Aemon about controlling who gets to claim dragons?

Anyways, Laenor, growing up crown prince, is likely given a dragon egg in the cradle. There’s not a lot of young dragons to claim, I think Aemon would feel safe hatching another one for his heir. I don’t think it’s likely Rhaenyra has Syrax though - Viserys would need to ask Aemon for permission, and neither Aemon, nor Baelon nor Alyssa nor Rhaenys had cradle eggs. That said, I think he’d allow Rhaenyra to claim a dragon for her wedding to Laenor. The question is which one because as we know, Rhaenyra is a Visenya fangirl but-

ENTER LAENA VELARYON. All we know for sure from f&b is that Laena had claimed Vhagar by 105 AC and that Laenor claimed Seasmoke when they were both young. In the show - and tbc, idk if this was a thing George wanted in there, or just something they threw in - that Laena (and Aemond) heard Vhagar’s call and followed it to claim Vhagar, who was living wild still. So the question becomes….yeah sure it’s possible that Rhaenyra would want to claim Vhagar but does Laena hear the call and chase Vhagar anyway? Does Laenor’s cradle egg perhaps not hatch, and Laenor hears Seasmoke and claims him? IDK, it’s kinda weird but interesting.

If we’re going with what EYE think is most fun here - I like the idea that Laena hears Vhagar and claims her and I think Aemon would be delighted by his oldest grandchild being gutsy enough to seek out Vhagar. I think Aemon might hope for Rhaenyra to claim Silverwing, but tbh I keep picturing Gael, Laena, and Rhaenyra going dragon hunting after not totally jiving with Dreamfyre, and Laena nags Vhaegar and Gael nabs Silverwing mostly by accident, so Rhaenyra claims Vermithor. But that’s just like, me loving my girls aksjd. Rhaenyra could go for Dreamfyre tbh, and maybe even Syrax hatches because Aemon gives Rhaenyra permission to choose an egg. Idk. There’s a lot of ways to handle this, and I would think Aemon is very aware of how many dragons he’s letting get claimed & hatched, more so than Viserys was, because Aemon was trained to rule for far longer, and by a father who wasn’t already aging and forgetting shit.

But what is Daemon doing……..I kinda want HIM to claim Seasmoke, like, just angry and following the call of some wild dragon that’s been traveling up and down the coast of Westeros, and claiming a dragon historically claimed by two (2) gay men. Lol, lmao. And similar with Laenor/Laena in canon, Aemon can’t like, say no once Daemon has claimed him - he just needs to keep an eye on the wild dragons and people getting too near them. Which is also why I lean towards “the girls go dragon hunting with Rhaenys” because Aemon wants the dragons claimed if they don’t want to nest in the dragon pit.

WEIRD DYNAMICS

Laenor, growing up crown prince, may feel much more confident in himself, more sure of his role at court. Rhaenyra still grows up at court, but potentially with the influence of her mother, Aemma, and her cousin and future good mother Rhaenys as mentors, AND Gael - even discounting my theory there, Alysanne hasn’t been traveling back and forth between Dragonstone and the capital so Gael is slightly more active and at court. Personally, I like the idea of her and Laena both sneaking off one night, tired of waiting for Laena’s marriage where she can claim a dragon, and just claiming Vhagar and Silverwing for funsies.

I do think on the whole, the Laenor and Rhaenyra probably have both a better dynamic, and a healthier outlook on life because there’s not such a hubbub about the succession, their private lives, or their own status. It’s also possible that Daemon & Rhaenyra have been so cut off from each other for so long, Rhaenyra never develops a real attachment to him, and with some better mentors around her and like, someone who actually cares about her well-being around, Rhaenyra has a more socially acceptable outlet for her brothel escapades lmao. On the other hand, of course, it’s possible that being so secure in her position for so long makes Rhaenyra feel she can get away with being a little wild, and Aemon/Rhaenys have her and Laenor married quickly and packed off to Dragonstone to go grow up.

I do think the court is probably like, more or less pretty chill until Rhaenyra & Laenor & Laena get old enough to start like, fucking around. You would think with some stability theyd all be slightly more serious the way Rhaenys is, but like, you can’t be truly sure lol. And that’s not even factoring in Daemon feeling abandoned in the Vale.

10 notes · View notes

alicent-boleyn · 7 days

Text

Do you ever think the dragons get sad that they arent small enough to be held by their riders anymore?

Do you ever think Syrax longs for the days when she and Rhaenyra were young and she could curl herself on her riders shoulders and feel her heartbeat through her skin?

Do you wonder if Dreamfyre ever misses when she was still slender enough for Rhaenas arms to fit around her neck and hold her, when she was still small enough to rest her head in Rhaenas lap and longs to be able to be that close to Helaena?

Do you imagine that maybe Silverwing longs for the days she spent curled around the baby Alysanne as they grew together?

Do you worry if in his last moments of panic and pain, Stormcloud wished he was tiny enough to be carried around and doted on by Aegon iii one last time?

Do you think that as Tessarion died, her mind reached out for the one person she had never known a life without?

Cause i think about it all like a lot.

572 notes · View notes

alicent-boleyn · 15 days

Text

I MADE ANOTHER ONE go take it rn i worked hard

have fun :))

#aemond

297 notes · View notes

alicent-boleyn · 16 days

Text

#legitimately difficult decision here

39 notes · View notes

alicent-boleyn · 19 days

Text

a rumored bastard and a proven, disinherited, legally illegitimate recognized bastard are not the same.

Rhaenyra’s sons are rumored bastards, i know the show has a lot of team green stans feeling bold but just as in the books, they are never legally considered bastards in the show either. they are speculated to be via their physical features and Laenor’s apparent sexuality, but since Laenor and the KING (btw Westeros is a absolute monarchy, meaning the king IS law) both claim all three boys as legitimate heirs, unless someone demands a medieval dna test, those kids are legally Laenor’s true sons.

this is apparently a very hard concept to understand for some, hell even Alicent in the show says something like “we can all tell” which fair point, but that is not proof enough. looks, accusations, and rumor are not the same as actual proof of adultery or bastardy.

someone i was having a “discussion” with used Joffrey as an example to point out a flaw in my logic, but ultimately proved my point. Joffrey was a rumored bastard. Ned himself had no more proof than Alicent does, just hair color and a hunch, so Joffrey was never legally disinherited from the line of succession. I hate to defend either of these men but King Robert never publicly disowned him and called him bastard, which is why Joffrey ascended to the Iron Throne. now the rumors did hurt, and caused huge political issues leading to the War of 5 Kings, which is exactly why Alicent and Team Green is so insistent that Rhaenyra’s children are illegitimate, they know they cannot legally or physically prove her children are bastards, especially when Laenor and the King are claiming them are true born, but they can spread the rumor and call into question Rhaenyra’s honesty and morality. think episode 8 when team green takes their chance with Vaemond to attempt a coup of sorts for the Driftmark Throne, why would the succession of Driftmark need to be settled if Rhaenyra’s sons are true born? why would Alicent / Otto need to make this decision in place of the sick king and mia lord of tides who both had already been stating Luke would inherit for years. it’s all apart of the scheme to tarnish Rhaenyra’s reputation as Vaemond has no other proof either, and promptly loses his head (both metaphorically and literally) by calling the recognized heir to the throne a whore and her children bastards with no proof in front of the whole court.

it is a political scheme on both sides, Alicent cannot prove anything, and Rhaenyra cannot disprove the rumors no matter how many times they are claimed as true born sons. Rhaenyra has to live in the comfort the law gives her, as legally her sons are seen as legitimate, and thus legally they are protected. and from an unbiased pov with both in universe and historical references, those kids might be bastards in actually but not legally.

Rhaenyra goes through hell to keep her children legally protected, not only for their sake but for hers because should the truth come out both her and Laenor would be seriously punished, i wouldn’t go as far as executed but that would depend on if Viserys was old and bed ridden or dead. which is why im making this incredibly long post repeating myself in every point. you can argue all day about Rhaenyra’s children and their parentage but i am making this to make it clear that her children are not *legally* bastards by Westeros law. in order for Jace, Luke, and Joffrey to be illegitimate bastards Laenor, Rhaenyra, Harwin, and/or Viserys would have to publicly acknowledge them as such and disinherit them. no, Laenor and Viserys dying do not magically make Rhaenyra’s children legal bastards either. they would, again, need to be claimed and proven as such and disinherited.

and at the end of it all, true or not true, the rumors made a lasting impact on the story. so much so this fandom is still debating this topic, and frankly i am dreading the season 2 release when all the bad takes and bad faith arguments start up again.

anyway other famous rumored bastards are in Targ history are:

Maegor

Daeron II

263 notes · View notes

alicent-boleyn · 24 days

Text

queen alyssa velaryon teasing her brother in law

508 notes · View notes

alicent-boleyn · 1 month

Text

Winter Love — H.D

insp (x)

3K notes · View notes

alicent-boleyn · 1 month

Text

listen. i'm an aemond fan. however the bit in the trailer where he's talking about whether daemon (warrior who successfully fought and won a long-term military campaign before aemond was even BORN) dares to face him when he himself has been in zero (0) battles and killed one (1) person completely by accident really did make me laugh. buddy i hate to break it to you but you are absolutely not prepared for what's about to go down.

5K notes · View notes

alicent-boleyn · 1 month

Text

Look the AO3/Tumblr brain trust did shape my perception of this and I'm not going to pretend it didn't. But also as generally unenthusiastic about Fire & Blood as I am I do think understanding whatever the fuck Baelon and Alyssa had going on is crucial to understanding what the fuck Daemon had going on with regards to his brother and his niece. You are NOT going to get a normal conceptualization of yourself and your family relationships when you grow up being considered the Boy Version of your mother whose relationship with your father seems to have gone down in the popular consciousness as the absolute pinnacle of idealized Targaryen incest. There's a chilling dissonance to F&B's recounting of Alyssa's story not least in that we'll never know how she actually felt about her brother beyond the anecdotes specifically told to justify their arranged marriage - but we have a much better idea of how Daemon felt about his brother and what it led to (and not to extrapolate too much but. I think we also have a decent idea of what it did to Daemon to be unable to fulfill the - horrific - duty prescribed to the mother he took after because of his gender! And certainly of what it did to Viserys to grow up with "sisterwife who happily dies for you in the birthing bed because she can't die for you on the battlefield" as the romantic duty owed to him as his birthright!)

156 notes · View notes

alicent-boleyn · 1 month

Note

If you're still taking requests, please do Viserra. Decked out in purples, and red and golds in Kingslanding OR she reluctantly marries Lord Theomore Manderly and only wears black as if in constant mourning, so fully decked out black and rubies🥹. Hope you have a good day. Take care. Thank you!!!!

Viserra req 1

264 notes · View notes

alicent-boleyn · 2 months

Text

🗡 Viserra, Alysanne, and Baelon Targaryen 🗡

fire & blood / franny choi, soft science / elisabeth le brun, julie le brun looking in a mirror (1787) / fire & blood / kim addonizio, queen of the game / marie laurencin, jeune filles et fleurs (1950) (with details) / milan kundera, the unbearable lightness of being (1984) / commissioned art of viserra and baelon by @chillyravenart / fire & blood / le mains négatives (1979) dir. marguerite duras / leo tolstoy, war and peace / mel ferrer as prince andrey bolkonsky in war and peace (1956) / ava gardner photographed posing before a mirror / richard siken, litany in which certain things are crossed out / laura makabrescu interspersed with a fire & blood snippet / the swanee review: thesmophoria by melissa fabos, interspersed with a fire & blood snippet / david thauberger, prairie thunder (2020) / fire & blood / virginia woolf, a writer's diary / peter paul rubens, deborah kip and her children (1630) / c.w. gluck's opera orfeo et eurydice / niki de saint phalle, altar of women (1964) / jon ware's 'i am in eskew' podcast

#viserra targaryen #my darling girl 💜

231 notes · View notes

alicent-boleyn · 2 months

Text

queen rhaenyra targaryen

2K notes · View notes

alicent-boleyn · 2 months

Text

the wedding

Word count: 893 words

SUMMARY: Berenice convinces Rhaena to listen to her heart, 168 AC.

Despite being the same age as Rhaena, Berenice has found that they do not share much in the way of, well, anything. Sure, they may both be faithful worshippers of the Seven, but there was something of a flavor of dogmatic vehemence in Rhaena's piety that Berenice wanted to hold at a firm distance. She could not say what trait of hers similarly repelled Rhaena, only that their shared upbringing and cloistering in the Maidenvault did not have the effect of bringing them closer.

They were let out on certain occasions, mostly to attend court functions and services at the sept, and today, they were allowed to attend Daeron's wedding to Princess Myriah Martell. No one could deny they were pleased at the prospect. Daena was particularly excited for the occasion, as it meant several successive days out of the same four walls they've been trapped behind for nearly a decade. Of course, they had to sit through hours and hours of sermons at the ceremony, but even Blessed Baelor the Beloved could not stop the feasting and dancing and jousting that accompanied a royal wedding.

Berenice felt the music twirl around her, like clouds of smoke, Dornish guitars and flutes and hurdy-gurdies coming together to make sounds that were joyful, if not totally pleasant. Even Princess Naerys, still weak from the birth of her daughter Daenerys, swayed in her seat to the happy rhythm. She was glad to see her cousin enjoying her son's wedding, since the rest of life had been treating her so ill. She usually dressed in pale, nearly white clothes, but today, she wore red and black and gold, gold, gold. Her clothes almost overpowered her; the woman faded into the background, while the dress, beaded and embroidered and trimmed to excess, seemed to act on its own. Half dead already, it seemed fit that Naerys occupied her clothes like a ghost in a keep.

Strong wine flowed freely, and though she drank only half her glass, it was more than she had had in a very long time. The sound and the alcohol and her own discomfort with crowds made her leave the Great Hall for the gardens. (Since when did she hate crowds? She was never like this before Baelor.)The garden was lit sparsely, Berenice made her way by the light of a few lanterns and the nearly-full moon. Approaching the old weirwood, she saw Rhaena sitting at its roots.

“Cousin!” She said, mindful of her volume. The gods of the weirwood were not her gods, but nonetheless she knew better than to disregard them completely.

“Berenice,” Rhaena replied. “What brings you here?”

“The same as what brought you here, I'll reckon.” She sat beside her. Out of the folds of her skirt, Rhaena produced an orange and began to peel it. Watching the leaves dance in front of the moon, they shared the slices. Berenice felt a little bad, not having anything to provide for their little feast. Rhaena did not try to make conversation, and so neither did Berenice. When they finished, they sat silent for a moment, and Berenice grabbed her cousin's sticky hand and held it.

Rhaena opened her mouth, “Do y-”

“Wh-” Berenice started. They had both tried to speak at the same time. Berenice nodded and let the other woman go first.

“Do you ever think, sometimes, that being a princess is more trouble than it's worth?” She was barely above a whisper.

“Yes, much more than sometimes. Do you remember when I came to court?” Rhaena nodded in agreement. “I know I was terribly disagreeable that first year, sullen, cross with everyone and everything. But I had not been raised to be the niece of a king, or cousin or what have you. I was raised to be a holy Sister, I cannot wear the mantle of Princess with any comfort.”

At this, Rhaena's brow furrowed. “How do you do it then? How do you keep going when you find your position so… untenable?”

Berenice flicked her gaze to the sky, then back to her cousin. “Because I know I have a way out. I remember Rhaella, daughter of Rhaena, and Maegelle, daughter of Jaehaerys, and Celia, the Mother at the house which raised me and the mother of my heart.” Just a hint of hope dawned on Rhaena's face. This seems to have been the right thing to say.

“For a long time now, I have felt a… a certain something in my heart, a longing only satisfied when I enter the Sept, and breath in the incense, and feel the pages of the Seven-Pointed Star whisper between my fingers.” Rhaena sighed, “I… I know what the gods are telling me, but I don't know that I have the strength to answer their call.”

Berenice squeezed her cousin's hand. “Baelor will support you in this, you know he will, and besides, becoming a Septa doesn't mean you have to leave us quite so soon, not until after your permanent vows. The only difference between following your soul's desire now and following it later is the amount of heartache in between.”

A lull fell between them as they contemplated each other's words. The two women turned to the stars, letting the echo of the music inside be washed away by the wind and the rustling leaves and their heartbeats.

6 notes · View notes