beneaththeweirwood

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— r.f. kuang; the poppy war

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The Greens: “In accordance with tradition and precedent, only a male heir can sit the Iron Throne.”

Also Otto: “Let’s name Rhaenyra heir, because Daemon is ruining my plans for access to the throne. Who cares about tradition and precedent? Who cares that Daemon is the King’s remaining male relation? Maybe Rhaenyra will be just as easily managed as her father. Definitely better than Daemon.”

After his daughter seduces, marries the King and gives him a son:

Otto and his Greens: “This is an outrage! Rhaenyra cannot be heir! Even if there is no clear stipulated Andal law which forbids that, no Queen has ever sat the Iron Throne…and it also kind of screws up our plans here, you know, to steal the throne.”

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I saw a post on tumblr that said rhaenyra's usurpation was her own fault and was also the cause of no woman taking the throne and it is literally the stupidest, most nonsensical thing a person could write. At aegon’s name day in episode three lady Redwyne said to rhaenyra “your dear uncle is the great mind behind this war [..] since you supplanted him as heir” implying that if the heir had remained daemon, a man known for his violence and impulsiveness, the kingdom would not have gone to war. So she is assuming that even such a man is better than a female heir for the kingdom. Later on in the same episode otto said to alicent “it wouldn't matter if she were Jaehaerys himself born again, rhaenyra is a woman” and in this time rhaenyra did nothing of the action she is been blamed in the attempt of justify her usurpation. So in both of these situations, people think that a male born should step over rhaenyra even if daemon proved himself unfit to the throne and aegon is still a child.

When aegon grow up the people who support his claim on the throne did not do it because they were genuinely convinced that he will be a better king than rhaenyra (this part is similar in the book and in the show, aegon is a men who spend his day drinking and visiting brothel so he never gave the chance to anyone to think he is going to be a good ruler) but they support him because he is a male. These are a couple of quote from fire and blood said by lord borros and jasper wylde:

He had nothing against women, Lord Borros went on; he loved his girls, a daughter is a precious commodity... but a son, ahh, should the gods ever wish to grant him one of his own blood, storm’s end would pass to him, not to his sisters. "Why should it be any different for the Iron Throne?"

otto was executed and after him was Iron Rod, who continued to insist to the last that, according to the law, the king's son must nevertheless come before his daughter.

Could rhaenyra have made better choices in her path? Certainly. Would she have been preserved from usurpation? Absolutely not because the war was based solely on sex, not choices. Rhaenyra could have followed her duties and been a good princess but the war would still have taken place because she is a woman. She is not the reason why after the dance no one named a daughter as heir/no queen took the throne, but the reason for this is that no king would have taken responsibility for such a choice in the presence of a living male heir knowing how bloody and ruthless the dance of the dragon was (when there wasn't a male heir, a female can took the throne, as cersei did on got)

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yes, I do believe that Rhaenyra Targaryen should have the Iron Throne in her own right as QUEEN because she had more than a cock to back her claims to it.

I also believe her son Jacaerys Targaryen should follow her as her heir on the Iron Throne and KING because said son showed more kingly behavior than his rivals to the point that people who sided against him and his mother thought he would make a great king even with his dubious origins.

I, too, believe her other son, Lucerys Velaryon should have become Lord of Driftmark because the previous Lords of Driftmark wanted him to be the future LORD OF DRIFTMARK, even with them knowing they most likely had no blood connections to him.

I believe that Rhaenyra and her sons should have what they were promised even with other competitors to their respective thrones came around.

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"Princess Rhaenyra was a different matter. Daemon spent long hours in her company, enthralling her with tales of his journeys and battles. He gave her pearls and silks and books and a jade tiara said once to have belonged to the Empress of Leng, read poems to her, dined with her, hawked with her, sailed with her"

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Requested by anonymous:

Team black smiling.

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RHAENYRA TARGARYEN in House of The Dragon 01.10

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He’s so in love 🥰

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Gender thoughts (Cersei and Daemon)

Everyone wants to compare Cersei and Rhaenyra, which is a valid comparison given their children, but I’d argue the better comparison is Cersei and Daemon. They both have a very interesting relationship with gender in that they’d both be happier as the opposite sex.

Cersei constantly bemoans being a woman within Westerosi society. Were she born a man, she’d be her father’s heir in all things. She shares his cruelty and devotion to family as an extension of the self (Tyrion is the one who has Tywin’s intelligence/cleverness, but Cersei is far from dumb when she’s not being completely delusional). Considering the skills that Jaime has in swordplay, one could assume that male!Cersei would have developed a similar talent paired with more ferocity. Yet she’s not a man and is woefully reminded of that by everyone, especially herself. She cannot inspire the fear that Tywin does nor wield the power he does because she is the fairer sex, therefore, she’s never viewed as a true threat.

Daemon is frequently put in the shoes of a feudalist woman despite being born a man. He is disregarded by most at court, shipped off in a political marriage, and relegated to the role of consort. He’s furious at such things because as a man in their society, he should be treated with the respect reserved for heir to the throne. He wants power and could have it if not for the fact that he’s fucking unhinged. That said, given the incestuous nature of his family and the fact that his brother has been the only constant in his life, there’s an argument to be made that he could have been happier as a woman. If he were a woman, he would have likely married Viserys, unless he chose Aemma still. In that capacity, female!Daemon would’ve essentially ruled the kingdom as a Visenya-esque capacity to compensate for Viserys being as spineless as he is.

Daemon and Cersei both have similar faults but the way they express them differs based on their genders and the inadequacies they’ve developed from them. Both have a penchant for cruelty and violence, but Daemon can go out and swing his sword and whore to fill the void with minimal reproach. Cersei has to drink and seethe, then order someone else to commit violence for her. Additionally she has to fuck her brother, cousin, guards, and whoever else in secrecy. Daemon has performance issues unless he feels secure (and is fucking another Targaryen) and Cersei tries to take pleasure in hurting other women when she’s not fucking herself (Jaime) or manipulating men through sex.

All this to say, they could be happier in each other’s circumstances. Probably not, but this is all speculative.

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HOTD fun details: Daemon's face when Alicent prays for Vaemond

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female adultery in ASOIAF and why it's not akin to modern day cheating

frequently fans insist on treating adultery within the world of ASOIAF as it it were the same as modern day infidelity. this, of course, ignores the fact that most marriages among the nobility of Westeros are arranged.

this does not mean every marriage is miserable, of course, but there is significantly less emotional attachment between the couple beforehand, unless they have known one another since childhood.

with that said, fans quite often do use this argument in defense of adultery- not for wives, but for husbands. a frequent claim put out is that men like Rhaegar, for example, don't owe their wives any loyalty because the marriage was not their choice. while technically, yes, no one is mandated to love their spouse or to respect an inherently broken marriage system, this ignores the fact that a woman like Elia is not free to carry on an affair the way her husband would be. women's bodies and sexualities are far more policed than men's in Westeros.

even with her husband's permission to take a lover on the side, most women would face extreme social ostracization and scorn if they were found out to be having affairs. and especially for the wives of princes and kings, this carries the weight of treason, because it puts into question the parentage of any royal heirs. Elia could have been outright killed if she was found to have a lover, regardless of Rhaegar's personal feelings on the matter.

the vague exception to this rule would be in the case of a woman like Genna Lannister, who is considered to have been forced to marry 'beneath her station', to a Frey, and thus, the jokes and insinuations that she may be cheating on Emmon do not carry quite the same weight. yet even so, I doubt Genna Lannister would ever openly announce she had a lover or directly discuss having an affair with her husband.

to go back to my original point, I am far more interested in female adultery than male. this is primarily because one of the few ways most Westerosi noblewomen can fight back against a forced or arranged match, or against an abusive or neglectful husband, is to secretly pursue their own pleasure and ambitions with a lover.

that is not to say that I think cheating is moral in these situations, but it is certainly not the same as a modern day woman having a fling while her husband is oblivious. a woman like Cersei, for example, did not choose to marry Robert. she was initially happy to become queen, but she quickly became disillusioned with her marriage, and Robert proved an extremely abusive and contemptuous husband.

Cersei cannot divorce or leave Robert, and even if she attempted to, would likely lose all contact with her children. nor does her family support the idea of her ending her marriage. given these parameters, Cersei cheating on Robert is simply not the same as it would be in a modern AU.

similarly, Rhaenyra is often bashed by the fandom for likely carrying on an affair with Harwin Strong during her marriage to Laenor. while there is zero indication in F&B or HOTD that Laenor was ever abusive or cruel to Rhaenyra, we know she did not freely choose to marry him. while HOTD presents the match as something Rhaenyra accepts and tries to use to her advantage, in F&B, Rhaenyra initially strongly protests the marriage until her father threatens to disown her if she does not accept Laenor as a husband.

in F&B, Laenor and Rhaenyra's marriage is depicted as stable but distant. the couple does not spend much time together and while Laenor appears to have tolerated Rhaenyra's relationship with Harwin, and to have had his own lovers, he obviously expected Rhaenyra to still have children who would be publicly presented as his offspring.

outside of any arguments over Rhaenyra's actions during the Dance or her time as reigning Queen, was Rhaenyra wrong to pursue a relationship outside her marriage, and to claim the children from that relationship as legitimate? I don't think so. 'legitimacy' is a construct of the feudal system in ASOIAF. while this doesn't mean it doesn't cause real trauma and pain, both to children raised knowing they are bastards, children who are accused of being bastards, and women who are expected to silently tolerate their husbands potentially pitting their own children against one another, it is not, actually 'real'.

Rhaenyra's sons are still her sons. her sexuality and personal autonomy shouldn't, outside of the context of the story, actually be something she is judged on. so it is strange to me when people insist that Rhaenyra having an affair or claiming her sons as legitimate is openly tyrannical or malevolent. there is plenty to criticize her character on- much as there is plenty to criticize Cersei on- but choosing to defy the institutions around her is not one of those critiques that should be valid.

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HOUSE OF THE DRAGON + cinematography

"The Rogue Prince" Director of Photography: Pepe Ávila del Pino

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Queen Rhaenyra's Wardrobe.

"Rhaenyra always dressed richly, favoring purple and maroon velvets and golden Myrish lace in intricate patterns. Her bodice often glittered with pearls and diamonds."

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Mama Rhaenyra & Baby Joffrey

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON 1.06 "The Princess and the Queen"

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One of the things that is so dear to my heart about Rhaenyra is how feminine she was. She loved her dresses and her jewelries, her gifts from Daemon, him reading poems to her... She was such a romantic personality that loved life and flying and laughing and smiling.

The fact that she was "cherished and adored by everyone", "well loved by highborns and commons alike", always surrounded by her admirers, the fact that men who fought for her hand in marriage still remembered and raised their banners for her. She was loved and I wish more people would see that before calling her a tyrant or a monster.

Even at the time of her death, she was still called and remembered as The Realm's Delight.

Also, the fact that she was universally loved and adored because of her enchanting personality, but somehow Daemon "only tolerated her for the throne". The way this fandom speaks about Rhaenyra is so weird and disgusting.

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Me ignoring what a mess S1 was just because of this gorgeous humans

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HOUSE OF THE DRAGON APPRECIATION WEEK 2023 day 2: favourite episode ⇢ 1.10 "The Black Queen"